The Arthropoids in Mortasheen are based on The Fly, but with a wide variety of different types of bugs. I'm surprised it took me months to realize that.
I think Mortasheen is cooler than Pokemon.
They're a diverse group of weird prehistoric elephant cousins, often with very unusual tusks.
Just how far down the rabbit hole of my weird interests do you really want me to go? Hagfish.
Something, something, something, Linnorms.
I listen to a lot of metal with really dark lyrics. Usually, I just operate under the assumption that the singer/writer is deliberately and consciously playing a villain and that the lyrics are just evil for the sake of being menacing/badass, and aren't actively encouraging such behavior in the real world. That being said, B!$@! Came Back by Theory of a Deadman. It has such a cool sounding rhythm to it, and the instrumental elements are great, but the actual lyrics are so misogynistic that they make my skin crawl. I can't honestly tell if they're meant to reflect the artist's actual views or not, but if so, yuck. Also, I recently came across a song called I Stand by We As Human. I first heard it in an AMV and thought it sounded epic, but couldn't make out the lyrics very well. I eventually looked up the lyrics and to say that they had an awful, and downright idiotic, message would be an understatement.
The American double standard that we always help they physically injured but scorn the mentally ill as weak. Yes. Thank you, Tacticslion, for putting that into words. What the trolls did to that poor guy was horrid, and ceaseless. As for his reprehensible views and social ineptitude, it seems to me that he was one of those rare individuals who truly lacked the cognitive capacity to fix those problems. That's not something I would say about 99% of misogynists and homophobes on the internet, but in his case, I think it's sadly the truth. They took an extremely vulnerable individual and consciously, calculatedly, tormented him in order to make his situation go from bad to abominable and turn him into a (like you said, relative) monster. Internet trolls like that are proof you can be Chaotic Evil without ever actually breaking the laws of the land.
Do I smell marmosets?
A Bishonen is a male character that could best be described as a prettyboy, usually in the context of an anime. Usually young, slender, and handsome to the point of being seen (to Westerners at least) as somewhat feminine-looking. So, basically every male anime protagonist ever. Sephiroth from Final Fantasy is probably the ultimate example. Most male elves probably count. A "Bifauxnen" is a female character who presents herself in a stereotypically masculine-enough way (masculine clothes, short hair, etc.) that she could, at first glance, be mistaken for a Bishonen. To put it in western terms, a very pretty butch girl. This is also primarily an anime trope. It seems as though not everyone on here spends as much time aimlessly browsing TVTropes as I do.
That the Bifauxnen trope on TVTropes is a play on Faux Bishonen. Egregiously obvious, but I spent months wondering why it was called that before I figured it out.
Here's one: The treatment of cryptids in fantasy media as somehow not being "real" mythical creatures. D&D rarely ever features them, except for yetis, and in D20 Modern. There's really nothing stopping most of them from appearing in sword and sorcery era stuff though. The Sasquatch is not a modern entity. Folklore about it and similar creatures abound in world mythology going back thousands of years. And if we're talking European mythology specifically for faux-European settings, ever heard of a Woodwose? I know things like the Chupacabra, Jersey Devil and Mothman are more modern, but there's nothing about those creatures that specifically precludes them from having been around in pre-industrial times and settings. They have surprisingly little presence at all in D&D despite how long it's been around and how iconic they are. And don't get me started on Supernatural's claim that Sasquatch is just a guy in a suit in that universe. Sure, Bloody Mary and the Hookman exist, but Sasquatch? Not enough of a folkloric basis, apparently. Well, at least we've got Pathfinder and the Dresden Files embracing them.
Oh, okay. No problem.
