Tome of Beasts (5E) PDF

This gargantuan tome of monsters clocks in at a massive 433 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 2 pages of editorial/thanks, 2 pages of ToC, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, leaving us with a mind-boggling 424 pages of content, so let's take a look!

This review is based on the second version of the book and was moved up in my review queue at the request of numerous readers.

Well, wait...before we do, please bear with me as I embark on a little tangent. As I'm typing this, D&D 5e is a relatively young system, a phenomenon I like to call "B1BS" - Bland 1st Bestiary Syndrome. I have seen A LOT of first bestiaries for various editions and they, obviously, have to cover the classic basics. Unfortunately, that also means that they tend to bore the hell out of me. Yes, I need my dragons, devils, etc. in a new gaming system and these books cover exactly that...but still. Call me monster-hipster or discerning connoisseur, but ultimately, it is the second, the third bestiary I'm looking more forward to...or the 3pp bestiaries. Here, you can usually find the uncommon, the strange and the weird. It is hence I look forward to the first big 3pp-bestiaries with a mix of anticipation and trepidation.

Traditionally, there is one downside to big 3pp-bestiaries: Budget. 3pps usually don't have the budget for a ton of expensive artworks or, if they want to get a book of these proportions done close to the system's infancy, lack the time for making all the critters utterly unique in abilities and tricks. there are exceptions to this rule, obviously, but particularly in a system's infancy, separating the wheat from the chaff is pretty difficult.

Well, the first thing you'll note when flipping open this book would be that Kobold Press obviously did have the budget thanks to the KS that powered this: 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.

The second problem mentioned, at least concept-wise, is a non-entity of an issue as well: You see, Kobold Press has years upon years of evocative critters released for 3.5, 4th edition, Pathfinder, 13th Age...add to that the rich lore of the various Midgard supplements and you have a gigantic panorama of mythologies and concepts to build upon...and at least as far as I'm concerned, context has always made it easier to design critters for me. So the ideas already are there, just awaiting their mechanical representation.

That is not to say that this book contains only previously released critters, mind you - quite the contrary is the fact, actually! There are a ton of creatures contained in this massive book that have not been seen before. There is a reason for this scope: The massive mythology established for the Midgard campaign setting is defined partially by the gigantic assortment of creatures one can encounter there. Once again, this does not mean that the book is in any way tied to the system: While numerous little boxes and side-bars elaborate upon and contextualize the respective adversaries, this book can be considered to be very much campaign setting agnostic, although Midgard's themes obviously do influence the type of creatures you can find within these pages.

The relative prominence of fey, to name a creature type, is a direct result of the canon established for the setting. Even beyond the confines of the setting, this canon can be considered to be an inspiration for the GM - when e.g. fey lords and ladies begin their entries by first establishing a massive array of fluff regarding their positions, including obvious adventure hooks, the book does shine. Speaking of which: From the challenge 8 Bear Lord to the legendary Lord of the Hunt to the Queen of Night and Magic or the River King, these beings not only are beautifully portrayed, they also make excellent use of several of 5e's peculiarities: Legendary actions, lair actions and the like supplement these powerful entities...and the book also features regional effects: The areas in the vicinity of the fey lords start behaving in unique ways: The region containing the river king, for example, provides abundant fishing, but also makes streams strong and erratic as well as increasing the chance of rain and thunderstorms. The powerful entity thus makes his presence felt, merely by...well, being present.

This is as great a time as any to speak about one crucial feat that this book manages: Beyond being a massive collection of creatures, the book actually manages to unlock several of the absolutely legendary modules from Kobold Press' catalog for D&D 5e. While conversion into the system is pretty easy, it is ultimately classes and monsters that are hardest to adapt; GMs seeking to convert some of the ever-green gems released for other systems thus have a crucial work load taken off their shoulders...and, considering the absolutely stunning artworks suffusing this book, they also get the bonus of having a great visual representation of the iconic foes. (5e GMs: Seriously consider getting "Courts of the Shadow Fey" - it's frankly one of the most unique, amazing modules I know and with this book, conversion is dead simple for experienced GMs). That only as an aside. And yes, the Snow Queen is in this book. Told you there are a ton of new creatures inside!

