The system is D&D 3E, D&D 3.5, or Pathfinder, and is has to be available in print. Sorry, no PDFs. I am fine buying used. What I want is monsters. Lots and lots and lots of monsters. It can be themed (undead, constructs, dragons, and animals are of special interest), or it can be a general monster book (which would be highly appreciated if it has a good selection). A book of templates or options would also be nice. I already own Legends and Lairs Necromantic Lore and Green Ronin Advanced Bestiary.
The system is D&D 3E, D&D 3.5, or Pathfinder, and is has to be available in print. Sorry, no PDFs. I am fine buying used. What I want is monsters. Lots and lots and lots of monsters. It can be themed (undead, constructs, dragons, and animals are of special interest), or it can be a general monster book (which would be highly appreciated if it has a good selection). A book of templates or options would also be nice. I already own Legends and Lairs Necromantic Lore and Green Ronin Advanced Bestiary.
Forgotten Foes by Tricky Owlbear Publishing
The Complete Tome of Horrors by Frog God Games.
Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations is now out of print, but we're going to get it on DriveThruRPG in the near future. In the meantime, there might be a copy on sale on ebay.
Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane comes out next month. It comes with the PDF for free.
No PDFs does narrow down your choices, especially for Pathfinder. Most 3PP products these days are very small press and PDF-only.
My favorite general monster book is Denizens of Avadnu, a collection of really weird and innovative critters for a campaign setting that never really got off the ground. It's full-color, very creative and only 10 bucks on the Paizo site, so what are you waiting for?
Book of Monster Templates from Rite Pub has a lot of good options to tweak your existing monsters. It has a print/PDF bundle too.
Why exactly can't it be PDFs? That's cutting out 95% of your options.
The Complete Tome of Horrors by Frog God Games.
+800 or so monsters
Why exactly can't it be PDFs? That's cutting out 95% of your options.
I like having print copies to sit down and read. I buy a few PDFs, but I'm not fond of reading books on the computer.
For an undead theme, you can grab my old 3.5 Dread Codex. I collected all of the undead monsters and like-themed items and spells from the 3PP world for this supplement. It was POD for a time and I grabbed two copies for myself. If you would like one and don't see it anywhere else online in print I'd be happy to sell you the extra copy I have for a small price. Email me if interested: bret.boyd@trickyowlbear.com
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The Complete Tome of Horrors is your #1 buy, though you may have to settle for PDF. If you can't buy that, buy the older versions anyway.
Dangerous Denizens, by Kenzer is a good book, its animal section alone makes it worth picking up.
The Creature Collections from Sword and Sorcery are a little rough CR wise, but the monsters are a gold mine of ideas and readily polished up.
Book of Monster Templates, from Rite, has already been mentioned, but I'll put in another vote for it.
Why exactly can't it be PDFs? That's cutting out 95% of your options.I like having print copies to sit down and read. I buy a few PDFs, but I'm not fond of reading books on the computer.
PDF+thumb drive + kinkos/staples problem solved (assuming just printing it yourself isnt an option)
Does anyone have the Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary? I'm looking at going for it.
As for printing out PDFs, I'm worried about quality a great deal. I'd rather have a professionally bound book.
We (4 Winds Fantasy Gaming) have the Tome of Monsters as well as Phantasia Zoologica Volume I: Cats, Dogs & Horses, both available in print or PDF.
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These are the book I have in Print.
