D&D General [Let's Read] Playable Monster Sourcebooks

[Libertad]

All oni lived two lives. Their prior life was as a kami, a spiritual being who refused or was unable to perform their divine mandate in defending someone or something. They were thus cut off from being able to influence the mortal world. In their desperation, many disgraced kami entered into deals with evil entities to gain a new mortal form on the Material Plane known as an oni. While many oni are evil or eventually become evil as a result of this deal, there are also oni who renege on their end of the bargain with the wicked patrons who gave them their new lives. There is great risk for such deniers, who face an unknown fate upon true death and will be hunted by agents of the spurned patron. But what all oni share in common is a second chance, for good or ill. The oni who turn on their patron are known as maverick oni, and are presumed to be the default PC type.

Oni vary widely in physical traits, with their subspecies sharing common features with particular giant or humanoid subspecies, but oftentimes with traits unusual to that species such as horns, a third eye, and skin tones not naturally found among said species. While an oni's creation is an individual supernatural occurrence, the event is more common than people realize. Oni of similar ideologies and circumstances often band together for safety in numbers, but oni mavericks are more likely to be different, both ideologically and physically, than their brethren who choose to serve their evil patrons. Maverick oni are instead divided into five factions, sometimes called habatsu. The three that have D&D backgrounds are Atoners (question the unjustness of their divine punishment and seek to do acts in line with preventing similar tragedies that destroyed their ward), Codifiers (create or adopt a new moral code to replace that of the gods that spurned them), and Hedonists (seek to find personal happiness for themselves are lifestimes' worth of servitude and hardship). The backgroundless factions are Free Spirits (seek to live on their own terms without any patron deity or punishment and prize personal freedom) and Saviors (the unjustness of their punishment encourages them to fight for the rights of others oppressed by systemic injustice).

Thoughts: While quite a bit of Battlezoo content pulls from Pathfinder canon more than D&D canon, the oni is perhaps the most blatantly Pathfinder lorewise. I like this one more, as it has both a compelling backstory and adventure hook and expands the variety of types beyond just the iconic "ogre mage" who is still a playable option in this book. I also like how each of the factions reflect different ways that oni deal with their past trauma. I was honestly a bit surprised to not see saviors be given a background, as they're bonafide stereotypical Good Guy material.

The base oni ancestry gets an ability score boost to either Strength or Charisma and one other score of their choice, are Medium or Large size depending on their subspecies, have an average walking speed, low-light vision or darkvision depending upon system, have the fiend, oni, and humanoid types in Pathfinder and their type is either Giant or Humanoid in D&D, and they can magically change shape between their true form and that of a specific alternate form that is a certain kind of giant or humanoid depending upon their subspecies.

Oni have the largest variety of subspecies/heritages in this book, counting nine in total. They are earth yai (Large stone giants, ignore difficult terrain from rubble and rocks), fire yai (Large fire giants, resistance to fire damage and environmental heat), ice yai (Large frost giants, resistance to cold damage and environmental cold), ja noi (Medium hobgoblins, can reroll a failed Wisdom/Will saving throw once per long rest/day), kuwa (Medium human, proficiency in Diplomacy/Persuasion, can more easily gather information and rumors), nogitsune (Medium kitsune, can change shape into a kistune anthro fox form as well as a humanoid species prevalent in the area they grew up, in Pathfinder are trained in Deception and gain the Charming Liar skill feat), onidoshi (Large ogres, proficient in Intimidation, gain Quick Coercion skill feat in Pathfinder and advantage on saves vs becoming frightened in D&D), water yai (Large storm giants, are amphibious, in Pathfinder they can create a simple garment for themselves out of water), and wind yai (Large cloud giants, are immune to all fall damage).

Thoughts: Oni tend to gravitate either towards physically-inclined or social builds, and just about every subspecies has a worthwhile effect. The D&D nogitsune gets the short end of the stick in basically getting one bonus specific shapechanging form vs more substantial benefits. The earth yai and water yai's terrain-based abilities are also quite situational based on environment. The ja noi's ability to reroll a failed Wisdom/Will save can be useful over the course of a campaign, while the fire yai and ice yai gain resistance against common damage types. The onidoshi is also quite decent, being good for Intimidation builds in both systems and likelier to resist the frightened condition in D&D.

Oni get 32 feats in D&D and 39 in Pathfinder. The first level feats are overall minor abilities, such as Gourmet (proficient in Crafting or Perception skill depending on system, also trained in cooking tools/lore), Oni Magic (learns 1 or 2 cantrips from the druid/primal list depending on system), Spirit Oni Familiar (gain a familiar who is a friend or family member who also faced a similar punishment from the divine but was saved by you), Third Eye (requires belonging to one of the yai subspecies, can shoot a ranged unarmed attack from a third eye on their forehead dealing an appropriate energy damage type), and Water Garment (water yai only, can create clothing out of water to guard themselves from harm; adds half proficiency bonus to AC in D&D when not wearing armor, is treated as medium armor in Pathfinder). Pathfinder has exclusive feats: Darksight grants darkvision, and Oni Weapon Familiarity grants training and the critical specialization effects for oni weapons and similarly themed weapons such as greatclubs and mauls.

The 4th/5th level feats common to both systems are Indomitable Maverick (can make a Will/Wisdom save once per turn when they are mentally controlled to be paralyzed instead of being forced to do something against their will), Oni's Orders (can order a target to follow one of your commands on a failed save once per hour/short rest), and Water Yai Swimmer (water yai only, increased swim speed). The Pathfinder version has a lot more feats, such as Flavor Food (can temporarily improve the taste of nonmagical food and water for up to 1 hour, has no game mechanic effects), Frozen Strike (ice yai only, once per hour can apply the slow condition on a critical hit with a melee attack), Smoke Vision (fire yai only, can see normally in smoke), and Sound Control (wind yai only, gain resistance and bonus on saves vs sonic damage and auditory effects).

The 8th/9th level feats are more overtly combat-related, such as Cloak of Winds (wind yai only, can spend reaction to gain a bonus to AC/impose disadvantage on a ranged attack depending on system and can apply to siege weapons in Pathfinder), Despairing Terror (cast Fear or impose the Frightened condition as an AoE attack depending on system), Enveloping Garment (water yai, can incorporate their water-made garments into an unarmed strike with the finesse property dealing lightning damage and can grapple targets, doesn't require a free hand in Pathfinder), Infused Criticals (deal persistent damage against a target they crit, damage type depends on subspecies), Misty Stride (can use mists to better Hide from people), Oni's Levitation (gain a fly speed for 10 minutes), Regenerative Recovery (automatically heal hit points when resting for 10 minutes in Pathfinder, rolls each Hit Die twice and uses better result on short rests in D&D), and Spiky Skin (earth yai only, can grow spikes as a reaction to being attacked in melee and deal piercing damage). The Pathfinder book has Deep Sight as an exclusive feat, granting deeper darkvision for 1 minute once per hour.

The 12th/13th level feats generally grant effects reflective of intense willpower and just regular overt power. They include Perfect Discipline (ja noi only, can reroll failed Wisdom/Will once per hour/short rest), Roaring Gale (wind yai only, can generate a gust of wind as an AoE that deals damage and forced movement), and Yai's Reach (increased reach while Large size, must have that as a natural size as a prerequisite in Pathfinder). The Pathfinder-exclusive feat is Never Again (once per hour as a reaction can suppress one effect that imposes the controlled, paralyzed, or similar condition where they're unable to act for 1 turn).

