D&D 5E Green Ronin's Book of Fiends for 5E

Green Ronin has launched the crowdfunding campaign for their Book of Fiends -- a hardcover book of demons, devils and other assorted nasties.

Game On Tabletop • Project list • Game On Table Top

List of available crowdfunding projects on Game On Tabletop

www.gameontabletop.com

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These Planes of Perdition are home to the wickedest denizens of the multiverse and The Book of Fiends brings them crashing into your 5E campaign!

The original Book of Fiends came out back in the early-2000s for D&D 3.5. It compiled Legions of Hell, and Armies of the Abyss, Green Ronin's two previous books (the former was one of my favourite third party 3.5 books at the time).

This is a 200-page book with over 130 demons, devils, and over plane denizens, the Lords of Hell, Demon Princes, and Exarchs of Gehenna, and monsters from CR 0-31.

It's on GameOnTabletop, and you can grab the PDF for $25 or the hardcover for $50.

 PRESS RELEASE

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These Planes of Perdition are home to the wickedest denizens of the multiverse and The Book of Fiends brings them crashing into your 5E campaign! This 200+ page, beautifully illustrated, full-color hardback includes:

• Details on the nine Lords of Hell, the seven Exarchs of Gehenna, and a plethora of Demon Princes.
• Over 130 daemons, devils, demons, and other creatures of the Lower Planes.
• Monsters with challenge ratings from 0 to 31; there are foes for characters of all levels.
• Info on the celestial choirs and the fallen angels.
• Details on the Abyss, Hell, and Gehenna and their place among the planes.
• A fantastic new cover from Svetoslav Petrov and evocative interior illustrations from artists like Andrey Vasilchenko, Stanislav Dikolenko, and Katerina Ladon.

What’s more, all the rules and stats in The Book of Fiends were designed by Robert J. Schwalb (of Shadow of the Demon Lordfame), who was on the Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition design team. The rest of the original design team is also stellar: Aaron Loeb (Book of the Righteous), Erik Mona (Paizo Publishing), and Chris Pramas (AD&D Guide to Hell).

The Book of Fiends provides profoundly evil foes your players will never forget. Level Ups (AKA stretch goals) will add new Player Character options, tie-in fiction, and more.

Why Game on Tabletop, and not Kickstarter? Green Ronin's Chris Pramas says --

"What’s different about this project is that we are doing it on Game On Tabletop. This is a newer crowdfunding platform and we are excited to launch our first campaign there. Game On was created by our long-time partners in France, Black Book Editions.

Game On Tabletop has a lot of great tools, most of which will be invisible to you but are hugely useful to us. The best thing about it is that it’s a crowdfunding platform and a pledge manager rolled into one. This means you’ll be able to take care of everything at one site. You can back the project, buy add-ons, and pay shipping all in one place. If you haven’t backed a project there before, we think you’re really going to like it."

 

[Dire Bare]

I like GR books but will this contradict the core FR devils and hell's or complement them?

I owned the original book. The devils and demons fit pretty seemlessly into the core D&D cosmology. The neutral evil fiends, not-so-much. They are essentially an alternative "family" of neutral evil fiends for D&D's yugoloths. Alternative, or along-side . . . no reason why we can't have multiple neutral evil fiend families causing mortals all sorts of grief!

The original was a damn fine book, and the updated version should be pretty amazing as well.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Darn, I have been saying it wrong all these years. It's off-putting. At least when I say it out loud it sounds similar, unless I say it in my Bill Cosby voice.

Just sayin'....its scapegoat....not escapegoat. No that I had a coworker that had a similar funny misunderstanding.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Full MSRP plus shipping.

So, like zero reason not to wait till it hits distribution?

I'll pick it up for $35 and free shipping, thanks.

I'll never understand crowdfunding like this.

1. It might get dropped if not enough people are interested in the crowdfunding so people pledge to see it made.

2. They might solicit input from backers on the product. I am in a playtest group for a kickstarter product to report on things before it gets finalized for publishing. Similarly another product i've backed has really bad feedback on an artwork change and I kind of expect them to revamp before the end of the campaign.

3. They might have a limited amount left over after fulfilling the backer units and there isn't a deep reserve of distribution for normal channels.

4. You like the company and want to support them in hopes of getting more awesome books.

Those are the 4 that have influenced me to pay ahead of time.

