alsih2o
First Post
just yesterday i got Monsternomicon by Privateer Press and i am so impressed.
i enjoy the "ecology of.." style of presentation, i like the broad range of monsters and i am completely blown away by the art.
they even use those little scale drawing like National Geographic used to use in their kids books to show you how much bigger or smaller than you the critter in question is.
in a day of flashy, computer created color effects the b+w art kicks butt and takes names from Prof. Pendrake tot he monster hunter with nearly everything in between leaving em satisfied.
this book is not perfect, it suffers from some of the same flaws that drive me nearly to drink in other monster books. for example, the screecher listed on page 150 is called a"small carnivorous quadruped." despite the spelling err, when we look at the animal it has only 2 legs, and nothing passing as arms so i am left wonderign whether to trust the text or illustration. but this is not so nearly pronounced a problem as some others i have seen (are you listening wotc?) and it is easily made up for by the sheer brilliance and usability of some of the other monsters presented.
whether you need the low cr goodness of the dregg or farrow, or the unbelievable bad-ass influence of cr 60 and above (!!!) dragons this book seems to have it. from the goofy fun of the cask imp(when your players won't wuit drinking and leave the tavern) to the awesome and fearsome description of the totem hunter i was left agape over and over at the amazing penwork (can i mention the art rocks one more time?) and "niche-able" onsters dying to make it into just about any campaign.
the book does seem to center a bit on the gunpowder and technology side of the world in which it is set it still manages to remain highly useful to me for my low-tech world, and i am sure i will be working this particular tome very hard, much to the chagrin of my players.
this is the first product i have owned or even seen from Privateer press, but if this is any indication of what they normally produce i am a new and big fan.
i enjoy the "ecology of.." style of presentation, i like the broad range of monsters and i am completely blown away by the art.
they even use those little scale drawing like National Geographic used to use in their kids books to show you how much bigger or smaller than you the critter in question is.
in a day of flashy, computer created color effects the b+w art kicks butt and takes names from Prof. Pendrake tot he monster hunter with nearly everything in between leaving em satisfied.
this book is not perfect, it suffers from some of the same flaws that drive me nearly to drink in other monster books. for example, the screecher listed on page 150 is called a"small carnivorous quadruped." despite the spelling err, when we look at the animal it has only 2 legs, and nothing passing as arms so i am left wonderign whether to trust the text or illustration. but this is not so nearly pronounced a problem as some others i have seen (are you listening wotc?) and it is easily made up for by the sheer brilliance and usability of some of the other monsters presented.
whether you need the low cr goodness of the dregg or farrow, or the unbelievable bad-ass influence of cr 60 and above (!!!) dragons this book seems to have it. from the goofy fun of the cask imp(when your players won't wuit drinking and leave the tavern) to the awesome and fearsome description of the totem hunter i was left agape over and over at the amazing penwork (can i mention the art rocks one more time?) and "niche-able" onsters dying to make it into just about any campaign.
the book does seem to center a bit on the gunpowder and technology side of the world in which it is set it still manages to remain highly useful to me for my low-tech world, and i am sure i will be working this particular tome very hard, much to the chagrin of my players.
this is the first product i have owned or even seen from Privateer press, but if this is any indication of what they normally produce i am a new and big fan.
