Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 6 (PFRPG)

I hope there will be at least one linnorm even if it is a reprint of the Gare Linnorm.

I hope the creatures from the Crimson throne hardcover bestiary are included in B6.

-Skeld

Can you name them? I don't own that book! Thanks

Skeld wrote:

I hope the creatures from the Crimson throne hardcover bestiary are included in B6.

-Skeld

Can you name them? I don't own that book! Thanks

Red Reaver, Havero, and Chained Spirit are the ones I can think of. There were others, but they all have weird names. As best i can tell, these are things that don't appear in print anywhere else.

-Skeld

Nightterror wrote:

Skeld wrote:

I hope the creatures from the Crimson throne hardcover bestiary are included in B6.

-Skeld

Can you name them? I don't own that book! Thanks

Red Reaver, Havero, and Chained Spirit are the ones I can think of. There were others, but they all have weird names. As best i can tell, these are things that don't appear in print anywhere else.

-Skeld

The others are:

-Akaruzug (large construct) CR15
-Danse Macabre (large undead) CR 14
-House Drake (tiny dragon) CR2 Improved Familiar
-Pharmakos (gargantuan aberration) CR15
-Drain Spider (tiny vermin) CR 1/4
-Dream spider (small vermin) CR 1/2

-Chained Spirit is medium undead CR14
-Havero is colossal aberration CR24 (with CR6 tentacle)
-Red Reaver is large magical Beast CR13.

I´m pretty sure we will get some of these in april/may´s "Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs" miniatures set!

I hope the creatures from the Crimson throne hardcover bestiary are included in B6.

-Skeld

WAY too soon to shift them over to a Bestiary.

Thought as much, Mister Jacobs.

What about Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition?

Would like to see the danse macabre, chained spirit, and Havero.

Would like to see the danse macabre, chained spirit, and Havero.

Then get a copy of the Crimson AP hardcover. I believe all 3 are there.

No, I mean I would like to see them get into a hardcover bestiary. In fact I have been asking for the danse macabre for ages.

Then your best bet is for Paizo to sell out of the hardcover they're already in, I'm afraid.

(And even that's hardly a guarantee.)

They will probably be in Bestiary 7 in 2019. ;-)

They will probably be in Bestiary 7 in 2019. ;-)

I don't know about that. None of the monsters from the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition have been reprinted...

Marco Massoudi wrote:

They will probably be in Bestiary 7 in 2019. ;-)

I don't know about that. None of the monsters from the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition have been reprinted...

Yes, maybe you´re right and that will happen only if a HC collection sells out or runs really low in stock.

I bekieve the "Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition" has still more than 1000 copies left in stock.

The creatures in question are:

-Black Magga, a gargantuan outsider with CR15
-Carrionstorm, a tiny undead swarm with CR1
-Forgefiend, a large outsider with CR10
-Lamia-Kin, Hungerer, a huge monstrous humanoid with CR15
-Lamia-Kin, Kuchrima, amedium monstrous humanoid with CR 8
-Runeslave, a large humanoid template which adds CR+1
-Scarlett Walker, a huge outsider with CR12
-Skull Ripper, a large construct with CR9

Have any of these creatures been used outside of the RotR AP?
Not in an AP or module, i think.
Maybe in a PFS scenario?

Although the Scarlett Walker gets a writeup in Strange Aeons somewhere, i think.

Thought as much, Mister Jacobs.

What about Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition?

Same.

Kalindlara wrote:

Marco Massoudi wrote:

They will probably be in Bestiary 7 in 2019. ;-)

I don't know about that. None of the monsters from the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition have been reprinted...

Yes, maybe you´re right and that will happen only if a HC collection sells out or runs really low in stock.

I bekieve the "Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition" has still more than 1000 copies left in stock.

The creatures in question are:

-Black Magga, a gargantuan outsider with CR15
-Carrionstorm, a tiny undead swarm with CR1
-Forgefiend, a large outsider with CR10
-Lamia-Kin, Hungerer, a huge monstrous humanoid with CR15
-Lamia-Kin, Kuchrima, amedium monstrous humanoid with CR 8
-Runeslave, a large humanoid template which adds CR+1
-Scarlett Walker, a huge outsider with CR12
-Skull Ripper, a large construct with CR9

Have any of these creatures been used outside of the RotR AP?
Not in an AP or module, i think.
Maybe in a PFS scenario?

