Anyway, again, as usual, I'm here to talk about the only Pathfinder books I have, which are the bestiary books from the 1st Edition. A bit of a challenge here is that unliek D&D 5E, Pathfinder doesn't actually keep a repository of their artwork on a convenient webpage, and neither does the fan-wikis have artwork for all of the monsters. So I had to get a bit more creative and do some editing from screenshots and scans of the bestiary online. Again, support all your favourite RPG publishers -- buy the actual real books!
The thing is, the first Bestiary for Pathfinder is actually pretty obviously just an 'import' of a lot of the D&D mainstays. Basically everyone that's not strictly copyrighted under D&D gets a bit of a show here, and depending on how much they change from how they were portrayed in 3.5E and 4E D&D, I'm going to not talk about some of them. So yes, this is going to make one of the few 'reviewing monsters' where I don't exhaustively talk about every single entry. (I'll still quickly recognize the creatures featured in this book near the end, though)
This isn't going to be particularly long, I'm just going to recognize and quickly breeze through this book before we move on to the far more original content in the next couple of books!
Basidirond
We'll start off with one of the creatures in the book I've never talked about before first, and it's the Basidirond! It's from D&D, showing up as a Zuggtmoy tie-in in 3E and included in the 1st edition's Monster Manual II. Again, this book features a lot of D&D monsters. The Basidirond is a wacky fungus creature with multiple vine-feet and it spreads out noxious spores. Its artwork in Pathfinder makes it look more like a walking pitcher plant, though, albeit with a lot more spikes and vines and legs. Its primary ability, as detailed by the book, is a hallucination cloud, which is kinda fun. Real-life carnivorous plants confuse insects with colours and smells, since those are the ways that insects view the world the most, but the Basidirond uses hallucinations since it traps larger prey. I do like this one a lot, though I do approve of any giant plant monster!
Giant Flytrap
I'm just a big fan of giant ambulatory plants, it seems, but D&D has a surprising lack of giant venus flytrap monsters. It's like if the plants aren't humanoid like treants or shambling mounds, do they think that people won't be afraid of it? Pathfinder's Giant Flytrap looks pretty damn boss, though. Not content on just doing the boring Audrey II or Piranha Plant route, we get that glorious lower body, which looks like a mass of discs with smaller venus flytrap leaves, and then a bunch of shambling feet that terminate in icky, squelchy-looking root legs. The bestiary even notes that these Giant Flytraps live in areas with poor soil, which is how real-life venus flytraps evolve in the first place! I do like that apparently the Giant Flytrap's smaller traps still catch small insects, but the large leaves chow down on humans and animals as the primary feeding apparatus or something. I do like the description that the Giant Flytrap basically evolved to be smarter because its prey is smarter.
Genies: Shaitan
I'm still not entirely sure about just poaching names from other cultures, but I've always found it odd that all the Genies in D&D borrow names from Arabic legends (Djinn, Marid, Ifrit) except for the Earth-elemental one, which is "Dao". So Pathfinder changes the Earth-elemental genie into a Shaitan, which isn't a jinn per se, but evil spirits in Middle-Eastern legends (similar to 'demon' or 'devil'). Some of the monsters in this bestiary really don't have a whole lot of lore, though, and the Shaitans are just noted to be gem-loving elemental spirits of earth. That's some impractical 90's fantasy fanservice armour, but I guess when you're an elemental spirit made out of stone, you can dress however you want.
Goblin Dog
We'll talk about actual goblins down below, but Goblin Dogs are apparently weird, mangy dogs with the creepy beady eyes and flat nose of a rat. I'm sure if we look hard enough there's probably a dog breed that's as nasty-looking as this? The bestiary notes that these are actually hyper-developed rodent, which... okay, sure. It's basically honestly just to give goblins guard dogs that look as nasty and are as ill-tempered as they are. The goblins actually love these guys to death, and use them as noble mounts, and I'm happy that the goblins and the goblin-dogs have found each other.
Linnorm
Linnorms are one of those 'dragon sub-types' that the early editions of D&D fill up their bestiaries with, but a lot of more modern D&D basically just force dragons into the same old boring European-Dragon "dinosaurs with bat wings" template. That's boring, it's not like those are the only dragons in myth! I'm incensed that modern D&D have basically exorcised the fact that the original Gold Dragon in D&D was originally drawn as a Chinese Dragon.
