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Pathfinder Review: Bestiary 3
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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 7648129" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Last month, Paizo Publishing LLC released <em>Bestiary</em> <em>3</em> for <em>Pathfinder RPG</em> and by now the book should have made it onto the shelves of your FLGS. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">While the first monster book for any RPG is part of the must-have core system, subsequent volumes and collections of monsters tend to rapidly diminish in both quality and utility. In the past, this decline has been quite noticeable by the time the third volume of any “monster manual” has been released. Accordingly, I must admit that I had relatively low expectations for <em>Bestiary 3</em>. Those expectations were not raised by the pre-release buzz concerning <em>Bestiary 3</em>, either. One of the roles that <em>Bestiary 3</em> was to fill was to act as a sort of “Oriental Monstrous Compendium” to accompany Paizo’s<a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8pfu?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Dragon-Empires-Gazetteer" target="_blank"> roll-out of Tian-Xia</a> as well as to assist GM’s of the <a href="http://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/jadeRegent" target="_blank"><em>Jade Regent Adventure Path</em></a>, a heavily “eastern themed” adventure epic for <em>PFRPG</em>.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>[align=right]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50714d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-best1_large.jpg[/align]</strong>To top it off, the considerable excitement and buzz which accompanied Frog God Games’ 800 page+ <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8ody?The-Tome-of-Horrors-Complete-Unlimited-Edition" target="_blank"><em>Tome of Horrors Complete</em></a> for <em>Pathfinder</em> RPG last September left me thoroughly underwhelmed in terms of my own perceived “need” for a <em>Bestiary 3</em>. After all, I already had <em>Bestiary 1</em> and <em>Bestiary 2</em>, monsters from the various Adventure Path installments, plus many more foes from the various modules and Pathfinder Chronicles released by Paizo over the past nearly three years. Include into that collection the various demonic, diabolic, and daemonic horrors from the three volumes of the “<a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8a6f?Pathfinder-Chronicles-Book-of-the-Damned-Volume-1-Princes-of-Darkness" target="_blank"><em>Books of the Damned</em></a>” and add the massive <em>Tome of Horrors Complete, </em>too? As you might imagine, I was simply not feeling any sharp hunger for yet-another-monster-book for <em>Pathfinder</em>. Fact is, I felt pretty much overwhelmed with monster material for <em>Pathfinder</em> already.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">So when I cracked the <em>Bestiary 3</em>, I frankly wasn’t expecting much and I wasn’t terribly excited by the supposed promise of the book, either. However, as I started to turn the pages, my indifference changed to mild interest and then quickly morphed into pleasure as the pages kept turning and the various monsters Paizo had put together impressed me – a lot.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">It turns out that <em>Bestiary 3</em> is a not only a useful monster book for Pathfinder RPG, it is an <em>extremely</em> useful book; moreover, it is a far better game supplement, on balance, than <em>Bestiary </em>2 was. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The key to <em>Bestiary 3’s</em> quality goes beyond the usual high production values that Paizo is known for. Yes, the book is well illustrated – sometimes gorgeously so; however, I expected it would be. The writing is also up to Paizo’s usual standards, too. While those are certainly important aspects in achieving a quality product, their mere presence isn’t enough on its own to put the <em>Bestiary 3</em> over the top. The key to that success is the monsters themselves -- and it is in this respect that Paizo gets it right.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">There are 268 monsters featured in the 320 page book, the vast majority of which stick to the standard one-page-per-monster <em>Pathfinder</em> format (the balance of the book is taken up with the few monsters and template types that take more than one page and the various appendices in <em>Bestiary 3</em>). While many of the monsters are completely new, many are adapted from earlier iterations of the game and some are “classic” monsters from the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> edition eras. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">While by no means an exhaustive list, by way of example, familiar monsters in the <em>Bestiary 3</em> include: <em>allip, adherer, Androsphinx, Animal Lord, ascomoid, atomie, axe beak, bandersnatch, brass golem, carbuncle, caryatid column, catfolk, demilich, desert giant, dire corby, disenchanter, dragonne, faerie dragon, flail snail, flumph, forest dragon, ant lions (giant versions), giant owl, hag (annis), incubus, jackalwere, kirin, lammasu, nixie, ratfolk, royal naga, sea dragon, vodyanoi, water naga, and the wolf-in-sheep’s clothing</em>. I must stress that this is simply my own list compiled as a matter of first impression and is by no means an exhaustive list – I may (and probably did) miss a dozen or more "classic monsters" from prior iterations of the game which are not reflected in the above list.