Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 9607310" data-attributes="member: 8461">I just picked up a copy of Gannet Games' <a href="https://legacy.drivethrurpg.com/product/194661/Advanced-Monster-Abilities?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank">Advanced Monster Abilities</a> (affiliate link) for PF1.I picked this up mostly on the strength of another Gannet Games purchase I made a while back, that being the similarly-named Advancement Powers. That book presented a group of new special powers that monsters could have, not as feats or the result of a template, but as something a GM could assign to monsters with advanced natural Hit Dice. The idea there is that giving a monster additional Hit Dice (with its attendant benefits of better attack bonuses, saving throws, etc.) was oftentimes not enough to make it live up to its increased Challenge Rating. Since most of those new abilities were building on or related to existing abilities, it's fairly easy for a GM to intuit what powers are good for which monsters.Advanced Monster Abilities covers the same subject—a selection of new abilities for monsters with advanced natural Hit Dice—but with a twist. Here, the book lists twenty popular monsters (e.g. basilisks, chimaeras, dryads, hell hounds, etc.), and presents a couple of abilities that they could have after gaining more natural Hit Dice.The book gives a slightly more systematized metric for this than its counterpart, I should note. The difference between the creature's normal Hit Dice and how many Hit Dice it's been advanced are presented as being "points," with each new power having a corresponding cost; several also have other prerequisites, such as the minimum Hit Dice that the advanced creature has to meet. Amusingly, there's a single creature (the gorgon) for whom there's a special power that weakens it, making it possible to use it at a lower CR.Overall, I really enjoyed what was here, and wish that Gannet Games had made more of these books for other monsters. The creativity on display is matched only by the insight in how well these new powers fit with their associated creatures. Anyone who's looking to put a new twist on some old classics would be well served by picking this up.</blockquote>

Verification