Ima gonna be running a game of Godbound by play by post while outside of the timezone of my regular game.
And I want some inspiration for monsters and the like. Anybody got a good OSR bestiary to reccomend?
Varlets & Vermin is a good little bestiary. It's free, and aimed at an very useful niche: Low level monsters to spice up low level encounters.
https://rolesrules.blogspot.com/2010/05/varlets-and-vermin-10.html
Not OSR, just OS
All the World's Monsters Volumes 1-3
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/2/Chaosium/subcategory/74_183/Legendary-Roleplaying
OSR- Beasties 1 & 2
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/182958/Beasties?src=hottest_filtered
There's the OSRIC monster companion Monsters of Myth. I slightly favor it because I have one or two monsters of my own in it.
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/the-first-edition-society-/monsters-of-myth/paperback/product-1j9vk7q.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Assuming, of course, you have the time for Lulu to get off their dead asses and actually print and send it. There's also a PDF if you're in a hurry.
Quote from: Semaj Khan on January 01, 2021, 02:20:29 PM
Assuming, of course, you have the time for Lulu to get off their dead asses and actually print and send it. There's also a PDF if you're in a hurry.
NEWYOU15 is good for 15% off from Lulu, though the end of today.
The Adventures Dark and Deep Bestiary is pretty damned comprehensive.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/119507/Adventures-Dark-and-Deep-Bestiary
I like the Random Esoteric Creature Generator too.
I've always been a fan of XPR's Malevolent and Benign https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/Malevolent-and-Benign?search=OSR
I believe my marketplace is has the best pricepoint (it's default currency is $CAD.)
(And yes, I am probably biased - but I have used several of the Monsters from Malevolent and Benign in my games.)
Rafael Chandler's book are very good (Teratic Tome, Lusus Naturae).
I love the classics too (my favorite is Monstrous Manual, but also the original MM, Fiend Folio, etc.).
And the OSR ones such as Malevolent and Benign, Tome of Horrors, etc.
If you want o create your own monsters, I wrote a big monster generator.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/317448/Teratogenicon?src=hottest_filtered
It is more about "fluff" than stats, take a look at the preview to see what I mean. But it has a couple of pages about OSR monster stats.
OSR question.
What are the monsters hit bonus or whatever?
Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 02, 2021, 04:38:09 PM
OSR question.
What are the monsters hit bonus or whatever?
Depends on the book.
Originally, there were charts. Then there was THAC0.
I use their HD; so, a 4HD monster has +4 to hit. Works well.
Quote from: Eric Diaz on January 02, 2021, 08:04:53 PM
Quote from: Shrieking Banshee on January 02, 2021, 04:38:09 PM
OSR question.
What are the monsters hit bonus or whatever?
Depends on the book.
Originally, there were charts. Then there was THAC0.
I use their HD; so, a 4HD monster has +4 to hit. Works well.
As Erik implies the attack is based off of the HD of the creature. (In rare cases a monster may have some sort of extra bonus.)
The charts in 1e AD&D do have some weirdness in them. Such as a 10 hit die creature can hit someone with an armor class of 0 on a die roll of 10 (THAC0 of 10 -- equivalent of +10 in an ascending AC system). Attack skill increase actually slows down on the chart after that, and any creature with 16+ hit dice has a max THAC0 of 7.
OSRIC - the direct clone I prefer, smooths out the tables. A monster attacks like a fighter as if level=HD. The one note is that a monster with any "plus" to their hit die attacks as one HD higher. So a hobgoblin with a HD of 1+1 attacks like a 2 HD monster, and a Cave Bear with 6+6 HD attacks like a 7 HD monster.
(As an aside you may already know -- HD of 1+1 means each hobgoblin has 1d8+1 hitpoints.)
Fiend Folio is a good classic book if you are able to track it down. There are some I like in the AD&D 1e Monster Manual 2 -- Galeb Duhr, Gibbering Mouther, and Spriggans are ones I recall with fondness.
The selection in the Swords and Wizardry bestiary "Monster Book 0e" is good (some very silly ideas as well mind)
Quote from: Pat on January 01, 2021, 12:29:17 PM
Varlets & Vermin is a good little bestiary. It's free, and aimed at an very useful niche: Low level monsters to spice up low level encounters.
https://rolesrules.blogspot.com/2010/05/varlets-and-vermin-10.html
Thanks for that link. Some great ideas in there. Panzer Rats :D
Monsters of Myth is a solid collection I have gotten a lot of use out of over the years. It has the kind of weird AD&D creatures which are fantastic without coming off as uselessly bizarre.
Neither are very big, but also not very expensive, and both detail monsters from real medieval legends:
Medieval Authentic Bestiary 1: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/289937/RPGPundit-Presents-94-MedievalAuthentic-Bestiary (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/289937/RPGPundit-Presents-94-MedievalAuthentic-Bestiary)
Medieval Authentic Bestiary 2: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297224/RPGPundit-Presents-98-MedievalAuthentic-Bestiary-2 (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/297224/RPGPundit-Presents-98-MedievalAuthentic-Bestiary-2)