Based on the Lindworm, the first Pathfinder bestiary gives us three variants of these flightless, serpentine dragons with only two legs. The Crag and Ice Linnorm are pretty basic looking, but their silhouette look pretty awesome and unique! Love those colours on the Ice Linnorm, the branching tail of the Crag Linnorm, and I love their heads. The winner has to be the Tarn Linnorm with its two diseased-looking heads for sure, though. The lore here notes the Linnorm as a primeval dragon that lives in wild regions untouched by civilization, and are so primal that their bodies have became part of the landscape. Crag Linnorms are apparently so favoured by gods that if they get killed, they will bestow a massive curse upon those that slay them.
Sea Serpent
I'm surprised regular D&D never considers a sea serpent or a leviathan as part of their basic batch of "Monster Manual I" mainstays. I mean with all the love for classical Greco-Roman and European mythology, you'd think that a sea serpent ranks right up there with things like the gryphon or kraken, but nope! I love Pathfinder's Sea Serpent and its surprisingly large head in proportion to its neck. I love everything about that head, too, from the wide fin-ears to the mass of crustacean-like chitin in the middle of its eyes to its expression. The book emphasizes that despite a lot of sailors dramatizing the sea serpents and noting its connection to prophecy, it's actually just a big hungry animal. But look at that face, it looks like it's kind of intelligent, doesn't it? It's going to sink your ship and it knows what it's doing. Anyway, huge fan of nautical themes in any fantasy, and this is a huge welcome to the bestiary.
Shoggoth
Our last 'original' monster (at least compared to 3.5E D&D) is the Shoggoth, from Lovecraftian fare! I'm not sure why Pathfinder is allowed to use Lovecraft's monsters -- I know Cthulhu himself shows up in Bestiary IV or V, and there's a couple of Lovecraft tie-in modules, but I'm not sure. Are the Lovecraftian monsters free-use? Anyway, Shoggoth! Not to be confused with the Gibbering Mouther (which also show up here). A mass of black flesh, tendrils, mouths and beady eyes, that picture basically describes what I think of when I think of Shoggoth. The green bit of miasma that the mouths vomit out add a lot to how nasty this giant demon-amoeba looks, too! Pathfinder describes Shoggoth as a 'huge ooze (aquatic)', and I absolutely love the fact that the Shoggoths in the Pathfinder setting is the big scary version of something as humble as a Black Pudding. Shoggoths are rare, living mostly in deep caverns and ocean trenches, but when they emerge they spread madness and destruction. In a nod to the stories that first introduced the Shoggoths, the backstory given in the bestiary notes that the Shoggoths were created aeons past... maybe by Aboleths (if you want a lore-friendly answer) or maybe by something even older. And that these Shoggoths actually broke free from their creators, just like At the Mountains of Madness!
Now the rest of the 300-page tome are mostly just repeated enemies from D&D, mostly taking from the basic, recurring enemies found in most editions. It's important for a new gaming system that's meant to be "New 3.5E" to have stats about all of our old friends, after all! I'm not going to go too in-depth, just point out a bunch of the interesting ones after the break:
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We'll go by more or less alphabetical order as I move from page to page. Most of the lore in these ones are relatively short since we're still working off the 3.5E system and most of the page volume is taken up by art and game stats. But I'll be pointing out a bunch that I find interesting!
Aboleth: I have to start off with my boys, the Aboleths. I absolutely love how alien Pathfinder's version of the Aboleths look, while keeping the basic premise of a giant Cthulhu-Elder-God fish with tentacles and three eyes the same... but it looks a lot more like a weird fish instead of a weird eel, and that face! Those three eyes arranged vertically! The lack of a mouth -- whether a huge maw like 4E/5E or a more catfish-like mouth in 3.5E -- really works a lot in making this guy feel a lot more alien than it otherwise would be.
Archons: Depending on when I release this, I may or may not have done 3.5E. But basically, the Archons are kinda-sorta like angels in a way, and I'm not entirely sure what makes them different other than, well, appearance and design. In addition to the Hound Archon (which isn't pictured), we have the far more humanoid-looking Trumpet Archon... and my favourite, the Lantern Archon. Anyone who's actually read the bible can tell you how freaky the description of angels are, and they're not always just people with bird wings! And I love that the lantern archon is just a little ball of light set within a intricate, almost butterfly-wing-shaped 'cage' made out of metal. A very cool 'angel' for sure!
