Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary (OGL)

Penthouse

of

page 7.

Any chance that there will be a pronunciation guide for the not-so-obvious names, such as tiefling, erinyes, hamatula, vargouille, etc.?

TEEF-ling, ERRIN-nee-ess, HAMMA-tyula, var-GWEEL :)

I am curious if there will be a Lore section in the Bestiary, such as those found in the later 3rd edition Monster Manuals.

I am curious if there will be a Lore section in the Bestiary, such as those found in the later 3rd edition Monster Manuals.

If you are talking about a chart listing Knowledge DCs and bits of info given for the critter, I am of the understanding that that information will not be included. However, with that space there will be varying amounts of critter information available.

I am curious if there will be a Lore section in the Bestiary, such as those found in the later 3rd edition Monster Manuals.

Personally, I'm kind of hoping there isn't. I'd rather if someone makes a knowledge check, they find out what they are actually wondering about a given monster.

"How can I hurt this thing?"

::23 on the Knowledge roll::

"Well, according to the Lore chart, you know it hates halflings and prefers to eat hot apple pie."

"But I wanted to know how to kill it . . . "

And of course, the reverse is true as well.

"How do I feed this cubs if I want to raise them?"

"Well, according to the chart you can kill them with cold iron."

"Um, I don't want to kill them, I want to feed them and train them to adulthood."

I am curious if there will be a Lore section in the Bestiary, such as those found in the later 3rd edition Monster Manuals.

Each monster will have some amount of information about it; for a few, this is only a few sentences, but for the majority there's a fair amount of flavor text.

If, as mentioned above, you're looking for a table that summarizes what's learned about a monster with a Knowledge check, that WON'T be in the book. Partially because those tables take up a lot of room and because they tend to waste space by repeating information (or leave out information entirely), but mostly because they're not really worth the trouble. Especially since it seems to suggest to the GM that there's a specific order in the information that should be rewarded. Much better for the GM to be able to customize the results of Knowledge checks as needed so that if a player wants to know about a monster's defenses or hunting habits, he won't get information about its mating habits or special attacks.

Especially since it seems to suggest to the GM that there's a specific order in the information that should be rewarded. Much better for the GM to be able to customize the results of Knowledge checks as needed so that if a player wants to know about a monster's defenses or hunting habits, he won't get information about its mating habits or special attacks.

Thanks. In published tables like that, it always seems like the most likely things to be known are put at very high DCs (such things as "trolls regenerate").

Thanks. In published tables like that, it always seems like the most likely things to be known are put at very high DCs (such things as "trolls regenerate").

Thanks for the spoiler, Russ!

James Jacobs wrote:

Especially since it seems to suggest to the GM that there's a specific order in the information that should be rewarded. Much better for the GM to be able to customize the results of Knowledge checks as needed so that if a player wants to know about a monster's defenses or hunting habits, he won't get information about its mating habits or special attacks.

Thanks. In published tables like that, it always seems like the most likely things to be known are put at very high DCs (such things as "trolls regenerate").

THEY WHAT!?

And purple worms will EAT YOU!

And purple worms will EAT YOU!

LA LA LA! I can't HEAR you!

Knowledge (the planes) DC 10: Earth elementals know how to rock.

Zootcat wrote:

Any chance that there will be a pronunciation guide for the not-so-obvious names, such as tiefling, erinyes, hamatula, vargouille, etc.?

TEEF-ling, ERRIN-nee-ess, HAMMA-tyula, var-GWEEL :)

Many gamers "know" how to pronounce names because they've been saying them in their head a certain way every time they read it for many many years. Or maybe it's because that is how their gaming group has always said it. They now believe that their pronunciation is the only correct way. So, how do you know that those are the correct pronunciations?

An official pronunciation guide would be great for a couple of reasons.
1] I can trust it to be accurate. Take tiefling for example. Wolfgang Baur coined that term. He is in a close relationship with Paizo. So, if James Jacobs tells me it's pronounced TEEF-ling, then I know I can trust him.
2] It will get everyone on the same page. I don't want to go join a new gaming group and have them all insist that it's pronounced TY-fling, and tell me that I am the one who's saying it wrong. This actually happened to me. It was almost impossible to convince them that I was indeed saying it correctly.

