Just wondering it its worth buying. Normally I wouldn't have to ask for Paizo products but this year has just been bleh. What kind of monster spread are we looking at here?
I'm a fan.
Quip aside, if you're a fan of mythological creatures, I would pick this up.
Some Polish guy with waaay too much spare time wrote a review that goes in detail on what's inside.
Some Polish guy with waaay too much spare time wrote a review that goes in detail on what's inside.
Really? Where.
---Bow wow
Go to the product page and check the reviews there.
"metric ton of Asian critters" ....
Damn it!
I was really looking forward to getting it now I have to reconsider. That sucks!
Please tell me you're exaggerating. If 1/3 of the monsters are unusable because of their oriental flavor I may not get it afterall.
All signs point to this from what I've found. Not very impressive tbh.
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Let me clarify. By Asian I mean:
Indian, Japanese, Chinese, I could swear some Mongolian. And a lot of them have some trikle into western culture. It's not all Tanooki and Imperial Dragons. Although they are there. They have EVIL meditative demons who wish to undo/alter/corrupt the works of the gods and they would fit VERY nicely into other settings. So, it' snot asisan centric.
It also hase a lot of western fairy, middle eastern monsters, etc. Oh, and Nordic monsters. I'd say this was one of the most diverse Beastiaries I've seen in a while.
Hell, they even have a Pale Rider style ghost gunman out of the old west in there.
"metric ton of Asian critters" ....
Damn it!
I was really looking forward to getting it now I have to reconsider. That sucks!
Please tell me you're exaggerating. If 1/3 of the monsters are unusable because of their oriental flavor I may not get it afterall.
Unusable? Don't be afraid to just rename it. :)
Just wondering it its worth buying. Normally I wouldn't have to ask for Paizo products but this year has just been bleh. What kind of monster spread are we looking at here?
I agree with you on the past year, I didn't care much for the B2,UM or UC, and I was livid for a few months that 75% of the Adventurer's Armory went into the APG the month after the Armory was released. But the Bestiary 3 is one of the better books they've released in a while. And I don't even care for Asian themed monsters and there are a handful which make me throw up a little (clockworks, cannon golem, pale rider). The amount of classical folklore they have in there more than makes up for all the monsters I don't care much for. Also it is pretty well balanced, I play primarily in a group of 5 players all with different tastes and looking through it, there was a lot for everyone in my gaming group.
Well, the tanuki are missing their oversized testicles. Other than that I think its a great book.
The Tanuki has a slam attack so no they are not missing it just the picture for obvious reasons.
The Tanuki has a slam attack so no they are not missing it just the picture for obvious reasons.
I know, I know... just kidding! I wonder how many people (outside Japan) are actually aware of the traditional portrayal of the tanuki?
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I like it, my only problem with it is that I’ve already got the Pathfinder stats for a lot of these monsters (via the APs, the bonus bestiary or the ‘Monsters Revisited’ series). Mind you, I don’t think that’s a completely bad thing, as I am more likely to find the monster I am looking for by checking the index of the Bestiary than by flicking through all my old AP issues.
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"metric ton of Asian critters" ....
Damn it!
I was really looking forward to getting it now I have to reconsider. That sucks!
Please tell me you're exaggerating. If 1/3 of the monsters are unusable because of their oriental flavor I may not get it afterall.
I haven’t done a count, but my impression from my initial browse and what I have read in detail so far is that the creatures from Asian mythology would count for less than a third of the monsters in the book.
Out of curiosity, why would monsters with ‘oriental flavor’ be unusable to you (you’re not eating them are you)?
I assume by this statement that you don’t use things like genies, rakshasas, tigers, nagas, ghouls, lasmmasu / shedus, or mariliths in your game? Technically rust monsters and bulettes would be out too, given their creation / inspiration ...
Cannon Golem. I mean come on...how cool is that?
A cannon golem? That is awesome, lol. I can't wait for my copy to arrive at my doorstep tomorrow.
Steel_Wind wrote a pretty comprehensive review over on enworld:
i was happiest for the new character races . catfolk are back :3 . also some monkey type race tha looks interesting for some monk builds plus ratfolk and some others.
Highly recommend it. I'm a fan of every bestiary they've done so far and the latest has some of my favourite creatures in it definitely.
I am also a fan of all the bestaries from Paizo, they have the best quility I have ever seen for there products, I might not agree with everything but I like 90%+ of there stuff.
Graveknight FTW
Legendary creatures like the Yithians, shinigami, norns, jubjub bird, humbaba, gorynych, garuda, dybbuk, and clockworks, nuff said. They get better every time.
In one word Wonderful:
Love the asuras, div, the new tane,the hekatonchiere and many many more
That Monkey race is called Vanara. And they are all kinds of awesome.
Seriously thinking about trying to get a Vanaran Aquatic Druid approved for a Skull and Shackles PbP. Even with the -2 CHA hurting the Wild Empathy, the bonuses are perfect and you'd get a Climb AND Swim speed, which can only be a good thing on a pirate ship.
I think it is good if you are ready for another monster book. It isn't good enough to generate a need for another monster book.
There's a lot of asian stuff, true, but I wouldn't say it's more than half, and it's diverse within that continent (which includes, for me, india, west asia, and the middle east).
I think this is the last Bestiary I will want for this ruleset. The steady trickle from the APs should be quite sufficient.
I really like it. They put more of a focus on non-European folklore and grabbed alot of cool monsters. I was really impressed to see some from African mythology and cryptoids from Africa. More 1001 Arabian Nights flavor is really cool (Ahriman and the Divs!) and the Fossil Golem is THE BEST golem around. It's hands are T-rex's!! The Asian folklore is great. And by Asian, I mean all of Asia. More details on Rakshasas and Asuras. I really love the Asura pages. Also, a lot of monsters from the biblical (and pre) era. Things like Nephilim, Behemoths, and Humbaba are awesome additions. I do wish there were more Aztec/Mayan monsters, but they have some in here and that's cool. Finally, something I loved was the four Lovecraftian creatures in the bestiary. However, three of them aren't the 'horror from beyond the stars' but instead are from the Dreanlands cycle, which for me is awesome since I am running a campaign that will end in the Dreamlands.
I only wish that there were more Proteans and Qlippoths, since this book does add more daemons, demons, and devils. Of the art concepts, I think the Hekatonkheires was my favorite. I had no idea how they'd pull it off, but they did and it looks great!
Also, yes, the last two Jabberwocky critters are in. The Bandersnatch and the Jubjub Bird are both in.