Although the Scarlett Walker gets a writeup in Strange Aeons somewhere, i think.

Yes. We've used several of those monsters elsewhere.

-I seem to remember a skull ripper somewhere else. Maybe a giant one?
-The carrionstorm is referenced in the Inner Sea Bestiary, by the kakuen-taka.
-As for the scarlet walker: not in Strange Aeons. However...

I don't believe the rest are referenced anywhere else.

Many of the monsters in the hardcover adventure paths weren't picked up for reprinting before in a Bestiary, in part because they're often intrinsically tied to the plots of the adventures or are relatively unique creatures that would not benefit from the world-neutralization that occurs in a Bestiary. Furthermore, the fact that they're in hardcovers now (not Bestiaries but Adventure Path reprints) means that they are in very little danger of going out of print. They are unlikely pick-ups for future Bestiaries, and none are picked up for Bestiary 6 in any event.

Ninjaed by the Creative Director! Whee!

Curse of the Crimson Throne does note that at least two of the creatures (the pharmakos and chained spirit) are so rare as to possibly be unique on Golarion.

Awww man, I saw eighteen new posts and thought the update happened.

-I seem to remember a skull ripper somewhere else. Maybe a giant one?

There is a giant one in one of the Pathfinder Tales.

Awww man, I saw eighteen new posts and thought the update happened.

Nope, I just asked a dumb question.

-Skeld

Skull Rippers are very unique in a lot of ways and very useful in a hardcover bestiary. It also is very nostalgic as it was one of the earlier pathfinder monsters. I don't understand what is so plot-based about a scorpion made from skulls, then every creature must be somewhat plot-based. I can see why some (like Havaro) unique-creatures are plot-based, but not the regular monsters.

it's a shame we haven't gotten another type of lamia since B2.

It would be refreshing if folks could avoid being snarky, regardless of reason. And while this is responding to Nightterror, it's equally, if not more levied against Gorbacz. Chill out, both of you, and focus on talking about monsters, not BEING monsters. Thanks.

To address the question at hand...

The skull ripper is an example of a monster from those books that would make the transition fine to a world-neutral Bestiary, but it hasn't yet because we haven't chosen it yet for any number of reasons. Might not fit in the alphabetization of a Bestiary. Might be of a creature type and/or CR that's already represented in a Bestiary. Might not fit on a single page but isn't justified to be on 2 pages. Might simply not be room. Might be other things we want to put in the book instead. Might be something we wanted to save for inclusion in another book and don't want to devalue that book's contents by reprinting it too soon. Might be we just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Nightterror wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

Nightterror wrote:

I agree with a lot of creatures Mr.Jacobs, but how can an awesome scorpion made of skulls be NOT usefull in a hardcover bestiary? EVERYBODY would use that awesome Skull Ripper over an Ophiotaurus (Snake-Bull) or Hippogriff anyday.

It would be refreshing if you'd quit assuming that the entire planet shares your tastes, thank you.

It would be refreshing if you'd get off my back. Thank you.

I've seen a couple of people make fun of the snake-bull so I used it, and i've used the Hippogriff as example because it isn't so different from the Griffon.

Skull Rippers are very unique in a lot of ways and very useful in a hardcover bestiary.

I finally choose the side of a Pathfinder-unique creature OVER mythology monsters and the bragging bag still isn't satisfied...

I have an infinite demiplane of void inside of me. Satisfying me isn't easy.

Maybe you should take a break from the threads then, since being a snark and lashing out at people here is exhausting to me and certainly doesn't help my desire to reply to threads here.

It's never good when I start associating a piece of artwork with a spike in stress and annoyance, and that's what happens when someone is habitually snarky and disruptive. To the extent that my patience eventually wears thin.

Please chill out on the snark, Gorbacz. And the rest of you. The more folks who ease back on lashing out like this, be it tiny lashes or huge flame wars, the less you'll see other people pile on and, guess what, the more fun and productive this website's message boards will be to read and take part in.

Well I can imagine that wrapping the statblock and the text around the artwork might be a pain, too :)

EDIT: I've taken down my responses to Nightterror. No need to waste people's nerves and bandwidth.

*offers hugs*

Thank you for responding to questions in here, James ^w^

Well I can imagine that wrapping the statblock and the text around the artwork might be a pain, too :)

EDIT: I've taken down my responses to Nightterror. No need to waste people's nerves and bandwidth.