So, Arakhor, I appreciate the help, but I hope you'll understand if I take your pronunciations with a grain of salt. ;)

I would like to see a pronunciation guide for all things Golarion as well as the monsters book ect.

But it is not a priority and might be better as a free PDF anyways. That way they could add to it over time as new stuff comes out.

Many gamers "know" how to pronounce names because they've been saying them in their head a certain way every time they read it for many many years. Or maybe it's because that is how their gaming group has always said it. They now believe that their pronunciation is the only correct way. So, how do you know that those are the correct pronunciations?

An official pronunciation guide would be great for a couple of reasons.
1] I can trust it to be accurate. Take tiefling for example. Wolfgang Baur coined that term. He is in a close relationship with Paizo. So, if James Jacobs tells me it's pronounced TEEF-ling, then I know I can trust him.

There were actually a series of audio files released by TSR (or else really early days of WotC-owned D&D) for Planescape and Birthright with the proper pronunciations for just anything you can think of that would trip people up. Also the Planescape "A Player's Primer to the Outlands" came with an audio CD that had a lot of the pronunciations as well.

I have the CD somewhere.

I see September here, but I saw July somewhere else in the forums (sorry for the lack of link, I got lost amongst so much text) I was just hoping I could get an "official" date. Also, for those of us buying the core rulebook from another source (amazon.com, as I have gift cards there, and it's the only way I can afford the books now, besides, the money gets back to Most Glorious Paizo) will said sources be shipping out the items at the same time the Paizo warehouses do, or will there be a delay? I guess I'm asking if 3rd party suppliers will be getting copies in advance, so everyone releases at once? Sorry for the rambling, it's late and I'm excited to get my greedy hands on the Pathfinder RPG.

There were actually a series of audio files released by TSR (or else really early days of WotC-owned D&D) for Planescape and Birthright with the proper pronunciations for just anything you can think of that would trip people up. Also the Planescape "A Player's Primer to the Outlands" came with an audio CD that had a lot of the pronunciations as well.

The CDs that came with the Mystara-Glantri box and the starter rules box were downright hilarious.

The captive male elf in one of them sounded like a young Doctor Smith from Lost in Space. More camp than Crystal Lake.

I see September here, but I saw July somewhere else in the forums (sorry for the lack of link, I got lost amongst so much text) I was just hoping I could get an "official" date. Also, for those of us buying the core rulebook from another source (amazon.com, as I have gift cards there, and it's the only way I can afford the books now, besides, the money gets back to Most Glorious Paizo) will said sources be shipping out the items at the same time the Paizo warehouses do, or will there be a delay? I guess I'm asking if 3rd party suppliers will be getting copies in advance, so everyone releases at once? Sorry for the rambling, it's late and I'm excited to get my greedy hands on the Pathfinder RPG.

First off, thanks for jumping onto the messageboards!

The Bestiary will be releasing in September. We originally had it releasing in July, so you weren't imagining things, but moved it to September for quality reasons, mostly having to do with making sure the core rules were finished before we edited the Bestiary.

As for the release date of the core rulebook, we will be shipping books out so that they are in stores by the 13th of August should all go right, though hiccups could happen that are outside of our control (like a shipment getting lost). We have been told that the book stores, of which Amazon is a part, will be releasing the book on the 19th of August because they always release on a Wednesday and that is the first Wednesday after the official August 13th release.

I hope this info helps!

-Lisa

As for the release date of the core rulebook, we will be shipping books out so that they are in stores by the 13th of August should all go right, though hiccups could happen that are outside of our control (like a shipment getting lost). We have been told that the book stores, of which Amazon is a part, will be releasing the book on the 19th of August because they always release on a Wednesday and that is the first Wednesday after the official August 13th release.

...and we have no idea why Amazon is listing September 2 for the Core Rulebook.

I have a design question. And I'm not sure if it's been asked before, if it has please point me in the direction of the answer.

Regarding Monster Advancement. Are you keeping the same basic style of advancement for monsters? A new way or nothing at all?

Thanks!

