Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 1 Author: Visit Amazon's Jason Bulmahn Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1601251831 | Format: EPUB
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 1 Description
- Series: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC.; 10.11.2009 edition (November 10, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1601251831
- ISBN-13: 978-1601251831
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Following the release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook Paizo comes up with the Bestiary. Since the Pathfinder is a refreshed, upgraded D&D 3.5, there was no question that the Monster Manual needs an update as well.
===PRESENTATION===
A solid sewn hardcover book with over 320 pages in full color. As usual, the artwork and layout is above and beyond. Paizo books have their unique art style, and it shows. There are several navigational aids, including indexes and CR tables. The book is a pleasure to look at and use.
===CONTENT===
The Pathfinder Bestiary offers circa 350 monsters for use in Pathfinder games. A quick glance at the index shows that the vast majority of monsters from 3.5 Monster Manual are here. Several are missing, be them either intellectual property of WotC (beholders, mind flayers, giths, displacer beasts, carrion crawlers, kuo-toa) or left out as particularly unpopular (tojanida, delver).
However, there are also monsters not found in the original MM - among others such fantasy classics as Cyclopi, Giant Slugs and Sea Serpents. A few classic D&D monsters, made open content via Tome of Horrors are here as well - Vegepygmies, Dark Creepers and Shadow Demons, to name a few.
Curiously, the fantasy classic Hippogrifs are missing, likely an oversight.
The monsters are presented in 1 page = 1 monster format, making the book far easier to use than the 3.5 MM.
My gaming crew tested out the Pathfinder Beta rules when they first came out, and we were all impressed with how user-friendly it all was. Skip ahead about a year and, with the advent of the Pathfinder Bestiary, Paizo has continued their tradition of support for D&D 3.5 enthusiasts while, again, making things just that much easier for the DM to handle.
The Bestiary is a beautiful hardcover volume of 320+ pages (with Wayne Reynolds art on the cover, by the by) and contains 350+ monsters, from Aboleth to Zombie and then some. Here are my thoughts:
The Good: First and foremost, bang for your buck. The production quality of this book is exceptional, from the sturdy binding to the pages, which are decorated with arcane, gothic whirls and swirls throughout. The paper is of good quality, and everything is in full color - everything. Additionally, every monster is fully illustrated, and 90% of the art is of excellent quality. Paizo obviously spared no expense in printing this book and getting it to fans.
Now, for the contents. There are some innovations that old-school players may have to get used to. The Bestiary uses a 3-symbol system (explained at the beginning) to define the monsters: for example, each monster, after its name, has three symbols - one denotes its kind (aberration, undead, etc.), another its native terrain (urban, aquatic, dungeon, etc.), and another its native climate (cold, extraplanar, etc.). Additionally, each creature, in addition to Challenge Rating, has listed its XP awards - no more flipping pages in a DMG to figure out how much XP to give to your players. Additionally, each creature is fully statted on one page, with no space wasted.
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