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Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Beast (PFRPG)

4.20/5 (based on 13 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Beast (PFRPG)
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Embrace the Beast Within!

Anthropomorphic animal races have been a staple of fantasy gaming for decades, and Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Beast presents all the tools you need to play members of some the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game's most iconic bestial races. Packed full of character options for members of all classes, as well as some that members of other races can adopt, Blood of the Beast is sure to spice up any campaign!

Inside this book, you'll find:

  • New class archetypes including the tengu jinx witch, the catfolk serendipity shaman, the grippli war painter, and the vanaran fortune-finder.
  • Exciting new feats to accentuate beast-blooded races' inherent abilities, such as ratfolk's swarming ability and kitsune's shapechanging trickery.
  • Dozens of new spells, alternate racial traits, and favored class bonuses to customize characters of all stripes.

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-901-1

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Archives of Nethys

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4.20/5 (based on 13 ratings)

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Pretty Good (Needs More Lore, Less Filler)

4/5 —

When the Advanced Race Guide came out, the number of playable races in Pathfinder suddenly increased substantially. There’s an argument to be made that perhaps it was too much, too fast, with some of the new races competing (stats-wise) more than favourably with the classic Core Rulebook races. I frankly get tired of seeing nagaji bloodragers and kitsune swashbucklers, but I guess that’s neither here nor there. The value in Blood of the Beast is that it grounds these new races into the Golarion campaign setting, adding some information about where they come from and how they’re perceived. For GMs and players interested in a cohesive view of the setting, the promise is an important one. As with all of these Player Companions, of course, there’s plenty of crunchy new options for character building as well. The races covered here are catfolk, gripplis, kitsune, nagaji, ratfolk, tengus, and vanaras.

I really like the concept for the cover art, though the actual execution is a bit too cartoony for my tastes. The inside front cover is a zoomed-out map of the Inner Sea with coloured highlighting showing where the various races covered in the book originate. I think it’s too zoomed-out to be of a lot of real use though. The inside back cover is the cover art minus any text.

After a page for the table of contents, we then get a two-page introduction. There’s a new trait for each race covered in the book. Some of the traits are fine, but some are of the generic “+1 to a skill and it’s a class skill” type that are really just space-fillers and list-lengtheners.

Each of the seven races then get a four-page long entry with a brief overview, some favoured class options, an archetype or two, and often other options like new feats or spells. Although many of these new options are flavoured as tied to a particular race, most don’t actually have being a member of that race as a prerequisite to taking them. I’ll go through each of these entries briefly.

Catfolk get a few new archetypes, including the Prowler at World’s End for bloodragers (giving them medium spirits), the Ravenous Hunter for inquisitors (a specialist demon-fighter with an oracle revelation), and the Serendipity Shaman for shamans (gets some new hexes—one of them, Tweak the Odds, is really good!). There are some new, forgettable feats, and a new natural course for wildsoul vigilantes called “feline.” Of the new spells, bit of luck is really powerful since it can be used before or after the results of a die roll have been revealed (which is rather unusual).

The new favoured class bonuses for gripplis are interesting, and I really like a cool new archetype for mediums called the Fiend Keeper—it specializes in containing an evil spirit. The other archetypes are the Poison Darter for rangers and the odd War Painter for skalds. There are also some new feats and spells, but nothing that jumped out at me.

Kitsune get some alternate racial traits, new advanced versatile performances for bards and skalds, and a new archetype, the Nine-Tailed Heir for sorcerers (great artwork here!). There are some new feats for shapeshifters, a really clever new spell called contagious suggestion, and some new vigilante talents (I like the one called “obscurity”—-it’s basically the opposite of renown).

For Nagaji, there are new naga bloodlines for bloodragers and sorcerers. There’s a new cavalier archetype called First Mother’s Fang, which is a sort of governor/general concept; it’s pretty good in broadening the knowledge skills available to cavaliers, and who doesn’t want to ride around on a giant snake? There’s also some new mesmerist tricks and spells.

I love the new ratfolk archetypes, and might have to give one a try soon. There’s the Opportunist for fighters (a really cool, skills-focused alchemist mix), the Scavenger for investigators (a gadget type of alchemist with a great feel), and the Swarm Monger for druids (which is pretty much what it sounds like). There are several feats, all of which build off the Swarming special ability of ratfolk, and they’re quite good too. The only “meh” thing in the entry is a new psychic discipline, Warp.

Tengus receive several new feats (I like Lovable Scoundrel) and spells, as well as several new archetypes. Courser for swashbucklers makes for a super-mobile character, though they have to give up a lot. The Jinx Witch for witches provides for some interesting abilities to absorb and expend spells (and has some great art). The Red Tongue for skalds provides an odd mix of rogue talents. I think a lot of writers just don’t know what to do with skalds, but I can’t blame them—-I don’t know either.

