I'd also be interested in this book, so let me ask here once again:
What to expect from the book?
Are there horror-themed critters inside?
Ties to remarkable races have been mentioned and while I can see how that is cool, I like my fantasy human-centric and don't have any of the races, nor know if I'd like them.
What CRs do we get? Templates? New Lycanthropes or vampires?
Cthulhuesque critters?
Being "a labor of love" unfortunately does not influence my decision on whether to buy or not...
Greetings,
Endzeitgeist
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I have just read it today, so :
What to expect from the book?
A lot of solid monsters along a few goofier ones. All in superb art.
Are there horror-themed critters inside?
Not sure, but I'd say Yes, but not only that. Some of the monsters look like they are well integrated in their "ecology".
Ties to remarkable races have been mentioned and while I can see how that is cool, I like my fantasy human-centric and don't have any of the races, nor know if I'd like them.
There are a few nods, but I don't own remarkable races, and have the same sentiment as you, and it really was not a problem.
What CRs do we get? Templates? New Lycanthropes or vampires?
Cthulhuesque critters?
I have not paid much attention to CRs, but I had the feeling there wad mostly mid level monsters, with a few high level. There was a bit of everything, there was at least one chtulhu-like aberration, but this is not the main course.
There were several new dragons (I liked the plague dragon)
Honestly, it is good solid value for the price, the art is oustanding, and it gave me EVIL DM ideas.... (Mwhahaha ?)
Hope it helps
Thank you very much for the information, Stereofm.
The artwork is a definite plus, then.
You mentioned goofy monsters... Goofy good or goofy bad?
I'm just asking because, what I've read about Alluria's race-books, I don't think I'd like them and am unlikely to buy them... At least until I read a glowing review of one, at least.
Cheers,
Endzeitgeist
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Thank you very much for the information, Stereofm.
The artwork is a definite plus, then.You mentioned goofy monsters... Goofy good or goofy bad?
I'm just asking because, what I've read about Alluria's race-books, I don't think I'd like them and am unlikely to buy them... At least until I read a glowing review of one, at least.
Cheers,
Endzeitgeist
A few were goofy in the sens of more crossbreeds in the long tradition of the owlbear. These are rarely interesting IMO. However, there are more than that in the book.
So, it all boils down to this:
Would you recommend that I buy the book?
I'm rather into creepy horror-themed creatures than e.g. Hawksheep. ;)
I'd hate to waste 20+ bucks for a book I ultimately don't like...
So, it all boils down to this:
Would you recommend that I buy the book?
I'm rather into creepy horror-themed creatures than e.g. Hawksheep. ;)
I'd hate to waste 20+ bucks for a book I ultimately don't like...
It is always a tricky proposition telling someone its recommended or not. A lot of this is taste-dependent.
Let me say this:
I've done some freelance work with Alluria. Their approach, editing, and art are all top-notch. You are not going to find many prettier 3rd party PDFs out there for Pathfinder. The monsters are solid mechanically, and flavor-wise bend towards the creepy.
In my estimation, it's a buy. I like it a lot. But again, I've done some work with them and may be biased.
Let me close by saying keep an eye on their forthcoming products too - hint, hint -- ;)
Any chance we could get a Table of Contents preview?
Director of Game Development
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Any chance we could get a Table of Contents preview?
RPGNow has a sample PDF up where the ToC is listed. Link to Sample PDF
Who is the author? Kind of an important omission IMO.
Sam G. Hing --> It's actually on the front cover right beneath the title, but the picture is a bit too small to see that here.
Allright, stereofm, DM and The-last-Rogue, you convinced me, I've put it on my to-buy-list. Still have some stuff to read and review, though, so it might take some time. ^^
I'm impressed with the preview. Though now I'm curious, is there any chance of this being made available as a phyical product?
I'm impressed with the preview. Though now I'm curious, is there any chance of this being made available as a phyical product?
Pretty sure they are going to go print. I forget when.
It does my heart good, to see people that enjoy and plan on inflicting my creations on their players. I guess I do have a soft spot in my heart (head?) for old standbys like the owlbear..but I dont limit myself to such things.
Last I heard on the print thing, was by the start of next year. I would love to see it sooner, but its always a money issue.
Dark Mistress..my computer is STILL in the shop..(8 days now, but whos counting..), so I have not forgot you dear.
Dark Mistress..drop me an E-mail at Blackerose@aol.com...
Thanks, Alzrius! I've also bought tghe book and once my review is written, I'll post it, too. :)
Ok I have a working computer once again. I missed being on here twenty times a day...