 

[eyeheartawk]

1. It might get dropped if not enough people are interested in the crowdfunding so people pledge to see it made.

2. They might solicit input from backers on the product. I am in a playtest group for a kickstarter product to report on things before it gets finalized for publishing. Similarly another product i've backed has really bad feedback on an artwork change and I kind of expect them to revamp before the end of the campaign.

3. They might have a limited amount left over after fulfilling the backer units and there isn't a deep reserve of distribution for normal channels.

4. You like the company and want to support them in hopes of getting more awesome books.

Those are the 4 that have influenced me to pay ahead of time.

1.Sure. Or Green Ronin could just print and sell a product if they think there is a market for it. This is the case with the vast majority of their catalog.

2. I mean, at that point you're paying for the privilege of playtesting and proofreading a product. That's a hard pass for me.

3. Do you really believe that Green Ronin won't put this book into distribution?

4. And I can do that just fine buying it when it hits distribution, they still make money and I'm not just giving away extra money just because.

I really wouldn't care so much if they just gave you something for backing if they're going to charge full price plus shipping. Like an extra demon or something. Just something.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

1.Sure. Or Green Ronin could just print and sell a product if they think there is a market for it. This is the case with the vast majority of their catalog.

2. I mean, at that point you're paying for the privilege of playtesting and proofreading a product. That's a hard pass for me.

3. Do you really believe that Green Ronin won't put this book into distribution?

4. And I can do that just fine buying it when it hits distribution, they still make money and I'm not just giving away extra money just because.

I really wouldn't care so much if they just gave you something for backing if they're going to charge full price plus shipping. Like an extra demon or something. Just something.

I know less than zero about Green Ronin Publishing. I'm just pointing out examples of why people might want to pay more on Kickstarter rather than holding out for it to come to whatever normal source they buy items from. Perhaps my 4 examples don't even apply to this particular product. You just said you didn't understand why people would back it and i was giving you 4 different reasons why they might want to.

It sounds like you actually know the reasons that people back things...you just don't like to do it yourself. That's fine, it's just a different statement than not knowing why.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

It's right there at the top of the page. First thing you see!

View attachment 122186

The site says only pdfs are fulfilled by drivethru. And that overseas shipping is expensive.

 

[Marandahir]

Backed. I own 5e Book of the Righteous, but this looks even better!

 

[Professor Murder]

In regards shipping to be paid latter:
Offering free shipping has sunk many a well meaning kickstarter project. However, I do agree that typically the cost to back a physical copy should typically be at least a bit lower than MSRP. One real motive to back is scarcity. If you live in a large market or can easily attend conventions, getting 3rd party published books is simple enough, but it is access than some people may take for granted. 3rd party materials, with their lower print runs, are more likely to increase in cost on a secondary market.

 

[DaveMage]

1.Sure. Or Green Ronin could just print and sell a product if they think there is a market for it. This is the case with the vast majority of their catalog.

2. I mean, at that point you're paying for the privilege of playtesting and proofreading a product. That's a hard pass for me.

3. Do you really believe that Green Ronin won't put this book into distribution?

4. And I can do that just fine buying it when it hits distribution, they still make money and I'm not just giving away extra money just because.

I really wouldn't care so much if they just gave you something for backing if they're going to charge full price plus shipping. Like an extra demon or something. Just something.

Well, you do get the PDF as well. I like having both print + pdf.

I agree, though, that if all I wanted was the printed copy, it's probably not going to be the best deal.

 

[dave2008]

1.Sure. Or Green Ronin could just print and sell a product if they think there is a market for it. This is the case with the vast majority of their catalog.

2. I mean, at that point you're paying for the privilege of playtesting and proofreading a product. That's a hard pass for me.

3. Do you really believe that Green Ronin won't put this book into distribution?

4. And I can do that just fine buying it when it hits distribution, they still make money and I'm not just giving away extra money just because.

I really wouldn't care so much if they just gave you something for backing if they're going to charge full price plus shipping. Like an extra demon or something. Just something.

I don't get why your upset. You don't have to back it, you can wait until it is published. I am really interested in this product, but that is what I am going to do.

However, I have no problem with a publisher taking this approach either. Why wouldn't I want to make sure there is a market first? I mean isn't that a part of the reason TSR went under? Printing a bunch of product without enough demand and losing money on it? It just makes sense from a publisher viewpoint and I don't typically blame people for being smart. GR is not a huge company, a few bad products can mean people lose their jobs. Better to be safe than sorry.