Monsters Field Guide
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Monster books are always potential waiting to happen. They detail possible encounters either hostile or beneficial. They can be used like forces of nature that the players just have to figure out how to deal with and adapt to or they can be the pinnacle of a long adventure and start of an epic combat. They also do not have to be monsters; they can be animals that are just around making the environment seem more real. Even monsters can serve that same angle in a campaign as not all creatures need to be slaughtered. I have always been of the opinion the more monster books the better. This is a HARP book so while it is of a different system then other fantasy games it can still be used and set an example of how to improve monster books in general.
Monsters Field Guide is the first monster book for the HARP game. HARP is High Adventure Role Playing and it is a fantasy role playing game built on percentages. The game is put out by Iron Crown Entertainment or ICE as they are also known by. Aside from HARP they are well known for Role Master. Monster Field Guide is a one hundred and thirty page PDF. The book is black and white with good art and layout. It does have page borders and can be a little tough on a printer when printed out. While the book does have what looks like a good set of book marks, they do not work. I click on Badger it takes me to Unicorn. Some of the links do not even seem to do anything. Hopefully they can get these fixed.
The best thing about the book is a nice little detail that can be used in any fantasy game. The monsters each have a great section called Myths and Misconceptions. This does not have any game rules in it, it is just bad information people tend to have about the creature. It can cover the creature’s origin or other areas. Many games do not seem to like to mislead players with information that turns out to be wrong and it is good to see this type of thing included. It can easily be ignored as well of people do not like this type of thing.
The book is not just an alphabetical listing of creatures and their stats. It starts with a good introduction and nice writing. For a monster book it is an easy read over all. Many of the descriptions are interesting and it gives really good information about the creature that makes them more then something to be just killed. The creatures are then divided into a few categories. The first is dangerous animals and this includes things like bears, insects, sharks, and other potential harmful species. After dangerous animals come unusual creatures. These are creatures more out of myths like the harpy, unicorn, and minotaur; but they also include other creatures like the nightlord and Gorger. Next come the dragons and these are tied more toward the elements then color spectrums. After the dragons comes creatures of undeath like the skeletons, zombies, and vampires. It has a good section on killing undead, their abilities and vulnerabilities. Then the book finishes up with Brutes and with devilkin.
Actually, it does not end there. It has a Creature Creation section. This part might not be as complete as Beast Builder by Expeditious Retreat for the d20 system, but it still does a very good job of walking someone through the steps of creating and new and possible unique creature in the HARP system.
Monsters Field Guide is another solid HARP book. It covers many of the basic creatures one would hope for in a fantasy game and leaves the option for thousands of more to be creating in the Creature Creation section. The book has good writing and good details for the creatures that are found inside its pages and makes a good addition to the HARP game.