Now another issue bestiaries of this size face would be that different people expect different things from bestiaries and striking the right balance between those needs can be challenging. Let's face it, we gamers are an opinionated bunch: Take e.g. the owlbear or flumph - ask 10 gamers what they think about these classics and you'll get vastly diverging opinions. Two of my players absolutely love these two, while 2 others immediately start groaning whenever I use these foes. As such, opinions will diverge when faced with e.g. an oozasis/mockmire - gargantuan, intelligent ooze that sports the option to implant compulsions in those that partake from its waters or fruits, a thing that can actually emit vapors that manipulate the emotional status of creatures nearby. The serpent/leopard hybrid serpopard would be an actually cool magical hybrid creature that I can see becoming a classic.

So beyond the fey and such creatures, one aspect I always loved about Midgard (and Southlands) is that the books manage to quote real world mythology and add this distinct, Midgardian spin to everything, generating an internally concise mythology of a fantastic earth-like environment that kinda could have been...if the world was steeped in magic, flat, and surrounded by the world-serpent...but you get my drift. The adaption of such themes also does not take the usual, Tolkienesque/Anglo-Saxon focus you can usually find in RPG-bestiaries, instead drinking deeply from the wells of Germanic, Slavic and Norse mythologies as well as from sources beyond the ken of many a designer.

You know, before Tolkien pretty much defined the basic assumptions we have for the type of fantasy we play in, the world did not sit idle and research can unearth a vast panorama of fantastic sources from far before the time of the venerable professor. Christian medieval mythology, for example, still features the accounts of Prester John, fabled ruler of the Nestorian nation, a legend sprung from the missionary endeavors of Thomas the Apostle, who supposedly ruled over a land of immortal and wondrous creatures. Back then, this realm was considered to be possible...and while we now know that the realm as depicted in the sources does not exist, the mythology it created, with for example the blemmyes, who have no head and wear their face on their breasts, still resonates to this date. To the uninformed, they may constitute a nice, if a bit weird adversary; to those in the know, they represent a type of fantasy all too often neglected.

But perhaps you do not share my fascination with obscure mythologies and fantastic flights of fancy of ages gone by; perhaps your particular taste hearkens closer to the horrific, rendering you dissatisfied with the creatures featured in the Monster Manual that fulfill said niche. Rest assured that aficionados of Lovecraftiana will find some much-needed beings herein: The Folk of Leng, prominently featured in many a current module and timeless classics like the Shoggoth are contained within the pages of these tome as well, once again taking a lot of work off your hands. And, before you ask: Yes, shoggoths may absorb flesh; yes, they emit a mind-shattering piping. While we're talking about the darker creatures within these pages: There would be an undead, exceedingly hard to destroy aboleth variant within...and the fiends presented in this book are...well, fiendish.

Really fiendish. Not in the "kinda weird-looking humanoid"-kind of way; there are some beings here that truly are unique: Take the Soul Eater: These things look like basically a Medium-sized crab with humanoid arms, but from their back rises a horrid, blue-ish mess of almost Giger-esque proportions, sporting hundreds of pupil-less, red eyes. Classic creatures or creature types are not simply depicted - they are lovingly introduced. Take the sphinx herein: It actually comes with 11 classic riddles.

Does one of your players suffer from a mild arachnophobia? Well, this book actually contains several delightful arachnids, from the Spiders of Leng (obviously...where the folk are...) to the J'ba Fofi, the research was well-made; the latter, just fyi, is most commonly known as a cryptozoological creature, here with a unique angle beyond its origins in our world. Speaking of unique angle: There are beings within this book that have sprung from an imagination I can only applaud: One of my favorites would be the suturefly: It is said that these pests are the reason for forest folk not speaking much. They, or so goes the legend, lurk and wait for someone speaking lies, only to proceed to sew shut the mouth, nose or eyes of an offender who commits blasphemy, which these beings can sense. Tiny, yet exceedingly flavorful, these things feel like they could have come from the mythologies of our world, though at least to my knowledge, they very much are an original creation...or at least are so obscure I never even heard of them. I love this critter, though, much like many a being herein, the beasts herein are challenging foes - if your players are like mine and are experienced roleplayers, the adversaries herein certainly will make them work for their XP.