When fictional settings use the wrong names for mythical creatures. (That's not a Wyvern, WoW. That's a Chimera and you know it. You're just trying to be contrary.) When fantasy settings make up their own names for creatures that are clearly carbon copies of entities from mythology. (Though in settings that have very little mythical basis it's okay. But it's things like Griffin, Hydra, Troll, Tauren, that annoy me. Why not just call a Minotaur a Minotaur?) Having a physical body that requires sleep and sustenance. The many, many, bizarre and seemingly random sensory issues that coincide with my Asperger's syndrome, and how difficult they are to explain and justify to other people. The conflation of distinct mythical creatures, particularly if they originate in different cultures. People who use the lack of objective morality to justify unethical behavior. The "Everyone Hates Hades" trope. Having to explain to people that the Transformers I'm a fan of and collect are totally distinct from the Michael Bay movies and come from a far higher quality collective of stories and lore. The lack of available info on African mythical beasties. I do like Supernatural, but their treatment of non-Abrahamic mythical creatures/figures, particularly divinities, really annoys me. Reviewers who nitpick perfectly decent media. Media that assumes that only one female body type is attractive, particularly media with an abundance of female characters that takes that approach. This isn't even a representation thing, though representation's definitely important. Honestly, diversity is just aesthetically pleasing. Works where all the girls look exactly the same except for hair, costume and maybe skin tone are just boring.
This is awesome. I'd given up hoping a while back that the neutral Outsiders would get the same treatment as the fiends and celestials, so I'm very pleasantly surprised to see this, filling what I'd viewed as a major gap in the cosmological lore. I can't wait to read about all the demigods and quasi-deities!
Would someone being willing to describe the other four creatures?
Of all the character deaths I've encountered in the last few years, I think the one that shook me up the most was Tara in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and there's a very specific reason for that. Buffy, for those of us that don't know, is a fairly typical urban fantasy, monster hunting show in the sense that it consists of a small group of heroes in a version of the real world, fighting monsters and demons, with a lot of formidable supernatural villains and apocalyptic threats. It's when it killed off Tara while breaking genre convention that I got the most upset. What happened was, this mundane human shithead ended up developing a grudge against Buffy and decided to go after her with a gun, rather than the usual fantasy-related means of assassination. He went to her house, shot her (she was fine), and then took a second shot, with the bullet ricocheting away and hitting Tara, killing her. The thing that made it so rough to me is honestly how pointlessly mundane a death it was. It's a fantasy show. You expect people to be killed by monsters and to die valiantly in battle against apocalyptic threats. This was just such a pointless thing, having her be killed by some random loser with a gun in such a mundane way. If it had been a monster or an archvillain that killed her, it would have been sad, since I liked her, but wouldn't have had the same effect.
Forgive me if someone already asked this, but in the most recent AP, a sixth Planar Dragon, the Edict Dragon, was added. This is really awesome but seems to be a major departure from what I'd previously understood was a hard and fast rule of five true dragons per category. Was this a change in design philosophy, was it planned all along or did I misinterpret this "rule" somehow when it was discussed in great detail around B6? Can we expect more Planar Dragons, or even the possibility of new additions to other dragon families, in the future?
Would anyone be willing to describe the Boogeymonster?
That'd be neat. One of the creations from back in the day that we never saw ever again was a demon/devil hybrid that had ridiculous saves and resistances. Wow. That... is something...Is she single?
I knew it!
Spoiler: But James Jacobs said it wasn't him!
It's been a while since I've posted anything mythological, but I stumbled upon an old Call of Cthulhu sourcebook called Terror Australis, which went into great detail about Australian Aborigine culture, mythology, the Dreamtime, and its denizens. Since their's been some discussion of Australian monsters here before, I thought I'd share the ones that were new to me. Abuba Ogress who turns men into beasts
For a lot of these, the descriptions were rather brief, but hopefully enough to potentially generate monster ideas.
Monsters are pretty much infinite. There's no real limit to what's capable of being imagined, creature-wise, and thus there's no limit to what can potentially be included in a Bestiary. One can never have too many monsters. And reprints are fine. Not all of us have the money to purchase every single AP, module, or campaign setting book.
Leviathan would have been my first guess but Mr. Jacobs said earlier in the thread it wasn't him.
Is Iblis still around in the lore? I haven't heard him mentioned in years.