Thanks for that; you have my gratitude. :-)

And, since I really can't fit 37 pages of the thread into my head at once, is the CR spread for the book:

- more or less like the previous bestiaries, it's just that the high CR monsters are mostly 2-pagers;
- more skewed towards high end of the spectrum?

I'm getting the book anyway, but was curious what the composition is like.

Any chance we might get an estimate for when the cover art will be updated?

And, since I really can't fit 37 pages of the thread into my head at once, is the CR spread for the book:

- more or less like the previous bestiaries, it's just that the high CR monsters are mostly 2-pagers;
- more skewed towards high end of the spectrum?

I'm getting the book anyway, but was curious what the composition is like.

The book has a more even spread of monsters across the CR range, up to CR 30, and that means that there are indeed more monsters above CR 15 than any other Bestiary. Not a LOT more, but more. Which means more two page entries. Furthermore, when there's a lower CR monster that is interesting and justifies having two pages, we give the monster two pages in a few cases.

But yes, there are more 2 page entries in this book than previous Bestiaries, mostly because there are more high CR monsters than previous Bestiaries, which is why there's fewer monsters overall in the book than previous Bestiaries.

The fact that this is the 6th book in the series affords us that luxury, I hope. I also hope folks will be delighted with getting some more flavor for monsters and more support for high level play, and that that will cover the fact that there's fewer monsters. At this point, I'm more interested in quality over quantity, I guess. There are well over a thousand monsters to choose from now from the hardcovers, and many more beyond that. We're in no danger of running out of monster ideas for Bestiaries anytime soon (or ever), but slowing down on the quantity and giving more info per monster is, I hope, something that other folks share with me.

We'll see soon enough, I suppose, once the book is out!

Any chance we might get an estimate for when the cover art will be updated?

The cover is of course done, since the book's been sent to the printer, but the decision of when to upload the final cover to the book isn't mine to make. It'll happen eventually. Please be patient until then.

Will the 5 new "true" dragons get more flavor text as well?

Gorbacz wrote:

And, since I really can't fit 37 pages of the thread into my head at once, is the CR spread for the book:

- more or less like the previous bestiaries, it's just that the high CR monsters are mostly 2-pagers;
- more skewed towards high end of the spectrum?

I'm getting the book anyway, but was curious what the composition is like.

The book has a more even spread of monsters across the CR range, up to CR 30, and that means that there are indeed more monsters above CR 15 than any other Bestiary. Not a LOT more, but more. Which means more two page entries. Furthermore, when there's a lower CR monster that is interesting and justifies having two pages, we give the monster two pages in a few cases.

But yes, there are more 2 page entries in this book than previous Bestiaries, mostly because there are more high CR monsters than previous Bestiaries, which is why there's fewer monsters overall in the book than previous Bestiaries.

The fact that this is the 6th book in the series affords us that luxury, I hope. I also hope folks will be delighted with getting some more flavor for monsters and more support for high level play, and that that will cover the fact that there's fewer monsters. At this point, I'm more interested in quality over quantity, I guess. There are well over a thousand monsters to choose from now from the hardcovers, and many more beyond that. We're in no danger of running out of monster ideas for Bestiaries anytime soon (or ever), but slowing down on the quantity and giving more info per monster is, I hope, something that other folks share with me.

We'll see soon enough, I suppose, once the book is out!

You have all my support for moving towards more 2-page monsters. The only criticism I have of Pathfinder bestiaries is that the one monster per page rule, while very handy and neat, means that the background material is sometimes just too sparse. In an ideal world, every monster gets as much attention as they do in AP bestiaries.

In fact, I'd even be happy with 4-pagers, maybe with 2 pages of variant statblocks and 2 pages of ecology.

Personally there are plenty of monsters that should only get one page but I do feel that new 0HD races should get 2 pages instead of one.

Will the 5 new "true" dragons get more flavor text as well?

Unfortunatley, no. The choices we made in how to present true dragons prevents us from that luxury, alas.

You have all my support for moving towards more 2-page monsters. The only criticism I have of Pathfinder bestiaries is that the one monster per page rule, while very handy and neat, means that the background material is sometimes just too sparse. In an ideal world, every monster gets as much attention as they do in AP bestiaries.

In fact, I'd even be happy with 4-pagers, maybe with 2 pages of variant statblocks and 2 pages of ecology.

