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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Some Dude" data-source="post: 7857738" data-attributes="member: 6980080">CHAPTER 12: BESTIARYOkay, second to last chapter. And one of the most important. In many ways, your Characters' glory is no greater than their foes' infamy. No bard sings ballads recounting the deeds of Cedrik the Gopher Slayer. No, a true hero needs a mighty foe, or, better yet, around 150 foes. That's what you get here, at a rough count.There is a reminder here that the Bestiary is for the GM's eyes only. I really appreciate that. I get that players want to immerse themselves in the game world, but that's also a great way to remove the mystery from the game, and reduce everything to a dull mathematical calculation.Creatures in Zweihander fall into one of six classifications: Abyssal, Animal, Beast, Humanoid, Mutant and Supernatural. These come into play as certain types of Traits, Spells or Weapons may affect certain types but not others: or some types differently. Again, here, we can see the beating mathematical heart of Zweihander peeking through its ribcage. Almost everything in this game exists to bring some kind of balance into play. This is evident even in the Social Intrigue rules I mentined in my post about Chapter 11.Every Creature is presented according to the following format:-Name & Description-Creature Profile, itself broken down into the following parts:  -Creature Size: dictates how many Fury Dice the Creature uses ti determine  Combat Damage  -Primary Attributes: same as PCs  -Secondary Attributes: Initiative, Movement, Damage and Peril Thresholds, Parry and Dodge  -Risk factor: discussed in the previous chapter, this is expressed as a Tier, and further categorized into Low, Moderate and High. So, "Intermediate (High) would pose great risk to an     Intermediate Character, but should still be within the Character's capabilities, if only just.  -Skill Ranks: a list of skills posessed by the Creature  -Attack Profile: the extended values for the Creature in question. Broken down into Melee & Ranged Waeapons, Distance & Load, and Damage & Qualities-Traits: many of these Creatures have several, and that can make for some insidious and deadly enemies...-TrappingsHere, a sidebar again reminds us of the dramatic value of keeping the players ignorant, and the Creatures mysterious and fearsome.The Bestiary proper begins here, those lists of creatures wild and dangerous we have all seen before in many games. This one is particularly nice. It is, of course, comprehensive. And every creature has an accompanying illustration. This is one of the most profusely illustrated games I've ever seen, and I can't help but wonder if pictures were used to imply a setting in order to sidestep the risk of wandering into someone else's IP. If that is the case, it works. The numerous and consistent drawings throughout really create a visual reference that quickly becomes a part of the theater of Zweihander. But, I digress.First up, we have the Abyssal reatures, those formed by Chaos and dark Magick. In this section, there are descriptions of various Fomori (Ogres distorted by Chaos into even more brutal and miserable beasts), various kinds of Demons and diablolical Creatures. These entries are thorough. Different types of creatures are detailed according to their origins, history and tendencies. Where appropriate, their societal structures are described. Then, the different types and sometimes subtypes of Creatures are listed and statted. There is a wealth of information here. These are not merely rows of numbers. These are well detailed descriptions, each with distinct characteristics and abilities that really make these more than merely "monster of the week" entries. The illustrations in the Abyssal section are detailed, grotesque and disturbingly asymmetrical.The Animals section is next. This includes creatures great and small, but also "Primevals", which include Attercap Spiders (giant arachnids, natch), Dire Rat, "Howlbears" (hmmm, that sounds familiar but I can't quite place it...), Wargs and the like.Next are those Creatures classified as Beasts. These include a lot of your classic fantasy monsters, suvh as Basilisk, Gryphon and Cnimaera. In this section, you'll see new Creatures, old favorites, and new takes on old favorites.Following the Beasts are the Humanoids. These include one of the "evil" Ancestries listed as possible Player choices in the previous chapter, the Aztlan, who get the same treatment as Demons here, having every pertinent facet of their lives and societies detailed. In fact, they are given more detail than the Demihuman PC Ancestries! I hope there are future supplements detailing the "fantasy races" of Zweihander. I know the game is meant to be a more grim & gritty, humanocentric one, but sometimes I want to play a morally ambiguous Dwarf, too. Also in this section are Bandits, Ogre Mercenaries and a general motley crew of bipedal threats.Next, we have Mutants. This section includes the Skrzzak, rat-men of the sewers, and doers of evil deeds. This section also details deadly and/or sentient plant life, Kobolds and Grendel (Zweihander's non-IP infringing version of WFRP's Beastmen).I'm kind of confused as to why the Skrzzak are "Mutants" and the Aztlan are "Humanoids". It's possible that either I missed something while reading, or that there is some WFRP-descended lore I'm missing out on here. More likely is that it's a matter of balance, so that there are a certain number of creatures under each Classification. I've noticed a few things like that in the game, and while they might bother your more literal-minded players (as it has one of mine, albeit slightly), but it's an agreeable trade off in my mind. All that aside, it's easy to see why the ratmen have become such an iconic foe in that other game, they are cool as hell. I'm already looking for excuses to use them in my own games.Lastly, we have the Supernatural Creatures. These range from Fey, to Spirits (several types), to Vampires (also several types). There is a really great mix of the new, the iconic and the familar not only here, but throughout this chapter. There are some very neat and unexpected entries, like the Rakshasa. If this were published on its own, as a slim supplement, it would still rock hard.The Chapter continues with CUSTOM CREATURES, which tells you how to scale the creatures in the book. In this way, you can weaken them into Underlings, beef them up into Bosses, or give them Magickal abilities.There are helpful examples, along with some neat spell list suitable for use by adherents of the alternative faiths in the previous Chapter.Closing Chapter 12 is LOOT & LUCRE, a look at what one might hope to gain from robbery and theft of various sorts. This section contains over a dozen tables for treasures of various types so that you can quantify your Characters' ill-gotten gains.Chapter 12 was easily one of the best in an already impressive book. It really takes this from being a "Core Rulebook" to being a gaming toolkit, and basically just nudged Zweihander over the line from "Awesome" to "Indispensable".Next entry should be my last bit of reading, but I will stick around to answer questions or discuss the thread. We will be taking a look at the starting adventure and Appendices.coming up: CHAPTER 13: A BITTER HARVEST</blockquote>

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