What are your top 10 monsters from the Beastairy II?
In no Particular order of rank
Great White Whale (Thou Cursed Whale)
Wendigo (Nuff said)
Arbiter Inevitable(Because we all know it's really a Modron in disguise)
Cacodaemon(What self respecting Evil Wizard wouldn't want a flying set of teeth for a familiar)
Crawling hand..(Thank you Thing)
Kelpie(Because I'm Scottish and it's one of ours)
Mongrelmen (Because I've had a surprising soft spot for them ever since they first appeared in D&D)
Ifrit( because their Fire Sorcerers are just going to be awesome)
Redcap(same reasons as the Kelpie)
Carnivourous blob(because it's like THE BLOB!!!)
A few in there that I don't expect everyone to agree with..heck..I don't expect anyone to agree with most of them .
In order
1) Quickling
2) Wendigo
3) Aeon, Pleroma (and also aeons in general)
4) Cetaceal, Vulpinal (cause calm emotions aura is awesome)
5) Adamantine golem (cause its nice to see a golem that is actually unkillable)
And then in no particular order
Dark Slayer
Chaos beast
Belker
Daemon, Purrodaemon
Titans (both)
Special mention
Star archon (mostly cause the picture cracks me up)
My favorite so far is the Primate, Monkey Swarm :)
Scylla, hands down.
The four elemental PC classes (Ifrit, Undine, Sylph and that stone thing).
Followed by the 4 horseman deacons.
Dire Weasel
In no order:
Wendigo
The planetouched races
Primal Dragons
Allosaurus
Astradaemon
Thunderbird
Ravener
All of the Qlippoth
Keketar
Nightshades
There are others that might make this list sometimes but these stuck out the most to me today.
No particular order:
Gremlins (lots of variety to mix things up)
Inevitables (especially the Arbiter- the Neo-Modron! And a Lawful outsider that's personable!)
Gryph (disturbing/creepy w/o resorting to the usual PC scarers like level drain)
elemental planetouched
Worm that Walks
Revenant
Winterwight (need more high CR critters who aren't outsiders and/or Huge, also fixed the wonky permanent hp drain mechanic from the higher CR Epic version)
Dullahan (nice decapitation mechanic)
Petitioner
Daemons
Scylla, hands down.
I dunno, I'm stuck between Scylla and Charibdis.
Scylla, hands down.I dunno, I'm stuck between Scylla and Charibdis.
I lol'ed
Aeons, they open up my home campaign in ways I can't even fully explain. It's like they were made for me.
Jabberwocky, and Tanes in general. My game will be going epic soon enough and now we have something other than the Tarrasque to destroy the world.
Dhampirs: the perfect anti-paladin.
Gremlins: especially leveled pugwampi's.
Athatch: gotta love swift claw.
Bodak: love the new gaze attack. Now I feel safe using them.
Amoeba: just for the picture. Also, advance one to colossal and enjoy.
Scarecrow: finally! A competent version of this.
Yeah, it's only 8, but the book isn't in front of me.
I lol'edScylla, hands down.I dunno, I'm stuck between Scylla and Charibdis.
Me too. :D
1. Hound of Tindalos
2. Denizen of Leng
3. Neh-thalggu
4. The Aeons
5. The Qlippoths
6. The Daemons
7. Crawling hand
8. Leng spider
9. Redcap
10. Gremlin, Pugwampi
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In order from least favorite (out of top ten) to absolute favorite:
10) Rock Troll. Like a normal troll, but more durable and doesn't have its regeneration stopped by fire. My players are going to be surprised when their fire does nothing to it. And that whole "sunlight petrification" thing is just awesome.
9) Hound of Tindalos. Delightfully horrifying and at a reasonable CR, to boot! I've always liked monsters that can teleport around to target squishier party members and confound the front line, too, and this fits the role very nicely. Teleporting as a swift action...
8) Leukodaemon. Like a cooler, NE Eryines that actually has a viable disease mechanic! Finally, something other than a mummy I can use to give my PC's diseases. And it spreads its diseases with a bow, so it can target all of those squishy spellcasters with the bad Fort saves...
7) Dullahan. I remember growing up with stories of the Headless Horsemen, and it's awesome to finally have a mechanical representation for him. After reading this statblock, I can see why Ichabod Crane was terrified. It's no slouch in combat, either, and at CR 7 with a variant at 14, I can use this thing at a range of levels. 4th level PC's? Boss monster. 7th level PC's? Throw two of them. 11th level? CR 14 Dullahan. Awesome.
6) Bythos Aeon. Remember the Phane from the Epic Level Handbook? This is what that should have been, and it's at a reasonable CR for mid-high level characters to fight as a boss monster. Awesome.
5) Denizen of Leng. Personally, I don't feel like there are enough monsters with Sneak Attack. Also, it's awesomely alien and creepy, but its high skill in Disguise makes sure players won't realize the true horror until it yanks off the cloth over its mouth before combat. Whenever my players see a guy with a turban who radiates magic, they assume a genie; it'll be awesome to throw an alien horror at them instead.
