I have been lerking for a while and need some advice. Without going into how I found a way back to ttrpgs after nearly a decade, I hope this still makes sense.
My 10yo son plays DCC RPG with my wife and I most weekends. He has found his way to the D&D novels as well and is asking for more source books with lore to read as well. I do not want to support WotC so I pointed him at some of my old ad&d stuff. He liked the cosmology stuff a lot but found the monster descriptions lacking. I want to continue his indocrination into nerdom so I would love some recommendations of monster books (system does not matter, other then not 5e) with great write ups and lore. Looking for intriquing fluff with any flavor of crunch.
Quote from: Lakoda on July 16, 2022, 12:59:48 PM
I have been lerking for a while and need some advice. Without going into how I found a way back to ttrpgs after nearly a decade, I hope this still makes sense.
My 10yo son plays DCC RPG with my wife and I most weekends. He has found his way to the D&D novels as well and is asking for more source books with lore to read as well. I do not want to support WotC so I pointed him at some of my old ad&d stuff. He liked the cosmology stuff a lot but found the monster descriptions lacking. I want to continue his indocrination into nerdom so I would love some recommendations of monster books (system does not matter, other then not 5e) with great write ups and lore. Looking for intriquing fluff with any flavor of crunch.
Paizo put out a lot of books for their Pathfinder 1e game that had classic monsters revisited. Pretty good stuff from what I remember. I bet your sone would love the Pathfinder take on Goblins.
Except you shouldn't touch anything Paizo makes with a 10-ft pole. It's poorly written garbage that is also now being made even worse (if such a thing were possible) by the retarded.
Instead, if you CAN get him https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enchanted_World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Enchanted_World). It'll give him a nice mythological background on beasties, with no stats, which should engage his imagination.
What about the Tome of Horrors Complete (https://www.froggodgames.com/product/the-tome-of-horrors-complete/) by Frog God Games? There is a version for Pathfinder and one for Swords and Wizardry, and it contains more monsters than one will ever need. It is only available in PDF toh.
since he's 10 you may want to look into things like digimon or pokemon. they have really interesting lore because they give most of their attention onto the monsters.
That you all. These are great suggestions and has given me a lot to investigate. Many thanks!
I just wanted to point out; that if you buy used books, you are no longer supporting Paizo or WOTC. They can't support their current propaganda garbage, when you don't buy the new stuff.
Yup! I would be buying used. I live 15m from nobleknight. I also dont want to own 5e because of silly personal reasons.
While not strictly fantasy, if you can find copies of the Patterson's guides from Shadowrun (1E/2E, I believe) those are interesting for the 'peanut gallery' commentary on the critters.
You may want to look at Fateforge by Studio Agate (they also make Shadows of Esteren, but there is no monster book for that). While the game is 5e, it doesn't require any of the WotC books. It has it's own complete player's guide with all the rules needed. There is a region book as well as 2 creatures books.
The company is really good at delivering on lore. Their 1st creatures book reworks a bunch of the classic D&D creature to fit their world. Between the art, in-world accounts and general write-ups these guys are, IMO, top notch world builders.