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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Misfit Monsters Redeemed (PFRPG)

4.40/5 (based on 9 ratings)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Misfit Monsters Redeemed (PFRPG)
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Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

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:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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Redemption is Hard

2/5 —

"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.

Warning: Terrifying!

5/5 —

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...

5/5 —

I've reviewed this book over on RPGGeek.com.

Great choices

5/5 —

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.

Enjoyed it too much not to give it five stars.

Misfits no more

5/5 —

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 ?

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I ain't ashamed. I already know which Paizo staff will make fun a me fer it, and I ain't skert.

Spoiler:
DOOM! DOOM!
Contributor
Jason Nelson wrote:
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

The love...so...great...

::Breaks down in unashamed, manly weeping::

The love that dares not speak its name.

** spoiler omitted **

Great love perhaps, but not -that- kind of love. Otherwise my girlfriend wants to watch, and let's not give her any more ideas than she's liable to come up with on her own. :D

Contributor
Todd Stewart wrote:
Jason Nelson wrote:
Mairkurion {tm} wrote:

The love...so...great...

::Breaks down in unashamed, manly weeping::

The love that dares not speak its name.

** spoiler omitted **

Great love perhaps, but not -that- kind of love. Otherwise my girlfriend wants to watch, and let's not give her any more ideas than she's liable to come up with on her own. :D

People, I've seen some of the rough cuts of Todd's work, and I can safely say that my love for him is of a sort that stands back behind layers of impermeable Plexiglas in a panic room, wearing a hazmat suit with a self-contained respirator.

It's a very, very careful love. With a Level 5 Clearance.

Wait... are we still talking about Dire Corbies?
Paizo Employee Director of Narrative

Sutter developed an interpretive dance to fill in some of the blanks in the flumph life cycle and was kind enough to perform it for me at PaizoCon.

That's love.

Can I order mine but hold the Flumph?
Paizo Employee Director of Narrative

You are only building yourself up for defeat. You cannot resist the power of the flumph.

You've sat there with a leafy head being all clever and everything, but one of my main goals in writing this piece was to make you ashamed you've ever bad-mouthed flumphs. Sure, I know that's a high bar to set, but I set it. I'm also confident that I'll at least partially win you over.

Okay, I gotta see this!

Awesome Daigle-Flumph! Personally I am greatly looking forward to this!
Adam Daigle wrote:
You are only building yourself up for defeat. You cannot resist the power of the flumph.

Adam Daigle - Mantis Man, King of Monsters, Champion of Flumphs.

If he can raise flumphs above my ridicule, his Contributor tag should have Optimus Maximus added to it.

The real origin of flumphs? Just look at that illustration.
Mouthy Upstart wrote:
The real origin of flumphs? Just look at that illustration.

You realize that just makes them cooler ...

They could be made less cool?
Mouthy Upstart wrote:
They could be made less cool?

SURE! We could rename them 'dire corbies' =P

Scarab Sages
Colin McComb wrote:
I should add further that, having read your efforts to... ahem... be Paizo's "flumpher", you were far more qualified to take the critter.

"Flumpher on set! He's losing wood!"

Liberty's Edge

Holy @#$%! It took me a while to figure that one out. LMAO!
James Jacobs wrote:
David Fryer wrote:
So will norkers be in Misfit Monsters II?

1) Norkers are HARDLY misfits. They're bad-ass.

2) Norkers are also not open content.

Norkers = hobgoblins, 1st level Barbarians with Natural Armor +7. In D&D 3.5 I used goblins instead of hobs, but Golarion goblins are too chaotic and unique to become armor-plated norkers.

I had hoped never to see these creatures again after the AD&D Fiend Folio...
Kaushal Avan Spellfire wrote:
I had hoped never to see these creatures again after the AD&D Fiend Folio...

The good news is buying the suppliment is purely optional.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
Kaushal Avan Spellfire wrote:
I had hoped never to see these creatures again after the AD&D Fiend Folio...

Well... if we do our job right with this book, your hopes will be reversed and you'll be HAPPY to see these creatures again! :-)

Dark Archive
James Jacobs wrote:
Well... if we do our job right with this book, your hopes will be reversed and you'll be HAPPY to see these creatures again! :-)

Not if he's a player...

BTW, once this is out we should start a player kill forum, maybe here once the book is out. A place dedicated to those who may have lost PCs to Dire Corbies, the WiSC, and the dreaded FLUMPH.

The reality here is that the nasties in this book (+ bad rolls) will cause some PCs to die - they are going to need a place to go to rationalize how their wizard was pulverized by a rampaging Flail Snail, or how their evil 10th level Rogue Blackleaf was crushed (?) to death by a cluster (??) of Flumph (Flumpi???).

In any case they are going to need a place to go to deal. A place to get counseling for the tidal wave of tragedies which will befall scores of unknowing players.

Reap what you sow Paizo, reap what you sow.

Spoiler:
DOOM! DOOM!

Reaping Time Comes 10/2010

DOOM! DOOM!

I don't care what anyone says, I have always loved the Flumph. As long as they are still rather Flumph-ish I'll call this book a success! I also hope the art isn't changed *too* much, paint jobs and awkward overhauls aside, you can't change too much about these beauties!

As soon as I read Flumph, Adherer, Lurker Above and WISC I swooned!
Incidentally, were IS the trapper?

