Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary (OGL)

Question!!

the pdf download for the pathfinder "phb" (beta).... do hardcopies exist? I can't find one to buy but the author hints at their existence when he says "Currently, you can download the Beta Playtest version of the entire rule set for free as a PDF or you can buy a full-color softcover edition of the rules to throw around the game table."
But where is that softcover?

Is the core rule book due in august 09 the actual evolution of the beta playtest phb... into the real phb?

There is no hardcopy left. Maybe you are lucky and can find one in some online shop, but Paizo has no one left.

The core rulebook will be the evolution of the beta playtest.

Just a thought, but shouldn't there be another "A" in that Beastiary?

Or did I just fail a language skill check?

Erm, no ? The correct word is BESTIARY. :)

Should I cancel my pre orders since I am going to GenCon Indy 2009? I'm sure I can get it there faster than I'll get it in the mail.

So how about a listing of what we can expect or would that violate any Non-Disclosure Agreements or some such?

I notice the release date has been changed to September. An additional two months to wait. Alas. :(

Good catch, Navior. I was still thinking it was July. Wonder what's the story here...

Good catch, Navior. I was still thinking it was July. Wonder what's the story here...

Unfortunate, but at least we're getting a preview in June...

Mairkurion, if I had to make a swag (Scientific Wild A** Guess) I would say that they are concentrating on getting the Pathfinder RPG out in time for GenCon and that is where all of their combined effort is focused. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do it all.

Just my 2 cp.

Well that's just great! What am I going to get for my birthday now?

EDIT in non-childish mode: That sounds like a likely guess, Silverhair. And of course I want them to do anything short of signing a contract with Asmodeus to make the lanuch of PfRPG a success. Re the link Delabarre, interesting connection that I didn't make since I hadn't noticed the date shift. Last year, I settled for the pdf...looks like this year I'll have to hie myself off to ye olde game shoppe.

Well that's just great! What am I going to get for my birthday now?

A nice pair of warm socks.

In July?
May I suggest gift givers start a fund and get me the WAR gift set...? ; )

So how about a listing of what we can expect or would that violate any Non-Disclosure Agreements or some such?

We aren't quite ready to list what monsters are in here. We will eventually, though... and chances are good that a pretty good hint to this book's contents will be in the Free RPG day Bonus Bestiary we're doing...

Good catch, Navior. I was still thinking it was July. Wonder what's the story here...

THE STORY

There's several reasons we're releasing the Bestiary in September. Here are four big ones.

1) You can play Pathfinder RPG using monsters from 3.5 sources. You can't play Pathfinder RPG without Pathfinder RPG. Therefore, the core rules are more important to get out on time, so we're concentrating on getting that out first. By putting the Bestiary in September, we give ourselves a LOT more time to make the RPG itself awesome and on time.

2) Printing books is expensive, and we have to print the Pathfinder RPG early to make sure it's available for Gen Con. A July release of the Bestiary would overlap our printing cycle with the RPG in a way that a September one does not.

3) There's new art in the RPG... but not NEARLY as much new art as there will be in the Bestiary. Art takes time to create and is expensive to order. By pushing back the Bestiary to September, we get ourselves a few more months to get great art without killing our artists with work.

4) The Bestiary needs the RPG, not vice versa. We can create the RPG in a bubble, but we can't create the Bestiary without finished RPG rules. If we were going to release the Bestiary before the RPG, we'd create an awkward artificial "bubble" in which we couldn't start doing final development until the RPG was done, and then we'd have to scramble to get it done in time to ship it so it would arrive before the RPG. By delaying its release to September, we get ourselves more time to finish the Bestiary using COMPLETE RPG rules, rather than mostly complete RPG rules.

All that said... we're hoping it's an EARLY September release.

And for the August adventure releases, we'll probably be doing some sort of preview or something so that those who run Bastards of Erebus or Crypt of the Everflame will at least have full stats for the monsters in those adventures... stay tuned in the months to come for more info!

Making the monster stats for those adventures free web enchancements would save on page count. Depending on how you guys lay out the bestiary it might just be as simple as extracting just the pages and slapping on a quick mockup cover. :)

Thanks for giving the scoop, Mr. Jacobs. It's not just that it's satisfying to understand...it's that the appetite is whetted.

Kevida wrote:

So how about a listing of what we can expect or would that violate any Non-Disclosure Agreements or some such?

We aren't quite ready to list what monsters are in here. We will eventually, though... and chances are good that a pretty good hint to this book's contents will be in the Free RPG day Bonus Bestiary we're doing...

Fair enough....Thank you for your up-front answer! :-)

There's several reasons we're releasing the Bestiary in September. Here are four big ones.

Those are definitely some very good reasons. Thanks for the explanation!

James Jacobs wrote:

There's several reasons we're releasing the Bestiary in September. Here are four big ones.

Those are definitely some very good reasons. Thanks for the explanation!

