John Cooper
Explorer
The Slayer's Guide to Harpies
Mongoose Publishing product number MGP0017
James Maliszewski
32 pages, $9.95
The Slayer's Guide to Hapies is the 17th in the ever-popular series of monster-focused books by Mongoose Publishing. I'll cut to the chase: I think Harpies is the standard by which future 32-page Slayer's Guides should be set.
The cover, by Mongoose favorite Anne Stokes, depicts three wonderfully repulsive harpies in flight. I admit to being initially displeased with the "new look" of the harpy when 3.0 came out (I preferred the "vulture/woman" look to the "demon/woman" look), but this book - and this cover - are helping me to enjoy the change. The patterns of the leg scales on these three harpies reminds me of the Monster Manual's reptilian medusa depiction, which makes for some interesting speculations about the possible relationship between the two races. But I digress.
The inner front cover is another Chris Quilliams anatomical masterpiece, this time rendered in the standard black and white but intensified with shades of red. Quilliams' harpy is repulsive as well, and up to his normal standards of excellence.
The interior artwork is black and white and done exclusively by Andrew Dobell, consisting of 10 illustrations and the sample lair map. Like Quilliams' anatomical study, bare breasts (with exposed nipples) are apparent in many of these pictures, but there is not an ounce of sexuality in these repulsive creatures! (I doubt even the Wizards of the Coast folks enforcing the new changes to the D20 System Trademark License would have a problem with these nipples.) Dobell does a great job in making his harpies - even those of different subspecies - look like they're all related.
The Slayer's Guide to Harpies is broken into the following chapters:
James Maliszewski does a fantastic job explaining the oddities of harpy lore, like why there only seems to be female harpies. His explanation: harpies are hermaphroditic, but with female physical features. This makes perfect sense in a fantasy world, and he even goes further to tie the harpy's bloodlust into its reproductive cycle (harpy eggs must be coated with humanoid blood to develop properly). He refuses to stick to one harpy origin story, instead providing no less than four possibilities. I like the fact that he doesn't limit their origins, as it makes it easier for each DM to decide the matter for his own campaign.
I was impressed to see that harpies were given an actual named deity to revere. Because of Mongoose's inability to use WotC's product identity (monster deity names), past "Slayer's Guides" have had to have their monsters revere such "generic" deities as "the Horned One," "the Lizard Toad," and "Stalker" and "Render." Maliszewski takes what I believe to be a better approach by creating a new deity: Shala, the goddess of storms and mistress of thunder. Furthermore, by tying harpies to Shala he adds a whole new dimension to these hideous creatures. This is what the "Slayer's Guide" line is all about, and in my mind no one has done it as well as Maliszewski has done here.
I was amused to see, in the Subspecies section, that the standard harpy is referred to as the Aiello, or "howler" - but only because I went to school with a kid whose last name was Aiello, and he was a quiet, bookwormish sort. The other subspecies, the Celaeno ("screamer"), Nicothoe ("eagle harpy"), Ocypete ("swift harpy"), and Podarge ("owl harpy"), are all different enough to warrant a separate Monster Manual-like entry. (I assume these names all have Greek roots, which would make sense since the original harpy comes from Greek mythology.) I appreciate the fact that by making harpy subspecies ranging from Small size to Large, Maliszewski has effectively made the harpy a viable opponent for a greater range of PC levels. He then expands the range even further by introducing the greater harpy template, upon which he bases his historical "Queen of the Harpies" in the "Harpy Society" text.
Sometimes a prestige class seems forced, or a page filler, when included in a "Slayer's Guide," and indeed I wouldn't want to imply that every "Slayer's Guide" should include a prestige class, but the Stormwardens provided here not only make sense, but aren't even intended for harpies! Rather, they are usually humanoid followers of Shala, the same goddess the harpies worship. This clever spin advances the game world that much faster, by providing the harpies with an allied organization with which to face the PCs in combat.