Bebilith: Excluded from the 'Demons' segment in this book is the Bebilith! It's still a chaotic evil outsider, though, and as the book notes, the Bebilith is a 'spider the size of an elephant'. With two gigantic scythes for its front legs! I know their lore is pretty similar with 3.5E, but I also really love the concept of the Bebilith of a creature evolved in the Abyss specifically to hunt down and prey on demons (almost exclusively, even though they're evil!), like their natural predator. I love their eyes, which is a cluster of glowing red orbs in two very skull-like depressions. and I love its creepy-ass mouth.
Boggard, Troll: I just really like the artwork here, it really fits the idea of a crazy tribal frog-man race. The Boggards (renamed from 'Bullywug' in D&D) are given a bit more of a backstory here to make them feel more like an actual race of primitive humanoids with their own culture as opposed to just being creatures you kill and skin because they're always evil. Something that 4E and particularly 5E would really pick up on! I like the 'Boggard' name, too, it sounds so froggy.
A more distinct reinvention is the Troll, who went from 'more disgusting green ogres' into some sort of terrifying gangly boar-man. Like most of the enemies in Bestiary 1, it's still more or less a faithful readaptation of the D&D version, but I do like the fact that they give the Troll a much more distinct silhouette. They're also made into being very protective and tender to their own young, again, a small but concerted effort to make a lot of these monsters feel more like just a stat block and a mass of abilities.
Bugbear & Goblin: I've never been the biggest fan of D&D's Bugbears. They're always part of the goblinoid tribe, but they always look more like hairy ogres or weird partial lycanthropes as opposed to being a huge, hulking goblin/hobgoblin. Well, Pathfinder's Bugbear keeps the huge bulky monster design -- it looks like he works out in the same gym as Bane -- but that face! That almost skeletal face with vaguely rat-like ears! That looks a lot more 'goblin-esque' to me, even though the goblins in this setting don't look like that at all. I can't explain it, but I really do love this particular reinvention of the Bugbear!
That, by the way, is the iconic Pathfinder Goblin, as a screechy, psychotic, pyromaniac monster with a fang of mouth, cute beady eyes, and is the epitome of 'cute but psycho'. Goblins in Pathfinder really really hate horses and dogs, and I absolutely love just how up-the-hilt crazy hyperactive the goblins are. Again, I do feel like Pathfinder's Goblins are one of the primary things that change goblins from being just 'little evil green men' to something far, far more memorable in pop culture.
Darkmantle: A very cool reinvention of the Darkmantle that makes it not just a flying cloak or a flying alien octopus, but also sort of combines it with the Piercer. I do love the artwork here, from the sci-fi-lamprey mouth to the mass of irregular eyes on its main body, to how it's sticking to the ceiling of a cave with its tentacles. I think in Pathfinder canon, the Darkmantle is the adult stage of a life cycle that involves other weirdo-cave-buggers like Piercers and whatnot? I'm not sure.
Demons: This worked off of 3.5E, so of course there are a lot of demons here. Basically every major Demon that's been in a Monster Manual I in D&D shows up here. I'm just going to show off my three favourite reinventions -- the Glabrezu is my absolute favourite, keeping a lot of the specific anatomical details of the original Glabrezu... but swapping the dog-head for a more demonic and feral-looking visage, really making the claws look more like crab claws, making the secondary hands look wretchedly thin, and generally swapping the fleshy red into a more mottled green that gives the Glabrezu a very reptilian/aquatic kaiju feel. I love it!
A lot of the lesser demons like the Dretch do get a glow-up, but the Hezrou went from a brutish toad-man to... to this. It still looks warty and brutish, so it's still recognizably a Hezrou, but it feels different and unique, feeling like a proper reinvention instead of just a difference in art-style. I appreciate that! The Shadow Demon is just here because its artwork is really really fucking cool. I love the tendrils of shadow at the bottom of its skirt-robe, I love its screaming face, I love the roiling shading that gives the impression of the ribcage... cool art!