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Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations
Book of Monster Templates
Midgard: Book of Drakes
Malevolent & Benign
Tome of Monsters
Phantasia Zoologica Volume I: Cats, Dogs & Horses ....I have just the plain old dog version
Forgotten Foes
The Tome of Horrors Complete
Creature Collection Revised (Scarred Lands D20)
Sword & Sorcery Creature Collection II: Dark Menagerie
Creature Collection 3 (Sword & Sorcery D20)
Advanced Bestiary (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Book of Templates Deluxe Edition (Goodman Games)
Legions Of Hell
Monsters of the Endless Dark Subterranea (Wanderers Guild)
Monster Geographica: Underground (Monster Geographica)
Monster (d20 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Fiend Folio (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Monster Manual
Monster Manual II
Monster Manual III
Monster Manual IV
Monster Manual V
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations
Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead
Tome of Horrors (d20 Generic System)
Tome of Horrors II (Sword Sorcery)
The Tome Of Horrors III (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Vigil Watch Warrens of the Ratmen (Sword Sorcery)
Vigil Watch Secrets of the Asaatthi
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Just for PF monsters :
Creepy Creatures from Alluria was available in print and colour at some point, I also recommend Forgotten Foes, which has some neat ideas, and atm I am reading malevolent and Benign from expeditious retreat press and quite enjoying it. There is also the Tome of Monsters by 4 winds but not read it yet.
And the Tome of horrors of course
A bit of a plug, but for a fairly-priced themed bestiary check out the Ennie-nominated Fey Folio.
The print version is only $9 at Rpgnow.
The Tome of Horrors Complete: Unlimited Edition (PFRPG)
Monsters from the aberrant to the yellow musk zombie appear in this book, and everything in between—that’s over 700 monsters. But that’s not all; the appendices bring just as much to the table from templates to hazards to a treatise on poison variations in nearly 50 types of venomous snakes. There are also new feats, planes of existence, strange beings beyond mortal ken, and plenty of charts dividing the compiled monsters by CR, type, and terrain.
The Tome of Horrors Complete: Unlimited Edition (PFRPG)
Monsters from the aberrant to the yellow musk zombie appear in this book, and everything in between—that’s over 700 monsters. But that’s not all; the appendices bring just as much to the table from templates to hazards to a treatise on poison variations in nearly 50 types of venomous snakes. There are also new feats, planes of existence, strange beings beyond mortal ken, and plenty of charts dividing the compiled monsters by CR, type, and terrain.
That looks like a collector's edition. Is there a cheaper regular edition?
That looks like a collector's edition. Is there a cheaper regular edition?
That is the only edition. It is three books, updated to Pathfinder and smashing into one enormous volume. The cheaper edition is the PDF.
That looks like a collector's edition. Is there a cheaper regular edition?That is the only edition. It is three books, updated to Pathfinder and smashing into one enormous volume. The cheaper edition is the PDF.
Or the three original hardcovers, since you were alright with 3.x. They're out of print, so tracking them down might be an issue.
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Everything mentioned is exceptionally good, especially Forgotten Foes, Tome of Monsters, Book of Monster Templates, Creepy Creatures, and the Fey Folio... and, of course, the Tome of Horrors, which basically has the state of being a religious text among gamers for a GOOD REASON.
For 3.5, I would recommend the Penumbra Bestiary, Dangerous Denizens, Denizens of Avadnu, and the White Wolf monster books out of those previously mentioned.
As for stuff not previously mentioned, I really liked Malevolent and Benign for Pathfinder, as it has some useful niche monsters. The Dragonlance and Ravenloft monster books for 3.5 are really nice. I can't imagine running a game without Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary or Goodman Games' Book of Templates. Beautiful stuff, that you can't go wrong with.
I am glad to see Creepy Creatures get so much love..It was my first book and near and dear..
As far as PDFs..I also prefer "real" books, but so far I have had great luck printing them and putting them in binders. They hold up well, so far and are useful. Or you could get a laptop for them..lol
I have had books printed and bound at Office Max..Its cool, but ran me 50$ for a big book
That looks like a collector's edition. Is there a cheaper regular edition?That is the only edition. It is three books, updated to Pathfinder and smashing into one enormous volume. The cheaper edition is the PDF.
Which is why I bought the PDF. Kelsey, I know you prefer hard copy, but you can always find what you like in the PDF & print a copy of just that monster.