Is there an intention of a new printing of this, made available here or through the Kobold store? And if so, is there a way to be notified when such a printing happens?
Kobold Press
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Is there an intention of a new printing of this, made available here or through the Kobold store? And if so, is there a way to be notified when such a printing happens?
It is currently on backorder. We'll have more in October, which the kobolds will ship first (and Paizo not long after that).
Is there an intention of a new printing of this, made available here or through the Kobold store? And if so, is there a way to be notified when such a printing happens?It is currently on backorder. We'll have more in October, which the kobolds will ship first (and Paizo not long after that).
That's great news! Just in time for my birthday!
There's a possibility. The counter-argument is that Pathfinder has a LOT of great Bestiaries already from Paizo, and so there's likely less need for it.
Of course, the counter-argument to that counter-argument might be that the Bestiaries are still happening with Bestiary 6 coming out next year, which seems to indicate a continued demand for critters. :D
The hunger for MOAR monsters is matched only by the hunger of monsters for the blood of would-be adventurers.
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And the truck with the reprint has shown up. Gathering kobold mercs and stevedores to ship out a TON of backorders from the Kobold Store on Monday!
Starting with Kain Darkwind's birthday order, I suspect.
The second printing is here!!!
Tome of Beasts back in print - let the bajillions of back orders commence shipping !!! :)|
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Supersized episode of the Tome Show featuring a discussion and review of the Tome of Beasts, followed by an hour long interview with Wolfgang Baur and Dan Dillon. Well worth a listen!
And ... the Tome of Beasts remains on Paizo's Top Ten Downloads list again this week at #3!
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Review posted. Mea culpa, this was long overdue, but I feel like I finally digested the book to my satisfaction.
And yes, I loved it. I plan to repost the review to all relevant sites. Which, by the way, I know to be Amazon, OBS, and ENworld, but am I missing any?
What is this OBS of which you speak?
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One Book Shelf. It is the amalgam of DrivethruRPG and RPGnow. Both sites are basically the same thing, but due to the branding and the fact that they are owned by the same company (One Book Shelf), the respective sites tend to reflect different tastes that roughly delineate between big publishers and small publishers respectively.
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Part II of my review:
Were you, for example, sad to see that the MM had neither a siren, nor a nymph of similar stand-in? With the evil abominable beauty and the lorelei, we do find creatures that can fit these roles, while still maintaining a unique identity of their own. The beauty, for example, has a touch that burns you and a voice that deafens, setting her clearly apart from the spellcasting focus of the classic nymph. Have I mentioned Baba Yaga's horsemen? As a fan of swarms, I was also pretty excited to see several of these featured within this massive tome...and as a huge fan of Norse culture and mythology and their twist in Midgard, I was happy to actually see Boreas in these pages. Winter is coming.
Deadly butterflies, gigantic serpents, simian demons with diseased ichors and a demonic representation of none other than German legend Rübezahl (interesting - I would have made him a feylord) and a selection of 3 dinosaurs should also make fans of Sword & Sorcery-style fantasy pretty happy with this huge book. Have I mentioned the time-travelling eonic drifters or the edimmu? Design philosophy-wise, the book also retains a sense of believability regarding the nature of the respective builds: Animals are efficient; the gearforged and similar created are obviously made with functions - it is a subtle thing, but one that is a mark of good monster design. The theme of death and related abilities also extend to the undead....and while I like a lot of them herein, it is perhaps the one creature category that feels a bit less inspired than the rest; there are slightly too many "undead ied to x, that's why he does x"-type of creatures herein...but perhaps I am simply spoiled in that regard. To note a positive exception here: Shadow vampires are actually fiends and, for an incorporeal drain-y creature (of which I have literally seen more than 100 over the years), it does its job relatively well.
Now, I could continue rambling on about creatures herein and bloat this review further, but I believe you should, by now, have a solid grasp on what the book offers. There is, for example, a mini-NPC-codex with generic adversaries in the back, with black knights gaining fear-inducing charges, disarming city watch captains and the like providing some supporting role material. A table contains ability modifiers and features for uncommon races, if you require a quick and dirty "change race"-table. The book also contains a massive 2-page list of monster by challenge rating - and from several 1/8 creatures to 27, you'll have more than enough fodder at pretty much every level. One slightly unpleasant complaint here: Monsters grouped by type and terrain would have made for great additions to this book and help regarding navigation and user-friendliness if you need associated creatures on the fly.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting of the 2nd edition are impressive for a crunch-book of this size. As a whole, the quality of prose and statblocks is pretty impressive, considering the size of this tome. Layout adheres to a beautiful 2-column full-color standard and the book sports one of the highest concentrations of amazing full-color artworks I have seen in any book. While fans of Kobold Press may know some of these from previous books, there are a ton of completely new artworks herein as well. As a further bonus, aesthetics-wise, the book actually has a unified look regarding the artworks. The pdf version comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks - good! While I have held the physical version of the book, a massive hardcover, I do not own it. If my memory doesn't deceive me, then its spine was less thick than that of e.g. the Southlands book, so not sure how well it will survive in the long run. I do remember that the print quality per se was very high, though.
