*Note: We have two staff reviews of this product.
By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack
Sizing Up the Target
The Fiend Folio is a 224-page full-color product from Wizards of the Coast. This hardcover accessory has been compiled by a host of talents and retails for $29.95. The cover shows an abyssal pit of flame in a frame of greenish hide. Overall, a very menacing picture.
First Blood
I remember the original Fiend Folio quite well. I got my copy back in 1982 and it was a blue volume with a githyanki on the cover (one of the many new monsters to be found within). I remember that a lot of words used the British spelling, like armour class instead of armor class (it was produced by TSR’s United Kingdom division). It had some really interesting monsters in it, including the drow (which had been formally introduced in Gary Gygax’s G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King a few years earlier). It also introduced the flumph, something I’ve never really forgiven TSR for.
Anyway, when my copy of the new Fiend Folio arrived, I eagerly cracked it open and began to delve into the secrets within. I was a little apprehensive, half-expecting that it would simply be a 3rd edition update of the original work, presenting the bulk of the remaining creatures from that venerable product that haven’t yet been drawn up in 3E terms, with a few new ones tossed haphazardly in for good measure. Well, I was wrong.
There are some old favorites included in here, mind you. I was quite pleased to see the return of the caryatid column (which I’ve put to good use in many an adventure; my players tend to destroy statues on sight now) the necrophidius, and the iron cobra, among others. The book is actually about 50/50 between new and old monsters and even if you’ve done a lot of conversion work your self, there’s quite a bit of new material here.
Creatures are presented in the standard Core Rulebook III format, though there are a few new subtypes that have been added to this volume (such as Extraplanar and Swarm) and a couple of others (notably the Cold and Fire subtypes have been slightly revised). There is also a new special quality: energy vulnerability. I daresay this isn’t so much new material as a preview of things to come in the upcoming 3.5 revision. Those creatures appropriate for use as characters also have a favored class and level adjustment rating (making determining the ECL much simpler).
No book of monsters would be complete without some new templates and the Fiend Folio has some very interesting ones to add. The idea that fey can cross-breed with anything is undoubtedly not going to sit well with numerous would-be xenobiologists out there, but in case you’re open-minded enough to accept this idea, the half-fey template should interest you. The half-ilithid template is a little more acceptable to my logic, especially given the sidebar that explains how it happens (and delves into the truly disgusting life cycle of the mind flayers). And the last of the cross-breed templates, the half-troll, lets DMs come up with some truly ugly foes for high-level characters. Other templates are the huecuva (a hold-over from the original Fiend Folio), the swordwraith, the wendigo, and the yellow-musk zombie (also a fond memory from the original work).
The Fiend Folio also introduces three new prestige classes for monsters (more specifically, evil outsiders); the fiend of blasphemy, the fiend of corruption, and the fiend of possession. The fiend of blasphemy specializes in turning mortal worshippers to dark masters, where the fiend of corruption is more the “classic” demon that tries to tempt mortals to sacrifice their souls. Finally, the fiend of possession, as the name suggests, specializes in controlling the very actions of the victim.
There is one more new mechanic that has been added with the Fiend Folio, and that is the graft or symbiont. Grafts enhance the abilities of the creature to which they are attached; a fiendish arm that grants the creature longer reach or an improved natural attack, for example. This necessitates a new feat as well, thus the Graft Flesh item creation feat. Symbionts are tiny, physically very weak creatures that bond with a host and provide benefits in exchange for protection. Often, but not always, a symbiont counts toward the limit of magical items the host may use.
Symbionts are much like intelligent magical items, and conflicts can result if the host does not share the symbiont’s goals and or alignment. And like intelligent magical items, all symbionts possess Ego scores, which are used to determine the outcome of such conflicts. A symbiont that defeats the host in a personality conflict gains control of the host’s actions until the host can reestablish dominance.
Critical Hits
One thing that I was very happy to note in the Fiend Folio is the occasional sidebar that ties the product in with other Wizards of the Coast products. For example, under the Blood Golem of Hextor entry, a sidebar provides information on how the Sacrifice rules from the Book of Vile Darkness alter the creation process. I like the idea of tying products together in this manner and hope to see this trend continue in future releases.
The creatures presented in the Fiend Folio run the gamut from CR 1/8 to CR 25, so there’s something for every campaign here. As the title implies, a good many of the creatures are extraplanar, with a slight emphasis on fiends and other evil beings, but there are a fair mix of non-planars as well, and a handful of good-aligned beings. And not a flumph in sight.
Critical Misses
I have heard complaints from some who have gotten a look at the creature list that there is some duplication (perhaps a lot of duplication) between this work and the White Wolf release Tome of Horrors. As I do not own the Tome of Horrors, I can’t really comment on this except to say that these are the official versions of these creatures. I don’t know if the duplication is exact, or if some alterations have been made, but since the Fiend Folio does not identify any of it’s contents as OGC, I assume that they have been altered at least somewhat. (If anyone would like to buy me a copy of ToH, I’ll do a side-by-side comparison and have the boss post it here. If you’re interested, contact me by e-mail for details.)
It’s always nice to get new monsters to terrorize my players with, but there were a couple of old favorites that I found missing and felt they should be mentioned here. Where are the elemental princes? Their presence could have added a lot to a book that revolves around extraplanar creatures and I think it was an oversight not to include them here. Perhaps in a Web Enhancement, fellas?
