Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary or Monsternomicon?

[coyote6]

I like the Penumbra book, myself.

 

[Nightfall]

Tome of Horrors 2.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Monsternomicon - the monsters have character, background and story arc but ask yourself what you want out of your monsters. As much as I like Monsternomicom it is not just a monster book, it is a villian book and if you are just looking for additional creature to populate your world it may be in your best interest to go with another book.

 

[Clint]

I vote for the Penumbra book. It is everything that I want a monster tome to be. The Monsternomicon, while also excellent, was a little too steampunkish for me and never saw use in the game.

-Clint

 

[DaveMage]

I own 'em both. I like 'em both.

If I had to pick one, I'd go with Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary. Simply for sheer utility - more varied monsters.

Of course, if money is a concern, go with the Monsternomicon since it's about $15 cheaper, IIRC.

 

[Tetsubo]

I own dozens of monster books and Monsternomicon is the best I've ever read.

 

[Desdichado]

I haven't been able to bring myself to pick up the PFB. Flipping through it at the store, it simply didn't pull me in, and the price definately turns me off.

Monsternomicon on the other hand, is a beautiful, extremely useful book. Despite the fact that folks who obviously aren't very familiar with it will tell you that it's a "steampunk" monster book, less than half a dozen can really, in all fairness, have that label. The monsters all have play hooks just jutting from them at all angles; it's so easy to use a Monsternomicon creature in your campaign that it's not funny.

I will, however, concede that it has a few too many monstrous humanoids. Because I'm about to start a new campaign, I've been flipping through all my monster books, making lists of what I'd potentially use in this campaign. The Monsternomicon probably has the longest list, but the monstrous humanoids are not on it.

But dude, the Monsternomicon dragons! Those alone make the book worthwhile, IMO. I haven't been that excited about dragons... well, ever, Draconomicon included.

 

[Psion]

Monsternomicon on the other hand, is a beautiful, extremely useful book. Despite the fact that folks who obviously aren't very familiar with it will tell you that it's a "steampunk" monster book, less than half a dozen can really, in all fairness, have that label.

I'm plenty familiar with the book, and I'll tell you that.

It's not the WHOLE story. Sure, you subtract out the steampunk elements, you have a good chunk left. The other part that compromises its utility is that many of the creatures are simply IK versions of standard creatures.

In some cases, this might be cool. I sort of dig the troll variants. But really, how many ogre and goblin like creatures do I really need?

What the book has going for it is that the entries are packed with useful, adventure-pertinent information (unlike some fluff-heavy creature books which go on about minutia) and the lore and treasure entries are really a nifty innovation I wish more publishers would take a cue from.

 

[Desdichado]

Yes, but you haven't called it "the steampunk monster book" have you? I'd agree; there are too many monstrous humanoids that are different from regular monstrous humanoids, but not significantly so. I honestly don't know why I need tharks, farrows, dreggs, etc. when I can simply use goblinoids, for instance.

 

[Siridar]

I don't have or have seen the PFB, but I do own the monsternomicon and it's my favorite monster book. It's not the one I use most often, but I like the wow factor in it. The monsters are just cool. A few things I really like about the book are the adventure hooks for every creature in the book, information from knowledge/lore checks about the monsters and the size comparisons for every monster.

If you are looking for utility it may not be the best, but if you want coolness factor then it's a good buy.

Ahem...in my opinion anyway.