A metric ton of people worked on this: Dan Dillon, Chris Harris, Rodrigo Garcia Carmona, Wolfgang Baur, William Ryan Carden, Christopher Carlson, Michael John Conrad, James L- Crawford, Christopher Delvo, Matthew F. Dowd, Timothy Eagon, Matthew Eyman, Robert Fairbanks, David Gibson, Chrsitopher Gilliford, John Henzel, Jeremy Hochhalter, Michael Holland, Ben Iglauer, James Introcaso, Dan Layman-Kennedy, Christopher Lockey, Maximillian Maier, Greg marks, Dave Olson, Richard Pett, Marc Radle, Jon Sawatsky, Ryan Shatford, Troy E. Taylor, Andrew Teheran, Jorge A. Torres, Darius Uknius, Sersa Victory, Ben Wertz.
That is a LOT of different voices, which is which I'd like to mention the unsung heroes of the book: - Developer Steve Winter, editors Peter Hogan, Wade Rockett and Wolfgang Baur and proofing by Dan Dillon are what ultimately could have been a mess regarding the different power-levels and qualities of creatures and forged the book into a concise, remarkable whole.
So, should you get this book? To cut a long ramble short: YES! The second edition of Tome of Beasts is an amazing, massive collection of creatures that, in imagination and execution, is full of creatures that is on par and exceeds the best the Monster Manual has to offer. That being said, depending on how nitpicky you are, there is something you should be aware off: The book does have a 6-page errata. Traditionally, I do not take these into account and only count actual updates to the respective book. That being said, even if I disregard these (changes include e.g. a reference to "ability damage" being changed to "...Strength reduced. A creature with 0 Strength dies." Depending on how nitpicky you are, that may well annoy you. Condition/damage immunity poison(ed) have been forgotten a couple of times; there's a reference to "Diminutive" that should be "Tiny." What I'm trying to show you here, frankly, is the extent of the hiccups and give you an impression of whether they would annoy you.
It should, however, be noted, that, as a whole, the book is TIGHT. Personally, even disregarding the errata, I most certainly have found more creatures I want to use within these pages than in pretty much all early-edition bestiaries before. Beyond the fact that this "unlocks" a ton of amazing Kobold Press books with its creatures, the emphasis on the unique critters herein also means that it will not be rendered obsolete as soon as the next MM comes around - instead, it is a titanic collection of gorgeous creatures that should be considered to be pretty much a must-have purchase for 5e-groups and monster designers alike; in spite of the minor hiccups herein, the totality of the creatures herein must be considered to be superb, evocative and suffused by the stuff of myths. In short: If I had to get rid of one 5e monster book and my choices were this and the MM, I'd throw the MM out of the window faster than you can say "Liosalfar." (Yep, these delightfully creepy guys are in the book as well...)
So yes, this massive tome is very much worth the asking price and makes for a superb purchase - and I'd be surprised if I saw any 5e-monster book anytime soon that manages to beat this. In the end, my final verdict, in spite of the hiccups mentioned, will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval and this also receives the nomination for my Top Ten of 2016.
Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS, amazon, etc.
Endzeitgeist out.
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Thanks so much End!
A HUGE amount of work, late nights, blood, sweat, and tears went into this book from a lot of people, so it's absolutely wonderful to see the Tome of Beasts getting such 'warm fuzzies'! :)
These comments comments in particular make all the hard work worth while (for me, anyway :)
"The Tome of Beast is chock-full with a gigantic array of absolutely stunning full-color artwork, making it frankly one of the most beautiful bestiaries I have read by any publisher. Yes, I actually consider this book to be more aesthetically pleasing than Pathfinder's first bestiary or the 5e Monster Manual."
"If I had to get rid of one 5E monster book and my choices were [Tome of Beasts] and the [Monster Manual], I'd throw the MM out of the window faster than you can say "Liosalfar."
"So yes, this massive tome is very much worth the asking price and makes for a superb purchase - and I'd be surprised if I saw any 5E-monster book anytime soon that manages to beat this. My final verdict ... will clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval and this also receives the nomination for my Top Ten of 2016."
When do we get the pathfinder version?We already did it! That's the Midgard Bestiary for Pathfinder RPG, the Southlands Bestiary for Pathfinder RPG, the Book of Drakes, and the Monsters of Sin Collection.
I've been wondering which books this represented in PFRPG. I already have the Midgard and Southlands Bestiary, so I just need to get the Book of Drakes and Monsters of Sin to complete the collection!
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When do we get the pathfinder version?We already did it! That's the Midgard Bestiary for Pathfinder RPG, the Southlands Bestiary for Pathfinder RPG, the Book of Drakes, and the Monsters of Sin Collection.
Oh ok. Did not realize those books were the equivalent of this one for Pathfinder. I'm glad to know now.
Don't be fooled there are more monsters in Tome of Beasts than what those other books provide. We very much need a Pathfinder version!
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Check out this list of The Most Giftable Third Party 5E Supplements from Geek & Sundry!
It's a great list to be sure, but take a look at what books are at the top of their list!!!
The Most Giftable Third Party 5E Supplements from Geek & Sundry
Pretty darn awesome!
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Pretty sure Kobold Press has moved on from Pathfinder and is since 5 years or so making only 5e stuff.