Nicheless creatures have started to creep into the Bestiaries. Shortly after Bestiary 5 was released, I went back and took a look through WotC's Monster Manuals to compare the two lines, and I noticed that the Monster Manuals were filled with completely original creatures that were essentially just "a strange/giant monster" without much to really set them apart from existing strange/giant monsters and give them an easily identifiable role in a setting. Most of the demons and devils from MM4 and MM5 overlapped with previous more iconic ones, and what was the point of the garngrath and malastor?
That in mind, it's impressive how Paizo's Bestiaries have been able to get out five whole Bestiaries where only one or two monsters apiece could be said to have this same "where does it fit in the world, and why wouldn't something else work just as well if not better?" problem. But with Bestiary 6, it seems the well is starting to run dry. Now, don't get me wrong, there are still TONS of excellent creatures here - the vast majority, in fact, and even if there were more filler monsters, the good ones we do have are excellent enough to make up for it. More clockworks, several new undead for a variety of CRs that all remain distinct from existing undead, planar dragons, entothropes (basically lycanthropes but for insects to which I give particular congratulations for being a set of monsters that I've never come across before but the concept of which is still immediately graspable), and of course what is probably the selling point: empyreal lords, archdevils, great old ones, and the like. All of which are excellent. However, given the number of creatures that are just too weird or too dull to fit into a campaign without a hefty amount of contrivance, I'm not looking forward to Bestiary 7. Unless...
Some of my surprise favourites in this book were creatures that were, like the entothropes, unique but identifiable twists on established monsters, or the weirder and more obscure creatures from real world mythology like the kamaitachi. Given that plenty of cultures could fill an entire Bestiary with just their own mythical creatures, I'm sure that there's at least one Bestiary that could be made focusing on real world mythical creatures, even with the healthy amount of tapping into that pool Paizo's already done. Sure, a lot of the iconics have been covered, but the kamaitachi, llorona, euryale, and hupia show that there's still plenty left to draw from, and put Paizo's unique twist on.
P.S. I'd also like to give a quick shoutout to the likes of the danthienne and elder wyrm for being creatures that suggest potential for less combat-focused encounters. I would love to see more like them, too.