The 16th/17th level feats represent oni who master effects of great social influence and physical might. They include Contagious Whisper* (nogitsune only, can magically influence a creature once per long rest/day to do a statement if they fail a Wisdom/Will save), Oni's Regeneration (once per long rest/day can rapidly regenerate hit points and regrow lost limbs and organs for 1 minute), Repel Magic (bonus/advantage on saves vs spells and other magical effects), Voice of Earthern Power (earth yai only, can speak to earth and stone), and Yai's Growth (water and wind yai only, can become Huge and gain increased damage on weapon attacks for 1 minute, can be done once per 10 minutes in Pathfinder and once per short rest in D&D).

*This is listed as being a 12th level feat in D&D despite being grouped in with the 16th level feats, so I presume this is a typo.

Some feats have varying levels in terms of prerequisites. Hobgoblin Commander and Human Infiltrator are 1st level in D&D and 5th level in Pathfinder. In D&D, divination spells show them as members of the aforementioned humanoid species instead of an oni, and they are treated as said species for various effects and prerequisites. In Pathfinder, they gain the Adopted Ancestry feat for the relevant species and a 1st level ancestry feat of that species. Insubstantial Form is 8th level in D&D and 13th in Pathfinder; in the former system, it's a once per long rest casting of Gaseous Form, while in the latter system the oni can take on a gaseous form or also liquid if a water yai. In this case, it lasts up to 5 minutes and can be done once per hour. Vanishing Trick is 9th level in Pathfinder and 12th level in D&D, letting the oni become invisible for 10 minutes in Pathfinder once per hour, or able to cast Greater Invisibility once per long rest in D&D. Constant Levitation is 13th level in Pathfinder and 16th in D&D, granting permanent flying speed. Dredge Out Darkness is a 13th level feat in Pathfinder, where they can cast Darkness at 4th level once per hour, while in D&D it's 4th level and can cast Darkness once per long rest.

Last but not least, the Pathfinder version of oni get a new weapon type at the very end: the tetsubo. It's a 0 level item of Uncommon rarity and is an advanced melee weapon in the club group. It is two-handed and deals 1d10 damage, has the backswing, razing, and sweep traits, and the backswing and sweep traits add a +2 circumstance bonus to attack rolls made with said traits.

Thoughts: As is the case with a lot of ancestries in this book, the low-level ones are quite weak and situational. Gourmet is not going to be useful in most campaigns, while Flavor Food quite honestly doesn't deserve to be a feat at all. Oni Magic and Spirit Oni Familiar are competing against Magic Initiate in Pathfinder, and while the Third Eye sounds cool it is outdamaged by equivalent cantrips like Fire Bolt and Ray of Frost for D&D.* Of the better feats, Indomitable Maverick can be worthwhile in campaigns with enemies that deploy mind-affecting effects. For the middle-level and higher feats, Enveloping Garment can be useful for monk types in being a finesse unarmed strike that deals additional damage while grappling, and Spiky Skin is similar in granting a decently-damaging reaction-based close-range counterattack. Regenerative Recovery is pretty good at healing faster during brief periods of rest, and Oni's Levitation is a good stepping stone to Constant Levitation while still granting a decent duration of flight. Most of the 16th/17th level feats have some worthwhile choices, although Contagious Whisper and Voice of Earthen Power are rather weak at this tier of play in mimicking lower-level spells.

*Although the Yai Adept covered below rectifies this.

The final piece of content for this chapter is the Yai Adept, a feat tree that only oni of the yai ancestries can take. It represents maverick oni who focus heavily on developing the elemental powers of their subspecies. But the path they walk is full of temptation, for the element of void plays upon negative emotions and can cause them to fall down a similar path not to the one they took with their evil former patron.

The Yai Adept feat tree begins with Yai Adept Dedication, granting them the benefits of the Third Eye feat, and if they already have said feat they increase the damage they deal with their eye lasers. They have 15 further feats to choose from spanning various levels, many of which have their own prerequisites on top of the base Yai Adept Dedication. They include such options as Distant Missiles (increase the attack range of their Third Eye), Focused Missile (can spend a bonus action/additional actions depending on system to "charge up" a more powerful attack with their Third Eye in the form of greater range increment and damage), Impaling Push (can make a melee attack dealing slashing or piercing damage that deals damage and causes forced movement and grapple in D&D or persistent bleed damage and possibly off-guard in Pathfinder), Towering Yai (permanently become Huge size), and Yai's Reprisal (deals a weapon or Third Eye attack as a reaction to a nearby foe that can disrupt the intended action on a critical hit). Each yai subspecies also gets a special feat to use in conjunction with Focused Missile, imposing a debuff relevant to their element on top of the base effects.

But what of this sinister, mysterious Void? Well, its allure is represented as its own series of feats: Void Missile can make the Third Eye deal necrotic damage and disintegrates targets killed or knocked out by it. Void Form lets the oni take on an insubstantial form much like Gaseous Form or the feat of the same name,* along with bonuses on Stealth checks and related actions in Pathfinder. Void's Enervation increases the power of a Void Missile to make a creature take additional damage equal to their level in Pathfinder or twice their Challenge Rating in D&D on a failed Fortitude/Constitution save. And Void Trap lets the oni teleport away, leaving a miniature black hole in their original location that is a damaging AoE effect that draws in targets closer to it on a failed Strength/Fortitude save. As for the "temptation," it's corrupting effect is more of a role-play tool rather than having a baked-in penalty or "morality points" style subsystem. The major downside of Void feats is that necrotic is a commonly-resisted damage type in D&D.

*and an oni with that feat can retrain it.

Thoughts: First off, I like the idea of an elemental-focused oni supercharging their laser eye beams for more powerful effects. However, it is quite feat-intensive in both systems: even for Pathfinder, you're going to have to substitute quite a bit of class feats if you invest in it unless you're using the Free Archetype variant rule. Compare this to Nymph Queen, who has a broader array of powers both in and out of combat. There are some feats that don't play off of the eye beams, such as Towering Yai and Impaling Push, although they don't feel tightly connected to the elemental themes save perhaps in flavor text or being used in conjunction with unarmed attacks which eye beams count as.

Thoughts So Far: Overall I really like the oni in both flavor and as an ancestry, although I wish that yai adept wasn't so feat-intensive and the lower-level feats had more worthwhile options. The ancestry may need to take some special consideration to fit into some non-Golarion settings given their particularly specific divine origins, but that isn't too big of a setback.

Join us next time as we visit the faerie courts of the sidhe!

 

[Libertad]

Also known as the Fair Folk, sidhe are fey who create courtly realms in the plane of faerie which operate by storybook logic. Through the power of utter confidence in their beliefs, they can make the archetypes and cliches of fiction and folklore into ironclad rules that affect all who dwell within their domains. It is through such rules and their enforcement that a dark reputation arose among mortal society, forming the origin of cautionary tales told to children.