4) Frost Drake. Finally, a dragon for low-mid level characters! I've always liked dragons as bosses, but I've always felt like using young dragons cheapens the experience. The Frost Drake's status as a pack hunter justifies me using a group of them against higher level PCs, and I just love the breath weapon.
3) Thunderbird. It's like a Phoenix, but with electricity instead of fire, more originality, and a reasonable CR that ensures that mid-level characters in the sweet spot of the game can fight it. I also love the concept.
2) Keketar Protean. This monster looks like a great high level challenge and it's conceptually awesome. The spatial riptide, warpwaves on every claw and bite attack, and Reshape Reality ability truly give the sense that this is a powerful primordial monster capable of reshaping reality to its whims. The DC 28 saves against the warpwaves, awesome spell-like abilities, and high hp and SR make it a pretty strong challenge even to higher level PCs. Love it.
1) Pleroma Aeon. The art alone made it my favorite monster of all time, at least conceptually. Reading its description only made me like it even more, and the Spheres of Creation and Oblivion are two of the coolest abilities I've seen on a monster, hands down. I like this monster so much that I'm considering allowing my current campaign to run beyond its planned level cap of 12 so that the players can fight one.
Everything is better with monkeys and/or bacon.
What about Monkey Bacon? Would that make things doubly better?
HA! MONKEY BUTTS!
Actually, it'd be monkey belly. HAM comes from the hindquarters of the pig.
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In alphabetical order
Attic Whisperer
Aurumvorax... a HUGE favorite from the old days... umm wait a minute one of those killed my fighter/magic-user!
Bunyip
Chaos Beast- oh yeah mister nasty!
Crawling Hand- wish there had been a SWARM version! Think I will make a swarm of crawling hands!
Death Worm
PRIMAL DRAGONS- I LOVE dragons!!!!!!!
Drakes
Frost Worm- yeah I like worms as well
GAR- okay just freakin' COOL
Ifrit
JABBERWOCK!
Mandragora- nice Harry Potter references
Mothman- I just like the pic... must use it just for the pic alone!
Nightshades
Oread
Peryton
Serpentfolk- finally a replacement for Yuan-Ti!
Sylph- okay not what I expected but it works
Thunderbird
Undine
okay more than 10 but what the heck, who's counting?
seriously disappointed that more Linnorms did not make it in the book.
For my current campaing, I needed a lot of evil outsiders and fey.
Bestiary 2 has a lot of new ones, high level ones included! A crapload of New CR 19-20 fiendish toys to harass my players!
Daemons are awesome. Really, really awesome for abilities and theme.
Outsiders in general are the big kicker in the book - N and C/N ones are very thematic, and if I could have missed 5% of Yugoloths, new Aeons and Proteans are 100% better and more fitting than Rilmani and Slaadi.
New dragons, golems and plants monsters are very cool too. Should be pointed out that the book has goodies for every monster category, playable races included.
Well done.
Scylla, hands down.I dunno, I'm stuck between Scylla and Charibdis.
Mr. Sumner? Is that you? :-D
Off topic but this is the highest B-2 thread...: Is there a Summon Monster/Summon Nature's Ally chart for the new monsters?
Off topic but this is the highest B-2 thread...: Is there a Summon Monster/Summon Nature's Ally chart for the new monsters?
No, there is not. It's up to the individual DM to decide what, if any, new creatures to add to the summoning lists.
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My current top 10:
1.) Aeons, particularly the Pleroma, which wins the honors of being the most awesome monster in the bestiary
2.) Inevitables, it's good to see them back with two new additions
3.) Elemental planetouched, It's nice having something along these lines again
4.) Golems, particularly Adamantine
5.) Nightshades, I'm liking the new backstory
6.) Soulbound Doll, I have used it extensively and am glad to see an official conversion of it
7.) Dullahan, very well done
8.) Qlippoths, my favorite being the Chernobue
9.) Agathions, my favorite being the Draconel
10.) Daemons, my favorite new one being the Purrodaemon
The Axiomite, Great White Whale, new Angels, Demons, and Devils also get my praise, and the Proteans would have probably made my top 10 if there was more than 1 new one added. Overall, I have been very pleased with the Bestiary 2.
Noe that I have looked through the book, here are my top 10, in no particular order.
1)the dragons(particularly the Jabberwocky and the 4 elemental primal dragons)
2)The new Fey(love the Brownie, Leprechaun, and Nereid)
3)Lamia Matriarch
4)The Soulbound doll
5)Scylla and charybdus
6)New Outsiders(Aeons, Celestials, Proteons, Titans, and Qlippoths)
7)New Giants
8)The Golems
9)New Magical Beasts(Aurumvorax, Thunderbird, Siren, etc.
10)The playable races
Too many good monsters maybe it would be easier to list the ones I don't like.
