Each Adventure Path presents new monsters, often original.
But some gamers don't buy Adventure Path, either because they run their own adventures, or because as players they are not supposed to read what their GM are going to run one day.
I think the question has been asked before, but why not publishing a compendium of these monsters, in an Adventure Path Bestiary?
That would be convenient to have the beasties gathered in one single book, even for those who already have them in their respective Adventure Paths.
The size of the book could be big, gathering several Adventure Path creatures, or smaller, gathering only one Adventure Path monsters.
And along time, when more AP would be published, their monsters would be compiled in another compendium.
Is it already planned?
Are they going to be included in the Bestiary II?
This is a good question and one that I have wondered, as well. I may eventually buy Adventure Paths down the road, but would like to have access to those monsters that have been introduced in previous APs without having to buy all the APs.
Having an AP Bestiary would be something I would purchase, if you are already not putting the monsters in the Bestiaries.
While I'd definitely like to have these all in one place, I also wanted to mention that as (almost) all the monsters are Open Game Content, you can also find some of them online at the d20 PF SRD.
Sure, but nothing replaces an actual book.
while I'd definitely like to have these all in one place, I also wanted to mention that as (almost) all the monsters are Open Game Content, you can also find some of them online at the d20 PF SRD.
I will admit, I am more of the traditionalist and much prefer the book format with the nice color, glossy pages. Printing them off of the PF SRD online is of course cheaper, but I am willing to give my money if Paizo is willing to take it. :)
while I'd definitely like to have these all in one place, I also wanted to mention that as (almost) all the monsters are Open Game Content, you can also find some of them online at the d20 PF SRD.I will admit, I am more of the traditionalist and much prefer the book format with the nice color, glossy pages. Printing them off of the PF SRD online is of course cheaper, but I am willing to give my money if Paizo is willing to take it. :)
I think a pertinent question is whether you're willing to wait longer for the never-before-seen content while they devote resources to producing a compilation of already-available content?
I think that's the biggest issues with projects like this - although I'd buy such a compilation, my preference (as someone who already has all the APs) is for Paizo to put their effort into making stuff I havent already seen.
This is a capital idea. And if there were any unique monsters in the early 3.5 APs, they could be updated to Pathfinder.
I think a more pertinent question is whether you're willing to wait longer for the never-before-seen content while they devote resources to producing a compilation of already-available content?
A more pertinent question is, why would they have to? A compilation of already existing material is no doubt going to take less man hours and thus less people to devote to it than new material.
A more pertinent question is, why would they have to? A compilation of already existing material is no doubt going to take less man hours and thus less people to devote to it than new material.
I think a more pertinent question is whether you're willing to wait longer for the never-before-seen content while they devote resources to producing a compilation of already-available content?
I know nothing about publishing, but I'm pretty sure it would take a lot of work to compile all the AP monsters into one book (especially if the 3.5 monsters are to be updated).
Irrespective, a compilation will delay the production of new material, even if the delay is not as significant as it would be from making a whole new book from scratch.
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A more pertinent question is, why would they have to? A compilation of already existing material is no doubt going to take less man hours and thus less people to devote to it than new material.
Yes, it would require less work, but it would still require work (editing for converted monsters, layout, etc.), which would take time, which could end up delaying other things.
That said, I do think such a compilation would be handy, if it could be fit into the schedule.
Honestly speaking, most of the monsters can be used as it is, calculating CMB/CMD and concentration isn't that difficult.
True - but if Paizo is going to produce a book of monsters for the Pathfinder game, I doubt they'd be keen to leave out CMB/CMD. I know they did some CR tweaking with the bestiary - presumably they won't have to tweak their 3.5 AP monsters as much (if at all) as some of the Monster Manual ones, nonetheless I reckon they'd look at it and that kind of thing takes time.
I think a pertinent question is whether you're willing to wait longer for the never-before-seen content while they devote resources to producing a compilation of already-available content?
I think that's the biggest issues with projects like this - although I'd buy such a compilation, my preference (as someone who already has all the APs) is for Paizo to put their effort into making stuff I havent already seen.
Yes, you bring up a good point. What I think I will do is look at the creatures that are currently in the SRD and see if there are any I would want to use and print those out at this time.
But, having a nice book to flip through is something I would prefer down the road and if Paizo ever released it, I would purchase it. I would find it more convenient to bring the book to our gaming table than having a stack of sheets of creatures, nevermind the better quality of the book itself.
As for taking longer, I am certain it would still take time to do a compilation and respect that. It’s just not throwing it together in a book and shoving it out the door. At least if they want to do a good job.