I will always hold a special place in my heart for vanaras, since that’s the race of my favourite character (Goldcape) in the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP I’ve been running for a couple of years now. The race here gets some new alternate racial traits, including size changing, as well as the usual favored class options. There are then several new Meditation feats, but none of them are worth it. Fighters may be interested in the new advanced weapon training options. There’s one new archetype, the Fortune-Finder for rangers—-it’s frankly just kind of bland. Unchained monks get some new style strikes and ki powers (with freedom of movement particularly great). Last, there’s a new eidolon subtype for unchained summoners called Ancestor, but it’s not particularly interesting.

Pretty much every book in the Player Companion line is going to contain its share of filler mixed with some real gems of creativity. I thought Blood of the Beast is better than many in the proportion of wheat to chaff. I would have like more than just a couple of paragraphs on how each of the races fit into Golarion—-remember, that’s the value-add of the books (along with the art), as all the new rules options will be immediately stripped out and placed on the Archives of Nethys. But all in all, this is a worthwhile book to buy.

Aside from the Fan Boy/Girl factor, . . .

1/5 —

I really don't understand why this book got such good reviews. I was very hesitant to buy this one from the start. Both because past experiences with cramming in far too many things into one book have led to, well predictable results and the very, very thin theme of the focus here.

This is probably the first product I outright want my monies back. But probably worst of all is that this book probably kills any possibility that the few races involved here I actually do want a Player's Guide for are likely to never get a good one now.

It's pretty much as I feared, far, far, far too little on anything I'm interested in, except I'm struggling to actually find a single thing I find interesting, good, or something I'd use. Just too forced, and the actual goal seems to be to make sure a few snowflake things get in the game rather than focusing on each of the races, and it shows which of the race options where favored and which got options because they had to get something.

A lot of fun ideas to build around

5/5 —

Blood of the Beast does just what a Player Companion should, in my opinion, do: it provides a large number of options that would be interesting to incorporate into a character or build a character around.

Such beauty in being the beast

5/5 —

A great book that offers nice alternative new options for the animal-like races and even some that can be used by other races too.

While most of the options are restricted to the exclusive races for PFS play, you could probably go wild with a homebrew setting.

The art in the book is beautiful as well, having at least 2 pictures of each race to represent how they look like.

Better than I anticipated

5/5 —

I was ready for this book to be average. I was wrong. SO MANY OPTIONS! Feats, Traits, Archetypes, Spells. This book really delivers on the mechanical side.

The artwork, layout, and flavor text are all great too, especially the in the Nagaji and Kitsune sections.

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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Lotus de'Bonaire wrote:
zergtitan wrote:
Kitsune Mesmerist? Please..... :}

Watch the tails go back and forth, back and forth. When I snap my fingers you will awaken. My mind will protect yours. And you will boc like a chicken.

Boc? Boc!

*looks to find a cleric to fix clucking.*

Hmm! I do like the prospect of a new shaman for cat folk.
Silver Crusade

I love the cover!

It is a very nice cover cousin of Elmer Fudd.
Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Shifts anxiously in chair
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Shifts anxiously in chair

Begins to stare at Alex waiting for him to spoiler something

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Lotus de'Bonaire wrote:
zergtitan wrote:
Kitsune Mesmerist? Please..... :}

Watch the tails go back and forth, back and forth. When I snap my fingers you will awaken. My mind will protect yours. And you will boc like a chicken.

Mmmm, chicken /drool

Dragon78 wrote:

Nice cover but of course none of them are catfolk art:(

Well at least some racial feats will be in the book.

You don't see the Catfolk ninja on the branch in the back?

Honestly though, which of the 3 types of Catfolk should make the cover?
5 people marked this as a favorite.
zergtitan wrote:
Kitsune Mesmerist? Please..... :}

There is no such thing as a Kitsune Mesmerist. Forget you ever mentioned it.

Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I'm just surprised that cover manages to make goofy tengu design from bestiary cool looking .-.

I am not big on racial archetypes, they take up a lot of room and the idea of an archetype that only one race of the 50+ in Pathfinder can use it makes it less interesting especially as I am getting tired of archetypes in general. Also I am not big on Shamans and would have preferred other classes for the catfolk like swashbuckler, kineticist, druid, sorcerer, investigator, etc.

I would love to see some catfolk art like the one in B3.
Silver Crusade Contributor

Racial archetypes, especially for something like a catfolk shaman, can do something very important: change the key casting stat. Right now, catfolk shamans are about as feasible as dwarf mesmerists. You can do it... but you're starting with a significant handicap.

