Guys,
I have a complaint about your adventure path series that I just noticed finally reading through the Skull & Shackles series, specifically the last installment; "From Hell's Heart".
First I want to praise you on the quality of the product up to this point. It's been great and a real help at times for me to grab a scenario to add-lib in my own campaign setting that has been running now since 1978. Where I used to have lots of time for prep and to create scenarios for the players (when I was single and no kids) I now have very little time and am surprised I can get in 5 hours a week of play for some old and new friends that still find my campaign setting amusing, challenging and still good enough to continue to develop characters for long term goals.
I am disappointed in the direction the Pathfinder Adventure Setting books seem to be going. What I mean is: In past volumes, the writers included all the pertinent data for encounters that a DM wold need to run the scenarios without needing extra books for reference to get the creature stats. This issue I am noticing that it wasn't included on both the iron golem and the canon golem. What gives?? I am used to not needing anything but the published book for the adventure unless a specific rules question came up that was outside the actual activities covered in the adventure. Not sure why these creature stats weren't included but if this is the direction the publishers are going to be continuing on, I will have to say that this will be an inconvenience and I will consider the adventures to be incomplete, and needing more than just the basic rules manual. This seems to be the ploy that WoTC used to get people to purchase additional publications and tends to get a bit pricey for just a few additional bits of information to complete a written adventure.
Please, if you are going to use specific creatures for encounters, include them in the adventure path so I don't have to purchase additional publications for the stats of those single creatures. It's not complete otherwise.
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Every creature referred to in short form is available for free in the Pathfinder PRD on this very site or d20pfsrd. The more room taken by monster stats that are available for free, the less room for interesting encounters. What's the point of hardcovers and rules expansions if they can't be used?
Also, this is most certainly not the first occurrence of this phenomenon. Any time an unaltered monster from one of Paizo's bestiaries is used in an AP volume or module they use the shortened stat block with book/page reference. As DM mentioned, it is done this way so that they can fit more actual adventure content into the books rather than reprinting information that they already offer for free (as well as in commonly owned books). Seeing that you are a charter subscriber, I find it curious that this is the first time you've noticed this.
Also, this is most certainly not the first occurrence of this phenomenon. Any time an unaltered monster from one of Paizo's bestiaries is used in an AP volume or module they use the shortened stat block with book/page reference. As DM mentioned, it is done this way so that they can fit more actual adventure content into the books rather than reprinting information that they already offer for free (as well as in commonly owned books). Seeing that you are a charter subscriber, I find it curious that this is the first time you've noticed this.
This.
I've been running games since Kingmaker and that AP certainly required the GM to reference the Bestiary for monster stats.
Kingmaker has a lot of 'advanced' stuff
I dont really mind stat blocks not being included for such things, as its easy to access online
quite a few more things need fixing before this issue IMO
Thanks for the info people. No, I didn't notice it in earlier issues since I don't actually run the series as an adventure. I read through the Adventure Path volume over the week and use them (the books scenarios) as inspiration on my game days if needed or happens to coincide with what the players are doing at that time. Currently the Skull and Shackles series happens to fit well as I am running high level characters on a mixture of a "Lost in Space" (Spelljammer)and a 40K flavor (planet in the first stages of a Tyranid invasion) with the players needed a lot of resources to repair their Elvish Armada before trying to find a way back to their crystal sphere. (Magic and technology does mix if done with moderation :))
I just don't remember seeing the missing stat blocks in earlier issues. And I will agree if they are readily available, I would rather have more penned adventure descriptions than a page of stats on a creature that is available to me.
I guess if I do use parts, I'll have to download the stat blocks from the web before hand (actually put some more prep time into the games). Actually didn't know about that area (the web based content on the creatures and rules)either. Guess that's what happens when you have less time to devote to long time hobbies when the kids and family demand more involvement over the years.
Thanks again everyone for the help. Like I said before people of Paizo, keep up the good work on the Adventure Path series. I continue to subscribe to them because of the excellent content.
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What I do it just use the PFSRD or the D20PFSRD site and copy all the monster text into a doc file, once I have all the full stats of all the monsters in a adventure in the doc file. I print it out. I even do this with monsters and NPC's who have stat blocks in the adventure. It can then write on the printed sheets and I find it much easier that way to run battles, to have a single piece of paper I can write on, with all the information on it.
What I do it just use the PFSRD or the D20PFSRD site and copy all the monster text into a doc file, once I have all the full stats of all the monsters in a adventure in the doc file. I print it out. I even do this with monsters and NPC's who have stat blocks in the adventure. It can then write on the printed sheets and I find it much easier that way to run battles, to have a single piece of paper I can write on, with all the information on it.
I do this exact thing as well and it also lets me adjust stats for spell buffs, add a line in for power attack damage, etc