 |
| The Dragonbane Bestiary |
This will be a short one, as this is a simple book. The Dragonbane Bestiary is a 148-page full colour hardback illustrated gorgeously by David Brasgalla. The artwork is in a similar style to the cover and other material provided by Johan Egerkrans for the core rules. This is the expanded monster manual for the Dragonbane roleplaying game; there is some overlap between the two books, but the entries in the Bestiary are significantly expanded. In addition, the book provides the information to make some of the kin usable as player characters. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ogres, Orcs, Cat People, Frog People, Karkions, Lizard People and Satyrs are now available to join your adventuring party!
The conceit of the book is that it is the work of one Theodora Sneezewort, a halfling scholar who may have been lost in crevice while trying to enter the lair of Arknarath, the Father of all Dragons. The entries reflect this, starting with Theodora's commentary on the creature or kin, before being followed with an example random encounter and then a more extended adventure seed. There's an evocative illustration, and then the stat blocks plus details of the ability the kin would get if used by a player.
The general categories used are Nightkin (Goblins, Orcs etc), Rare Kin (the likes of Cat People and Satyrs), Insectoids, Beasts, Trolls, Giants, Undead, Dragons and Demons. Whereas the core book has one Demon example, the Bestiary gives six different types. Similarly, there are five different dragon examples (differing ages and the wingless Lindworm). Trolls and Giant have similarly expanded entries with several different flavours.
This is an unpretentious book; it delivers exactly what you'd expect, a large selection of potential allies and opponents. It isn't essential, but if you plan to run Dragonbane it will add some great options and flexibility to your game.
Recommended.
25 February 2024
No comments:
Post a Comment