Over the course of its decades-long history, fantasy gaming has produced countless monsters both terrifying and alien, some pulled from mythology and others sprung full-formed from the twisted imaginations of their creators. Yet as with any idea, not every monster can be a winner. Or can it?
With Misfit Monsters Redeemed, Paizo Publishing has taken 10 of the most notoriously bad monsters in RPG history—the lamest, most hated, and flat-out silliest creatures in the genre—and attempted to make them fun allies and adversaries for players and Game Masters alike. Each monster comes complete with updated statistics for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, lengthy ecologies explaining how the monsters behave and why they are the way they are, tips on how Game Masters can use them in a campaign, notes on how to fit the monsters into the world of the Pathfinder campaign setting or your own home game, and more.
Inside this 64-page book, you'll find monsters such as:
Flumphs, everyone's favorite flying jellyfish monster, come from the stars to warn innocent civilizations of the cosmic horrors lurking in the darkness.
Disenchanters, the blue-furred camels who live to prey on adventurers' magical gear.
Flail snails, the magic-warping gastropods who weave slowly through the subterranean Darklands, writing epic poetry with their slime trails.
Doom-screeching dire corbies, the bird-headed terrors of the darkest caverns.
Lurking rays, the stealthy ambush predators that are really three manta-like monsters in one: the executioner's hood, the trapper, and the lurker above.
Adherers, those sticky, mummy-like monstrosities whose wrappings of flayed skin are the scarred relics of a horrible experiment by phase spiders from the Ethereal Plane.
Other loveable losers like the delver, the lava child, the tojanida, and of course, the infamous wolf-in-sheep's-clothing!
Misfit Monsters Redeemed is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game setting.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-270-8
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
"Everyone deserves a second chance" is the tagline on the back cover of Misfit Monsters Redeemed. D&D has decades of Monster Manuals and the like, filled with hundreds of creatures. It's inevitable that some would land with a thud, and others would be unintentionally, hilariously bad. The goal of this book is to provide a new take on some old duds and salvage them for use. As the introduction explains, Paizo had had good luck with its ". . . Revisited" series of books that added fresh flavour to classic monsters, but this book arose from a dare on the forums to see if the company could take the worst creatures in fantasy RPG history and breathe new life into them. Redemption is attempted for ten monsters, each receiving six pages of coverage divided into the following sections: ecology, campaign role, variants, role on Golarion, stat block, and new artwork. I'll give my verdict on each attempt at redemption below, but the short conclusion is that . . . some of these creatures really didn't deserve a second chance, and just couldn't be redeemed. However, there are a few nice surprises.
Before getting into the content, I'll just mention the cover artwork (fairly poor, in my opinion) is reproduced in the inside back-cover sans logo, while the inside front cover is a funny "Hall of Shame" listing the monsters covered with a "before" and "after" to show what the book has tried to achieve.
*Adherers: Before, they were essentially sticky mummies that could trap weapons used against them; now they have damn creepy origin as essentially living livestock for phase spiders on the ethereal plane. I think their CR is too low given the awesome build-up for them in the text. Nonetheless, my verdict: Redeemed.
*Delvers: Before, they were subterranean cave slugs that feast on ores, and filled a pretty bland role alongside things like xorns and earth elementals. Now, they're intelligent, spiritual beings that could serve as guides for spelunkers. My verdict: Redeemed.
*Dire Corbies: Before: evil crow-men. Now: Xenophobic bipedal birdmen of the Darklands. There's a lost opportunity to tie them into tengu somehow. They're okay, but essentially just disposable random encounters for subterranean explorers. My verdict: Guilty as Charged!
*Disenchanter: Before, blue camel-like creatures that can destroy magic items. Now: Pretty much the same, with a bit of a better backstory. I don't get their weird headband fetish, and they're truly goofy looking. My verdict: Guilty as Charged!
*Flail Snail: Before, they were giant snails with maces on their faces. I have to admit I was surprised they could be improved, but now they're long-lived, intelligent zen monks with magic reflecting shells. My verdict: Redeemed.