Maliszewski has a clear writing style that emphasizes the logical, a distinct advantage when writing what is basically a "scientific" treatise on a non-existent creature. He doesn't "dumb down" his writing style, either - I had to fetch the dictionary to look up the word "solipsistic," so he even expanded my vocabulary! There were several instances of proofreading glitches - incorrect apostrophe usage, most often - that could have easily been caught by a more diligent proofreader, but none of them interfere too bad with the ability to understand what's meant. (Although I had to read the line "Most harpies lay these eggs one per year" several time before I realized it was supposed to have read "Most harpies lay these eggs once per year.") I really enjoy the majority of Mongoose's books, but I think this remains one of their more irritating (and recurring) deficiencies. Oh, and the stat blocks of the harpy sorcerers have their known spells listed as if they were prepared (several have "x2" or "x3," as if more than one of these spells had been prepared), when of course part of the distinctiveness of sorcerers is that they can fire off their spells at will without prior preparation.
There was one initially puzzling aspect of the NPC harpy stats: unlike the Monster Manual entry, which gives the harpy ranks in Perform (oratory), the harpies in this book have ranks in Perform (buffoonery, chant, epic, limericks, melody, ode, and storytelling). Somehow the image of a harpy reciting limericks or engaging in buffoonery doesn't do justice to the picture of the harpy as a cruel, self-serving sadist that James Maliszewski has painted so well. Then I realized that The Slayer's Guide to Harpies was published before the 3.5 rules came out, and sure enough, under 3.0 harpies had all of those types of Perform listed in their Monster Manual stat block. Weird. Still, it goes to show you that i hadn't even noticed until then that The Slayer's Guide to Harpies wasn't a 3.5 product. I don't think DMs will have any trouble at all using this book in their 3.5 campaigns.
I congratulate James Maliszewski on an excellent addition to the "Slayer's Guide" line, and I hope he does additional volumes in the future.
Mongoose Publishing product number MGP0017
James Maliszewski
32 pages, $9.95
The Slayer's Guide to Hapies is the 17th in the ever-popular series of monster-focused books by Mongoose Publishing. I'll cut to the chase: I think Harpies is the standard by which future 32-page Slayer's Guides should be set.
The cover, by Mongoose favorite Anne Stokes, depicts three wonderfully repulsive harpies in flight. I admit to being initially displeased with the "new look" of the harpy when 3.0 came out (I preferred the "vulture/woman" look to the "demon/woman" look), but this book - and this cover - are helping me to enjoy the change. The patterns of the leg scales on these three harpies reminds me of the Monster Manual's reptilian medusa depiction, which makes for some interesting speculations about the possible relationship between the two races. But I digress.
The inner front cover is another Chris Quilliams anatomical masterpiece, this time rendered in the standard black and white but intensified with shades of red. Quilliams' harpy is repulsive as well, and up to his normal standards of excellence.
The interior artwork is black and white and done exclusively by Andrew Dobell, consisting of 10 illustrations and the sample lair map. Like Quilliams' anatomical study, bare breasts (with exposed nipples) are apparent in many of these pictures, but there is not an ounce of sexuality in these repulsive creatures! (I doubt even the Wizards of the Coast folks enforcing the new changes to the D20 System Trademark License would have a problem with these nipples.) Dobell does a great job in making his harpies - even those of different subspecies - look like they're all related.
The Slayer's Guide to Harpies is broken into the following chapters:
- Introduction: describing the purpose of the "Slayer's Guide" line and following with a page of fiction
- Harpy Physiology: covering the harpy's senses, possible origins, diet, lifecycle, and captivating song
- 5 distinct Harpy Subspecies, from Small to Large
- Habitat: detailing the harpy's preferred climate and lairs
- Harpy Society: details on clutch-mates, leadership and rebellion, religion and spiritual matters, harpy clerics, stormwardens (a prestige class), stormsingers (harpy bards), greater harpies (including a template), relationships with other races, and the uses of harpy eggs
- Methods of Warfare: harpy weapons and tactics, including their love of chaos and destruction
- Roleplaying Harpies: harpy psychology and their role as "surly sidekicks"
- 6 Scenario Hooks and Ideas
- The Caves of Thunder: a short scenario using the ideas in this book
- Harpy Reference List: ready-to-use harpy NPCs
James Maliszewski does a fantastic job explaining the oddities of harpy lore, like why there only seems to be female harpies. His explanation: harpies are hermaphroditic, but with female physical features. This makes perfect sense in a fantasy world, and he even goes further to tie the harpy's bloodlust into its reproductive cycle (harpy eggs must be coated with humanoid blood to develop properly). He refuses to stick to one harpy origin story, instead providing no less than four possibilities. I like the fact that he doesn't limit their origins, as it makes it easier for each DM to decide the matter for his own campaign.
