Anybody seen the Penumbra Fantasy Beastiary yet?

[blackshirt5]

I'm looking for some feelings on it, it looks interesting, but because I buy most of my stuff off the net, I don't get a chance to read the stuff before I buy it. And I haven't seen any reviews posted up on any of the sites I check, so I've come here.

How is the book? It's very big, I know(something like 350 pages), but it's really expensive, $45, IIRC. I'm sure that I can get some use out of it, but I don't wanna end up with another "Encyclopedia of Demons and Devils" on my hands, ya know?

Any feedback that can be given will be appreciated.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I've looked at it. It looks interesting, and is pretty hefty. I just don't know if it's worth the $45 to me. The art is pretty good in spots, and some of the critters look interesting. I just haven't had the chance to discover what distinguishes this book from all the other monster books.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

I spent 9+ hours reading this book on a recent vacation ( to Aruba! )

There is SOME really cool stuff here, and lots of stuff that is just so so, or stuff I saw as tweaks/variations of existing monsters.

Highlights for me were the Gem Golems, and a new race of psionic salamander men, the K'rawn (sp?)

A neat looking book, and good quality as I have come to expect from Penumbra. I understand many of the contributers are members here.

I'll probably get more USE out of the other recent Atlas Penumbra book, Dynasties and Demagogues though...

BFG

 

[Ramien Meltides]

I authored a couple of the monsters in said book, so I got my copies a few days ago.

The book is frickin' HUGE... over 360 pages! Big, heavy, thick book... nobody's going to mistake THIS product for a magazine.

Downsides: No color art, and some of the art is, frankly, not that great. I'd say the artwork is on par with some of the other 3rd party monster books. Just about as good as the Creature Collection artwork. Yes, and the price on the cover is 45 bucks.

Upsides: There are a ton of cool monsters in this book! Okay, I am biased, but critters not of my own creation are pretty darn neat inside and include stuff like a Wendigo template, the Limbo Infant - the spirit of a child who never had a chance to realize his Destiny (with some frickin' awesome powers... excellent concept!), and more. There's going to be miniatures released from Lance & Laser based on critters from this book, too! One other nifty part, each monster comes with at least one (and in most cases two) adventure hook to work them into your campaign in interesting ways.

Final Analysis: Not as good as the Monsternomicon, but pretty darn good. I'd say it's a little better than the Creature Collections based on the sheer amount of stuff inside and the quality of the critters.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I bought it this weekend, and I'm very pleased. There's a high ratio of monsters that I will use - some of the others I might not use, but may still be great, just not my cup o' tea.

I especially liked the various fey races, as well as some of the templates. The Angels (based closely off real-world archetypes) are cool, and I will definitely find use for most of the Dream-related creatures.

A few pieces of art are pretty poor, but most of it is pretty good. 90% of it is better than most of the work in the two Creature Collection books.

It IS an expensive book, but it is very good. I recommend it.

 

[Voadam]

Check out the previews at www.atlas-games.com they have a bunch.

I wrote some of the monsters including the cantrip spirits and ghoul template (with ghast prestige class) that appear in the previews.

The monsters have good evocative descriptions and every one has adventure seeds that go along with them.

The angel sections really caught my eye as well.

Also the breakdown charts in the back go all out on listing by CR, monster type, terrain, etc.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Also the breakdown charts in the back go all out on listing by CR, monster type, terrain, etc.

They also break it down to what creatures can be summoned by which Summon Monster spell. Very handy, that.

 

[Gothmog]

I bought it last week, and have read through about 250 pages of it so far. I can definitely say that the Penumbra Bestiary and the Liber Bestarius are the two best 3rd party monster books for D&D. The art is fair to good, with few stinkers. Most of the creatures seem interesting and useable as well, with only maybe a dozen that are too quirky for me to use. The templates are where this book really shines. The last 56 pages of this book contain templates for monsters, many of which were badly needed and/or extremely interesting.

Each creature also has 1-4 adventure seeds, many of which are quite good. Unlike the Monsternomicon, which provided encounter seeds which were little more than excuses to fight the monster in question, the Penumbra Bestiary give whole adventure seeds which incorporate the monster (sometimes as an ally or neutral party).

Some of my favorite critters:

Bloodwraith- undead created by shamans to hunt down a particular enemy
Cernan- stag-headed fey of the deep woods who protect it
Pale King- fey who serve Arawn, god of the dead as hunters
Dark Advocate- devil who tempts mortals into signing pacts with the inferal
Dark Voyeur- ghost who is bound to mirrors, and can spy from or attack those who gaze into darkened mirrors
Dream Kind- 8 different types of beings who inhabit the world of dreams, interacting with the minds of mortals
Golems- tons of new golem types, including candle, spider, gemstone, stained glass, etc
Hyperborean- wolf-like giants who are fierce enemies of the frost giants.
Kr'awn- race of marine salamander-like beings with great magical power
Morrigan- shapchangers who can turn into ravens who revel in bloodshed and steal human children to create more of their race
Orphan of the Night- the undead spirit of a child was neglected or murdered, who comes back seeking vengeance (the pic is downright creepy)
The Saboath- basically angels, there are 9 new potent types of outsiders
The Sidhe- 5 new types of faerie creatures with a unique twist
Yunggulur- a creature that preys on the fears of children, and if left undisturbed, can destroy a town in a few weeks

There are also tons of new types of fey (something badly needed but often overlooked) and all of the templates are really cool. Definitly buy this book.

 

[Ashy]

Yunggulur- a creature that preys on the fears of children, and if left undisturbed, can destroy a town in a few weeks

Yea! A nod to my precious Yunggulur! I wrote this critter and he L'er - glad you liked at least one of them enough to mention it here!

The book rocks - 'nuff said.

 

[Vrylakos]

Yea! A nod to my precious Yunggulur! I wrote this critter and he L'er - glad you liked at least one of them enough to mention it here!

The book rocks - 'nuff said.

But... but what about my precious glaistig? Or scuttling ooze? Or garkain? Or dracotick? Or whisperer? Or mock familiar? Or krish-dharjat? Or Myndie Snake? Or irrinja? Or bonechewer? Or leshy?

Heh, I'm just happy to have them printed, really.

I can't wait to see the stuff mentioned above when my contributor copies arrive! They sound VERY cool.

I really think the PFBestiary is a very campaign friendly book. Lots of hooks and story ideas. Some of the monsters are from some of the more obscure mythologies. Three of mine are aboriginal in origin.

I think the Monsternomicon is a tremendous book, and benefits greatly from a unified art style and extra crunch. However, it's also got a slant towards clockwork/steamtech critters and a "Iron Kingdoms" feel - which isn't bad but might not fit a Narnia-inspired game or your personal setting.

I think the PFB might be a more universally useful book. I like the story hooks, usage icons, layout, and the quality of the monsters. Sure, you might not like everyone, but there are some really neat ideas I've found just paging through it at the game store... and they're not even mine!

I think the book is a quality work, with a lot of universal usefulness and appeal. Yeah, I'm trying not to be biased, but I really do dig Penumbra books, even the ones I don't have contributions in...

Vrylakos