One last thing I noticed was that the cover was already starting to warp outward slightly. Some WotC products do this and some don’t and I’ve been lucky so far. It’s probably nothing worth worrying over (I live in a very humid region), but it could indicate other problems and some people are very touchy about this sort of thing. If I begin to notice associated problems, I’ll issue an update to this review in the comments section below.
Coup de Grace
Between the revision of the old favorites and the influx of new material, I’d say that this is a must-purchase only if your players have memorized the other monster books or if you are running a campaign that features a lot of extra-planar activity or foes. There’s some good stuff here, but there’s also a lot of conversions that have been done by others and if you’re content not having the official rewrite, you might want to save yourself the money.
The artwork is (generally) well-done and I think that the new material balances out the old (especially the three new prestige classes and the information of grafts and symbionts) to the point that it’s worth having, even if you place it down a little ways on your “to acquire” list. Needless to say, this book is aimed at DMs and players should stay out of it. Put it on your birthday or Christmas wish-list or pick it up at a discount somewhere, but I think only die-hard fans or those desperate for new challenges should rush right out and grab it.
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By Steven Creech, Exec. Chairman d20 Magazine Rack
Sizing Up the Target
This review is for Fiend Folio, the latest monster collection from Wizards of the Coast. Written by a huge team of designers that includes such names as Jesse Decker, Erik Mona, Andy Collins, Bruce Cordell, and Sean K. Reynolds, this 224-page hardcover carries a retail price of $29.95.
First Blood
Fiend Folio is a collection of over 150 monsters that range from challenge rating 1/8 to 25. Additionally, there are three new prestige classes and six new templates for monsters. While approximately eighty percent of the listed creatures are new, there are some recognizable ones from previous 3rd edition sources as well as the original 1st edition Fiend Folio. All monster types are represented with a larger percentage being outsiders. In a sense, one could consider this to be the Monster Manual for the Manual of the Planes.
The templates include the undead Huecuva, half-fey, half-troll, half-illithid (although why anything would want to procreate with a mind flayer is beyond me), swordwraith, wendigo, and yellow musk zombie. The prestige classes are all fiend based and consist of six levels. The fiend of blasphemy is devoted to corrupting and exploiting mortals by driving them away from the worship of true deities. A fiend of corruption singles out lone individuals and gradually taints their souls until certain damnation is assured. Finally, the fiend of possession takes control of a mortal host and gradually corrupts his soul.
Another new section of rules addresses grafts and symbionts. Grafts deal with the merging of monstrous body parts (arms, legs, wings, etc.) onto other creatures. They types of grafts discussed are those parts that may come from an aboleth, beholder, fiendish creature, illithid, maug, undead or yuan-ti. With grafts from these creatures, you can give an NPC a claw, poison fangs, tentacles, eyestalks or even a mummified eye.
Symbionts are sentient creatures that join with a host and grant certain benefits in exchange for the host’s protection. Symbionts possess an ego score just like an intelligent weapon, so some of the same rules come into play. They types of symbionts presented are cerebral (cerebral hood, mind leech, psionic sinew) and fiendish (fiendish familiar, gutworm, soultick, ghostly visage). Each of these individual creatures offers specific benefits to its host. More tools for those villainous NPCs to have that gives them an advantage over the hapless heroes.
Critical Hits
The graft and symbiont sections blend nicely with the material from the Book of Vile Darkness. The challenge ratings are diverse with a significant number ranging between 9 and 18. The number of outsiders in this book will go well with higher level parties or planar campaigns. A peek at the new 3.5 rules revision shows up with the addition of the base attack roll for grapple attacks.
Critical Misses
We’ve already seen some of these creatures before in 3rd edition terms, specifically from Necromancer Games’ Tome of Horrors (Blood Hawk, Caryatid Column, Crypt Thing, Dark Creeper, Dark Stalker, Death Dog, Demodand (Farastu/Tarry), Demodand (Kelubar/Slime), Demodand (Shator/Shaggy), Deva (Celestial - Monadic), Deva (Celestial - Movanic), Disenchanter, Huecuva, Iron Cobra, Jackalwere/Therianthrope, Jackalwere, Kelpie, Mongrelman/Mongrelfolk, Necrophidius, Shedu, Skulk, Spriggan, Yellow Musk Creeper, Yellow Musk Zombie, Yugoloth (Piscoloth/Piscodaemon), which is an open game content source unlike Fiend Folio. The first eleven pages are essentially reprints of the beginning sections of both the Monster Manual and Monster Manual II rules and descriptions with the exception of the clarifications regarding the extraplanar subtype, swarm type and a couple of other tweaks that seem to designate 3.5 rules changes.
Coup de Grace
Despite the limitations of not falling under the Open Gaming License (no open content), there are some very good monsters contained within the pages. Most of them fall on the evil side of the alignment spectrum, which makes them a good option for GMs to throw at his party (especially when they have every other monster book memorized). Is it a book that’s worth the $29.95 pricetag? It depends on your needs. In my opinion, there are better, more rounded monster books available, but having the new “crunchies” options makes this book enticing for GMs. The return of some old favorites that weren’t covered in the Tome of Horrors also adds value for the nostalgic. Overall, it is a decent book but not as great as I had hoped for.
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