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Careful readers will notice that some of these monsters have also appeared in previous Paizo products. For example, all of the monsters in the entire <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy88x4?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bonus-Bestiary" target="_blank"><em>Bonus Bestiary</em></a> have been reproduced in <em>Bestiary 3</em>. The <em>Bonus Bestiary</em> was a free 16 page product created by Paizo for distribution as part of FREE RPG Day nearly three years ago and is no longer in print. It is highly collectible and has been exceedingly hard to find for a long time now other than <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy88x4?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bonus-Bestiary" target="_blank">in .pdf form</a>. For those GMs looking for the creatures in the <em>Bonus Bestiary</em> in bound print format – the <em>Bestiary 3</em> fills that void.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">[align=right]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50716d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-pzo1120-forestdragon_360.jpeg[/align]</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">While the stat blocks for the monsters previously presented in the <em>Bonus Bestiary</em> are, for the most part, unchanged, the descriptions of the monsters themselves are different. James Jacobs explained on the Paizo Message Boards that when the <em>Bonus Bestiary</em> was in production several years ago, Paizo had not yet settled upon their format for presenting monsters and were still experimenting with various approaches at that time. The versions of the monsters which now appear in the <em>Bestiary 3</em> are the “official versions” of the monsters in the <em>Pathfinder RPG</em> and supersede the versions previously presented in the <em>Bonus Bestiary</em>.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Similarly (and rather surprisingly) the <em>Bestiary 3</em> contains seven of the monsters that appeared in last year’s <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8gnj?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Misfit-Monsters-Redeemed" target="_blank"><em>Misfit Monsters Redeemed</em></a>. The focus of <em>Misfit Monsters Redeemed </em>was in presenting new and detailed backstories and monster ecologies explaining – and redeeming – twelve monsters from previous iterations of the game that were adjudged so silly and inane as to be worthy of entry into the “Hall of Shame”. Evidently, the editors at Paizo were happy enough with the new versions of the <em>Adherer, Disenchanter, Dire Corby, Flail Snail, Flumph, Tojanda</em> <em>and Wolf-in-Sheep’s Clothing</em> that they have now been deemed worthy enough to be included in the <em>Bestiary 3</em>. To be clear, much of the backstory and reimagining that accompanied these foes in <em>Misfit Monsters Redeemed</em> is absent from their entries in <em>Bestiary 3</em>, however, it's still nice to have easy access to the stat block. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">A few other monsters have appeared in modules and even in <em>Pathfinder Society Scenarios</em> in the same or similar form (the classic <em>Caryatid Column</em>, for example). Those monsters have now been consolidated beneath two covers to facilitate their ease of use at the table. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Owners of FGG's <em>Tome of Horrors Complete</em> will also notice that as many of the so-called “classic monsters” which appear in <em>Bestiary 3 </em>also appear in <em>ToHC</em>; however, there is almost always some difference between the two versions of these “Pathfinderized” monsters. The CRs of the versions of the creatures between the two books often vary, together with the various standard and special abilities ascribed to each foe. My general impression is that the versions of the monsters which appear in the <em>ToHC</em> are usually the more lethal versions as between the two – which I think is simply a reflection that the monsters in <em>ToHC</em> derive from a version of the game where Epic rules were assumed – whereas those in <em>Bestiary 3 </em>assumes just the opposite. In the final analysis, I’m happy to have both the <em>Bestiary 3</em> and <em>ToHC</em> versions, but if I had to express a preference, usually (though not always) it would be for the <em>Bestiary 3</em> version of the monster. