Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- individual adventure modules! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed to plug in to your game.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2009444" data-attributes="member: 172">Monsternomicon Volume IPrivateer Press is know primarily for their Witchfire series of adventures that occurs in their Iron Kingdoms steampunk-fantasy setting. Though some d20 fans acquired an interest in this setting through the adventures, to date all information about the setting has been limited to that presented in those adventures.Monsternomicon is the first actual supplement for the setting. While it is not a setting book, it does provide a number of creatures and other details about the setting.A First LookMonsternomicon is a 240-page hardbound book priced at $29.95.The cover of the book has dressings like an ironbound riveted door; the front cover of the book depicts a skeletal creature with an iron claw ripping through that door. The cover picture is well done and moody.The interior is black-and-white. Interior artists (many of whom you may recognize as veteran RPG or CCG illustrators) include Brian Snoddy, Matt Wilson, Brian Despain, Tony DiTerlizzi, Chippy Dugan, Scott Fischer, Gerald Lee, and Ron Spencer. The interior art is very moody and stylish, and is on the average very well done.A Deeper LookThe bulk of Monsternomicon is new creatures, almost 100 in all. There is arguably a glut of monster books on the d20 system market right now, so how does Privateer set their book apart?Well, first off is subject matter. The book is intended as a supplement for the Iron Kingdoms setting, a "steampunk" setting in which there are many steam-driven contraptions and devices beyond the norm for fantasy.Second is the approach of the presentation and style. Instead of stuffing as many creatures as possible into the book, the book lavishes a lot of detail on each creature. Each entry has at least two accompanying illustrations. In addition to the normal combat and statistics details of d20 system creatures, the descriptive section is written from the vantage point of a sage in the Iron Kingdoms setting. Many creatures feature an additional Legends & Lore section detailing what characters might know or learn about the creature with successful skill checks, a special Treasure section detailing what sorts of treasure the creature is known to carry or that can be extracted from its remains, and/or a Hooks section providing adventure ideas for the creature.Some of the more intriguing creatures are:- Animatons: Kicking off with construct type creatures, the Animaton includes three types of mechanical monstrosities, the snakelike gear wyrm, the chain-armed rip cutter and the cunning beastlike chain runner. Animatons are especially potent against spell-users due to their anti-magical abilities.- Cephalyx: These are humanoid creatures with grafted mechanical limbs (which end in surgical tools) that dwell underground and are known for their ability to create thralls called cephalyx drudges (template included) by means of chirugery.- Galvanite Sentinel: An electicity creature that is can inhabit and animate suits of armor.- Gatorman: A alligator-like monstrous humanoid.- Gristle & Flay: A bizarre paired creature, gristle appears as a skinless creature, and the flay is its independently acting tattooed skin.- Husk: A colony of vermin that inhabit and animates a human corpse.- Infernals: A new race of fiends that are part of the Iron Kingdoms setting. Infernals appear very human, and by the rules enclosed here, can be summoned without spellcasting ability (though at a terrible price.)- Iron Lich: A template that is essentially an undead spellcaster that lives on by implainting its skull into an iron body.- Mechanithrall: I am guessing this is the creature depicted on the front cover. Mechanitralls are hybrids of undead creatures and constructs.- Totem Hunter: A large monstrous humanoid with a penchant for hunting creatures, including humans. Very reminiscent of the creature from the Predator movies.Many creatures in the main section of the book are templates, but most templates have a ready-to-run creature with the template already applied.While not all of the creatures are related to the steampunk feel of the setting, it is fair to say that the more unique and interesting ones are. Many of the non-mechanical creatures are merely variants of creatures that already exist in the d20 system, like trolls, ogres, and goblins. There are a lot of variant undead and other bizarre creatures, and the overall mood of the creatures is pretty grim.In addition to the monsters, there is an appendix with some additional rules that you can use in your game.The section on Legends & Lore discusses how to use the legends & lore entries in the book. It introduces a new skill (creature lore) and new feats that assist in the gleaning of knowledge about creatures. It follows this up with a section on Tomes of Lore, items that can be useful in identifying creatures.There is a section called Quickplates. Quickplates are essentially templates designed to be used with a minimum of fuss and tabulation. You can create bloodthirsty, crafty, or holy creatures with these templates, among others.A section introduces Victor Pendrake, the sage supposedly speaking throughout the book. The section presents Victor's background, his allies, and statistics, should you wish to use him in your game. Obviously, this section is most appropriate to an Iron Kingdoms game.The book provides three new prestige classes that have a special interest in monsters: the adventuring scholar, the bonegrinder (crafts items of power from the bones of creatures), and the monster hunter (yet another class optimized against particular creatures.) Much like the monsters in the book, the prestige classes contain additional details such as campaign details and gear.The book wraps up with a few iron kingdoms specific notes, such as the cosmology of the setting and more details on the role the infernals play, as well as some notes on PC races in the Iron Kingdoms setting, including many raced drawn from entries earlier in the book.ConclusionThe Monsternomicon is a stylish entry to the "monster book" rat race. Fans of Privateer's Iron Kingdoms setting will, of course, want this book. The book is perfectly usable in other settings. The most compelling entries in the book are the ones with a "mechanical aspect" to them. As such, you will probably find it most attractive if you are running a game that is accommodating to these aspects, such as a game inspired by the Final Fantasy console game, a game in which constructs are a common theme (perhaps as gnomish creations), or a game with science fantasy elements such as Dragonstar.Mechanically, the book was fairly solid, and I only caught a few errors (such as a creature with the wrong constitution modifier to its hit dice.)-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

Verification