Devils: Look at the Bone Devil/Osyluth. Look at how badass it looks. Holy shit, from the bony wings to the bone scythe to the face to its tattered legs. Also, somehow they made the Lemure go from "the tattered remains of someone's soul" to "monstrous Clayface". It still looks very, very wretched, and in-game it's still pretty much weak, but I do like the reinvention giving it a somewhat more badass looking look.
Doppelganger, Shadow: This is devolving into 'look at how cool they reimagined this monster', and I'm completely fine. Pathfinder's natural state for the Doppelganger is so much 'bizarre old-school Gray alien' but stretched out, and I love the long arms, the blank-white eyes, the misshapen proportions and the long blue tongue. Yet I still believe that it's part of the same 'species' or type of monster as a D&D Doppelganger, y'know?
Speaking of a very cool reimagination, the 'Shadow' here reminds me a lot of the DC villain Shadow Thief, but you can't deny how much more simultaneously unsettling and comical a stick-figure with a funny head shape and gangly fingers are.
Ettercap, Stirge: Not much to say other than to illustrate another example of how much this guy is still recognizably a D&D Ettercap, but it's got such gangly limbs, a devious face with a flayed-skull mouth, and I think it's carrying a set of spider egg-sacs on its back? Nasty!
The Stirge is no longer a dart-mosquito, but it actually looks like a genuinely terrifying chimeric fusion of a bat and a mosquito. I love everything about this, from the blank eyes to the four set of bat wings to the huge swollen abdomen.
Gibbering Mouther: Probably one of my favourite artworks of the monster ever, the Gibbering Mouther here is the right medium between 'creepy' and 'cute'. And since we have the shoggoth to go full-out creepy and disturbing, the Mouther ends up looking more cuter even if it's still unsettlingly disgusting with its many gums and goopy flesh.
Mite: Look at how wretched the Mite looks! From the swollen eyes to the nasty-looking nose to even how he holds the dagger! We talked a bit about Mites before, but Pathfinder's Mites basically make them feel like they're the forgotten, pitiful cousins to the fey, and I can't help but feel sorry for them. Even goblins make fun of them, and the only ones that'll hang out with them are the vermin of the world! Poor mites.
Guardian Naga: The other Naga sub-types are still human-faced snakes, but the Guardian Naga is probably the coolest (and eeriest!) looking, with a cobra hood that looks more like an etching of the sun, some very awesome markings on the body, and the sheer unsettling factor of a simple human face on that unconventional cobra hood.
Nymph, Xill: I just want to point how the nymph has really faded into obscurity in modern D&D even though Dryads and Sprites are still pretty prominent. Anyway, the obvious fanservice is a bit too obvious, but at least it's on an appropriate monster.
The Xill went from being skinny bug-men into muscular bug-men with some over-the-top Magic: The Gathering style spiky armour and weapons. I love it.
Oni/Ogre Mage: I'm not sure if 3.5E was the first to try and merge the very popular 'Oni' and 'Ogre Mage'. I still am not sure why they still have to shove the 'Ogre Mage' designation other than '1E did it, so we kind of have to'. That's a relic from when every mention of 'Oni' in translated material gets turned into 'Ogre' by English translation teams. Anyway, the Oni is very cool, a mythical fanged man with horns and samurai armour. The 'ogre' bit is shoehorned in by saying that the Oni's true form is a spirit that has possessed an ogre's body. Okay, sure.
Phase Spiders: PHASE SPIDERS HAVE FACES WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK NO NO NO
Purple Worm, Remorhaz, Giant Slug: These three are just here because I find their artwork to be really, really cool. Particularly the Remorhaz, just look at that massive amount of spikes and fangs and claws! Love that very Parasyte-esque mouth of the Remorhaz. I also appreciate that the giant slug is actually terrifying as it destroys an entire farm building, and not reduced to a joke.
Skum: We actually do have the Sahuagin here (which is a lot less muscled and look shorter), but hey, look at Pathfinder Skum and its whole Monster-of-the-Black-Lagoon deal. They're still Aboleth-created creatures and are explicitly immortal, but I really like how they've grown so much in their undersea kingdoms, and they've lose a sense of direction and purpose ever since they were released from the Aboleth's control. They can't even reproduce, or even remember their original name -- the Aboleths don't want them to reproduce without their consent. That's kind of an interesting backstory for them, actually... which is sort of ruined by the none-too-subtle implication that the way they replenish their stock is to raid and impregnate humans to create deformed children. No real need to include that mental image, Pathfinder.