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Left out of my list of classic monsters which reappear in the <em>Bestiary 3</em> is the <em>Graveknight</em>, the monster which graces the cover of Bestiary 3 and was clearly inspired by the classic <em>Death Knight</em> from the 1<sup>st</sup> edition <em>Fiend Folio</em>. Fans of the <em>DragonLance</em> and <em>Ravenloft</em> settings saga will recall that the 1<sup>st</sup> edition Death Knight was the actual monster type of Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose. Whatever the case, Paizo has implemented the new version of the Death Knight to the game as an acquired template. Whether using the stock example presented or creating your own, the <em>Graveknight</em> is an entertainingly lethal (and somewhat overpowered) kick-ass undead knight of unspeakable power... which is to say that I thought it was pretty cool.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">[align=left]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50717d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-pzo1120-kamadan_360.jpeg[/align]</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">The Asian themed monsters in the book are well done and the illustrations are top notch. More importantly, I did not find that their numbers were such that they overwhelmed the book in terms of their quantity or prominence. There are various <em>Imperial dragons, Onis, Asuras</em> and <em>Divs</em> in <em>Bestiary 3</em>, but the total number of Asian themed monsters is probably about 10% of the book overall. If you were hoping for a true “Oriental Monstrous Compendium” for <em>Pathfinder</em> – then you will be disappointed to discover that <em>Bestiary 3</em> simply isn’t that sort of book. However, if you were in the camp that isn’t terribly interested in Asian themed monsters, then you will not feel put upon or otherwise take umbrage that Paizo has put too much peanut butter into your chocolate. To me, this was a plus. Of course, to others, YMMV. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">Lastly, there are a large number of mundane animals (and some giant versions of same) which appear in <em>Bestiary 3</em>, including a new collection of six smaller animals suitable for use as familiars. I found the inclusion of these mundane animals a welcome addition to my table and the emphasis on new animals for use as familiars was greatly appreciated. The new animals in <em>Bestiary 3</em> for use as small familiars include stat blocks for: <em>flying squirrel, fox, goat, otter, pig and the raccoon</em>. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">While the Paizo Message Boards have featured a lively discussion on the possible monsters to include in a <em>Bestiary 4</em>, I don’t think it is at all clear that there will necessarily be a <em>Bestiary 4</em>, or at least, it is not at all clear that <em>Bestiary 4</em> will be released in 2012. In discussions during past seminars at Gencon, Paizo Publisher Erik Mona has expressed his own doubts about how many general monster books Paizo could publish before it found itself going to that well once-too-often. It also seemed to me that the inclusion of monsters previously released in the <em>Bonus Bestiary</em> and in <em>Misfit Monsters Redeemed</em> imported a certain sense of ... finality and completeness to the <em>Bestiary</em> product line. While I expect that Paizo has made no final determination on this matter, for the time being, my best guess is that we won’t be seeing a <em>Bestiary 4</em> in 2012. The <em>Bestiary</em> field may be destined to lie fallow for a while. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">I spoke with Erik Mona concerning this a few weeks ago to ask him about his views on the likelihood of our seeing a <em>Bestiary 4</em> in December 2012. Mona was uncharacteristically cagey and indicated that he was not yet ready to announce what Paizo’s Xmas 2012 book would be. From his response, it was clear that Paizo <strong><em>has</em></strong> made a decision but prefers to delay that announcement until later this spring or perhaps as late as Paizocon this July. As with all things, time will tell.</span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px">While it may well be that we will see a <em>Bestiary 4</em>, my hunch is that the next monster book is more likely to be more tightly thematic in nature and less likely to be a “general” monster book like the first three <em>Bestiaries</em>. I’m not saying that we won’t ever see a <em>Bestiary 4</em> – but I wouldn’t bet on seeing it a year from now. </span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'">Which, in the circumstances, is just fine, because with the release of <em>Bestiary 3</em> I have all the monsters I am going to need for quite a long while. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Title:<em> Bestiary 3</em></strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Publisher:</strong> Paizo Publishing LLC</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Price:</strong> <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8odu?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bestiary-3" target="_blank">$39.99 Paizo.com</a> PDF <a href="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8odu?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bestiary-3" target="_blank">$9.99 Paizo.com</a></span></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family: 'Verdana'"><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><em>Highly Recommended:</em></strong> all Pathfinder GMs.