A sidhe's physical appearance can vary widely depending upon their subspecies, but they share humanoid traits and those more "humanlike" than animalistic are often described as "elves, but more so" with fine, slender features. Cait sidhe and cu sidhe have features more in line with their animalistic forms while humanoid, with hair and fur color the same in both forms.

Sidhe are long-lived even more so than elves, and most are content to spend lifetimes in their own realms pursuing various passions. Those sidhe who seek to explore the mortal realm and other planes are nicknamed "sidhe heroes" with a bit of playful derision among their brethren. It is these sidhe who form most adventurers among their kind. Sidhe society is an intricate, bureaucratic network of laws, taboos, and social obligations heavily derived from literary tropes. While sidhe growing up in such a realm have adapted to it, they can find life outside to be rather liberating, just as outsiders can find the sidhe rules overly complex.

Sidhe can be of any alignment, but good alignments are rarer than neutral and evil. In fact, sidhe are aware of alignment as a cosmic concept, but they find it to be arbitrary and hypocritical, asserting them to be shaped by the subjective biases of the gods. For example, sidhe will point out that many humanoids who raise and slaughter animals for food and industry will not register as evil in this system, but to do the same to other sapient beings would shift their alignment so. The sidhe claim that their own realms and storybook logic are superior and "free of bias." Many sidhe, as a result, are irreligious, although those who do take up faith often worship archfey and famous figures among their kind who achieved heroic status in their culture. Some even worship Fate, viewing it a cosmic force that exists as its own metanarrative shaping reality.

Sidhe heroes operating outside the faerie domains adopt their own goals and codes of conduct as a guiding influence known as paradigms. There are five paradigms, each modeled after prominent examples of sidhe heroes from past eras. The ones with backgrounds in D&D are Builders (seek to create something that will endure and earn a place in history), Knaves (sidhe who were forcibly banished from their society, usually due to defying a literary archetype), and Knight Errants (sidhe modeled after romanticized ideals of some group or society). In the case of Knight Errants, they can even be modeled after dishonorable and villainous groups who, due to propaganda, gained a virtuous status in the collective consciousness that they don't deserve. The backgroundless paradigms are Authors (those who feel that Fate's narrative is flawed and seek to take control of their destiny themselves) and Watchers (those who realize how important mortal stories are in shaping sidhe society and thus go out to learn and live among them to make future predictions about their people).

Thoughts: The sidhe are a really cool take on the "reclusive world of fey," and their storybook logic has plenty of convincing motivations for them to leave their society and become adventurers. I also find it clever that the sidhe have an in-universe criticism of the alignment system, acknowledging that's how things work but still disagreeing with the status quo.

The base sidhe ancestry gets an ability boost to either Intelligence or Charisma, plus one other ability of choice. They are Medium size, have average walking speed, possess either low-light vision or darkvision depending on system, and are fey instead of humanoid. In D&D they also have Fey Ancestry like elves do, and possess a once per long rest ability called Not Today where they can reroll a failed saving throw, provided that said effect won't "result in an appropriate end to their story" at the DM's discretion. In Pathfinder, said ability is available as a 1st level ancestry feat.

The sidhe has six subspecies, representing those who have a common line of ancestry based off of commonly-occurring literary archetypes. The aes sidhe represent scholars and crafters who learn a bonus arcane/occult/wizard cantrip, and in D&D are also proficient with artisan's tools and can craft magic items with half the time and materials. The baobhan sidhe are performers who feed on the blood of others, growing claws as unarmed attack and in D&D are proficient in Performance and have expertise in the skill when using it to dance. The cait sidhe are tricksters capable of shapeshifting into felines, which take the form a mundane cat and in D&D also begin with a once per long rest ability to jinx a nearby target to force their next attack/save/skill to be made with disadvantage if they fail a Wisdom save. Cu sidhe are messengers who can take on the form of a mundane dog and in D&D can let out a series of barks that can be heard up to 3 miles away over the course of a minute. Daoine sidhe represent feuding nobles in all their forms, being trained in Society and get Courtly Grace as a bonus feat in Pathfinder. The D&D version gets a similar special ability to the latter feat in being able to substitute History for Charisma checks when attempting to influence and impersonate the nobility, as well as advantage on saving throws vs the frightened condition. Finally, leanan sidhe are muses who provide talent to artistic types at the cost of draining their life force, where they can grant a willing creature a bonus on Performance and Crafting/tool checks depending on system, but then suffer a penalty on saving throws vs the leanan sidhe's abilities. The leanan sidhe in D&D are proficient in Persuasion and have expertise in the skill when influencing artists and performers.

Regarding the sidhe who can take animal form, the D&D version lists the cat and hyena stat blocks to represent their abilities while shapeshifted. In Pathfinder, they don't substitute wholesale stats for an alternate form and instead have a list of restricted and altered functions when taking on said form. They do get unarmed attacks with their natural weapons when in animal forms, however. Additionally, the special subspecies abilities that come automatically with the D&D versions are available as 1st level ancestry feats in Pathfinder.

Thoughts: The Pathfinder equivalent for the sidhe and its subspecies feel quite lacking in comparison to their D&D counterparts. For example, it's weird to see that D&D's aes sidhe are good crafters, but the Pathfinder version doesn't even get training in Crafting. As for the subspecies' overall appeal, the cait sidhe's jinx in D&D is the most broadly useful, while the aes sidhe's magic item crafting is going to be situational given that such rules aren't really fleshed out in the corebooks. A daoine sidhe's advantage vs the frightened condition is pretty good, but the History substitution in regards to nobles is of variable usability depending on the adventure.

Sidhe have 21 feats in D&D and 41 in Pathfinder. As mentioned before, the special abilities the sidhe and its subspecies get automatically in D&D can be chosen as 1st level ancestry feats in Pathfinder. But beyond those, the 1st-level feats we have include Ancestral Longevity (can gain proficiency/training in one skill/tool of choice until the next long rest/daily preparation, is available to anyone at least 100 years old and not just sidhe), Enforce Decorum (can impose a week-long debuff curse on someone who violates a willing agreement or term the sidhe and target agree to), and Sidhe Magic (gain 1-2 bonus bard/sorcerer/wizard or occult cantrips depending on system, in D&D can choose from one of three 1st-level spells that gain fairy trappings and enhancements, like the Alarm spell being a ring of mushrooms that can curse targets who break the circle). The Pathfinder-exclusive feats are Familiar's Fealty ( grants a familiar to the sidhe in line with some narrative archetype) and Midnight Sight (grants darkvision).

The 4th/5th level feats lean heavily into the metanarrative of Fate. They include Check the Narrative (grant a +1 bonus/advantage on an Intelligence-based skill check for "determine the role" of a new person or creature encountered once per short rest/day)* and Fated Strike (once per long rest/day can declare their attack to have some Fateful importance and roll with advantage/roll twice and take better result). The system-exclusive feats are for Pathfinder, and 3 of them are actually the D&D-specific spells gained from Sidhe Magic taken at 1st level. The fourth Pathfinder-exclusive feat is Storied Leadership, granting their allies increased bonuses while Following the Expert during Exploration Mode provided that the sidhe is the leader.

*This isn't a typo, the refresh rate of this ability and some others differs widely depending upon the system in question.