That's not the point of a Bestiary, which is first and foremost to provide the game rules for the creatures in as easy-to-use and formatted style as possible, so that navigating the monster rules becomes second-nature after a time.

Variant statbocks: The place for these is in adventures, or in Codex books, NOT in a Bestiary.

4 page entries/Expanded lore: This information is crippled when we can't draw upon world lore, and as such, doing this in a Bestiary is a waste. This information is better presented in the format of the revisited books we publish or in the ecology-style articles we do in the Adventure Paths.

The above DOES mean that folks who want to read more about what we have to say about monsters have to pay more in order to do so buy buying other books... but keep in mind Paizo is a business. Getting you to trade us money for things you enjoy is the point. :-P

Darn, hoping the new ones would get some flavor text. I hope we will see some campaign setting books that will give more flavor text about many of these groups of "true" dragons.

Dear James,

are there more Great Old Ones in B6?

I love your write-ups in Strange Aeons.

Thanks for answering our questions and being the patient nice guy you are.

Dear James,

are there more Great Old Ones in B6?

I love your write-ups in Strange Aeons.

Thanks for answering our questions and being the patient nice guy you are.

Yup. We have 3 Great Old Ones showing up in Bestiary 6. One of which is one from Lovecraft that hasn't traditionally been categorized as a Great Old One, but for the purposes of Pathfinder can be... it's a pretty tough one too!

Axial wrote:

Awww man, I saw eighteen new posts and thought the update happened.

Nope, I just asked a dumb question.

-Skeld

There are no dumb questions.

Also thank you Mister Jacobs for clarifying things regarding RotRL at least. I figured that CotCT would take longer since it's just only been out for a few months.

Marco Massoudi wrote:

Dear James,

are there more Great Old Ones in B6?

I love your write-ups in Strange Aeons.

Thanks for answering our questions and being the patient nice guy you are.

Yup. We have 3 Great Old Ones showing up in Bestiary 6. One of which is one from Lovecraft that hasn't traditionally been categorized as a Great Old One, but for the purposes of Pathfinder can be... it's a pretty tough one too!

Thank you!

This alone together with the 12 archdevils and 4 horsemen is worth the cover price for me.

I hope we get 3 Great Old Ones and 3 Demon Lords in every Bestiary from here on.

1: Do you have any news regarding the "Cthulhu Pathfinder" Bestiary from Chaosium?
2: I noticed it has Ghatanothoa in it. Is this the same write-up as the one in "Strange Aeons" 6?

Actually it is:

8 Archedevils
4 Horsemen
3 Empyreal Lords
3 Kaiju
3 Old Ones

Marco Massoudi wrote:

Dear James,

are there more Great Old Ones in B6?

I love your write-ups in Strange Aeons.

Thanks for answering our questions and being the patient nice guy you are.

Yup. We have 3 Great Old Ones showing up in Bestiary 6. One of which is one from Lovecraft that hasn't traditionally been categorized as a Great Old One, but for the purposes of Pathfinder can be... it's a pretty tough one too!

If it's not usually Mythos, was it meantioned in the Elder Mythos article in In Search of Sanity?

Also, dinosaur hugs for your patience and involvement on the forums. You are one of the things that makes Paizo great!

1: Do you have any news regarding the "Cthulhu Pathfinder" Bestiary from Chaosium?

2: I noticed it has Ghatanothoa in it. Is this the same write-up as the one in "Strange Aeons" 6?

I don't have any news, other than to offer the correction that the book isn't being created by Chaosium. It's being done by Petersen Games. And since it's a book I'm working on but not one I'm in charge of, I'll leave the news about it to Sandy Petersen himself.

James Jacobs wrote:

Marco Massoudi wrote:

Dear James,

are there more Great Old Ones in B6?

I love your write-ups in Strange Aeons.

Thanks for answering our questions and being the patient nice guy you are.

Yup. We have 3 Great Old Ones showing up in Bestiary 6. One of which is one from Lovecraft that hasn't traditionally been categorized as a Great Old One, but for the purposes of Pathfinder can be... it's a pretty tough one too!

If it's not usually Mythos, was it meantioned in the Elder Mythos article in In Search of Sanity?

Also, dinosaur hugs for your patience and involvement on the forums. You are one of the things that makes Paizo great!

I didn't say it was "not usually mythos," just "not usually a Great Old One." It was mentioned in there, sort of. You'll need to wait and see more.