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That is a good idea Dragon78. Here are the monsters that I don't like or just don't click for me. Yes I know some of them are classic monsters.
1)Athach
2)Charda
3)Decapus
4)Gryph
5)Phycomid
6)Rast
7)Winterwight
8)No Graveknight
Everything else gives me geekgasms! I can't come up with just a top ten.
That is a good idea Dragon78. Here are the monsters that I don't like or just don't click for me.
6)Rast
Why you no like the Rast? Says the guy using a Rast as his avatar. ;_;
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Why you no like the Rast? Says the guy using a Rast as his avatar. ;_;That is a good idea Dragon78. Here are the monsters that I don't like or just don't click for me.
6)Rast
Dunno, but the B2 art for Rast is the only one where the 3.5 original (or heck, Todd's avatar) beats Paizo art hands down. It is the one and only artwork in the whole book that makes me go "WTH ?".
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Sorry Todd, don't cry... ;_;
What Gorbacz said. Cool monster but the art just kills it for me.
The Krenshar art looks hilarious, but at least you can visualize the creature properly. In ten years when Pathfinder 2e comes out they should include one normal Krenshar and one Krenshar doing the scary face in the art order. When my characters faced off against a pair once they asked me that question.
One Monster really did it for me though, being from Puerto Rico and close to where the appearances happened, it's the Chupacabra! Naming its blood-sucking ability "chupar" was icing on the cake.
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Aww, how can you not like the Decapus Baracutey? Just imagine it with an Alkenstar shotgun and a redneckish ball cap on. Squidbillies! Hell, do a community of those and ogres living together as an encounter and you have The Hills Have Eyes crossed with the squidbillies, which will have your players twitching for weeks.
Honestly I flipped through the book first and now I'm reading through it in detail from cover to cover as if it were a novel and I love all of it.
Mind you, I do have my favorites:
Wendigo (Always loved the mythology behind this one, and I think they made an excellent analog with it)
Jabberwock (And the other tanes. I demand more tanes!)
Leprechaun and Brownie (About friggin time! I can't be the only person that was irritated that in 3rd edition they used leprechauns as an example of a fey and NEVER STATTED THEM!)
Familiars (All of the new ones. Did anyone else notice that you can have a Compy as a regular familiar without the improved familiar feat? So awesome!)
Honestly at this rate I'm going to end up listing the whole book.
Also love the Attic whisperer, Dullahan, and the Banshee for the undead critters. As for the Lovecraftian monsters, I like the Gug, shantak and the denizen of leng.
Mandragora- nice Harry Potter references
I must have missed those.
The monkey swarm has become my favourite Pathfinder monster, whereas I too am disappointed by the new rast.
In this order of magnificence
Denizen of Leng
Axiomite
Urdefhan
Akata
Thanatotic Titan
Witchwyrd
Astradaemon
Grindylow
In no particular order;
Axiomite
Dire Badger
Denizen of Leng
Werebear
Mothman
Nerid
Nightwave
The quasi-human races (Ifrit, Oread, Slyph, Undines, Fetchling, Dhampir)
Keketar
Scylla
This list subject to arbitrary change at my whim. I love monsters too much to hold to just one top ten for any length of time.
Bodak
Daemon, Derghodaemon
Devil, Handmaiden
Dragon, Umbral
Jaberwocky
Mothman
Quickling
Redcap
Scylla - Finally! And the girl's never looked better!
Worm that Walks
Honorable mention goes to Hippopotamus & Megatherium for the About Jolly Well Time They Got In award. One of them beats up crocodiles and the other's a sloth that could whup a grizzly bear! I mean, seriously, the Wolverine got into Bestiary one, but not these guys?
Also, a shout out to the Silvanshee Agathion! I totally loved him in Coraline! ;)
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Dark Slayer
Chaos beast
Crawling Hand
Dullahan
Worm that Walks
Dhampir
Bodak
Leukodaemon
Nightshades
New golems and elementals
Peryton and Aranea have always been my favorites, too! I have to say to that I'm slightly disappointed in so few monsters getting Constrict; for example, Crawling Hand has Grab but nothing (unless you count Strangle) that would combo with it. I'd also would have liked to see more swarms getting Cling, because I think that it fits the idea of a swarm perfectly; now you just move away and can easily get rid of, for example, thousands of biting/stinging insects swarming all over you.
No real order.
Chupacabra
Allosaurus
Primal Dragons
Xacarba
Keketar Protean
Black Scorpion (It's a classic)
Serpentfolk
Thunderbird
Water Orm
Yrthak
Inevitable, arbiter, favorite familiar at the moment, has the modron appearance
Agathion, draconal, great addition to the guardinals
Azata, brijidine, is hot
Derghodaemon and its creepy aura
Devil, accuser and gloomwing
Qlippoth, chernobyl ;)
Golem, alchemical, on shaky legs but looks the most fun golem I've seen
Twigjack, I see a lot of potential in them
and Brownie, cause like in mythology it cleans your house