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Monsters I didn't cover, but are otherwise included in this book: Aasimar, Angel (Astral Deva, Planetar, Solar), Animated Object, Ankheg, Ant (Giant Ant, Army Ant Swarm), Ape (Gorilla, Dire Ape), Assassin Vine, Azata (Bralani, Ghaele, Lillend), Barghest, Basilisk, Bat (Dire Bat, Bat Swarm), Bear (Grizzly Bear, Dire Bear), Beetle (Fire Beetle, Giant Stag Beetle), Behir, Black Pudding, Boar (Boar, Dire Boar), Bulette, Cat (Cheetah, Leopard), Cave Fisher, Centaur, Centipede (Giant Centipede, Centipede Swarm), Chimera, Choker, Chuul, Cloaker, Cockatrice, Couatl, Crab (Giant Crab, Crab Swarm), Crocodile (Crocodile, Dire Crocodile), Cyclops, Dark Creeper, Dark Stalker (Dark Ones), Demons (Babau, Balor, Dretch, Glabrezu, Hezrou, Marilith, Nabasu, Nalfeshnee, Quasit, Shadow, Succubus, Vrock), Derro, Devil (Barbed, Bearded, Bone, Erinyes, Horned, Ice, Imp, Lemure, Pit Fiend), Devourer, Dinosaur (Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Deinonychus, Elasmosaurus, Pteranodon, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus), Dog (Dog, Riding Dog), Dolphin (Dolphin, Orca), Dragon (Black, Blue, Green, Red, White, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, Silver; each comes in 4 age variations), Dragon Turtle, Drider, Drow, Dryad, Duergar, Eagle (Eagle, Giant Eagle), Eel (Electric Eel, Giant Moray Eel), Elemental (Air, Earth, Fire, Water; each comes in 6 sizes), Elephant (Elephant, Mastodon), Ettercap, Ettin, Familiars (Bat, Cat, Hawk, Lizard, Monkey, Owl, Rat, Raven, Toad, Viper, Weasel), Frog (Giant Frog, Poison Frog), Froghemoth, Gargoyle, Gelatinous Cube, Genie (Djinni, Efreeti, Janni, Marid, Shaitan), Ghost, Ghoul, Giant (Cloud, Fire, Frost, Hill, Stone, Storm), Gibbering Mouther, Girallon, Gnoll, Golem (Clay, Flesh, Ice, Iron, Stone, Wood), Gorgon, Gray Ooze, Green Hag, Griffon, Half Celestial, Half Dragon, Half Fiend, Harpy, Hell Hound (Hell Hound, Nessian Hell Hound), Herd Animal (Aurochs, Bison), Hobgoblin, Homunculus, Horse (Horse, Pony), Hydra, Hyena (Hyena, Dire Hyena), Intellect Devourer, Invisible Stalker, Iron Cobra, Kobold, Kraken, Kyton, Lamia, Leech (Giant Leech, Leech Swarm), Lich, Lion (Lion, Dire Lion), Lizard (Monitor Lizard, Giant Frilled Lizard), Lizardfolk, Lycanthrope (Wererat, Werewolf), Manticore, Giant Mantis, Medusa, Mephit (Air, Dust, Earth, Fire, Ice, Magma, Ooze, Salt, Steam, Water), Merfolk, Mimic, Minotaur, Mohrg, Morlock, , Mummy, Naga (Dark, Guardian, Spirit), Neothelid, Night Hag, Nightmare (Nightmare, Cauchemar), Nymph, Ochre Jelly, Octopus (Octopus, Giant Octopus), Ogre, Orc, Otyugh, Owlbear, Pegasus, Phoenix, Pixie, Pseudodragon, Purple Worm, Rakshasa, Rat (Dire Rat, Rat Swarm), Retriever, Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros, Wooly Rhino), Roc, Roper, Rust Monster, Sahuagin, Salamander, Satyr, Giant Scorpion, Sea Hag, Shambling Mound, Shark (Shark, Dire shark), Shocker Lizard, Skeleton, Skeletal Champion, Snake (Constrictor Snake, Venomous Snake), Spectre, Sphinx, Spider (Giant Spider, Spider Swarm), Squid (Squid, Giant Squid), Svirfneblin, Tarrasque, Tengu (a.k.a. Kenku), Tiefling, Tiger (Tiger, Dire Tiger), Treant, Troglodyte, Unicorn, Vampire, Vargouille, Vegepygmy, Violet Fungus, Wasp (Giant Wasp, Wasp Swarm), Wight, Will-O-Wisp, Wolf (Wolf, Direwolf), Wolverine (Wolverine, Dire Wolverine), Worg, Winter Wolf), Wraith, Wyvern, Xorn, Yellow Musk Creeper, Yeth Hound, Yeti, Zombie
Random notes about the other monsters:
- Each enemy based on a real-life animal always has two options. Sometimes it's just Dire X and X swarm, but there are a couple of times where the Pathfinder team shows some impressive research in looking up the prehistoric versions of said animals.