And Gorbacz, yes, I am sure you could still make do with the 3.5 versions of the creatures, but if Paizo does go through the trouble of making a compiliation, I would prefer to wait longer for them to take the time to do the conversion of the creatures. Never mind any of the creatures they add to future Bestiaries from 3.5 APs I am sure will be updated for PFRPG.
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while I'd definitely like to have these all in one place, I also wanted to mention that as (almost) all the monsters are Open Game Content, you can also find some of them online at the d20 PF SRD.I will admit, I am more of the traditionalist and much prefer the book format with the nice color, glossy pages. Printing them off of the PF SRD online is of course cheaper, but I am willing to give my money if Paizo is willing to take it. :)
Sadly it's not the case that it's cheaper to print all the creatures from the SRD yourself unless you've got access to really cheap printing. The printer companies are not your friend and per page prices are high. Admittedly this is one of the higher estimates I've seen, and your volume would be relatively high. But even if you're just printing 300 pages at the cheapest ink only price shown (roughly $30/150 pages) you're still spending $60. The book wins in most cases. Now if you're only printing a few monsters then do it yourself makes sense.
Sadly it's not the case that it's cheaper to print all the creatures from the SRD yourself unless you've got access to really cheap printing. The printer companies are not your friend and per page prices are high. Admittedly this is one of the higher estimates I've seen, and your volume would be relatively high. But even if you're just printing 300 pages at the cheapest ink only price shown (roughly $30/150 pages) you're still spending $60. The book wins in most cases. Now if you're only printing a few monsters then do it yourself makes sense.
Oh, I definitely wouldn't advocate printing them all out at once. If you want everything on hand at the same time (to browse and such) then a published work is generally both cheaper and better quality. For my games, however, I rarely ever use actual books since they take up too much room at the table. For monsters specifically, I print out the single page or two that is relevant for each monster I'll use during the session and put this in a clear sleeve (along with the Universal Monster Rule cards from 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming). That way I've got instant access to all the info I need, can use wet-erase markers to make notes, and when I'm done I file the printed sheets away for future use. So I'm slowly building up a set of monster pages in a big binder, similar to the old AD&D monster folio.
Sadly it's not the case that it's cheaper to print all the creatures from the SRD yourself unless you've got access to really cheap printing. The printer companies are not your friend and per page prices are high. Admittedly this is one of the higher estimates I've seen, and your volume would be relatively high. But even if you're just printing 300 pages at the cheapest ink only price shown (roughly $30/150 pages) you're still spending $60. The book wins in most cases. Now if you're only printing a few monsters then do it yourself makes sense.while I'd definitely like to have these all in one place, I also wanted to mention that as (almost) all the monsters are Open Game Content, you can also find some of them online at the d20 PF SRD.I will admit, I am more of the traditionalist and much prefer the book format with the nice color, glossy pages. Printing them off of the PF SRD online is of course cheaper, but I am willing to give my money if Paizo is willing to take it. :)
Well, of course I wouldn't be printing out all the monsters on the SRD, just the ones I would be using. I mean I already have a Bestiary, I am sure a lot of the monsters in the SRD are already in that book as it is. I was originally only talking about the creatures in various Adventure Paths that have not made it to the Bestiary.
But that being said, I would still hope to see an AP compiliation or the creatures added to a future Bestiary down the line.
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Much like a hardcover compilation of older APs that everyone keeps requesting, I doubt a comprehensive bestiary would be considered before quite a few old AP lines go out of print. The new monsters in the AP line is one of the draws to purchasing issues, which is (probably still) Paizo's main "bread and butter" line. As long as there are plenty of older monsters to re-envision for upcoming bestiary books, I don't think you will find them consolidating ALL the monsters in a new book. I suspect they will sprinkle a few here and there along the way in each new book.
However, I don't work for Paizo, so I am only SWAGing based on commentary I have read here before from their staff. Personally I too would love to see such a book, since I have printed out all the AP monsters, keep them in a 3 ring binder in alphabetical order, and spring them on my players here and there to keep things interesting.
Creative Director
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We're already picking up monsters from the Pathfinder Bestiaries, support books, and modules for hardcovers—things like the shoggoth, the morlock, the shaitan, the goblin dog, and the boggard all ended up in the first Bestiary, after all.
Bestiary 2, now that we've got the majority of the monsters from the SRD in hardcover form, will have a LOT more pick-up monsters from the Pathfinder APs and other products. The main difference will be that the AP bestiaries will remain 2-page entries for every monster, but the hardcover Bestairies will shrink down in almost every case to 1 page entries—so if you want expanded background material, the APs remain the place to go.
Thanks for the answer and the precisions, James. :)