*Flumphs: Before, they were weird floating jellyfish-like creatures. Now, these lawful good creatures warn of horrors from other worlds, and good make for really good adventure hook vehicles. My verdict: Redeemed.
*Lava Children: Before, they were a forgettable race of feral subterranean humanoids. Now, they're the creations of shaitans meant to survive in the Elemental Planes of Fire and Earth. I still don't get why metal passes through them, and despite the admittedly creepy artwork, I still don't see much of a role for them in a campaign. My verdict: Guilty as Charged!
*Lurking Ray: Before, they were underground ambush predators. Now, they have a really interesting, well-defined ecology with different niches for three variations. Still, each variation is a subterranean ambush predator and they're nothing more than random encounter fodder. In addition, Pathfinder's suffocation rules are such that they're not really dangerous. My (reluctant) verdict: Guilty as Charged!
*Tojanida: Before, they were aquatic crustacean-like monsters. Now, they're aquatic outsiders trapped ages ago in a bizarre shell form, and they can't remember why. I just can't really get a read on these creatures and what role they're supposed to fill in a campaign. My verdict: Guilty as Charged!
*Wolf-in-Sheep's Clothing: The only creature in the book I'd ever actually used, this forest predator (pictured on the cover) with a dumb name disguises itself as a tree stump with a small rabbit or squirrel on it before pouncing on any PC who gets too close. Its ability to manipulate corpses is creepy, and the book provides some admittedly interesting ideas on how to use a surprise monster that will only ever work on players once. It's a good try, but my verdict is still: Guilty as Charged!
By my count, the book successfully redeems four of the ten monsters it covers. That's not bad considering what the writers had to work with. That being said, I don't really see this book as being useful for anyone but real old-school gamers who would get a little kick out of seeing a modern updating on an old loser of a monster. Everyone else could happily stick to the six Pathfinder bestiaries for all their monster needs. To me, that makes Misfit Monsters Redeemed among the least essential books in the Campaign Setting line.
I bought this book because it featured an old relic: Wolfs in Sheep's clothing. While the original concept of them was just a living log with a bunny, Paizo has managed to give me NIGHT TERRORS about these things. They now insert their vines into corpses, and animate them like puppets. Sure, this sounds like something not TOO bad, but that's just the beginning. I flipped through the pages, and noticed an image of the Druid Iconic, 'Lini', sitting on the WOSC. This was slightly scary, but there was something different about her. I couldn't figure out what it was. So I kept looking through the book, until I came to the last chapter, talking about these monsters. But what was truly terrifying was the image of the beast, dragging the Druid towards it, preparing to kill her. I flipped back to the first picture, and figured out what is was. Her skin was cracked and decayed, and a root attached to her back...
This book re-presents some of the weirdest monsters to come out of dnd over the years. I eagerly read this book and wanted to use everything inside. In the Sargava game I’ve been running prior to all the new material to aid games set there, I wanted to populate the southern continent with new and unusual monsters. I trawled through manuals grabbing monsters from other systems, other d20 products and fringe material. I actually added in a region well-populated by the flail snails, which the party travelled to, so it is amusing to see them added to golarion. What made me chuckle was the point that they can be found on all levels of the darklands (more encounters ahead delvers) and that they are actually intelligent and Zen Buddhist like in their philosophy. When the party of my game ran into them, spells re-bounded, hit allies, someone got set on fire, causing quite the fuss. It was really very funny. They are a counter to warlocks or invokers. Note: do not use the base reflection rules, use the d100 table provided, it adds a lot more possibilities. Moar flail snails!
The other monsters can be quite the added treat. I’ll throw in the adherer although I already did something similar by taking your average Osirion mummy, give him some fighter levels and the weapon locking feat. The various lurking rays are perfect to turn a bit of spelunking into a horror game, cornbys could be added as fringe tribes in unexplored regions, disenchanters could follow wizards around who have all their body slots filled (although I prefer nishruus), and the wolf-in-sheep’s clothing could get quite a chuckle, but a savvy adventurer will know to stay back from what is cute and fuzzy in nature.