The 8th/9th level feats are a mixture of social influence and narrative magic. They include Expert Longevity (become expert in a skill/gain expertise in a skill or tool as per Ancestral Longevity) and Story Sense (can perform a divination effect on a single creature to reveal a single word that is relevant to the sidhe's own story in the next day or hour, depending upon the creature's status as a "background character" or "major character" in the adventure). The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Marshal Rule (grants the benefits of the Marshal dedication feat, even if they're at the maximum amount of dedication feats for their level), Sidhe Power (requires Sidhe Magic and grants even more occult spells), and Narrative Pacing (can cast either Haste or Slow once per day, can choose each day what spell they'll cast).

The 12th/13th level feats focus on more direct manipulation of Fate's narrative. They include Enforce Commitment (magically enforce a character who declared that they will do something to actually do it or suffer a -1 penalty on rolls against the sidhe/suffer the Geas spell effect in D&D), Faerie Ring Transport (cast Tree Stride once per short rest/day but only via rings of mushrooms), Read the Narrative (via written research and charts, can learn a cryptic clue or piece of advice for a goal or activity they intend to perform within 1 week), and Twist Fate (curse a foe once per long rest/day to meet a dangerous accident 1d4 rounds later, dealing damage of an appropriate type). The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Sidhe Sovereignty (requires Sidhe Power, grants even more occult spells), Stylemaven (can use Sidhe Style at will with no frequent limitation), and Turn the Tables (once per minute, whenever the sidhe would make a saving throw against the same triggering effect, can roll twice and take the better result).

The 16th/17th level feats allow the sidhe to call upon the grandest of magic in order to gain mastery over their personal story. They include Conjure Abode (cast Magnificient Mansion once per long rest/day and the mansion and servants are the same each time the spell is cast), Deduce Story (can automatically learn details about the past by spending at least a minute pondering about how the circumstances fit together to tell a greater story), and Plot Armor (once per long rest/day can miraculously avoid death or being knocked unconscious by some absurdly-timed miracle). Regarding Plot Armor, this ability cannot work during climactic 'campaign-ending encounters' and similar incidents that would spell an appropriate end to the sidhe's story, per DM discretion. The Pathfinder-exclusive feat is Collective Pacing, which lets the sidhe cast Haste/Slow as 7th-level spells and thus can target multiple creatures.

It might seem that the sidhe doesn't have a lot of feats, but the reality is that a lot of their feats are gained at widely different levels. They include Sidhe Styling (1st level in D&D, 5th in Pathfinder, can magically alter their clothes' aesthetic style once per short rest), Fairy Messenger (5th level in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can summon a fairy to deliver a message once per hour/short rest that functions much like Animal Messenger), Sidhe Hideaway (4th level in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can create a hidden portal to a minor sidhe realm, functions as an extradimensional storage space), Comprehend Mental Narrative (4th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, cast Detect Thoughts/Mind Reading depending on system and without spell components in D&D), Fey Skin (8th in D&D and 13th in Pathfinder, just like the gremlin and nymph feat), and Never Today (8th in D&D and 13th in Pathfinder allows them to use Not Today once per short rest/hour).

Thoughts: I'm quite the fan of most of these feats, and even the lower-level options have some rather nifty broadly-useful effects like Ancestral/Expert Longevity, Check the Narrative, and Storied Leadership. Fated Strike is rather weak in D&D given that gaining advantage on an attack roll can be done in a variety of ways, and I don't know how much I'm a fan of locking some of the subspecies effects behind 1st level ancestry feats. Additionally, several of the feats that rely upon dramatically-influential people and events are highly subject to DM Fiat. Although given that a PC is spending a precious feat slot on them, a good DM should make them broad in use.

The faerie scion is our Versatile Species for this chapter, representing mortals with a touch of sidhe influence. They might be the classic changelings, swapped with a mortal child, or they could have a literal sidhe ancestor in their family tree. They often appear almost identical to their mortal parent, save for a slight oddity marking them as unusual in line with their influential sidhe. In D&D, playing as a faerie scion is represented as a feat that any non-sidhe species can take, granting +1 Intelligence or Charisma, the Darkvision and Fey Ancestry abilities, and are treated as a sidhe for the purposes of meeting species-specific prerequisites. In Pathfinder, they are a Rare heritage who gain the faerie scion and sidhe traits on top of the base ones of their ancestry, and either low-light vision or an appropriate ancestry feat if they already have that sense type. Faerie scions in both systems gain access to sidhe-exclusive feats, and there's one feat for each sidhe subspecies that grant some of that subspecies' inherent abilities plus Not Today for the D&D scion. Sidhe Stride is a Pathfinder-exclusive feat that boosts the Faerie Scion's walking speed by 5 feet, but has no effect if their starting speed is already 30 feet from their base ancestry. Personally speaking, I'd word things so that the feat cannot be taken rather than being taken and thus useless in this case.

Thoughts: Like the doppelborn and nymphtouched, the faerie scion represents another species with a trace of monstrous heritage. Also like them, the scion is highly appropriate given that the fairy archetypes this chapter's drawing on are those known to dally with mortalkind.

Thoughts So Far: Of the ancestries in Classic Creatures, the sidhe is one of my favorites. It is a broad monstrous archetype that can fit a lot of creatures, has compelling reasons for them becoming adventurers, and their feats have a lot of open-ended potential. The low points are the rather situational and lackluster subspecies, particularly for Pathfinder.

Join us next time as we review the most iconic beginner-level JRPG monster: the slime!

 

[Voadam]

I do like the literary tropes as archetypes for fey.

 

[Libertad]

Most slimes are mindless creatures, but nature and magic still finds a way for some of them to develop self-awareness. Sapient slimes usually come about this way as a result of natural evolution, and often among colonies of their non-sapient brethren. The intelligent slimes thus seek out the companionship of other intelligent beings out of curiosity and intellectual stimulation, and can further evolve in a variety of ways.

Slimes come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but what they share in common is a nucleus that serves as the sole major vital organ which is surrounded by an amorphous gooey layer. A slime's body isn't fixed upon creation, and they are capable of growing and changing over time as their nucleus develops new powers. Slimes reproduce asexually via mitosis, and slime "children" are capable of developing entirely different abilities than their parent, making their species incredibly adaptable. Slimes of every alignment can be found, although they have a bias towards neutral alignments rather than the four extremes. Their religious beliefs are usually the first deity they learn about, or whatever faith is most popular among their cluster.

Intelligent slimes usually gain sapience alone, so their societies are most often "found families" which can include non-slimes. Broad tendencies among slime societies are known as clusters. There are seven types of clusters listed in this book, three of which have D&D backgrounds. The ones with backgrounds include Bondforgers (seek to create their own societies and settlements made up of like-minded people), Devourers (slimes who wish to partake of as many different experiences as possible), and Mysteria (focus on intellectual stimulation and scientific innovation). The backgroundless ones include Apallites (seek to disguise themselves as humanoids), Fractals (offspring are born with a near-duplicate mind as their parent, use this uniformity to create their own societies), Inheritors (slimes whose sapience is heritable but can develop independently unlike fractals, and their societies often have a single ancestral "founder"), and Melded (slimes who can incorporate the properties and personalities of dissolved sustenance into themselves). While many of these fractals sound less like cultures and more like biology, we do have some societal fleshing out for the various entries. Such as inheritors, who often make use of goods and services both they and humanoids enjoy to foster trade, such as massages, saunas, and hot springs. Although in the slimes' case, their idea of a good massage might include being slowly compacted into small spaces that reshape their bodies.