Let's e.g. take a look at the mascot of Kobold Press, the small but fierce kobolds featured herein - 3 such huamnoids are presented, the kobold alchemist, chieftain and trapsmith, all of which are not simply variants and instead feature unique tricks at their disposal. The least powerful one, the trapsmith, features a challenge of 1 and has a hefty 36 hit points at his disposal, which means that, yes, if you expect an array of easily slaughtered mooks, then this would represent one of the few things this pdf does not deliver...and in my opinion, that's a good thing. Throwing a mook at players is something most experienced GMs can easily accomplish and not something you usually buy bestiaries for- at least I don't. Instead, I get such books for evocative beings and unique mechanical tricks - and in that aspect, the respective humanoids tend to deliver in spades. Aforementioned trapsmith's statblock, for example, features no less than 4 sample traps! Now if you are a relatively new GM and concerned about perhaps throwing too strong creatures at your players, do note that the beings in this tome, oriented after the official DMG's guidelines regarding HP per challenge. The MM itself does not seem to follow that guideline, so yes, the beings herein tend to be slightly stronger. That being said, the book does an excellent job of pointing towards potentially problematic options in sidebars and the like: When a creature has a detonate-style final parting shot, it talks about how to use this without screwing the players over; in the example of the trapsmith, consideration is given for the number of traps previously placed. It may be a little thing, but it certainly is something new GMs and players will appreciate.

One of the more prevalent complaints I have heard about the MM would be the relative dearth of proper, high-challenge boss-adversaries. The Tome of Beasts delivers in spades here: Beyond aforementioned fey lords and ladies, arch-devils like Mammon, Arbeyach or the scribe of hell Totivillus (renamed due to some immature people taking offense with his previous name Titivillus...), the book certainly offers some seriously powerful endgame adversaries. One of my further nitpicks would pertain one of these guys, though: At challenge 27, Mechuiti, baboon-faced demon lord of cannibals is a cool build per se...but ultimately, with baboon-face and area of expertise, he does feel a bit like a Demogorgon-ripoff; further emphasizing the pseudo-Mayan nomenclature in flavor would have helped in further distinguishing...but perhaps that was not intended and the being just intended as a means to bypass the closed IP of ole' demogorgy. Why am I harping on this poor demon lord? Well, because the rendition of his fellow Camazotz is significantly more steeped in mythology and ultimately, more interesting. Yeah, I know, I pretty much grasping at straws regarding things to complain about. A similar creature obviously intended to unlock something classic would be the wormhearted suffragan - basically an undead worm-that-walks, which fans of old Kyuss certainly should appreciate. And yes, the guy features a nasty worm-affliction, though, alas, no animation of the dead...though you can easily add that aspect.

Another target demographic, obviously, would be guys that share a bit of a sensibility like yours truly: At one point, I simply started getting bored with the more classic fantastical creatures and wanted something radically different - the book does deliver in that regard as well: Take the tusked skyfish: A jellyfish like, flying entity with massive tusks and the option to spray adversaries with skunk-like stench-spray. Or the skein witch: Androgynous humanoids mummified in diamond thread that feature translucent skin - inside, they do not have organs, but rather dozens of quivering hourglasses. Bending and distorting fate, these weird beings have the abilities to supplement their unique tricks.

That is not to say, however, that the creatures contained herein that deliver the traditional niches are boring, mind you: I certainly want to throw a mithral dragon at my players and both steam and smaragdine golems feature enough unique mechanics: The latter is driven by a boiler and extinguishing the fire can shut it down - clever PCs will try to make use of that. Speaking of clever: Yes, the steam golem's ability actually talks about what happens if a water elemental and the critter clash. A small note, for sure - but something most assuredly appreciated. The by now classic darakhul, the intelligent, militaristic ghouls of the underworld or mighty jotun giants similarly feature evocative mechanics - the latter would be as good a place as any to come full circle regarding the mythological aspect, for the book does something smart: Instead of trying to fill so far unreleased monster-niches that will be filled (sooner or later rendering the fill-in obsolete), the book instead focuses on providing the means to employ a creature's themes, but with a distinct identity.

Part II of my review can be found here!

Disclosure: I don't know if this needs to be said, but I did kickstart this project, so there you have it.

So this review has been a long time coming. I have had this book for a long time, I have looked at a good number of the monsters in detail (though not all, it may take another few months to a year to do so). I think I have a pretty good handle on this book and its contents in a way that I can deliver a relatively in depth review, and hopefully I can tell you something you didn't already know.

What you likely do know is that this book is amazingly well done. It has many great monsters that are very well thought out and excellently written. It has a lot of baked in adventure ideas that can be based off of nearly any of the monsters within. It has art that is the envy of the 1st party publishers. It has enough monsters to keep your players entertained and challenged for many a campaign.