Thanks for the review DM. I am glad people enjoy it. I tried to balance the pure horror monsters with some that could fill different ecosystems. Thus the jungle griffin, that is a larger and stronger griffin for the deep tropical jungle.
Stereo..curious about the monsters that jumped out at you to sic on your players?
One note..the only art that is not quite what it should be is the Windigo. Go by the description, not the art. The 1st artwork was closer to what it should have been, but was too cartoonish, and the back up art had to be in, to prevent the delay of the book.
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To many to list jumped out at me so to speak. That's why i didn't list them. I found if I did and then commented on each thing it would have been a massive review. But I would say about 1 in 4 I plan to figure out a way to use. about 1/2 I will use if the right situations come up and finally about 1/4 of them I likely won't use or only very sparingly. Of course this is me going off memory of a 100 monsters. Likely the last group is smaller but I am guessing. :)
I will say the product is plenty good enough to now make me take notice of other stuff you have done and plan to do now.
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Ah, quite a few have caught my eye :
Bay-Kok, Buzzbird, Assassin Cat,Plague Dragon, Ectoplasmic Stalker, Feymocker, hair Golem, Paean, Winged Medusa, Terrokinn Sickleshrike, Thanatophidis too
Did not like :
Centipede folks, Corpse Worm, Ooze : Star Jelly (must be a joke there i did not get), Slugmen.
Also, I like the fact that quite a few of the critters are for tropical climates
Ah, quite a few have caught my eye :
** spoiler omitted **
Also, I like the fact that quite a few of the critters are for tropical climates
HA..the star jelly was just a whim..they work best as a mount for the squole, from RR. I think I gave them a geometric shape just bc I had never really seen it done. The centipede folk are funny..people love them or hate them. I have found them best used as a shocker..just when the playes are thinking it's JUST another pack of giant centipedes. The bay-kok is an old native american monster, and the winged medusa was a form of gorgon from early greek myth. I would have to say the hair golem is my the most disturbing art in the whole book..
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This list of monsters as promised.
Adhaesus
Ammunition Golem
Arcane Doppleganger
Architeuthian
Assassin Cat
Assassin Zombie
Ballista Drake
Barrow Bat
Bay-Kok
Beachcomber
Bisontaur
Blade Horror
Bone Druid
Brain Wasp Swarm
Burr Monkey
Buzzbird
Carnivorous Elk
Carrion Griffin
Centipede Folk
Century Tortoise
Chitin Golem
Clutch Hound
Corpse Worm
Corpsehanger Tree
Cranium Beetle
Destroyer Relluk
Diplocaulus
Dire Skunk
Ectoplasmic Stalker
Elani
Emotion Golem
Eye Parasite
Fang Tree
Faymocker
Fleshcaller
Fleshwarper
Forged Devil
Frogodile
Fungal Hulk
Fungal Ooze
Giant Virus
Gibbering Terror
Gixubus Mantisphinx
Glacial Ooze Star Jelly Ooze
Gnomehunter Suncat
Grinder Spider
Gurrangath
Hagataur
Hair Golem
Halbeisenian Warhorse
Halfling Bane Spider
Hammertrunk Elephant
Hawkape
Helios Drake
Helmed Ape
Hoard Haunt
Horsewraith
Hydra Grub
Iron Horse
Jungle Griffin
KaiLio
Keel Turtle
Lavacaller Swarm
Lawbringer Xax
Leatherbound
Lobsterpede
Magma Kraken
Marquis Wight
Mistfolk
Morgoth
Nettleman
Paean
Plague Dragon
Puddlefolk
Quill Cat
Razorhorn Moose
Salt Dragon
Sand Ooze
Screaming Hydra
Serpion
Serrlolth
Shadowfang Wight
Shadowstep Wolf
Sickleshrike
Slugmen
Sovereign Ghoul
Spire-Eater Swarm
Tar Serpent
Terrorkin
Thanatophidis
Thunderhead Drake
Tombrobber
Undead Gang
Warder
Windigo
Winged Medusa
Wolf of War
Looking at the list here, all I can say is ..wow that was a crazy few months of work..lol
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Just started looking this over.
A LOT of very nice artwork in this.
The Leatherbound are definite perfect fits for any Church of Zon-Kuthon.
The entire book seems to lean heavily towards 1st Edition levels of weirdness. Fans of the old Fiend Folio will probably want to give this a look.
Oh wow, Giant Virus. It's exactly what it says. Not a virus that infects giants, or a virus that causes giants. It's a giant virus cell.
Just started looking this over.
A LOT of very nice artwork in this.
