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Disclaimer
I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler"
ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite
that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would
you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase
of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased
review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere.
Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly. |
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"...
Driven by the greed of the dragon Ulakorthscha and the many men and
women who died over it, the hoard golem seeks treasure and valuables
to absorb into its own body. It is drawn to wealth like a starving man
to food. Even more horrifically, the golem is drawn not merely by the
actual worth of the treasure, but to its perceived value to its owner..."
(from the Hoard Golem History, p. 116) |
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WARNING SHOT: A good monster collection will present setting and a story idea or two for referees to latch on to. The Creature Collection began by presenting the Scarred Lands setting since the first volume's release before the 3e Monster Manual. This collection is used by the good folks at Sword & Sorcery Studios to present its new continents for player characters to explore. This monster book is formed by a large number of fan submissions, which shows up in the work's contents. As monster collections go, this isn't always a bad thing; in this case, it's a telling item of the book's legacy. |
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The Creature Collection III: Savage Bestiary is a revised d20 system monster collection, gathering a large number of beasties for use in one's Scarred Lands campaign. In the wake of the Divine War, several continents were affected by the passing of the titans. This volume of the Creature Collection series focuses mostly on the new Termana and Asherak areas of the Scarred Lands. Like a number of books under the Sword & Sorcery label, this book has been formed by a number of fan submissions. Several of the work's authors have their beasts claiming responsibility for one area's destruction as opposed to another creature that is similar, but not quite the same. While this could be seen as a bad thing to most collections, the lack of one set point of view helps set the book out from others as a tool that may help referees get ideas for their games. From the book's unusual and unique spontaneous golems to the undead collecting phoenixes, this folio of monsters has some interesting ideas for new creatures. Unfortunately, this book isn't all new ideas the run rampant with the imagination, some seem like tired, repeated ideas-maybe I've had my fill of lycanthropes (the wereviper, in this collection) and had one too many hits with the "really cool, really powerful" undead (the overghast, poisonbearer ghouls). Plus, this collection seems to love the old Dragonlance draconian death effects-as several monsters explode when they die. Some creatures seem to use the book's new subtypes as an excuse to come up with them, does the game need several "angel" subtyped creatures just because the celestials here are angels? Also, do we need a new outsider subtype of "daemon?" On the surface, these new subtypes don't add much to the game overall, but helps clutter the growing depth of new things to "sourcebook out." This collection feels like a fan sourcebook of monsters, as to was intended to. Sometimes, the writing doesn't quite hit the right marks that one might think would be needed in this hardback accessory. Overall, this book presents some cool monsters for the revised d20 system; however, the book's feel is sometimes undercut by the rough way the book's fan wrote their section of one monster versus another. Its not a bad investment if one is craving more monsters for their games, but sometimes the monsters will feel flat if used straight from their text entries. |
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