- Giant Centipedes are here. I find it criminal that giant centipedes aren't featured a lot more in role-playing games.
- They did their research; they know orcas are actually dolphins!
- I really like the artwork for the giant moray eel.
- Ankhegs look like earwigs, they're cute!
- The Bulette, meanwhile, looks a lot more streamlined and more traditionally badass. I prefer my Bulette to look more awkward, but I can't deny that Pathfinder's Bulette is pretty damn badass-looking. Cloakers look badass, too, but 3E onwards have always made them look badass.
- The Genies all look very swole, and the Wraith is extremely cool looking with its swirling mass of shadowy lower body.
- The Azata are basically the 3.5E Eladrin. Pathfinder can't use 'Eladrin', but apparently 'Bralani' and 'Ghaele' are fair game.
- The Cave Fisher aren't albinos anymore, but they have so many eyes and that mouth, good lord!
- The Chuul always have been lobster-people with octopus tentacles in place for a mouth, but the art in this one really makes them look very Cthulhu-esque!
- The dragons are honestly kind of basic and repetitive, and if not for the inclusion of the three Linnorm I would probably rant a bit more.
- The Horned Devil has a very, very cool chain-sword weapon thing.
- I like that each basic Elemental shows them in 'roiling masses of wind/fire/earth/water' form, but also showcases a variant of them that appears as an animal. The air elemental takes the form of a tornado bird, the water elemental takes the form of a shark made out of water... very cool.
- The Clay Golem is an Anubis-looking thing, that's neat. The Wood Golem is also very cool.
- Disappointingly, the Gorgon is still a weird metal bull, a trope grandfathered from D&D but is completely inaccurate to the Greek myths.
- Kytons are separated from Devils? I think they actually become their category of fiends in a subsequent bestiary. The lore in this book tell us that they're either the original denizens of Hell, or summoned there from another plane. They reeeaaally ramp up the BDSM-fetish bit with the Kyton in this one, too.
- The Mimic has tentacles on the bottom of the chest. I approve of Mimics being mutant magic octopi.
- Grimlocks get renamed back into 'Morlock', the original name for the monsters from the H.G. Wells sci-fi novels, and they get back their light-sensitive eyes instead of being weird eyeless humans. The Kenku are also renamed back into 'Tengu', and I can't believe that I've never caught the fact that the Kenku are supposed to be Tengu... though admittedly D&D's Kenku have diverged a lot from their original inspirations.
- Mind Flayers aren't here because of copyright reasons, but Neothelids are. In Pathfinder canon, the Neothelids, I guess, are created directly by Cthulhu and his ilk. In a quick glance, I think the other ones that we lose from the classic D&D retinue are the Beholders and Kuo-toa? A lot of the D&D-original monsters like the entire devil-demon cast, the Owlbears and Gelatinous Cube all show up here.
Anyway... that's my very quick re-read of Pathfinder's Bestiary 1. Doubtless there's a lot that I missed, and if I had wanted to be a lot more pedantic about the differences I could. But eh, sometimes I just want a more casual monster review process, y'know?
Always nice hearing your thought on a bestiary. This was a fun read!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Pathfinder has some really gorgeous artwork, and I do really love how they took D&D's lore and did such a great alternate spin on so many of it.
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