I hope giants revisited and mythic monsters revisited come next
Paizo Employee Creative Director
WyvernBoundSoul wrote:

I don't care what anyone says, I have always loved the Flumph. As long as they are still rather Flumph-ish I'll call this book a success! I also hope the art isn't changed *too* much, paint jobs and awkward overhauls aside, you can't change too much about these beauties!

As soon as I read Flumph, Adherer, Lurker Above and WISC I swooned!
Incidentally, were IS the trapper?

The trapper's in the same chapter as the lurker above and the executioner's hood.

James Jacobs wrote:
WyvernBoundSoul wrote:

I don't care what anyone says, I have always loved the Flumph. As long as they are still rather Flumph-ish I'll call this book a success! I also hope the art isn't changed *too* much, paint jobs and awkward overhauls aside, you can't change too much about these beauties!

As soon as I read Flumph, Adherer, Lurker Above and WISC I swooned!
Incidentally, were IS the trapper?

The trapper's in the same chapter as the lurker above and the executioner's hood.

Oh... Good, good. That put my worries to rest! ^^

WyvernBoundSoul wrote:


Incidentally, were IS the trapper?

Right behind you!

The Exchange

The write up about the book says there are only 10 monsters, but 64 pages. Does that mean each monsters gets about 6 pages to itself?
Silver Crusade
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Yeah because it's a Revisited-ish book, where each monster gets 6 pages of backstory, ecology, Golarion-related fluff. Stats too, but that's one page.
The Exchange
Gorbacz wrote:
Yeah because it's a Revisited-ish book, where each monster gets 6 pages of backstory, ecology, Golarion-related fluff. Stats too, but that's one page.

Thanks. I don't have the other Revisited books so I didn't know that.

Zeugma wrote:
Gorbacz wrote:
Yeah because it's a Revisited-ish book, where each monster gets 6 pages of backstory, ecology, Golarion-related fluff. Stats too, but that's one page.
Thanks. I don't have the other Revisited books so I didn't know that.

Get them they are more than worth it

Sovereign Court
Blackerose wrote:
I know its not usable (and that it is a GOOD thing..), but does anyone remember the wingless wonder?

I do, but never understood the point of it.

The Most Dire of Corbies wrote:
Doom! Doom!

Corbie love! Yipee!!!

I have a notice with FRPGame for when this becomes available. I can't wait to see what you do with the flumph. Yeah, it's goofy looking but it's always been a lovable loser in my eyes. And there are some nice links in here. Linking the flumph to Lovecraft is rather weak but in some cases it's almost a requirement that any aberration must be inspired by something that gave that man nightmares.

Flumphs coming from the stars to warn of lurking cosmic horrors....ugh. I just heard my wallet gearing up to lose some weight. On a book containing flumphs and executioner's hoods. How did this happen?

I just saw the one new illustration featuring a flumph trashing some goblins. Go Man Go!

The cover image confuses me a bit. What's got its tentacle (or prehensile tongue, as the case may be) on Valeros this time?
Arevashti wrote:
The cover image confuses me a bit. What's got its tentacle (or prehensile tongue, as the case may be) on Valeros this time?

That's a giant frog from a previously published adventure (name withheld to protect players). When the final cover is laid out and the book ships to the printer they'll update the product page with the actual art.

I saw a neat picture of a flumph trashing goblins on the blog. I can only hope they make that cover.
Paizo Employee Director of Narrative

I would be crazy-excited to see a flumph on the cover of this book!
Contributor
Adam Daigle wrote:
I would be crazy-excited to see a flumph on the cover of this book!

How about the back cover?

Paizo Employee Director of Narrative
James Sutter wrote:
Adam Daigle wrote:
I would be crazy-excited to see a flumph on the cover of this book!
How about the back cover?

That'll work too!

Contributor
Adam Daigle wrote:
I would be crazy-excited to see a flumph on the cover of this book!

I'll bet there will be something even BETTER than a flumph on the cover!

Sovereign Court
Colin McComb wrote:


I'll bet there will be something even BETTER than a flumph on the cover!

Is it me?

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16
Colin McComb wrote:
I'll bet there will be something even BETTER than a flumph on the cover!

What could possibly be better than a lovable, wriggly flumph?

Contributor

Well, if the flumph is on the back, we need something equally ridiculous on the front. That can only mean... the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing!

(I really should have had a macro for that name)
Paizo Employee Director of Narrative

I heard the cover was going to be a photo of Colin and myself dressed up as misfit monsters.
Contributor
Adam Daigle wrote:
I heard the cover was going to be a photo of Colin and myself dressed up as misfit monsters.

So... a pair of lava children? Because I'm not getting into the flail snail costume.

Colin McComb wrote:

Well, if the flumph is on the back, we need something equally ridiculous on the front. That can only mean... the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing!

(I really should have had a macro for that name)

Eh, the flumph would have made a better front cover and shove the even goofier wolf in sheep's clothing to the back. I'm sorry but I actually still have some respect for the flumph, they can make great comic relief if nothing else and can be a true test of a groups measure as heroes.

Player: What a second something that goofy is not trying to kill us and may actually help us out if we don't kill it?

GM: Yes, it's offering to guide you around the dungeon.

Another Player: I say we keep the snickering to ourselves and hire the darn thing. This could actually be entertaining.
Sovereign Court
FenrysStar wrote:
even goofier wolf in sheep's clothing

You're dead to me.

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