Lets start with some of my favorite monsters.

First, I thoroughly enjoyed the Chained Angel. It is one of very few examples of a creature that can be redeemed, and gives a very good reason for wanting to redeem it. Most creatures are made for bashing to death, or at the very least to present formidable opposition with no choices outside of victory and defeat. The art for the chained angel is excellent. Interestingly, the chained angel had a good number of errors in its mechanical text that have since been fixed in errata, so be wary if you have a print copy. That having been said, the errors do not make this creature unplayable.

Second, I have to call out Camazotz as being one of my favorite creatures. I won't go into its mechanics for being a CR 22 creature, but the art is fantastic, and the fact that it is derived from a Meso-American myth is something that pleases me to no end. Overall, well done, and a good candidate for a demon lord.

Third, the Drakon makes me happy because it is a beast. Beasts need more love, and one of the central issues with the "animal" type in Pathfinder is that they are too boring. 5e, and Tome of Beasts in particular, seem to dispel this notion and make beasts as interesting as any other creature type. The art work is of course evocative and great, and its stat block is brief but useful.

Finally, in a sweeping category I love the NPC section, as it expands the very useful but relatively limited NPC section in the 5th edition monster manual. Not only do we get pictures (unlike in the aforementioned monster manual) for every NPC, and the statistics can easily be used for a plethora of occasions. This is a good addition to the Tome of Beasts, but actually makes me wish that Kobold press would put out a book of NPCs on its own!

An honorable mention goes to the various Cthulhu creatures. There is one other book that has Lovecraft monster and I hope to do a comparison on my blog, but so far I am loving the Kobold Press take on them.

Now on to the things I didn't like. Now I know a lot of people have mentioned this, but I have to echo that the "dangerous water maidens" are pretty prevalent. In all fairness, it is an artefact of Pathfinder; Pathfinder probably has more of the dangerous water maidens throughout its various bestiaries. However, I would have wanted maybe... one entry for a dangerous water maiden, and an ample side bar or page dedicated to the various cultural variations that comprise the numerous myths surrounding women and water (and boo for not having "la llorona", if you are going to go full on water maiden, be all inclusive!). Really, I get that water maidens are an interesting cultural touchstone like vampires and dragons and ghosts and so on, but I think that it could have been approached more elegantly, with an eye towards the curious cultural differences and what they say about the collective myth.

I also am somewhat disappointed that some of the potential playable monsters (things like the Ramag or the Rat Folk) weren't given sidebars for play as PCs, but this is hopefully just to preempt more products like Midgard Heroes and Southland Heroes, both of which I enjoyed and recommend.

If I had one other quibble, it is that there are no comprehensive lists as with the Pathfinder Bestiary, with breakdowns of creatures by type, terrain, and so on, but that's really just me being lazy, and I don't fault them for not doing that. I'm sure that the layout on this monster (book) was enough as it was. Moreover, I'm sure that some industrious individual will create such a list soon, if not already.

Now, my dislikes of this book were actually few and shallow. I have to end this review by saying that I love this book, it was very well done, and it is an essential book for anyone serious about running 5th edition games. It should be essential if you love bestiaries as I do, and fancy just paging through monsters for any reason. This book is essential as a designer, because every stat block tells a story through its intricate use of the rules.

This book is just essential.

Trust me, you won't regret the $20 that you will spend on this book as a pdf, and if you should have the extra money, pay to get it in print. I can't tell you how impressive the book really is as a physical text. You will marvel at the size of it, then at the beauty of its full color and glossy pages. It's as big as those obnoxious textbooks you had to carry around in college or perhaps high school, with the important distinction that you will want to see every page and thumb through it.

Yes, get this book. Get it now. What are you waiting for!?

5 stars and my royal approval.

I recently purchased this book, and I highly recommend it to all Dungeon Masters. The official Monster Manual from WotC is a great resource, but in a world where magic is commonplace, there are so many more crazy creatures that could exist beyond Dragons, Orcs, Goblins, and Beholders. This book features great art, unique and innovative creature abilities, and a fantastic section in the back on NPC stats and PC options.

However, there are certainly a few hiccups in the book, and although many of the other reviews go into the countless positive aspects of the book, I wanted to touch on a few negatives.

