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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lorathorn" data-source="post: 6960725" data-attributes="member: 6800736">5 out of 5 rating for Tome of BeastsDisclosure: I don't know if this needs to be said, but I did kickstart this project, so there you have it.So this review has been a long time coming. I have had this book for a long time, I have looked at a good number of the monsters in detail (though not all, it may take another few months to a year to do so). I think I have a pretty good handle on this book and its contents in a way that I can deliver a relatively in depth review, and hopefully I can tell you something you didn't already know.What you likely do know is that this book is amazingly well done. It has many great monsters that are very well thought out and excellently written. It has a lot of baked in adventure ideas that can be based off of nearly any of the monsters within. It has art that is the envy of the 1st party publishers. It has enough monsters to keep your players entertained and challenged for many a campaign.Lets start with some of my favorite monsters.First, I thoroughly enjoyed the Chained Angel. It is one of very few examples of a creature that can be redeemed, and gives a very good reason for wanting to redeem it. Most creatures are made for bashing to death, or at the very least to present formidable opposition with no choices outside of victory and defeat. The art for the chained angel is excellent. Interestingly, the chained angel had a good number of errors in its mechanical text that have since been fixed in errata, so be wary if you have a print copy. That having been said, the errors do not make this creature unplayable.Second, I have to call out Camazotz as being one of my favorite creatures. I won't go into its mechanics for being a CR 22 creature, but the art is fantastic, and the fact that it is derived from a Meso-American myth is something that pleases me to no end. Overall, well done, and a good candidate for a demon lord.Third, the Drakon makes me happy because it is a beast. Beasts need more love, and one of the central issues with the "animal" type in Pathfinder is that they are too boring. 5e, and Tome of Beasts in particular, seem to dispel this notion and make beasts as interesting as any other creature type. The art work is of course evocative and great, and its stat block is brief but useful.Finally, in a sweeping category I love the NPC section, as it expands the very useful but relatively limited NPC section in the 5th edition monster manual. Not only do we get pictures (unlike in the aforementioned monster manual) for every NPC, and the statistics can easily be used for a plethora of occasions. This is a good addition to the Tome of Beasts, but actually makes me wish that Kobold press would put out a book of NPCs on its own!An honorable mention goes to the various Cthulhu creatures. There is one other book that has Lovecraft monster and I hope to do a comparison on my blog, but so far I am loving the Kobold Press take on them.Now on to the things I didn't like. Now I know a lot of people have mentioned this, but I have to echo that the "dangerous water maidens" are pretty prevalent. In all fairness, it is an artefact of Pathfinder; Pathfinder probably has more of the dangerous water maidens throughout its various bestiaries. However, I would have wanted maybe... one entry for a dangerous water maiden, and an ample side bar or page dedicated to the various cultural variations that comprise the numerous myths surrounding women and water (and boo for not having "la llorona", if you are going to go full on water maiden, be all inclusive!). Really, I get that water maidens are an interesting cultural touchstone like vampires and dragons and ghosts and so on, but I think that it could have been approached more elegantly, with an eye towards the curious cultural differences and what they say about the collective myth.I also am somewhat disappointed that some of the potential playable monsters (things like the Ramag or the Rat Folk) weren't given sidebars for play as PCs, but this is hopefully just to preempt more products like Midgard Heroes and Southland Heroes, both of which I enjoyed and recommend.If I had one other quibble, it is that there are no comprehensive lists as with the Pathfinder Bestiary, with breakdowns of creatures by type, terrain, and so on, but that's really just me being lazy, and I don't fault them for not doing that. I'm sure that the layout on this monster (book) was enough as it was. Moreover, I'm sure that some industrious individual will create such a list soon, if not already.Now, my dislikes of this book were actually few and shallow. I have to end this review by saying that I love this book, it was very well done, and it is an essential book for anyone serious about running 5th edition games. It should be essential if you love bestiaries as I do, and fancy just paging through monsters for any reason. This book is essential as a designer, because every stat block tells a story through its intricate use of the rules.This book is just essential.Trust me, you won't regret the $20 that you will spend on this book as a pdf, and if you should have the extra money, pay to get it in print. I can't tell you how impressive the book really is as a physical text. You will marvel at the size of it, then at the beauty of its full color and glossy pages. It's as big as those obnoxious textbooks you had to carry around in college or perhaps high school, with the important distinction that you will want to see every page and thumb through it.Yes, get this book. Get it now. What are you waiting for!?5 stars and my royal approval.</blockquote>

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