Until the official Pathfinder Bestiary comes out, what would you advise a neophyte such as myself to buy? The 3.5 core Monster Manual? Something else Paizo made, pre-"Pathfinder RPG," that I'm not aware of? I'd hate to spend a chunk of my small monetary reserve on the 3.5 manual or something only to find that there was a better option. Yes, I'm cheap, but I have no money and just spent half of it on dice.... XD
Until the official Pathfinder Bestiary comes out, what would you advise a neophyte such as myself to buy? The 3.5 core Monster Manual? Something else Paizo made, pre-"Pathfinder RPG," that I'm not aware of? I'd hate to spend a chunk of my small monetary reserve on the 3.5 manual or something only to find that there was a better option. Yes, I'm cheap, but I have no money and just spent half of it on dice.... XD
Piazo has PDFs for a preview of the Bestiarity as well as a PDF for monsters that had to get cut. I believe there are also monsters in the SRD.
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here's the srd online; it's got most of the monsters from the monster manual.
Some, like the "mind flayer" and "beholder" and a few more were yoinked out of the srd, but this can get you going.
Thirded. Don't blow $30 on a MM that the Beastiary is just going to replace; just use the 3.5 SRD monsters. Pathfinder is 99% compatible with them, you just have to calculate their CMB/CMD (easy when their BAB is provided) and keep a few skill changes in mind.
If you DO really need a physical book of monsters and can't wait until the Beastiary, buy something that will offer lasting variety, like the MM IV or Tome of Horrors III.
I had forgotten about the Bonus Bestiary. I shall have to check it out, along with the preview.
Thanks for the SRD link; this shall be plenty for me to look over!
My main goal is to get used to what real monster stats are like before attempting to adapt my own from the Elder Scrolls world (the setting my friends and I wish to play in, all of us being familiar with it). I once crafted my own RPG, derived from the Games Workshop LOTR series, and though we had a heck of a time playing it for that one afternoon (I actually don't think we've laughed so hard since), it was... ridiculously unbalanced. I would prefer not to make the same mistakes this time around... :P
I shall definitely be buying the Bestiary when it comes around, though.
My advice is to look at the SRD and try to get a feel for what makes a CR1 monster, what makes a CR2 monster, and what makes a CR3 monster. Don't try to get too far into deep water.
Then, try to translate an Elder Scroll critter or two, somethign that's supposed to be weak, and try to make it CR 2 or 3. Compare it to other monsters when build it. Then, find some pregen characters and run a mock fight or two on your own (as a general rule, 1 CR1 monster is a match for a level 1 PC. CR3 is a match for 2 level 1 PCs, CR4 is a match for 3 of them and CR5 is a match for four of them. The math worths roughly the same way at higher levels: that is to say, 4 PCs are a match for a monster CR'd at 4 higher than them. "A match" here means that the fight could go either way depending on strategy or luck; in other words, a more intense fight than what you'd want in an actual game =p).
And if you have something that you think might be balanced, you can always throw it at us in the homebrew forum and see what people say. :)
Reading helps, of course, but the best way to learn is eventually by doing.
Thanks for the advice!
Reading helps, of course, but the best way to learn is eventually by doing.
Very true! Hopefully the dice will arrive soon so that I may playtest around with my brothers (I know there are computerized solutions to playing, but I feel these take a bit of the fun out, not to mention I don't have a working laptop to even bother with for the time being...).