Thoughts: The slime strongly reminds me of the mimic earlier in this book, being a highly morphic being who tends to be isolated from others of their kind. While both have internal change as a recurring theme, the slime's change isn't necessarily the core mechanic or cultural default. This is because slimes tend to settle into a preferred form or society, but said options differ widely between types of slimes.

As an ancestry, slimes get a bonus to Constitution and either a free ability boost of choice in Pathfinder or a boost dependent on their subspecies in D&D, are either Small or Medium* have the ooze instead of humanoid type, a slow walking speed, resistance to nonmagical piercing damage or precision damage depending on system due to having only a single vital organ, can change between their natural form or an obviously-ooze humanoid form and squeeze through tight spaces in both forms (1 inch wide in D&D or as one size smaller in Pathfinder), can grow pseudopods that can manipulate objects like normal limbs, and have either blindsight or imprecise motionsense depending on system.

*Barring the Tiny Slime subspecies, listed below.

Slimes have five subspecies/heritages to choose from. They include Agile Slime (has a normal instead of slow walking speed), Amphibious Slime (are amphibious and gain a swim speed), Fractal Slime (gain proficiency in 2 skills of choice in D&D, or gain training in one skill and become expert at 5th level in said skill in Pathfinder), Tiny Slime (are Tiny size and proficient/trained in Stealth, gain the Terrain Stalker feat in Pathfinder), and Twilight Slime (gain either low-light or darkvision depending on system).

Thoughts: The base slime ancestry's most potent ability is its motionsense/blindsight, which despite its short range makes them very good at sensing invisible and visually hidden targets. Their lack of low-light or darkvision barring the Twilight subspecies makes it difficult for them to function as scout types in typical dungeon crawls, given they will need a light source or other means of seeing in the dark. But their ability to fit through tight spaces can be situationally useful. When it comes to subspecies, the Fractal Slime and Twilight Slime have the most widely-useful abilities for most builds, while Agile Slime might be less appealing in that it's merely making the slime have a normal speed rather than a truly fast movement.

Slimes have 33 feats in D&D and 36 in Pathfinder. The 1st-level feats center around consistent enhancements to their forms and abilities, such as Bouncy Slime (reduced damaging from falling in D&D or immune to fall damage in Pathfinder), Convincing Face (humanoid form looks indistinguishable from an appropriate humanoid), Energy Slime (deal bonus energy damage with unarmed strikes and being grappled, gain resistance to energy type chosen in D&D), Engulfing Container (can store objects within itself), Heal Slime (slime has healing properties that it can apply by touch), Magislime (gain bonus arcane/occult cantrips), Metal Slime (+1 AC when unarmored or treat body as medium armor depending on system), and Slimy Grappler (can more easily grapple targets with unarmed strikes, gain training in Athletics and can grapple without a free hand in Pathfinder, successfully grappled targets who escape have reduced movement speed in D&D). The D&D book has quite the number of exclusive feats: they include Compress (can become one size category smaller but weight remains the same due to increased density), Dissolve (deal increased unarmed damage vs objects), Slime Familiar (cast Find Familiar but the type is ooze and uses octopus stats), Stretch Out (can interact with objects up to 30 feet away), and Toxic Slime (resistance to poison damage, can deal bonus poison damage with unarmed attacks and when being grappled/swallowed).

The 4th/5th level feats are almost entirely different depending on the sourcebook. The only one they both share is Second Evolution, where they gain the benefits of another subspecies that isn't fractal, as that one is more 'innate' in being determined by parent rather than developed later in life. The D&D-exclusive feat is Slime Spit, which turns the bonus damage type from Energy/Toxic Slime into a ranged attack with a bonus debuffing effect, the latter of which refreshes every short rest. The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Energy Spit (like Slime Spit but no bonus debuff effect, is treated as being in the sling weapon group but is unarmed), Minor Pseudopod (gains a bonus pseudopod that can perform basic tasks), Resilient Slime (DC to remove persistent damage effects is 5 less than normal), Slime Hug (creatures the slime grapples take penalty on movement should they escape), and Split (activated as a reaction up to once per minute, can split into two selves upon taking slashing or piercing damage, are treated as separate targets but the first one to take damage dissolves into nothing, also dissolves if one turn passes).

The 8th/9th level feats represent more direct and active applications of their anatomical abilities. They include Energy Surge (deal persistent damage of an energy type of their Energy Slime feat upon dealing a critical hit with an unarmed attack), Massive Consumption (can automatically heal damage when consuming large quantities of food, much like the mimic's Rejuvenating Gorge), Ooze's Resilience (gain +1 hit point per level, in D&D has a chance to turn a critical hit into a normal hit and in Pathfinder reduces the DC of recovery checks when dying), and Ooze Shape (polymorph into an ooze monster once long rest/day, is the Ooze Form spell in pathfinder). Pathfinder has the Medicinal Slime exclusive feat, where they gain their choice of the Herbalist or Poisoner dedication feat even if they have their maximum amount of dedication feats. That feat requires both the Heal Slime feat and either Battle Medicine or Natural Medicine feats as prerequisites.

The 12th/13th level provides major changes to the slime and broad uses of their ooze form. They include Big Slime (become permanently Large size and bonus melee damage) and Superbounce (requires Bouncy Slime, further reduces fall damage and triples jump distance in D&D, grants +2 bonus on Acrobatics checks to Tumble Through an opponent's space in Pathfinder, both systems allow them to bounce back into the air half the distance they fell and continue to bounce until they bounce less than 20 feet). Both books have exclusive feats. The D&D one is Engulf (can blind, restrain, and suffocate a single grappled target), while the Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Amorphous Protection (has a chance of turning a critical hit into a normal hit via a flat DC 17 check, gains increased resistance to precision damage), Omnidirectional Vision (immune to being flanked by a creature of equal or lower level), Sacrifice Nucleus (automatically turns a critical hit into a normal hit as a reaction once per hour), and Slimy Replica (can form temporary objects of simple functionality out of their own slime).

The 16th/17th level feats represent powerful once per long rest/day abilities. They include Energy Avatar (can transform into a Huge-sized form for 1 minute with increased reach and melee damage, and deals energy damage appropriate to the Energy Slime feat), Misleading Split (turns invisible for up to 1 minute and creates two illusory fakes), and Ooze Surge (transforms into a line-shaped AoE tide of ooze dealing bludgeoning or energy damage if has the Energy Slime feat, materializes at the end of the line in an unoccupied space)

The feats of variable level include Confounding Split (4th level in D&D and 9th in Pathfinder, can split into multiple versions of which only one slime is the "real" slime much like Mirror Image and is once per long rest in D&D and once per hour in Pathfinder), Ooze Climb (4th in D&D and 9th in Pathfinder, gain a climbing speed), Ooze Empathy (1st level in D&D and 9th in Pathfinder, can communicate simple concepts to oozes), Transparentize (9th level in Pathfinder once per hour and 12th level in D&D Proficiency Bonus times per long rest, can cast Invisibility but shorter duration by becoming transparent), Motion's Revelation (12th level in D&D and 17th level in Pathfinder, can cast True Seeing once per long rest, also grants constant See Invisibility in Pathfinder while in D&D the True Seeing functions within the blindsight radius), Ooze Aegis (12th level in D&D and 17th level in Pathfinder, D&D spends an action to gain resistance to a non-physical damage type until it's used again, Pathfinder grants resistance 5 to a broad variety of energy damage types), and Ooze Shifter (16th level in D&D and 13th level in Pathfinder, can assume higher-CR ooze forms in D&D and once per short rest, can cast Ooze Form once per hour and a 5th-level once per day version in Pathfinder).