In an effort to include more powerful, high level, fey in my own fantasy world, I decided to create a series of powerful fey lords which would be roughly equivalent in role to the Erlking, but for different environments. They're all loosely based on mythological figures, and though the mythical creatures they're based on are all male, they can all be either gender. They are as follows: Aegir (Norse Mythology) Surfaces of Seas and Oceans (Powerful giants which resemble enormous Sahuagin with beards of tentacles)
Looking over the list of new animals in Ultimate Wilderness, I've come to the conclusion that the area where our roster of animals is most lacking is when it comes to Palaeozoic creatures or at least terrestrial ones. We have a few nice marine creatures from the Palaeozoic (Eurypterids, Helicoprion, Dunkleosteus, Cameroceras), but all I can think of off the top of my head for land creatures are Dimetrodon and now Prionosuchus. Where are all the other stem-mammals? I mean, Gorgonops, Lystrosaurus, Cynognathus, Anteosaurus, Estemmenosuchus, I'd love to see B7 get a section entirely devoted to Stem-Mammals similar to the Dinosaur and Megafauna sections, they're certainly diverse enough to warrant that. In addition, a Paraeiasaur would be cool. as would a couple more big, weird, amphibians. Diplocaulus anyone? And while we're at it, perhaps throwing in some Triassic non-dinos would be cool as well. Particularly, but not limited to, Crurotarsans and other Archosauromorphs. Postosuchus? Desmatosuchus? Erythrosuchus? Tanystropheus would be awesome as well.
I don't really know what to think of the Shifter yet, but I suspect this book will be worth the pdf price at the very least based on the Animal/Vermin/Plant companions and familiars alone. I mean, that's an absolutely awesome list. First off, there is, finally, an animal-companion compatible saber-tooth. I've been waiting for that for years. It's kind of a classic image in any prehistory-related adventure series, the barbarian hero and the Smilodon companion. Having Smilodons be relegated to out-of-reach Dire Animals when you could keep a Giganotosaurus as a pet always seemed really silly to me. Thylacoleo is a wonderful choice as well. Also, Prionosuchus. What an excellent choice! We really need more palaeozoic creatures in this game. Vermin Companions. I had always been really disappointed that all the vermin past the first Bestiary weren't companion compatible. And now, that problem is at least starting to be fixed. All in all, I'll have to wait to see what I think of everything else, but overall, I'm really excited about the animals. Still waiting for an official Carnotaurus, though. Oh well, maybe Bestiary 7 will have one.
I'd like reinforcements for all the Outsider types that haven't had new members in a Bestiary since their first appearance: Rakshasa, Oni, Asuras, Divs, Inevitables, Kami, and Manasaputras (though they're still fairly new.) Unrelated, the Green Knight from Arthurian lore might be a cool basis for a fey. Also Arthurian, the Glatisant or Questing Beast would be a badass Magical Beast or Dragon. I'd also like to see some of the weirder Fearsome Critters get used, like the Tripodero, Dungavenhooter, Snoligoster, Side-Rock Bolter, Roperite, etc. They'd make interesting Aberrations. Perhaps the Axehandle Hound could be a really weird alien predator that's a hound in the same sense as a Hound of Tindalos is a hound?
Top three fiend lords of each untouched category I'd like to see, based on the Book of the Damned: Asura Ranas: Gavidya, Rahu, Zurapadyn
Plus all four of the Queens of the Night. We have all eight Archdevils, so it's only fair that they get included.
Thanks Captain Yesterday and Feros!
I'd like to see Yakshas, Ghandarvas, Apsaras, etc. as PC races because that's essentially what they were in relation to the Hindu mythos.
Anything involving anthropomorphic food would be awful.
More creatures from ABC:
Great. Those lists have been teasing me for years.
Carnotaurus, Dilophosaurus, some kind of heavily spiked ankylosaur like Gastonia or Edmontonia, and either Kronosaurus or Nothosaurus (which were in Skull & Shackles but not in an actual bestiary yet) would be my top choices for dinosaurs.
I am seriously hyped for this. I love Varklops, and the Ouroboros is fascinatingly disturbing. I agree that the Horsemen need more than just advanced nightmares as mounts.
** spoiler omitted **Can you tell us more about them? Apparently they're fey, which surprises me. I would have assumed Magical Beast. Sounds about right given the lore. Thanks for answering so many of my questions Feros!
So what's the Mapinguari like? And the Ghole? Thanks. Those sound like pretty good interpretations of the creatures' folkloric source material.
