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Pathfinder 1E Is your relationship to monster books (Bestiaries) changing?
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
ShinHakkaider
Adventurer
I just want to clarify: I TOO like having physical copies of the books.
I was also looking at my gaming shelf and the abundance of Pathfinder material of them and the fact that I'm running out of space.
This just means that I have to start parting with my WOTC 3E hardcovers (except for the two Expedition adventures. Ruins of the Castle Greyhawk and Ravenloft) And that 4E gift box that I barely (relatively...) used.
mr_outsidevoice
First Post
I still prefer books. I use Hero Lab to prep, but then I print it out. Computers have failed me too many times to rely on.
Stormonu
Legend
Yeah, my interaction with them has changed. Before I used to make a lot of monsters of my own. These days I find myself more and more using standard creatures for D&D - even using average hit points almost exclusively, rather than rolling individual monster hit points like I used to.
As far as physical book worth, I'm still a bibliophile, even though I tend to use PDFs at the game table. When I'm sitting about planning an adventure, or just reading for enjoyment or ideas, I prefer to have the physical books. There are times - and places - I don't want to carry around an ipad and I just want to sit back and flip through a book.
As far as physical book worth, I'm still a bibliophile, even though I tend to use PDFs at the game table. When I'm sitting about planning an adventure, or just reading for enjoyment or ideas, I prefer to have the physical books. There are times - and places - I don't want to carry around an ipad and I just want to sit back and flip through a book.
Scrivener of Doom
Adventurer
I've largely lost interest in monster books. My monster roster is pretty much set in stone - I stick to the classics (ie, existed in 1E or earlier) in most cases - but I do like templates to provide extra variety (Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary is probably my favourite).
As for PDFs, I am finding more and more that I simply cannot be bothered taking books off the shelf now that I have almost every book I own as a PDF plus, just as importantly, a tablet that I enjoying reading on. Even when I am prepping for my games I simply open a PDF now - I have a dual-screen set-up as I am sure many do - and work from there.
I never thought I would get to the point where I preferred reading on my tablet to actually handling the book but I really am at that point now, and not just for RPGs.
As for PDFs, I am finding more and more that I simply cannot be bothered taking books off the shelf now that I have almost every book I own as a PDF plus, just as importantly, a tablet that I enjoying reading on. Even when I am prepping for my games I simply open a PDF now - I have a dual-screen set-up as I am sure many do - and work from there.
I never thought I would get to the point where I preferred reading on my tablet to actually handling the book but I really am at that point now, and not just for RPGs.
Yora
Legend
Since my games almost always take place at low levels and I like to use alternative magic systems, I rarely use creature stats as written. What interests me the most about monster books are the ideas for creatures, the specific mechanical traits are of much lesser importance.
And while looking up stats for a creature you know is very convenient, just looking at stat blocks really isn't helping with finding new creatures to enhance the world of your campaign. The picture of a creature and a few sentences on what the creator had in mind are actually the most important parts of monster books.
Unfortunately, what I consider an interesting creature is quite different from what the writers at Paizo and WotC have in mind. I was able to get a look at each page in the Bestiary 4, and there really wasn't a single entry which I would have liked to adapt for my campaign. The Grendel picture was cool, but I think it was a CR 20/ML 5 creature that would be impossible to directly convert to CR 8 or something like that. Bestiary 3 has the kami, which I really love a lot, but I think that's pretty much it. The D&D MM4 and MM5 were just as bad.
When looking for new monsters, I mostly hunt for really old monster books. Sometimes there a cool creatures I've never heard of before, and quite often I get a more detailed description of the original idea that was just glossed over in later editions, and which makes the creature much more interesting.
And while looking up stats for a creature you know is very convenient, just looking at stat blocks really isn't helping with finding new creatures to enhance the world of your campaign. The picture of a creature and a few sentences on what the creator had in mind are actually the most important parts of monster books.
Unfortunately, what I consider an interesting creature is quite different from what the writers at Paizo and WotC have in mind. I was able to get a look at each page in the Bestiary 4, and there really wasn't a single entry which I would have liked to adapt for my campaign. The Grendel picture was cool, but I think it was a CR 20/ML 5 creature that would be impossible to directly convert to CR 8 or something like that. Bestiary 3 has the kami, which I really love a lot, but I think that's pretty much it. The D&D MM4 and MM5 were just as bad.
When looking for new monsters, I mostly hunt for really old monster books. Sometimes there a cool creatures I've never heard of before, and quite often I get a more detailed description of the original idea that was just glossed over in later editions, and which makes the creature much more interesting.
Starfox
Hero
One thing 4E taught me is that you don't really need physical books. Online SRDs took over much of our rule-referencing back in 3.5 days, and the same happened to monsters/NPCs in 4E. Now I have the PDFs to read on a pad and extract the artwork in a dropbox file the players can access as they encounter each beastie. Changes prep a bit, it becomes more electronic that paper.
The next step is getting a flat screen TV and put it on the game table to display maps on, replacing the 24" color printer, but not quite there yet. The price of these are dropping fast, and with only 60W effect, heat should not be a problem. Might get one in the post-Xmas sales.
The next step is getting a flat screen TV and put it on the game table to display maps on, replacing the 24" color printer, but not quite there yet. The price of these are dropping fast, and with only 60W effect, heat should not be a problem. Might get one in the post-Xmas sales.
Jester David
Hero
Digital is good but harder to reference in play. I can have three or more books open at once and easily flip between bookmarked pages.
But online allows me to cut-and-paste stats easily, if I want to design a variant monster or NPC.
However, if my group surprises me and zigs instead of zagging and I need a monster fast, being able to search through the PFSRD.com and find an appropriate beast is sooooo handy.
But online allows me to cut-and-paste stats easily, if I want to design a variant monster or NPC.
However, if my group surprises me and zigs instead of zagging and I need a monster fast, being able to search through the PFSRD.com and find an appropriate beast is sooooo handy.