Thoughts: A lot of the lower-level feats tend to be situational at best, suboptimal at worst. However, there are some standouts in the form of Energy Slime, which provides a good means for monk and unarmed warrior types to deal non-physical damage with their attacks, and Metal Slime is a pretty good means of giving an AC boost to unarmored builds. Slimy Grappler's Pathfinder version opens the slime up to some creative combos in not requiring a free hand, from sword-and-board fighters to two-handed raging barbarians. The fact that Energy Slime plays off of or serves as a prerequisite for higher-level feats enhances its appeal even further. I'm not sure why Toxic Slime is D&D-exclusive. Confounding Split is another useful defensive feature for slimes who get into the fray, and Massive Consumption can make great use of the Goodberry spell as mentioned with the mimic-equivalent feat earlier in the book. Ooze Aegis is a pretty useful defensive feat to take, and Motion's Revelation grants access to a very good spell. Transparentize is rather weak in a party with the Invisibility spell in that it comes in rather late to replicate a lower-level spell, although its ability to be used frequently can help set the ooze up for ambushes and to sneak around better. Ooze Empathy is going to be rarely used in most campaigns, given the scarcity of oozes as a creature type.

The slimeheart is perhaps the most unusual of the Versatile Species in this book, in that the prior ones covered at least made some sense from a reproductive perspective. Slimehearts originate from any number of strange origins. What slimehearts share is that they appear like normal members of their ancestry save that they are partially made of ooze which can be concealed with a lot of clothing/armor. Most slimehearts survived an encounter with a hostile ooze that partially melded with them, and despite what is commonly believed their condition isn't contagious. The next most common origins for slimehearts are as the result of magical and scientific experiments, or who form a symbiotic link when either or both the slime and non-slime is at risk of death and merging together ensures survival. Finally, the rarest kinds were born that way, coming from when a slime consumes a creature just before dividing to reproduce.

Like the other Versatile Species in this book, playing a slimeheart is represented as a feat in D&D or a rare heritage in Pathfinder. They are treated as a slime for the purposes of meeting prerequisites, and gain that ancestry's resistance against nonmagical piercing/precision damage. They also gain access to two new feats: Slime Form, which lets them change into a slime form that can fit into tight spaces and grow pseudopods for manipulation, and Motionsense (prerequisite being at least 4th/5th level) which grants the slime's sense type depending on system.

Thoughts: I don't have much thoughts to share on the slimeheart, besides that their base feat isn't very powerful in comparison to the other Versatile Species. Fitting into tight spaces will be less situationally useful than darkvision/low-light vision, or being able to adopt different kinds of humanoid disguises.

Thoughts So Far: The slime's a nifty little species, and its various special features and feats are unique while remaining relatively balanced. I will say that a lot of the feats feel like they veer quite a bit into encouraging unarmed builds, although there's still a good bit of other feats that can be useful for other classes and roles.

Join us next time as we finish up this book with the petrifyingly dangerous sthenos!

 

[Libertad]

The euryale are a serpentine species who were cursed by their evil patron deity to gradually go insane from corruptive nightmares. An individual named Stheno sought to escape this terrible fate, and turned to another deity in hopes of protection. The euryale's patron deity sought to kill Stheno, but the rebel euryale used her own life force to grant each snake upon her head to become an individual being. They lithered away to safety, becoming the first of the species who would take on Stheno's namesake.

Bearing similar traits to medusae, the sthenos are capable of reproducing with other creatures, slowly growing their numbers. Their physical appearance has made it difficult at times to form alliances with outsiders, but they still managed to find a place in the world with enough searching and dedication. While all sthenos look like humans with snakes for hair, they can range in a variety of skin and scale tones, although they all lack conventional body hair. Additionally, a stheno's hair is made up of actual non-venomous snakes who have minds of their own and can move of their own accord, although in sharing the same body they and the stheno often influence each other's emotions.

Sthenos live in tight-knit communities, and are almost always a minority part of larger settlements. They are noted as being open and welcoming, so their tight-knit nature doesn't necessarily lend them to xenophobia.

Given that their species is relatively young (the original Sthenos died about a century ago), sthenos haven't really developed any long-held traditions, and their communities are experimenting with a variety of different art forms and philosophies. They vary widely in alignment, although at the moment they're more likely to be good than evil due to the more benevolent groups detailed below having more general acceptance and greater number of adherents.

The seven most prominent stheno groups are detailed, with three having backgrounds in D&D. They are aesthetes (seek to dedicate themselves to artistic innovation), ophidiacs (have an affinity for snakes and go out of their way to collect and domesticate them), and progenitor disciples (seek to follow in the ways of the first hundred members of their species, the progenitors, who are rumored to still be alive and in hiding). The backgroundless groups are flower bearers (dedicate themselves to the deity the original Sthenos worshipped, and emphasis the power of redemption for even the most vile people), gorgoneions (seek to emulate medusa and find ways to closely emulate their powers), nightmare dreamers (believe that the original Stheno made a mistake in turning her back on the power of the euryale and seek to become monstrous and wicked), and two skies (sthenos who have one stheno, one non-stheno parent and are searching for ways to blend both parent's cultures).

Thoughts: Most other ancestries in the Battlezoo line outright state that the PC version of the monster is for all intents and purposes that monster, save when it comes to Monster Manual stat blocks. Due to this, I am a bit surprised that they didn't just make the stheno a medusa. If I had to guess, that monster's iconic petrifying gaze was perhaps deemed too powerful, but as we saw PC versions of the medusa in other third party products like Odyssey of the Dragonlords and Frontiers of Eberron, it is something that can be done. But as to the stheno ancestry in and of itself, I think that it works well in being a young species still finding their place in the world. I do feel that the sample groups are a bit simplistic, which I suppose makes sense given their newness, but I would've preferred some more fleshed-out details for the ones with D&D backgrounds.

The stheno's base ancestry gets a bonus to Charisma and one other ability score of choice in Pathfinder, Charisma and two other ability scores of choice in D&D, netting a total +4 modifier due to ancestry for the latter system much like the 2014 Half-Elf. They are Medium size, have an average walking speed, can communicate with snakes, and their head full of snakes makes them more perceptive. In D&D this takes the form of a passive Perception score that never decreases below 10 + Proficiency Bonus, and in Pathfinder it takes the form of a separate Perception check made for the snakes with a modifier 5 less than the stheno's. In D&D, sthenos are also proficient in one bonus skill of their choice.