I was impressed to see that harpies were given an actual named deity to revere. Because of Mongoose's inability to use WotC's product identity (monster deity names), past "Slayer's Guides" have had to have their monsters revere such "generic" deities as "the Horned One," "the Lizard Toad," and "Stalker" and "Render." Maliszewski takes what I believe to be a better approach by creating a new deity: Shala, the goddess of storms and mistress of thunder. Furthermore, by tying harpies to Shala he adds a whole new dimension to these hideous creatures. This is what the "Slayer's Guide" line is all about, and in my mind no one has done it as well as Maliszewski has done here.
I was amused to see, in the Subspecies section, that the standard harpy is referred to as the Aiello, or "howler" - but only because I went to school with a kid whose last name was Aiello, and he was a quiet, bookwormish sort. The other subspecies, the Celaeno ("screamer"), Nicothoe ("eagle harpy"), Ocypete ("swift harpy"), and Podarge ("owl harpy"), are all different enough to warrant a separate Monster Manual-like entry. (I assume these names all have Greek roots, which would make sense since the original harpy comes from Greek mythology.) I appreciate the fact that by making harpy subspecies ranging from Small size to Large, Maliszewski has effectively made the harpy a viable opponent for a greater range of PC levels. He then expands the range even further by introducing the greater harpy template, upon which he bases his historical "Queen of the Harpies" in the "Harpy Society" text.
Sometimes a prestige class seems forced, or a page filler, when included in a "Slayer's Guide," and indeed I wouldn't want to imply that every "Slayer's Guide" should include a prestige class, but the Stormwardens provided here not only make sense, but aren't even intended for harpies! Rather, they are usually humanoid followers of Shala, the same goddess the harpies worship. This clever spin advances the game world that much faster, by providing the harpies with an allied organization with which to face the PCs in combat.
Maliszewski has a clear writing style that emphasizes the logical, a distinct advantage when writing what is basically a "scientific" treatise on a non-existent creature. He doesn't "dumb down" his writing style, either - I had to fetch the dictionary to look up the word "solipsistic," so he even expanded my vocabulary! There were several instances of proofreading glitches - incorrect apostrophe usage, most often - that could have easily been caught by a more diligent proofreader, but none of them interfere too bad with the ability to understand what's meant. (Although I had to read the line "Most harpies lay these eggs one per year" several time before I realized it was supposed to have read "Most harpies lay these eggs once per year.") I really enjoy the majority of Mongoose's books, but I think this remains one of their more irritating (and recurring) deficiencies. Oh, and the stat blocks of the harpy sorcerers have their known spells listed as if they were prepared (several have "x2" or "x3," as if more than one of these spells had been prepared), when of course part of the distinctiveness of sorcerers is that they can fire off their spells at will without prior preparation.
There was one initially puzzling aspect of the NPC harpy stats: unlike the Monster Manual entry, which gives the harpy ranks in Perform (oratory), the harpies in this book have ranks in Perform (buffoonery, chant, epic, limericks, melody, ode, and storytelling). Somehow the image of a harpy reciting limericks or engaging in buffoonery doesn't do justice to the picture of the harpy as a cruel, self-serving sadist that James Maliszewski has painted so well. Then I realized that The Slayer's Guide to Harpies was published before the 3.5 rules came out, and sure enough, under 3.0 harpies had all of those types of Perform listed in their Monster Manual stat block. Weird. Still, it goes to show you that i hadn't even noticed until then that The Slayer's Guide to Harpies wasn't a 3.5 product. I don't think DMs will have any trouble at all using this book in their 3.5 campaigns.
I congratulate James Maliszewski on an excellent addition to the "Slayer's Guide" line, and I hope he does additional volumes in the future.