First, though the monsters are varied and unique, not every description lines up with the artwork. I completely understand if an artistic interpretation changes the final visual design of a monster, but it's a bit irksome to read a monster description to a group of PCs and then show them a picture that looks very different. The Koralk Devil is a particularly noteworthy example.

Second, many creatures have abilities that increase or decrease ability scores, either for themselves or the PCs. Now, stat damage is excellent and should have a place in D&D, but within the core rulebooks it is limited to very few creatures and spells. No poison or disease listed in the DMG deals stat damage. If a "Wish" spell reduces a PC to 3 STR, it strains the idea that a CR 2 beastie could be able to do the same. Incremental stat damage (1d2 STR damage? Not worth it...) could easily be replaced by a disease that imposes disadvantage on that stat, much like the reverse of the "Enhance Ability" spell. Additionally, several monsters (such as the Behtu, Dogmole, and Hulking Whelp) have abilities that change their stats. Again, this ability is perfectly understandable and has a place in the D&D world. However, the text merely states that the ability scores have changed, instead of commenting on how HP, attack rolls, and damage are affected by such changes. This doesn't have to be much. HP: 22 (or 56 with ichorous infusion) would have been excellent. Looking into the rules for adjusting these abilites requires some extra work for the DM that would have been easy to remedy in the text.

There also seems to be an issue with CR on some of the creatures. The creatures don't seem to have a consistent CR with the damage output and HP indicated in the DMG. For example, the Dogmole (Offensive CR 2 and Defensive CR 1) averages out to 1.5 and is listed as CR 1, but the Eel Hound (Offensive CR 2 and Defensive CR 1) averages out to 1.5 and is listed as CR 2. Comparitively, the Giant Boar from the MM (Offensive CR 2 and Defensive CR 1/4) averages out to 1.125 and is listed as CR 2. As a DM, this would actually be what I would prefer - rounding up on CR to make monsters seem a little stronger than they actually are. This not only lets me set a better difficulty curve as an encounter designer, but also helps control PC abilities such as Turn Undead and Wild Shape. Why would any druid turn into a bear when the Dogmole is so much better? Additionally, all the new abilities, while technically cool, are often without equivalent in the DMG ability table. Some seem a bit over- or under-powered compared to the CR listed for the monster. I'm not sure some of the abilities were playtested as much as the designers claim. For example, the Eonic Drifter can completely remove a PC from combat for 1d4 rounds. Twice. At CR 1.

And that leads me to my last point. Several of the monsters have abilites or attack rolls/save DCs that don't function correctly according to the rules for monster creation listed in the DMG. For example, the clockwork abomination. With a 21 (+5) STR and a CR of 5 (+3 prof bonus), how does it have an attack roll of 9? How does it deal 1d6+6 damage? Why does its proficiency in stealth use a +3 but its proficiency in athletics and perception use a +4? And where does the saving throw DC of 14 come from? It has no stats that give the +3 bonus necessary to use that save.

Granted, these problems are relatively small, something that a talented DM can work around or a newer DM can safely ignore. However, for designers who have worked with WotC before, I am surprised that the technical accuracy is not up to the same standard as the WotC MM.

Overall, this book is a masterpiece of creativity and monster design. I'd be fascinated to see a Midgard source book released for 5E that fits with all of the amazing fey, desert, and clockwork creations within these pages. And the various Fey royalty, Arch-Devils, and Demon Lords are just begging to be used as world-threatening bosses, and they come with a few excellent minions apiece!

Again, this is an invaluable item to any dungeon master. I will be making some changes to the monsters when I use them personally, but DMs who are not as stuck up about design can and should make these monsters their own.

The cover art, captivating.
Interior art, nothing but full color professionalism all the way. Clearly and accurately shows what the creatures look like.
The monster lore, a joy to read, gives you everything you need to imagine where the monster would fit into your game without being too wordy.
Monster variety is superb – every type of monster is included and to challenge all tiers.
And the monster stats are very well done. In fact, I’d say they bridge the gap between the sometimes overtly simple monsters of 5E and the too-many-actions-to-track ones of 3.5/PF. It’s a nice balance if you like monsters with just one or two extra abilities or quirks to keep them surprising.
The only downside? No index. There are a few monsters in Book of Lairs that use the proper monster name, but the creature is presented under some heading of monsters that requires some hunting, but that’s minor. I may make my own.
Regardless I backed the Kickstarter and feel like I got more than what I paid for, which is rare!
Excellent work Kobolds!