Sthenos have six different subspecies/heritages. They include euryale atavism (have a snake tail instead of legs as the lower half of their body, are proficient in Acrobatics in D&D and are more resistant to forced movement and the prone effect in both systems), faithspark (learn a cleric/divine cantrip and are proficient in Religion in D&D), fanghair (head of snakes is an unarmed attack), moonsight (they and their hair snakes gain low-light vision or darkvision depending on system, gain proficiency in Perception in D&D), museborn (gain expertise in one set of artisan's tools in D&D, gain training in the Crafting skill and the Specialty Crafting skill feat twice in Pathfinder), and venomproof (more resistant to poison in bonuses/advantage on saves and resistance to poison damage).

Thoughts: The base stheno ancestry doesn't feel very impressive. First off, being able to speak with snakes is rather situational. Their snake heads' minimal passive Perception in D&D would take effect if they're taking a penalty to it, such as via fast movement overland or in dim light. This can be very useful if the D&D is enforcing lighting conditions, but as they don't have darkvision by default, they still don't see very well in comparison to most other ancestries. The second roll at a penalty in Pathfinder is a bit more useful. As to the subspecies/heritages, moonsight feels the most broadly useful, venomproof can be good given that poison is a pretty common offensive ability among monsters, and euryale atavism can be good for melee fighter builds. Faithspark, fanghair, and museborns are more situational.

Sthenos have 27 feats in D&D and 34 in Pathfinder. The 1st-level feats are actually have quite a few nifty abilities, and include Coiffure Familiar (a snake from their hair can detach and become a familiar, in D&D is more powerful than a standard snake familiar), Coil Switch (can disguise their snake hair as regular hair), Euryale's Sight (gain blindsight out to 10 feet in D&D, or upgrade from normal to low-light or low-light to darkvision in Pathfinder), Lethal Hair (snake hair becomes an unarmed attack, fanghairs increase the damage die by 1 and in Pathfinder can deal critical specialization effects), Scaleswap (polymorph into a tiny poisonous snake once per short rest/hour), Slither (euryale atavism only, can crawl half their speed, also gain +10 to speed in D&D), and Stheno Dynamism (can more resist effects that petrify, paralyze, or reduce speed, in D&D also grant Constitution or Wisdom save proficiency). This category has feats exclusive to Pathfinder, which are Martial Culture (can choose uncommon weapon of an ancestry in the prevailing region they grew up in, gaining a free piece of it at character creation as well as training in it, can choose an advanced weapon if trained in all martial weapons) and Serpents' Sight (spend an action to be immune to being flanked until start of next turn).

The 4th/5th level feats provide supernatural abilities more in line with their euryale/medusa forebears, including Antivenom Blood (can use their blood to treat poison on themself or an ally), Gripping Coiffure (can grapple with their snake hair), Guardian Statue (summons a stone duplicate of themselves once per long rest/day and can interpose itself in front of an incoming attack), and Petrifying Finish (can choose to petrify a target they would kill or leave dying). The Pathfinder-exclusive feats include Serpentine Shifts (have reduced penalties to AC/Reflex/Perception when unconscious and asleep due to conscious snake hairs), Serpent Scent (gain scent as an imprecise sense out to 30 feet), Share Slightering Senses (can share their senses with their Coiffure Familiar), and Two Skies, Two Suns (gain Adopted Ancestry feat and a 1st-level ancestry feat corresponding to their non-stheno parent).

The 8th/9th level feats represent more powerful displays of their monstrous ancestors. They include Hair Trigger (hair snakes roll initiative individually with a worse modifier, stheno uses the better result between themselves and their hair), Ophidian Critical (deal persistent poison damage when critting with their snake hair unarmed attack, also imposes poisoned condition in D&D), Petrifying Critical (can restrain the target on a critical hit with a melee attack, representing partial petrification), and Snake Form (can polymorph into a more powerful snake). The Pathfinder-exclusive feat is Serpents' Vigilance (provides constant immunity to being flanked against creatures of equal or lower level).

The 12th/13th level feats are overtly supernatural abilities. They include Pit of Snakes (once per long rest/day throw a cluster of snake hair that fill an AoE, dealing damage and restricting movement) and Profane Vision (once per long rest/day can choose to roll twice and take the higher result for a die roll when they'd ordinarily roll twice and take the lower result).

The 16th/17th level feats represent the stheno attaining the vaunted powers of a real medusa, or become more like the snakes in their hair as many creatures instead of one. The feats include Gaze of Mercy (once per short rest/hour can unpetrify a creature by looking at them), Gorgoneion's Gaze (once per short rest/hour can do a single-target gaze attack that restrains and eventually can petrify a target), and Serpentine Discorpation (once per short rest/10 minutes can transform into a swarm of regular snakes, can remain in that form for 5 minutes in Pathfinder, 10 minutes in D&D, can be voluntarily ended early in both systems and ends in D&D if reduced to 0 hit points).

The variable level feats include Blessing of Redemption (1st in D&D, 5th in Pathfinder, lets them cast the Bless spell once per short rest in D&D and once per day in Pathfinder), Oracular Insight (4th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can cast Augury once per long rest in D&D, once per hour in Pathfinder), Sculptor's Glance (8th in D&D, 13th in Pathfinder, can cast Stone Shape/Shape Stone once per long rest in D&D and once per hour in Pathfinder), Shattering Shriek (4th in D&D, 9th in Pathfinder, can let out a single-target scream attack once per long rest/day dealing thunder/sonic damage and deals double/maximum damage against petrified creatures), Stheno's Defiance (casts Blessing of Defiance once per day in Pathfinder, can grant themselves and allied targets nearby advantage against one specific spell or ability chosen when the feat is selected once per long rest), and Stone Elocutionist (13th in D&D, 17th in Pathfinder, can speak with petrified creatures and stone).

Thoughts: The stheno's ancestry feats pleasantly surprised me, as quite a few of their low-level feats are worth taking in D&D. Blindsight, even short-range, is good to have when dealing with invisible and hidden opponents, and Stheno Dynamism grants proficiency in one of two commonly-used saving throws. Blessing of Redemption is a bit hard to justify in comparison to Magic Initiate, but being able to cast a very good spell once per short rest can see good use as a party buff. Guardian Statue can be a useful defensive feature, and Shattering Shriek deals one of the least-resisted damage types in the game. Its ability to deal extra damage vs petrified creatures is going to be rare unless the stheno takes appropriate racial feats, as Flesh to Stone and Prismatic Wall (the only 2 spells that can impose said condition) only come into play at higher tiers. Hair Trigger is a useful mid-level feat in that, even with a worse modifier/disadvantage, the swinginess of a d20 means that this can still result in higher initiative results for the snake hair. On the Pathfinder side of things, Serpents' Sight and Serpent's Vigilance are useful in avoiding flanking, and Oracular Insight's once per hour refresh rate is bound to get used often and can be broadly useful if the player knows when to use it. Sculptor's Glance grants use of a pretty potent battlefield control spell that can work in the typical dungeon terrain, or any terrestrial location with access to natural earth for that matter.

Of course, there's quite a bit of feats that are weak and/or situational, but the sthenos has them more spread out rather than being all bunched up at the lower levels, so you have more worthwhile choices at every tier of play.

Thoughts So Far: The sthenos is a fine ancestry to wrap up this book. Its lore is brief but has enough detail via their origin and philosophical groups for the DM to work with something. Their feats have a good diversity of techniques, from direct offense to divination to battlefield control.