Is it just me or are there more Outsiders then usual here, and not just in Demigod groups? I mean, six Psychopomps, six Proteans, six Qlippoths, six demons, and eight Daemons is a lot. Not that I'm complaining.
I find it cool that the Thessalhydra is referenced in Stranger Things :) I would strongly guess that that may have had something to do with why it was selected.
Just looking at the list, the creatures that are based on mythology appear to be:
Mythical Creatures:
Alp (Germanic) Apollyon (Greek, sort of) Atuikakura (Japanese) Baalzabul (Canaanite) Barbatos (Ars Goetia) Belial (Ars Goetia) Bloody Bones (British) Boggart (British) Boggle (British) Charon (Greek) Cipactli (Aztec) (Squees) Daitengu (Japanese) (Very pleased with this choice as well. I like that Tengu are a PC race, but in mythology they were actually very powerful, so this is good.) Devil Monkey (American Cryptid) Dispater (Roman) Euryale (Greek) (Very curious about this one. A stronger relative of the Medusa?) Geryon (Greek, sort of) Gowrow (American) Green Man (Various European) Hupia (Taino) Kamaitachi (Japanese) Kikituk (Inuit) Krampus (Alpine) Lilitu (Mesopotamian) Llorona (Mexican) Mammon (Christian) Mapinguari (Brazilian Cryptid) Mephistopheles (Germanic) Mokele-mbembe (Congo) Moloch (Canaanite) Muhuru (African, too lazy to look up what ethnic group) Naiad (Greek) Nekomata (Japanese) Ouroboros (I think Egyptian, can someone describe this one? An odd choice) Psoglav (Slavic) (I've wanted this one for ages) Rawhead (Originally British, later exported to US) Rougarou (Cajun) Taniwha (Maori) (I think we all want this one described) Tenome (Japanese) Utukku (Mesopotamian. I think, it really sounds Mesopotamian) Vrykolakas (Greek, non-classical) Wild Hunt (Germanic) Yurei (Japanese) Apologies if I missed a couple. Would someone mind describing: Monsters I'm curious about:
Boggle, Cipactli, Daitengu, Euryale, Hupia, Llorona, Mapinguari, Ouroboros, Rawhead, (Very curious since it's not an Undead type), Taniwha Not as many from mythology this time as there were last time, but some very interesting choices nonetheless, and a couple that have been a long time coming. I've long wanted a more mythically accurate Tengu and Leshy/Green Man, so I'm pleased. Super excited to get the book.
On the subject of five-man bands of dragons, it might be cool to see a group of five fully marine dragons. Perhaps a Coral Dragon, Coastal Dragon, Pelagic Dragon, Deepwater Dragon, and maybe one from Arctic waters, not sure what that one would be called.
This would be a cool idea. I love the idea of racial "Iconics" because I've always been disappointed that none of the Iconics were anything but Core races.
Consider me part of team Draconomicon. It was a really fun book in 3.5 edition, and Pathfinder's true dragons have sadly gotten the short end of the stick in terms of lore. For what are intended to be some of the most spectacular monsters in existence, the lack of flavor text has really hurt them a lot. I would buy a Draconomicon equivalent in a heartbeat, and I think that would solve the problem quite nicely. Oh, and the Infernal Dragon looks awesome. I'm a little surprised that they decided to make the Abyssal the elegant one and the Infernal the brute, but I think it works reasonably well and the Infernal is totally badass in appearance.
I really don't know how I overlooked this website before, but dragon and mythology fans rejoice.
Really powerful curse spewing dragons from the Legacy of Fire bestiaries.Thanks. Also based on dragons from Persian mythology.
I can honestly say I don't recall ever having seen arboreal blob monsters before.
I, of course, would like to see a group of dragons based on North American Horned Serpents, but I'm not sure if it would be better to make them a group of true dragons like the Imperial Dragons were, or something more akin to Linnorms and Azis.
Two types of Fey in this AP volume's bestiary, the Anhana and Ohancanu, are both from Spanish folklore. They turn up on Google as Anjana and Ojancanu if you want to do more research, but in the AP they're spelled how they're pronounced. And the Anhana is not to be confused with the Brazilian Anhanga.
Yay! We're getting more mythical creatures! And the Ohancanu is a fey? That's awesome!
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