Ditto. I, too, thought the bestiary was to be released in July as well.

I really like the troll redesign. Please thank Mr. Reynolds for me the next time he's about.

On behalf of my brother, you're welcome.

Woo! Nice cover!

GOBLINS!

I really feel bad for the marilith...
All right, working with a troll is manageable... but with goblins ?
The poor lady must be harassed by multiple little hands running over her scaled serpentine body... :P
And no matter how many he slaughters out of rage, they keep coming...

...July?

We had to push back the release date to September because we needed more to finish up the RPG rules before we could update the monsters.

*drool*

I hope that Pathfinder revamps the "complete" series of books too.

I hope that Pathfinder revamps the "complete" series of books too.

Paizo posted elsewhere on the forums asking for suggestions on future rulebooks. (Beyond the Corebooks?).

I really like the troll redesign.

That's a Troll!? Holy Cow!

A troll, some goblins and a marilith!?

A troll, some goblins and a marilith!?

Oh my!

Sorry, I couldn't resist :P

This cover is ... AWESOME.
What a troll!
That's going to be so great...

That can't be a troll. No keyboard, and no dragon poop.

I assume Wayne Reynolds and Sean Reynolds are not brothers, and that that aside was an April fools joke.

I love the new cover

sweet gods now that's a troll

The troll looks great, and is honestly more trollish than the ones in the MM. I am vaguely worried over the fact that it doesn't really look like a Monsters Revisited troll, though (Which were like the MM trolls with leaves.)

Call Wayne Reynolds, ask him to draw a troll, add marzipan, (????), collect profit.

That's the Paizo Model Of Business (tm).

The troll looks great, and is honestly more trollish than the ones in the MM. I am vaguely worried over the fact that it doesn't really look like a Monsters Revisited troll, though (Which were like the MM trolls with leaves.)

(Hint Mode: There's more than one type of troll in the Bestiary...)

Also... I'm not particularly fond of the leafy troll from Classic Monsters. I much prefer the troll from Pathfinder #3 for the "classic" troll look.

My two cp:
I think the leafy troll was a great idea. Unfortunately, it was probably the worst illustration in the CMR, making it seem like a bad idea. (I hope it's one of those types hinted about, revamped.)

Edit: Bracing for the obvious and unavoidable crack.

Crack.

anyone have any idea how many pages?

amazon puts it at 320

Ross Byers wrote:

The troll looks great, and is honestly more trollish than the ones in the MM. I am vaguely worried over the fact that it doesn't really look like a Monsters Revisited troll, though (Which were like the MM trolls with leaves.)

(Hint Mode: There's more than one type of troll in the Bestiary...)

Also... I'm not particularly fond of the leafy troll from Classic Monsters. I much prefer the troll from Pathfinder #3 for the "classic" troll look.

A long long time ago ... (oh OK, it was only November), Vic Wertz (whose "new" avatar is not nearly as good as the old one) said that plans on including this in the subs had not been decided. Is there any news on this, or being that release is still 5 months away, is his comment still "official".

And I, but probably not my players are SO waiting for this product.

amazon puts it at 320

I guess it's more. They already said that each critter will get his two pages. And there are more than 160 critters in there. Even with the inevitable exceptions (like elementals being counted as different critters but sharing pages) I think this ting will be closer to 400, maybe even beyond.

Why does the Marilith have clothes on? Why?

It's a D&D tradition that the Marilith runs around topless but always manages to conceal the naughty bits with conveniently placed weapons/arms/dead adventurers. This mockery of tradition cannot be accepted!

well as someone pointed out she could use the support to stay off back problems

It's a D&D tradition that the Marilith runs around topless but always manages to conceal the naughty bits with conveniently placed weapons/arms/dead adventurers. This mockery of tradition cannot be accepted!

I will sign your petition.

seekerofshadowlight wrote:

amazon puts it at 320

I guess it's more. They already said that each critter will get his two pages. And there are more than 160 critters in there. Even with the inevitable exceptions (like elementals being counted as different critters but sharing pages) I think this ting will be closer to 400, maybe even beyond.

I'm not sure where we said each critter gets two pages. The ones in Pathfinder Adventure Path certainly do, but we've got more room there. The vast majority of hte monsters in the Bestiary will be one page monsters. Some will be on two pages. Some will be two to a page. The book itself is currently aimed at being 320 pages, though, and there are a LOT of monsters in there. Close to 300.

Why does the Marilith have clothes on? Why?

It's a D&D tradition that the Marilith runs around topless but always manages to conceal the naughty bits with conveniently placed weapons/arms/dead adventurers. This mockery of tradition cannot be accepted!

We wanted to be able to sell the book in USA bookstores, and in the USA, a lot of people have a deep, overwhelming fear of the nipple. Stories of nipple sightings are front page news, after all!

Stories of nipple sightings are front page news, after all!

Gawdz help us when the Octomom breastfeeds for the first time in public :(