</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 7648129, member: 20741"] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Last month, Paizo Publishing LLC released [I]Bestiary[/I] [I]3[/I] for [I]Pathfinder RPG[/I] and by now the book should have made it onto the shelves of your FLGS. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]While the first monster book for any RPG is part of the must-have core system, subsequent volumes and collections of monsters tend to rapidly diminish in both quality and utility. In the past, this decline has been quite noticeable by the time the third volume of any “monster manual” has been released. Accordingly, I must admit that I had relatively low expectations for [I]Bestiary 3[/I]. Those expectations were not raised by the pre-release buzz concerning [I]Bestiary 3[/I], either. One of the roles that [I]Bestiary 3[/I] was to fill was to act as a sort of “Oriental Monstrous Compendium” to accompany Paizo’s[URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8pfu?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Dragon-Empires-Gazetteer"] roll-out of Tian-Xia[/URL] as well as to assist GM’s of the [URL="http://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/jadeRegent"][I]Jade Regent Adventure Path[/I][/URL], a heavily “eastern themed” adventure epic for [I]PFRPG[/I].[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][B][align=right]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50714d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-best1_large.jpg[/align][/B]To top it off, the considerable excitement and buzz which accompanied Frog God Games’ 800 page+ [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8ody?The-Tome-of-Horrors-Complete-Unlimited-Edition"][I]Tome of Horrors Complete[/I][/URL] for [I]Pathfinder[/I] RPG last September left me thoroughly underwhelmed in terms of my own perceived “need” for a [I]Bestiary 3[/I]. After all, I already had [I]Bestiary 1[/I] and [I]Bestiary 2[/I], monsters from the various Adventure Path installments, plus many more foes from the various modules and Pathfinder Chronicles released by Paizo over the past nearly three years. Include into that collection the various demonic, diabolic, and daemonic horrors from the three volumes of the “[URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8a6f?Pathfinder-Chronicles-Book-of-the-Damned-Volume-1-Princes-of-Darkness"][I]Books of the Damned[/I][/URL]” and add the massive [I]Tome of Horrors Complete, [/I]too? As you might imagine, I was simply not feeling any sharp hunger for yet-another-monster-book for [I]Pathfinder[/I]. Fact is, I felt pretty much overwhelmed with monster material for [I]Pathfinder[/I] already.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]So when I cracked the [I]Bestiary 3[/I], I frankly wasn’t expecting much and I wasn’t terribly excited by the supposed promise of the book, either. However, as I started to turn the pages, my indifference changed to mild interest and then quickly morphed into pleasure as the pages kept turning and the various monsters Paizo had put together impressed me – a lot.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]It turns out that [I]Bestiary 3[/I] is a not only a useful monster book for Pathfinder RPG, it is an [I]extremely[/I] useful book; moreover, it is a far better game supplement, on balance, than [I]Bestiary [/I]2 was. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]The key to [I]Bestiary 3’s[/I] quality goes beyond the usual high production values that Paizo is known for. Yes, the book is well illustrated – sometimes gorgeously so; however, I expected it would be. The writing is also up to Paizo’s usual standards, too. While those are certainly important aspects in achieving a quality product, their mere presence isn’t enough on its own to put the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] over the top. The key to that success is the monsters themselves -- and it is in this respect that Paizo gets it right.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]There are 268 monsters featured in the 320 page book, the vast majority of which stick to the standard one-page-per-monster [I]Pathfinder[/I] format (the balance of the book is taken up with the few monsters and template types that take more than one page and the various appendices in [I]Bestiary 3[/I]). While many of the monsters are completely new, many are adapted from earlier iterations of the game and some are “classic” monsters from the 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> edition eras. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]While by no means an exhaustive list, by way of example, familiar monsters in the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] include: [I]allip, adherer, Androsphinx, Animal Lord, ascomoid, atomie, axe beak, bandersnatch, brass golem, carbuncle, caryatid column, catfolk, demilich, desert giant, dire corby, disenchanter, dragonne, faerie dragon, flail snail, flumph, forest dragon, ant lions (giant versions), giant owl, hag (annis), incubus, jackalwere, kirin, lammasu, nixie, ratfolk, royal naga, sea dragon, vodyanoi, water naga, and the wolf-in-sheep’s clothing[/I]. I must stress that this is simply my own list compiled as a matter of first impression and is by no means an exhaustive list – I may (and probably did) miss a dozen or more "classic monsters" from prior iterations of the game which are not reflected in the above list.