I realized that one of the most important things for me for a monster entry is that it have beautiful, vivid artwork, so I can visualize what the creature would really look like if I met it in the woods somewhere.
Pathfinder products do really good at this (except for their early stuff). I've been looking for 3pp stuff that would fill some of the gaps in the ranges of monsters available, but still have the same quality of beautiful artwork. It looks like Alluria's Beasts of the Boundless Blue might be worth checking out in this regard. Does anyone know what other 3pp bestiaries have monsters that leap off the page?
LPJ Design has a full line of monsters in their Monsters of NeoExodus that artistically are as good as any from Paizo's artwork and game mechanically even better. You can see the full line and the reviews for the products here!
The Midgard Bestiary is pretty good all in all, with some artwork that doesn't really impress me and some that is pretty great. Most of the artwork falls into the decent to pretty good range. It's got a mix of black and white and color art if that matters to you. Tome of Horrors complete is entirely black and white art but with 750 monster stats in it there is so much art that some is very good and some is pretty mediocre.
The Kobold Press book Dark Fey is an excellent resource in my opinion, though with only 6 of the 19 (18+1 template) detailed creatures given artwork it might not be as good for your purposes. It's only a 20 page book though, and if you don't want fey it probably won't be any use to you.
@Mikaze: Alluria "Good God". Nice. Definitely going to give it a look.
@LMPjr007: Hmmm.....Their cover artwork is a few steps down from PF stuff. Unless their internal artwork is much better, doesn't look like what I'm looking for.
@idilippy: Midgard - "some....some pretty great". Might take a look, but crappy art (and black and white art) might doom it for me.
Dark Fey: Fey sound interesting, but not without artwok.
@LMPjr007: Hmmm.....Their cover artwork is a few steps down from PF stuff. Unless their internal artwork is much better, doesn't look like what I'm looking for.
I find that interesting since many of the artist we worked on this line with NOW work for Paizo doing artwork. But it is a matter of taste, so I hope you find what you are looking for.
@LMPjr007: Hmmm.....Their cover artwork is a few steps down from PF stuff. Unless their internal artwork is much better, doesn't look like what I'm looking for.I find that interesting since many of the artist we worked on this line with NOW work for Paizo doing artwork. But it is a matter of taste, so I hope you find what you are looking for.
Sorry, just not seeing it. Looks much more cartoonish to me.
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The Kobold Press book Dark Fey is an excellent resource in my opinion, though with only 6 of the 19 (18+1 template) detailed creatures given artwork it might not be as good for your purposes. It's only a 20 page book though, and if you don't want fey it probably won't be any use to you.
Great points about Dark Fey! If you are in need of a small bestiary that focuses on dark fey creatures, this is a great little book.
And, the full color illustrations are excellent!
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Book of Beasts: Legendary Foes is a downright beautiful book and covers the upper end of the CR levels better than any other monster book published before it.
LPJ Design has a full line of monsters in their Monsters of NeoExodus that artistically are as good as any from Paizo's artwork and game mechanically even better.Wow, that's ... quite a claim ...
As my dad would say: It's not bragging if it's true. :-)
The Kobold Press book Dark Fey is an excellent resource in my opinion, though with only 6 of the 19 (18+1 template) detailed creatures given artwork it might not be as good for your purposes. It's only a 20 page book though, and if you don't want fey it probably won't be any use to you.Great points about Dark Fey! If you are in need of a small bestiary that focuses on dark fey creatures, this is a great little book.
And, the full color illustrations are excellent!
Yeah, it was well worth it to me, I am happy to have new Fey creatures and when it was on sale it was an unbelievable bargain. I also just noticed that the illustrations (which are fantastic for the creatures that have them) are each part of the excellent book (pdf in my case) cover.
Most 3pp bestiaries I have are black and white, so if that's a turnoff...
The only ones I have that have excellent color pictures are Legendary Games Coldwood Codex and Boreal Bestiary, and Dark Fey.
As a fan of bestiaries and someone not associated with any 3pp publisher, my two favorite 3pp bestaries are the following:
Beasts of the Boundless Blue: There are a few critters I am less than pleased with, but most of it is quite good, and I have seen continued improvement in both monster design and artwork from them
Midgard Bestiary: Most of this is not in color, and the cover illustration is perhaps not the best. But the black and white artwork within the bestiary is really good, and quite a step above what we see in other black and white bestiaries, like the Complete Tome of Horror.
Tome of Horrors Complete is good value, but the art is black and white, and of varying quality. Some I think is quite good, others quite bad. It's a worthwhile purchase if only for the sheer volume of creatures within
Personally If artwork is important I would avoid Tome of Horrors 4. I was quite disappointed in the artwork for this book; although it's in color, I found a lot of it to be worse than the Complete Tome of Horror, and the artist tends to use a similar design style for many creatures, which tends to overall make them blander and harder to differentiate from one another
If I may add my voice to the choir of those promoting their own products, may I suggest you give Demiurge Press a try? We're not the biggest company around, but we do pride ourselves on high production values and full-color art.
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I think the _Book of Drakes_, from Kobold Press, is actually color interior.
Yep, it's about 90% color, and Hugo Solis to boot.
-Ben.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
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Most 3pp bestiaries I have are black and white, so if that's a turnoff...
The only ones I have that have excellent color pictures are Legendary Games Coldwood Codex and Boreal Bestiary, and Dark Fey.
Thanks for the mention for the Coldwood Codex and Boreal Bestiary, necromental.
If you are looking for some creepy constructs with some lovely artwork, you might also like to check out the Construct Codex, and while it only has two creatures the monster art in the Mad Doctor's Formulary.
If you are interested in monsters with the mythic rules, you might also enjoy the Mythic Monsters series, like Mythic Monsters: Demons, although they are primarily stat block products and do not have art for every creature... although the art is pretty awesome.
Hi,
I love the Book of Drakes and Midgard Bestiary for Pathfinder from Kobold Press.
I also really like Alluria's Fey Folio: The Unseelie Court but only have the 4e version so not sure if the Pathfinder version is the same. I have Dark Fey but haven't read it yet, but it looks gorgeous.
Cheers
Rich
Todd Morasch did the full color art on Bastion Press' 3.5 monster book Complete Minions and in Epidemic Books' Oathbound Bestiary (along with a lot of art for most of the Oathbound books).
His art is striking and makes monsters look really alien and fantasy. I've known a bunch of people who don't like his style but it grabs me and I've used a bunch of the Minions monsters in my d20 games.
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Its B&W art, but I really love it, Forgotten Foes by Tricky Owlbear.
Thank you very much everyone - it's all given me a lot to check out.