The Leatherbound are definite perfect fits for any Church of Zon-Kuthon.
The entire book seems to lean heavily towards 1st Edition levels of weirdness. Fans of the old Fiend Folio will probably want to give this a look.
Oh wow, Giant Virus. It's exactly what it says. Not a virus that infects giants, or a virus that causes giants. It's a giant virus cell.
I guess that's because I have played from the red box 1E set on till 3.5. That and reading Lovecraft while I was still in grade school....
While I am thinking about it, does anyone have any stories to share about inflicting any of the monsters on their players, or being on the getting attacked end of things?
I am thinking doing a adventure using only monsters from the book for one of the FL cons in Oct. Something to have fun with and promote the book at the same time
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Well, At yesterday's game, I ahve started to inflict the critters on my hapless PCs.
Starting with :
The Assassin Cat ! (or Chassassin in French)
Good : Its stealth level was so high that my PCs had almost no chance to detect it on time. So it could try the Coup de Grace on a sleeping PC safely (OKay, low chance of sucess, but still...)
Bad : tiny size = must attack in same case as PC and takes attack of opportunity.
should change : will DC for sleep effect save too low.
Of course it was a team of lvl 6 PCs, and it was just meant to scare them as they were waaaayyy to complacent.
Its in the works. Last I heard was around the end of the year. I figure on posting updates as I get them
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Well, At yesterday's game, I ahve started to inflict the critters on my hapless PCs.
Starting with :
** spoiler omitted **
Of course it was a team of lvl 6 PCs, and it was just meant to scare them as they were waaaayyy to complacent.
I was the guy who got attacked.
Otherwise, with other characters none the wise, that cat could have kept on coup de gracing me. And at one time, I would have died due to a bad fortitude roll.
Died, finished, ended. Without knowing why and after rolling many Fort and Will saves until it ends badly. And then he would go to the next hapless victim and do it all other again.
It was a very evocative encounter and a wonderful concept and I am all for strengthening this monster somewhat, but not by increasing the very real chance of it killing a PC (or several) with them having zero chance of action to at least try to evade this grisly fate.
That is the role of the cat. If you had higher level PCs, you could use Ability Focus, or just advance the cat to match them somewhat. It should never be the biggest monster you face (unless you are very low level and your DM is evil..)but should always be effective, like a thief in the night
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Well, At yesterday's game, I ahve started to inflict the critters on my hapless PCs.
Starting with :
** spoiler omitted **
Of course it was a team of lvl 6 PCs, and it was just meant to scare them as they were waaaayyy to complacent.
I was the guy who got attacked.
** spoiler omitted **
It was a very evocative encounter and a wonderful concept and I am all for strengthening this monster somewhat, but not by increasing the very real chance of it killing a PC (or several) with them having zero chance of action to at least try to evade this grisly fate.
Not entirely true though : you chose to sleep alone in your room. You could have slept in the same room as our resident witcher.
Besides, none of you were paying enough attention, so it was just right to wake you up.
Don't be a pussy, the cat barely scratched you :)
MEE-YOW !
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I got a chance to look this one over. Compared to some of the older D20 bestiaries I have, I actually liked this book.
There are a few snoozers, but I was actually surprised to find quite a bit of useful stuff. My only gripe is that they should have used the same ecology glyphs as the Pathfinder Bestiary, but this might have been a PFRPG licensing limitation.
My only concern is the price. $22 seems a bit high for a PDF, though I probably would have been willing to pay $24.99 for a Perfect Bound copy.
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Ben I think the art justfies the price. Art is very expensive and this has some good art in it. So I can except the price. If the art wasn't good trust me I would have made a point of that in my review. Cause before I had it, the price was the big sticking point for me. After I got to see it though I changed my mind.
Well..this just feels nifty~
Just ordered the print version of this! Thanks for making it available in print format!
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Bump:
I've had my eye on this for a while, and greatly prefer a printed book on my shelf, though I generally make all my purchases via Paizo store to combine shipping with my Pathfinder subsciptions and store all my PDF downloads under one account.
Given that a print version appears to be available, is there any chance of a Print/PDF Bundle via the Paizo store?
I generally try to reward third-party publishers who go to the effort of making their products Print/PDF Bundles by purchasing them here. It seems you're missing your core Pathfinder audience if you don't.
Cheers,
Stephen (DarkWhite)
Pathfinder Society 4-Star GM
Venture-Captain, Australia
Reviewed here and sent to GMS magazine. In hindsight I have to say that the 22 Bucks were not well invested for me. It's a ncie book, but not at all what I look for in a monster book.
Cheers,
Endzeitgeist