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Careful readers will notice that some of these monsters have also appeared in previous Paizo products. For example, all of the monsters in the entire [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy88x4?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bonus-Bestiary"][I]Bonus Bestiary[/I][/URL] have been reproduced in [I]Bestiary 3[/I]. The [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I] was a free 16 page product created by Paizo for distribution as part of FREE RPG Day nearly three years ago and is no longer in print. It is highly collectible and has been exceedingly hard to find for a long time now other than [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy88x4?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bonus-Bestiary"]in .pdf form[/URL]. For those GMs looking for the creatures in the [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I] in bound print format – the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] fills that void.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][align=right]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50716d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-pzo1120-forestdragon_360.jpeg[/align][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]While the stat blocks for the monsters previously presented in the [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I] are, for the most part, unchanged, the descriptions of the monsters themselves are different. James Jacobs explained on the Paizo Message Boards that when the [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I] was in production several years ago, Paizo had not yet settled upon their format for presenting monsters and were still experimenting with various approaches at that time. The versions of the monsters which now appear in the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] are the “official versions” of the monsters in the [I]Pathfinder RPG[/I] and supersede the versions previously presented in the [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I].[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Similarly (and rather surprisingly) the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] contains seven of the monsters that appeared in last year’s [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8gnj?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Misfit-Monsters-Redeemed"][I]Misfit Monsters Redeemed[/I][/URL]. The focus of [I]Misfit Monsters Redeemed [/I]was in presenting new and detailed backstories and monster ecologies explaining – and redeeming – twelve monsters from previous iterations of the game that were adjudged so silly and inane as to be worthy of entry into the “Hall of Shame”. Evidently, the editors at Paizo were happy enough with the new versions of the [I]Adherer, Disenchanter, Dire Corby, Flail Snail, Flumph, Tojanda[/I] [I]and Wolf-in-Sheep’s Clothing[/I] that they have now been deemed worthy enough to be included in the [I]Bestiary 3[/I]. To be clear, much of the backstory and reimagining that accompanied these foes in [I]Misfit Monsters Redeemed[/I] is absent from their entries in [I]Bestiary 3[/I], however, it's still nice to have easy access to the stat block. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]A few other monsters have appeared in modules and even in [I]Pathfinder Society Scenarios[/I] in the same or similar form (the classic [I]Caryatid Column[/I], for example). Those monsters have now been consolidated beneath two covers to facilitate their ease of use at the table. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Owners of FGG's [I]Tome of Horrors Complete[/I] will also notice that as many of the so-called “classic monsters” which appear in [I]Bestiary 3 [/I]also appear in [I]ToHC[/I]; however, there is almost always some difference between the two versions of these “Pathfinderized” monsters. The CRs of the versions of the creatures between the two books often vary, together with the various standard and special abilities ascribed to each foe. My general impression is that the versions of the monsters which appear in the [I]ToHC[/I] are usually the more lethal versions as between the two – which I think is simply a reflection that the monsters in [I]ToHC[/I] derive from a version of the game where Epic rules were assumed – whereas those in [I]Bestiary 3 [/I]assumes just the opposite. In the final analysis, I’m happy to have both the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] and [I]ToHC[/I] versions, but if I had to express a preference, usually (though not always) it would be for the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] version of the monster. