ForceUser
Explorer
A half-arsed half-asleep mini-review.
Upon first perusal, it rocks. Lots of creative energy put into monster types that have always been underrepresented (such as fey) or one-dimensional (such as elementals). Lots of fascinating aberrations, plants, oozes, swarms, constructs and undead. A few dragons (feh, nothing to see here), a couple of new giants (both cool); some outsiders: two new demons, one called the Sorrowsworn Demon is VERY interesting. Yugoloths redone for 3.5 - excellent. Strangely, no devils. Five new types of trolls, which was surprising. Do we really need that many?
Every monster has its own page and high-quality image. Lots of favorites to choose from here, but for some reason it's the cave troll I like best. Perhaps my favorite illustration in the book, the creature itself is just brutal for a CR 8. As far as CRs go, there are a few high & a few low, with the majority falling between CR 6 and 14.
This a solid product with a lot of new variations on old themes, plus some very creative completely new creatures. The oozes (!) and elementals, in particular, are refreshingly creative. Overall, there are very few duds here. At 30 bucks, this is money well spent...except for the fact that I already owned five monster books plus a plethora of sourcebooks containing monsters and really didn't NEED to buy another monster book. But I'm still glad I got it.
Upon first perusal, it rocks. Lots of creative energy put into monster types that have always been underrepresented (such as fey) or one-dimensional (such as elementals). Lots of fascinating aberrations, plants, oozes, swarms, constructs and undead. A few dragons (feh, nothing to see here), a couple of new giants (both cool); some outsiders: two new demons, one called the Sorrowsworn Demon is VERY interesting. Yugoloths redone for 3.5 - excellent. Strangely, no devils. Five new types of trolls, which was surprising. Do we really need that many?
Every monster has its own page and high-quality image. Lots of favorites to choose from here, but for some reason it's the cave troll I like best. Perhaps my favorite illustration in the book, the creature itself is just brutal for a CR 8. As far as CRs go, there are a few high & a few low, with the majority falling between CR 6 and 14.
This a solid product with a lot of new variations on old themes, plus some very creative completely new creatures. The oozes (!) and elementals, in particular, are refreshingly creative. Overall, there are very few duds here. At 30 bucks, this is money well spent...except for the fact that I already owned five monster books plus a plethora of sourcebooks containing monsters and really didn't NEED to buy another monster book. But I'm still glad I got it.
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