Okay heres the deal I've played this game for more years than i care to think about and yeah there are some real stinkers out there. I was initially unsure about this title until I read that the wolf in sheeps clothing was getting reworked. A fan of the old expedition to the barrier peaks I had to see if the rework would make an old favorite of mine usable again. Much to my surprise it is as are most of the others in this book. There are a couple that although strictly speaking more playable than they used to be are still just a bit too odd to see much long term use. Everything in misfits could be used once or twice with ease and some of the creatures many times. Kudos to Paizo for bringing out the weird and making if fun. I personally would like to see a book 2 of fan voted stinkers reworked. How about it Paizo 10 more ?
Some of those monsters are seriously asking for an overhaul. And with the right illo & statblock, some of these misfits can be redeemed (like what SKR did for the mimic not too long ago).
One serious problem the flumph has is 'why on Golarion (or any other world) is it called a flumph'?
I can currently think of two possible explanations for this:
1) It's based on some comic misinterpretation or other misunderstanding by other races of their own name for themselves.
2) (Going Lovecraftian) It's the sinister wet flopping noises made by their victims as they collapse to the floor, their insides sucked out with just a pile of bones in a loose bag of skin left behind.
Edit:
Oh, and on the flail snail front, given their magical resistances (at least in 2nd edition AD&D) I envisioned very large ones being used on battlefields as mobile platforms with howdahs or small iron fortress mounted on the shell.
I always thought it was onomotopoeia; the "flumph" is the noise they make whilst they keep themselves aloft - sort of like the sound jellyfish would make if they made sounds.
I always thought it was onomotopoeia; the "flumph" is the noise they make whilst they keep themselves aloft - sort of like the sound jellyfish would make if they made sounds.
Hmm. That could be viable too.
I wonder if Tim Hitchcock will get the flumph article?
So if a monster shows up in this book, it will officially be part of the Pathfinder rules, and also officially part of Golarion. That right?
Not necessarily Golarion, but certainly part of the Campaign Setting. They all probably live on one of the other planets or planes, since they're rare and pointless, for the most part.
So if a monster shows up in this book, it will officially be part of the Pathfinder rules, and also officially part of Golarion. That right?
Not necessarily Golarion, but certainly part of the Campaign Setting. They all probably live on one of the other planets or planes, since they're rare and pointless, for the most part.
Right. Campaign Setting is what I meant, but that's an important distinction you make.
Dire Corbies are not pointless misfits; they are cool and already ARE in Golarion, specifically in the Endless Gulf in the Darklands. That having been said, I look forward to seeing what further coolness oozes out of them in this book.
Well if anything should be from another world, it's the wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.
D20 modern wisc, would have a 12 pack of beer on a stump and eat stupid hunters.
Neil Spicer
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut
ChrisRevocateur wrote:
I think I'm gonna go as a Flumph for halloween this year, in celebration of this book.
You're thinking too small here. Clearly, someone needs to dress up as a flumph for Paizo's costume contest at GenCon this year. They'd win hands-down. :-)
And, no...that can't be me. I won't be making the pilgrimmage to GenCon 2010.
I think I'm gonna go as a Flumph for halloween this year, in celebration of this book.
You're thinking too small here. Clearly, someone needs to dress up as a flumph for Paizo's costume contest at GenCon this year. They'd win hands-down. :-)
And, no...that can't be me. I won't be making the pilgrimmage to GenCon 2010.
But you could dress up as a flumph for PaizoCon 2010! :)
I think I'm gonna go as a Flumph for halloween this year, in celebration of this book.
You're thinking too small here. Clearly, someone needs to dress up as a flumph for Paizo's costume contest at GenCon this year. They'd win hands-down. :-)
And, no...that can't be me. I won't be making the pilgrimmage to GenCon 2010.
1) I'm not going to GenCon (nor am I going to PaizoCon).
2) The book gets released in October, so Halloween is perfect.
Creative Director
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