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Left out of my list of classic monsters which reappear in the [I]Bestiary 3[/I] is the [I]Graveknight[/I], the monster which graces the cover of Bestiary 3 and was clearly inspired by the classic [I]Death Knight[/I] from the 1<sup>st</sup> edition [I]Fiend Folio[/I]. Fans of the [I]DragonLance[/I] and [I]Ravenloft[/I] settings saga will recall that the 1<sup>st</sup> edition Death Knight was the actual monster type of Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose. Whatever the case, Paizo has implemented the new version of the Death Knight to the game as an acquired template. Whether using the stock example presented or creating your own, the [I]Graveknight[/I] is an entertainingly lethal (and somewhat overpowered) kick-ass undead knight of unspeakable power... which is to say that I thought it was pretty cool.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][align=left]http://www.enworld.org/forum/attachments/news/50717d1326415997-pathfinder-review-bestiary-3-pzo1120-kamadan_360.jpeg[/align][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]The Asian themed monsters in the book are well done and the illustrations are top notch. More importantly, I did not find that their numbers were such that they overwhelmed the book in terms of their quantity or prominence. There are various [I]Imperial dragons, Onis, Asuras[/I] and [I]Divs[/I] in [I]Bestiary 3[/I], but the total number of Asian themed monsters is probably about 10% of the book overall. If you were hoping for a true “Oriental Monstrous Compendium” for [I]Pathfinder[/I] – then you will be disappointed to discover that [I]Bestiary 3[/I] simply isn’t that sort of book. However, if you were in the camp that isn’t terribly interested in Asian themed monsters, then you will not feel put upon or otherwise take umbrage that Paizo has put too much peanut butter into your chocolate. To me, this was a plus. Of course, to others, YMMV. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]Lastly, there are a large number of mundane animals (and some giant versions of same) which appear in [I]Bestiary 3[/I], including a new collection of six smaller animals suitable for use as familiars. I found the inclusion of these mundane animals a welcome addition to my table and the emphasis on new animals for use as familiars was greatly appreciated. The new animals in [I]Bestiary 3[/I] for use as small familiars include stat blocks for: [I]flying squirrel, fox, goat, otter, pig and the raccoon[/I]. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]While the Paizo Message Boards have featured a lively discussion on the possible monsters to include in a [I]Bestiary 4[/I], I don’t think it is at all clear that there will necessarily be a [I]Bestiary 4[/I], or at least, it is not at all clear that [I]Bestiary 4[/I] will be released in 2012. In discussions during past seminars at Gencon, Paizo Publisher Erik Mona has expressed his own doubts about how many general monster books Paizo could publish before it found itself going to that well once-too-often. It also seemed to me that the inclusion of monsters previously released in the [I]Bonus Bestiary[/I] and in [I]Misfit Monsters Redeemed[/I] imported a certain sense of ... finality and completeness to the [I]Bestiary[/I] product line. While I expect that Paizo has made no final determination on this matter, for the time being, my best guess is that we won’t be seeing a [I]Bestiary 4[/I] in 2012. The [I]Bestiary[/I] field may be destined to lie fallow for a while. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]I spoke with Erik Mona concerning this a few weeks ago to ask him about his views on the likelihood of our seeing a [I]Bestiary 4[/I] in December 2012. Mona was uncharacteristically cagey and indicated that he was not yet ready to announce what Paizo’s Xmas 2012 book would be. From his response, it was clear that Paizo [B][I]has[/I][/B] made a decision but prefers to delay that announcement until later this spring or perhaps as late as Paizocon this July. As with all things, time will tell.[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3]While it may well be that we will see a [I]Bestiary 4[/I], my hunch is that the next monster book is more likely to be more tightly thematic in nature and less likely to be a “general” monster book like the first three [I]Bestiaries[/I]. I’m not saying that we won’t ever see a [I]Bestiary 4[/I] – but I wouldn’t bet on seeing it a year from now. [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][FONT=Verdana]Which, in the circumstances, is just fine, because with the release of [I]Bestiary 3[/I] I have all the monsters I am going to need for quite a long while. [/FONT][/SIZE] [/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][B]Title:[I] Bestiary 3[/I][/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][B]Publisher:[/B] Paizo Publishing LLC[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][B]Price:[/B] [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8odu?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bestiary-3"]$39.99 Paizo.com[/URL] PDF [URL="http://paizo.com/products/btpy8odu?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Bestiary-3"]$9.99 Paizo.com[/URL][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Verdana][SIZE=3][B][I]Highly Recommended:[/I][/B] all Pathfinder GMs.[/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]
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