I have a design question. And I'm not sure if it's been asked before, if it has please point me in the direction of the answer.

Regarding Monster Advancement. Are you keeping the same basic style of advancement for monsters? A new way or nothing at all?

Thanks!

There'll be several ways to advance monsters, but the basic "add Hit Dice or change size" method remains in the game as the baseline method, if you will. There's a few options for simpler, faster methods to adjust a monster as well.

[...]

As for the release date of the core rulebook, we will be shipping books out so that they are in stores by the 13th of August should all go right, [...]
_Lisa

Hope they hit the shelfs in Stockholm Sweden the same date :-)

There's a few options for simpler, faster methods to adjust a monster as well.

Oooh. That is fantastic news. I have a group of players that crave more high-level play, and the MM 3.5 is simply not up for the task.

mattdroz wrote:

I have a design question. And I'm not sure if it's been asked before, if it has please point me in the direction of the answer.

Regarding Monster Advancement. Are you keeping the same basic style of advancement for monsters? A new way or nothing at all?

Thanks!

There'll be several ways to advance monsters, but the basic "add Hit Dice or change size" method remains in the game as the baseline method, if you will. There's a few options for simpler, faster methods to adjust a monster as well.

Thank you! This is great news.

There's a few options for simpler, faster methods to adjust a monster as well.

Sweet, I was hoping for something like this! ;)

Canticle wrote:

I see September here, but I saw July somewhere else in the forums (sorry for the lack of link, I got lost amongst so much text) I was just hoping I could get an "official" date. Also, for those of us buying the core rulebook from another source (amazon.com, as I have gift cards there, and it's the only way I can afford the books now, besides, the money gets back to Most Glorious Paizo) will said sources be shipping out the items at the same time the Paizo warehouses do, or will there be a delay? I guess I'm asking if 3rd party suppliers will be getting copies in advance, so everyone releases at once? Sorry for the rambling, it's late and I'm excited to get my greedy hands on the Pathfinder RPG.

First off, thanks for jumping onto the messageboards!

The Bestiary will be releasing in September. We originally had it releasing in July, so you weren't imagining things, but moved it to September for quality reasons, mostly having to do with making sure the core rules were finished before we edited the Bestiary.

As for the release date of the core rulebook, we will be shipping books out so that they are in stores by the 13th of August should all go right, though hiccups could happen that are outside of our control (like a shipment getting lost). We have been told that the book stores, of which Amazon is a part, will be releasing the book on the 19th of August because they always release on a Wednesday and that is the first Wednesday after the official August 13th release.

I hope this info helps!

-Lisa

I see now that it has been pushed back to October, now. As long as you're producing quality work, than that perfectly fine by me! :-) However with you saying September and the order icon saying October, I now wonder, "Which one is right?".

I see now that it has been pushed back to October, now. As long as you're producing quality work, than that perfectly fine by me! :-) However with you saying September and the order icon saying October, I now wonder, "Which one is right?".

Good catch Kevida.

I'm with you on quality.. but it would be good to know when to expect it.

I've increased the page count in the product description. This fabulous tome is so jam-packed we had to bump it up to 328 pages to make room for all the goodness.

I see now that it has been pushed back to October, now. As long as you're producing quality work, than that perfectly fine by me! :-) However with you saying September and the order icon saying October, I now wonder, "Which one is right?".

We're just about to turn it over to the printer, and they'll give us a better date soon after we do, but my guess is that it'll be early October.

Kevida wrote:

I see now that it has been pushed back to October, now. As long as you're producing quality work, than that perfectly fine by me! :-) However with you saying September and the order icon saying October, I now wonder, "Which one is right?".

We're just about to turn it over to the printer, and they'll give us a better date soon after we do, but my guess is that it'll be early October.

Well Paizo has yet to disappoint. Therefore I won't mind that wait. The only bummer is that I am going to be starting a Pathfinder game come September. Maybe I can convince my gang to hold off until October because I would rather have the Bestiary alnog with the Core Rulebook but I'll somehow manage! :-)

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to the entire Paizo staff for helping out with this mammoth project, and to all of the great writers and artists who helped to make what I truly believe is the best monster book ever published for a fantasy RPG.