Agreed 100% on the art... though given the nature of this book, I suspect we'll be seeing mostly the other kind (e.g., Khajiit). ^_^

Yes and druid and hunter would have been better choices.
Silver Crusade
3 people marked this as a favorite.

I like Carolina Eade art too :(

Everything looks like a 90's style Disney waifu interpretation. Like I said, horrible and yet perfect.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hmm, can't say I'm a fan of the cover art myself, personally, but the description certainly makes me quite interested in seeing what lies inside.

No hint at Nagaji toys
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Bah, I still think Bestiary3 Catfolk were lame-ish :D They look like beastbrood tieflings

Also more racial archetypes, the better I think. Especially if archetypes actually make use of race specific things
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Funny I think about the same way about the catfolk art for the ARG.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Catfolk mesmerist that can only use their abilities on themselves? Focused on tiny laser beams and balls of string?
Silver Crusade
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Catfolk mesmerist that can only use their abilities on themselves? Focused on tiny laser beams and balls of string?

Or Ratfolk.

Dragon78 wrote:

I am not big on racial archetypes, they take up a lot of room and the idea of an archetype that only one race of the 50+ in Pathfinder can use it makes it less interesting especially as I am getting tired of archetypes in general. Also I am not big on Shamans and would have preferred other classes for the catfolk like swashbuckler, kineticist, druid, sorcerer, investigator, etc.

I would love to see some catfolk art like the one in B3.

The alternative might be alternate racial traits that no one like, and sometime these racial archetypes require X racial trait, so any race who get it in some ways can use the archetype(s).

I want a male Catfolk in the B3 style.
Liberty's Edge

Does this product feature any alternate racial traits for the races involved, or has it buried the concept quietly like most Paizo products (with a little blip in Inner Sea Races being a welcome exception)?

How about any subraces for any of the races?
Silver Crusade

?

There was alternate racial traits in Horror Adventures and Legacy of Dragons.
Rysky wrote:
I like Carolina Eade art too :(

I do as well Rysky.

But I will admit, the Kitsune looks better on this cover than some others that have done it. (Not for Pathfinder just in general.)
Dark Archive

Want more tengu! They are sort of iconic to this game, and not a carryover from a previous d20 game (like aasimar and tieflings, which will always carry their Planescape origins around with them, for me).

And maybe something more with nagaji (who I *want* to love, but don't yet, the naga connection is deeply cool, but the race itself seems to have few thematic ties to the naga, in mechanics or character...) and ratfolk.

The rest aren't my cup of tea, but I'm fine with fans of things I don't particularly love also getting cool stuff!

Oh, for a book of completely out-there PC options, like 0 HD centaurs, gnolls and lizardfolk!
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Samy wrote:
Does this product feature any alternate racial traits for the races involved, or has it buried the concept quietly like most Paizo products (with a little blip in Inner Sea Races being a welcome exception)?
Blood of the Beast Product Description wrote:
Dozens of new spells, alternate racial traits, and favored class bonuses to customize characters of all stripes.

Given the couple of different ways the cover art could have gone, I particularly like this style.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Well the fox creature looks a bit too much like a cartoon or videogame character for my taste, to be honest.

I have to say this artwork does seem to use a brighter color pallet then what is standard for Pathfinder.
Zaister wrote:
Well the fox creature looks a bit too much like a cartoon or videogame character for my taste, to be honest.

it continues the trend that most Kisune arts are obvious CGi.

Sovereign Court
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Ohmygod. Best. Grippi. Picture. Ever.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I just can't get my mind around that there are people who would want to play a frog.
Zaister wrote:
I just can't get my mind around that there are people who would want to play a frog.

What about a grippli monk?

Dark Archive
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Why do people want to play hairless apes with pointy ears, or short ones with beards? ;)
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
World's Okayest Fighter wrote:
Zaister wrote:
I just can't get my mind around that there are people who would want to play a frog.
What about a grippli monk?

Still a frog.

The brighter palette and such reminds me a little of the cover of The Harrowing, as a random aside. Maybe it's just me, I dunno.
1 person marked this as a favorite.
DeciusNero wrote:
Why do people want to play hairless apes with pointy ears, or short ones with beards? ;)

I think it's immersion breaking how everything else on the planet but them can see in the dark and the monsters haven't figured out to attack at night yet...

Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
BigNorseWolf wrote:
DeciusNero wrote:
Why do people want to play hairless apes with pointy ears, or short ones with beards? ;)

I think it's immersion breaking how everything else on the planet but them can see in the dark and the monsters haven't figured out to attack at night yet...

Them and halflings both!