Final Thoughts: Battlezoo Ancestries: Classic Creatures is well worth your time, be you a D&D or a Pathfinder fan. It has the right balance of fluff and crunch for its monstrous species, and provides plenty of interesting factions, outlooks, and historical/cultural details to give them a place in the world beyond the stereotypical "mostly evil beings with some non-evil rebellious PCs." Even for monsters who normally hew heavily towards certain classes and roles, the book tries to give them enough options via subspecies and feats to let them play against type if desired.

While I'm still a relative newbie to Pathfinder 2nd Edition, the ancestries and feats overall look balanced and they don't seem too out of whack. As for the D&D 5e version, that system's handling of feats makes it so that Pathfinder's tiered nature of leveled feats doesn't work as well, and you end up with more cases of feats being either not worth it or no-brainers to take. If it were up to me, I would've liked to see something akin to feats that progressively gain new abilities via leveling up to better emulate Pathfinder 2e's system. But such an innovative subsystem would be beyond the scope of this book. Even then, there's still enough worthwhile material in Classic Creature's 5e version to give something for everyone looking for monstrous PCs.

 

[Libertad]

Drive-Thru RPG Store Page.

Itchio Store Page.

Okay, a dog isn't technically a monster, but the concept is offbeat enough that it's a worthy inclusion for this review thread. For those not in the know, Dungeon Crawl Classics is one of the most popular OSR games on the market. It has generous third party support which is further encouraged by the parent company Goodman Games. Zines are a particularly enduring form of product, and Breaker Press' Rabid Dogs was one such line. Designed to support the homebrew Stennard setting, one of their biggest hits was the Canine class. The idea sprung from a scenario when a PC died, but their animal companion survived. This is something that can easily happen in Dungeon Crawl Classics, on account that more than a few of its 0-level occupations give a PC a domesticated animal as their starting "equipment."

Breaker Press eventually made an updated version of the Canine class as its own standalone product, which we'll be reviewing here. I will also note what has changed between the two versions near the end of this review.

The Canine easily represents virtually any breed of dog. When it comes to supernatural powers and uncanny intelligence, the class is closest to Lassie in theme: the Canine can be far smarter than they seem, but in terms of story is still an "ordinary" animal. The class has a modest 1d6 hit points per level, cannot wield typical equipment but fights with bite and claw attacks which deal 1d4 damage, and gain access to Mighty Deeds of Arms and a Deed Die much like the Dwarf and Warrior. Most Canines are smaller than adult humans, so they can fit into areas most bipedal humanoids cannot access. While Canines can be equipped with armored coats, their baseline unarmored Armor Class is 12, and their movement speed is a nimble 40 feet (human average is 30 feet). While Canines can understand simple words and their meanings in most languages, they cannot speak save via barks and growls, which attentive people can get the gist of it.

Without conventional weapons or magic to fall back on, Canines that become PCs must be lucky in order to survive, so they get better uses for spending Luck. Instead of gaining a flat +1 bonus for each point of Luck spent, a Canine adds a Luck Die for each point of Luck instead. The Luck Die is the same as their Deed Die, meaning it starts at a d3 at 1st level and climbs up by 1 (d4, d5, d6, etc) every level until 8th onwards, where it increases by 2, to a maximum of d16 at 10th level. They also recover lost Luck every night in the same manner as a Thief. Canines also use the Monster Critical Hit Table when they crit, and their saving throw progression is rather average all-around.

On the roguish side of things, Canines can Sneak Silently and Hide In Shadows like a Thief, but they also get a unique skill, Detect and Follow Tracks, which works much the same as a Thief Skill but is for tracking the scent of other creatures and learning details about said creatures; such as when they were last in an area, and how many are in the group. The bonus a Canine receives on these skills is determined by a relevant ability score modifier, level, and alignment. Lawful Canines have the best progression when it comes detecting/following tracks but the worst at hiding; neutrals are the best at sneaking silently but worst at following/detecting tracks; and chaotic ones are the best at hiding but worst at sneaking.

When it comes to Mighty Deeds of Arms, a Canine has access to any Deeds that would make sense. The book calls out several from the core book such as Disarming Attacks, Trips, and Throws. The class has two unique sample Deeds: Pounce, where they make a rushing attack at a target to knock them off-balance, and Tenacious Grab where they tightly bite the target as a grapple. The Pounce Deed's greater effects can leave the target on the ground for longer and cause them to lose the use of their action die as potential results, while Tenacious Grab can impose automatic bite damage while the grapple's maintained and even trigger a critical hit on higher results!

Finally, the book wraps up with Canine Occupations & Other Tables. We get a d10 occupation table for determining the role they were raised for and thus their starting Trade Good. For example, a Herding Dog begins play with a rag doll, while a Tracking Dog has a favorite stick. We also get dog-centric equipment such as different types of armored coats (range from 0 to +3 AC), bells, brushes, collars, and the like. The +0 AC armor is a Warm Coat that makes the dog more comfortably subsist in cold environments.

For differences between the more current class and the old one from Issue 1 of the Rabid Dogs Zine, the formatting in this one is more streamlined, such as combining the smaller size and fast speed into one paragraph rather than as two distinct class features. Pounce and Tenacious Grab originally functioned like Thief Skills rather than Mighty Deeds. They still had a Deed Die, but Pouncing and Grabbing were their own rules. In being reduced from 5 Thief Skills to 3, this allowed for a more balanced progression: for example, chaotic Canines originally had good progression in Pounce and Grab, but average in the stealth and tracking skills.

Furthermore, the dog-specific equipment didn't exist back then, either, and the wording for Canine language was eased up on. For the latter example, the original text implied that the player would have to pantomime or flat out not be able to get across all but the most simple concepts. Canine 2.0 has it so that they cannot speak in the conventional sense as their major limit.

Overall Thoughts: In terms of party role, the Canine is a sort of Warrior-Thief hybrid. Its d6 and Deed Die make it sturdier than the latter class in a straight-up fight, but it lacks the staying power of a Dwarf or Warrior who get much access to much better gear and have larger Hit Dice. And while a Canine can do a decent job at remaining undetected, its lack of other iconic Thief Skills such as Find Traps and Climb Sheer Surfaces means that they can't wholly replace that class either. The Canine's ability to Detect and Follow Tracks is perhaps its most unique niche, and can be quite useful in determining the presence of nearby and fleeing enemies. Their ability to spend and recover Luck faster and with better bonuses to rolls can pair nicely with their Mighty Deeds in making the most of an otherwise middling attack roll result.

If there are any major weaknesses or shortcomings, it's that the Canine lacks any significant form of ranged attack. Additionally, their lack of opposable thumbs means that a lot of unique gear and magic weapons that PCs recover in adventures may be unusable by the party dog. Relatedly, their only major ability to deal damage coming from their natural attacks means that enemies that are dangerous just to touch or grab will be extra-deadly to Canines. And while it can be assumed that non-Canine PCs will understand their four-legged companion, GMs who enforce the limited speech can make social interactions in general a lot more difficult for them to contribute. For these reasons, while the Canine does look to be a fun and unconventional idea without any significant balance issues in and of itself, I'm not sure of how well they can last in a longer campaign.