EYEforanEYE
First Post
INTRODUCTION: The old question continues to pop up among those who are willingly able to afford such supplements and those who are not as fortunate and that is, can there be too many monsters? My answer is an absolute no however the throngs of gamers I encounter say yes. The predicament at hand is this. When will monsters in published supplements cease being similar to other monsters in previous supplemental material? Will we ever tire of seeing more and more monsters that are practically useless in a game? When will we see more plant monsters? When will we see a more diverse array of undead? Why should I invest in Frog God Games and their recent release of the Tome of Horrors 4? What does the Tome of Horrors 4 bring to my gaming table? Some of the questions I pose are easy to answer and some are not but hopefully as people read this review, they will be be able to provide some guidance in such matters.
CONTENTS: The Tome of Horrors is a hardback bound book that can also be purchased in PDF format for those who weary of lugging around tons of books to their game. For one such as I who despises current technology at a gaming table, I prefer hardback book format in every game I host or play. This supplement is 304 pages with the majority dedicated to its main theme of introducing new monsters both terrible and majestic in nature. The rest of the book will have the ordinary index coupled with a few advertisements and some very, very useful appendices notably the New Feats, Creature Types, Monsters by Type, Monsters by CR, Templates, and most important of all, the Legal Appendix. Almost every creature type is contained within this supplement therefore a DM/GM should have no difficulty in finding creatures that might be encountered within their game.
The Introduction by Bill Webb covers it all for me as far as the usefulness of this book. He also answers the question with a resounding NO that "one can simply never have enough monsters". Well done Bill, My hats off to you.
I must also make mention of the book being dedicated to the memory of Eric Jansing or for those who knew him better as "Shade" at Enworld. His fastidious attention to the Creature Catalog is always missed. Rest in Peace...
As mentioned before, almost every creature type can be found in this supplement from lowly undead to gruesome vermin, from powerful elementals to hideous demons, and from ancient dragons to deadly plants. Some of the monsters contained are mythical in nature such as Baba Yaga and some are very mundane such as the dire worg. There are constructs, undead, vermin, aberrations, humanoids, animals, magical beasts, outsiders, oozes, plants, swarms, fey, and more.
PRACTICAL USE: With any supplement of this nature, it is very obvious of what importance it is to a DM/GM. The current rule set of the monsters in this book are for the PATHFINDER RPG however with some careful preparation and common sense, any of these creatures contained can be easily converted to another rule set for earlier forms of games/editions.
POSITIVE POINTS: After receiving this supplement a few days ago and pouring through its contents, I was was again impressed by the hard work of those responsible for its creation. When I first received the book, I was under the impression that it will be the same old typical dull black and white art and Lord knows, I was so wrong. I thought at first my mind was playing tricks on me because i was seeing color throughout the book. Behold, practically every monster in the book has been inked in with a wonderful shade of color to give it more life than anticipated. Only a few are "blow up in your face" color such as the lava lizard, the hellwidow, the fire bird, Indar (fire elemental Lord), and a few others. The rest are very subtle but very pleasing to the eyes. It is mentioned briefly that this is the first supplement of its kind to bring color therefore implying more will appear in the future.
The layout of the stat blocks are excellent. Easy to read and well organized. The overall organization of the Tome of Horrors 4 is excellent. Everything is easy to find and that is a total plus. The price of this book is 50.00 and very much worthwhile considering that it has color added to it. The level of professionalism and detail is exemplary.
NEGATIVE POINTS: The majority of the monsters contained within this supplement are original therefore making their first appearance in this supplement however it must be noted that some monsters are from earlier releases from Frog God Games and not entirely new. It is understandable that monsters from previous works who have never been placed in a book like that of the Tome of Horrors 4 are now utilized for that one purpose would still not make them entirely new and fresh. As I was perusing the book, I noticed a few that I knew I saw elsewhere and thanks to the wonderful stat blocks, the location of aforementioned creatures is mentioned.
The price of the book is 50.00 therefore making it very difficult for the average gamer to afford. The ultimate option is purchasing the PDF.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: I am a fan of Frog God Games and yet again I will have to praise their latest release. They continue to put out supplemental material that is useful to my games and to the worthwhile content of my gaming groups. As long they continue to put forth the effort in releasing exemplary supplemental material, Frog God Games will continue to receive my support, praise, and fanship.
# 0f STARS: FIVE stars out of five