It is really, really amazing.

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to you guys Erik.

And don't worry about that typo on page 287 ... it's no big deal. >:)

-Skeld

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Whoohoo! Congratulations!

So say we all!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to the entire Paizo staff for helping out with this mammoth project, and to all of the great writers and artists who helped to make what I truly believe is the best monster book ever published for a fantasy RPG.

It is really, really amazing.

Ooh-RAH!

Congratulations guys and gals - make sure you take a little breather before Gen Con - we don't want the big news to be "Entire Paizo Team faints with Exhaustion after record-breaking sale!"... Well.. maybe we do...

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to the entire Paizo staff for helping out with this mammoth project, and to all of the great writers and artists who helped to make what I truly believe is the best monster book ever published for a fantasy RPG.

I don't doubt it. It's very exciting to hear you say so!

Congratulations!

Awesome! I can't wait for this book to be out. It's such a great book to be a part of!

Congrats!

Now everyone else get back to willing this thing into being released faster using the power of your minds!

Will harder, dammit!

Congrats.

I look foward to the previews (and the book).

Sweet music to my ears. I can't wait to see the new critters set up to masticate many, many player characters. ~weg~

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to the entire Paizo staff for helping out with this mammoth project, and to all of the great writers and artists who helped to make what I truly believe is the best monster book ever published for a fantasy RPG.

It is really, really amazing.

So, does this move the release date back to September? :::crosses fingers:::

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Given the two month delay from GenCon to the October release of this book, does that mean that no adventures from Paizo will have anything but Core races/classes as enemies except when a full statblock is included until October? Or will PF25, 26 and Crypt of the Everflame reference page numbers in this book that we won't be able to go to until October?

Given the two month delay from GenCon to the October release of this book, does that mean that no adventures from Paizo will have anything but Core races/classes as enemies except when a full statblock is included until October? Or will PF25, 26 and Crypt of the Everflame reference page numbers in this book that we won't be able to go to until October?

Perhaps all of their beasties will be statted out in the books?

Given the two month delay from GenCon to the October release of this book, does that mean that no adventures from Paizo will have anything but Core races/classes as enemies except when a full statblock is included until October? Or will PF25, 26 and Crypt of the Everflame reference page numbers in this book that we won't be able to go to until October?

What it probably means is that, for monsters appearing in the adventures that don't have their stats fully printed out, we'll preview those pages on paizo.com or something like that. We're not 100% sure how we'll work this out yet, but it WILL have some sort of similar solution.

What it probably means is that, for monsters appearing in the adventures that don't have their stats fully printed out, we'll preview those pages on paizo.com or something like that. We're not 100% sure how we'll work this out yet, but it WILL have some sort of similar solution.

Don't forget about the PFS scenarios :)

October!?!?!?!?!!

ARRRGGGGGG

And here I was thinking that I would have both the Core and Beasties book arriving together (combined shipping) in the mail at or around my birthday. (sniffle, sniffle).

Oh well, anticipation prolonged increases pleasure obtained I guess ;)

yoda8myhead wrote:

Given the two month delay from GenCon to the October release of this book, does that mean that no adventures from Paizo will have anything but Core races/classes as enemies except when a full statblock is included until October? Or will PF25, 26 and Crypt of the Everflame reference page numbers in this book that we won't be able to go to until October?

What it probably means is that, for monsters appearing in the adventures that don't have their stats fully printed out, we'll preview those pages on paizo.com or something like that. We're not 100% sure how we'll work this out yet, but it WILL have some sort of similar solution.

I like that so much better than taking up valuable adventure space with statblocks for unaltered monsters we'll have statblocks for in a few months. And, they'll serve as previews for the upcoming book, if not spoilers for the adventures and such. I knew I could count on you, Paizo!

Ladies and gentlemen, as of about an hour ago, the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is AT THE PRINTER!!!

Congrats to the entire Paizo staff for helping out with this mammoth project, and to all of the great writers and artists who helped to make what I truly believe is the best monster book ever published for a fantasy RPG.

It is really, really amazing.

Can't wait to translate it! :-D