I think the kitsune must hold some sort of record for the number of racial feats they have, lol. At least if you count the 8 times that you can take the tail feats.
Matrix Dragon wrote:
I think the kitsune must hold some sort of record for the number of racial feats they have, lol. At least if you count the 8 times that you can take the tail feats.

Kitsune's Tails Feats and Drow "to Drow Noble" Feats are the biggest racial feats taxes that come to mind.

Silver Crusade
Nutcase Entertainment wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
I think the kitsune must hold some sort of record for the number of racial feats they have, lol. At least if you count the 8 times that you can take the tail feats.
Kitsune's Tails Feats and Drow "to Drow Noble" Feats are the biggest racial feats taxes that come to mind.

Neither of those are feat taxes.

Zaister wrote:
I just can't get my mind around that there are people who would want to play a frog.

I had a few PCs back in 3rd edition that wanted to be Grippli or Tsathars.

Rysky wrote:
Nutcase Entertainment wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
I think the kitsune must hold some sort of record for the number of racial feats they have, lol. At least if you count the 8 times that you can take the tail feats.
Kitsune's Tails Feats and Drow "to Drow Noble" Feats are the biggest racial feats taxes that come to mind.
Neither of those are feat taxes.

disguise self: feat tax. Hat of disguise does the same thing better.

charm person: Good!
misdirection: Meh. spell you need once per day. tax.
invisibility: Droool
suggestion: Sweet and thematic.
displacement: Good stuff , specially on your front lines.
confusion: Killer
dominate person: yes master...
Silver Crusade
BigNorseWolf wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Nutcase Entertainment wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
I think the kitsune must hold some sort of record for the number of racial feats they have, lol. At least if you count the 8 times that you can take the tail feats.
Kitsune's Tails Feats and Drow "to Drow Noble" Feats are the biggest racial feats taxes that come to mind.
Neither of those are feat taxes.

disguise self: feat tax. Hat of disguise does the same thing better.

charm person: Good!
misdirection: Meh. spell you need once per day. tax.
invisibility: Droool
suggestion: Sweet and thematic.
displacement: Good stuff , specially on your front lines.
confusion: Killer
dominate person: yes master...

By that logic the Invisibility one is also a tax since you can buy potions of invisibility.

*buys up potions of Rysky's awesome reply* ;)
Rysky wrote:

By that logic the Invisibility one is also a tax since you can buy potions of invisibility.

Action economy is everything. Draw potion drink potion and the invisibility lasts longer when your tail casts it. Your own disguise self isn't any better than the hat's : it generally lasts too short to be effective.

Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Dragon78 wrote:
Funny I think about the same way about the catfolk art for the ARG.

What? That they look like beastbrood tieflings from Blood of Fiends? xD

Anyway, I love(read "find annoying") how the cover art has made "Oh noes, too many colors in the palette" people appear :D Usually those ones only appear on video game boards talking about "Yar this game looks too cartoony, clearly I prefer everything grey and brown", though at least nobody wants grey and brown in Pathfinder art. Hopefully at least

Also, by that logic, isn't taking disguise self as spell a wasted spellslot since you could just buy hat of disguise? :P Seriously, not all of us want to wear fancy hat just to use a spell xD
1 person marked this as a favorite.
CorvusMask wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
Funny I think about the same way about the catfolk art for the ARG.

What? That they look like beastbrood tieflings from Blood of Fiends? xD

Anyway, I love(read "find annoying") how the cover art has made "Oh noes, too many colors in the palette" people appear :D Usually those ones only appear on video game boards talking about "Yar this game looks too cartoony, clearly I prefer everything grey and brown", though at least nobody wants grey and brown in Pathfinder art. Hopefully at least

Also, by that logic, isn't taking disguise self as spell a wasted spellslot since you could just buy hat of disguise? :P Seriously, not all of us want to wear fancy hat just to use a spell xD

I'm sorry that you don't want a GRIM, GRITTY, and MATURE role playing game. I'll be back after you've GROWN UP.

Dark Archive
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Anyhoo, speaking of frogs, I do sort of want to try out gripplis after seeing that Kulipari: an Army of Frogs show on netflix :D I mean, animation quality was bad(and concept trailer was more fancy than actual show), but I find it lovingly nostalgic to my childhood when kids shows have named character death toll. Maybe I should try out books that show was based on.

(that show actually makes me wonder, are there more depictions of frogs as tribal people? .-. I mean, are gripplis(and that show I mentioned by extension) actually inspired by some concept, or are they just frog versions of lizardfolk basically?)
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I never said the color pallet bothers me, I just said it is bright, unlike the doom and gloom Pathfinder standard pallet:)
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