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Introduction

Ah, the creature guide. With a street price of 29.95$, you get 68 new creatures to put into encounters (38 of which are new if you own the core set) along with a whole plethora of new actions. Also included is some excellent background, encounter design advice, and a table to reference all of those who might try to kill your hapless adventurers in the Warhammer world. However, all is not good here, as the changer of ways corrupted the format so severely to make using the book nearly so odious as to ignore it altogether. However, the Changer of Ways also goes by another name, The Great Conspirator, and it is my belief the functional creature format as seen in previous Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay third edition (further known as WFRP3) product was deliberately changed to create a dependence on its sister product, the Creature Vault. That is a large accusation to make, one that should be clear at the conclusion of the review. This review will attempt to cover all facets of the book, chiefly from the perspective of a Game Master who owns the majority of previously published WFRP3 products. Hopefully it will be of use to someone without such experience. First up is the most important aspect in my view, and that is format.

Format

Here is my biggest misgiving in the book. No longer is the format as what a Warhammer GM would have grown use to in the Tome of Adventure. Which is a format I like quite a bit, and had the Creature Guide been the same, I would probably not be buying the Creature Vault. The new format, then, is a departure, one that leads to near uselessness. The biggest villain here is dispersal. In the Tome of Adventure, we had background, stats, and actions all in the same place. Now, in the Guide, it is dispersed. First we have all of the creature’s background (with their special rules) then we have five appendices which detail the various actions a foe can use. One might imagine how this might be difficult to approach 26 pages of creature actions. Appendix six covers creature stats. These stats are presented in a comprehensive form first, including special abilities. After this is a table of all creature stats. I am not convinced the table is useful for me, other than as a comparison tool. A problem here is that they include creatures from The Gathering Storm and The Edge of Night which are not included in the guide. They also include the creatures from Liber Mutatis and Liber Infectus , which, surprise! are not in the guide. So if you are looking to field papa Nurgle, you are out of luck. Signs of Faith is still needed. All of the actions are included, though. This is more strange inconsistencies. You have attacks that are used for just one creature, Epidemus with his Tally of Pestilence, but no information about Epidemus, nor special abilities – you get only the stats from the master table of creature statistics. It doesn’t matter that he lacks special abilities, since the same applies to the Great Unclean One and the creatures within the two Libers.

Print Quality - While I might take umbrage with the new format, I have absolutely none with the physical product. The binding is secure, the pages crisp and durable, the cover solid and the colors vivid. Fantasy Flight obtained its reputation for quality physical products, and this book is no departure.

Opening chapters

Chapters one and two are the shortest, chock full of information and little else. Chapter one details some alternate rules, such as expanded Aggression/Cunning/Expertise. It also introduces the group sheet and explains the anatomy of the creature cards that are in the Vault. This chapter alone nearly makes the Guide an essential buy, there are many new symbols and shorthand to understand.

Background

The overview of the format contains a lot of negativity. Yet it must all be taken in stride, for the Guide is still a good book to own. First of all, there is no reprinted information. In second edition, we had the Old World Bestiary. This is an excellent book with a novel format, one that I quite enjoyed. Fantasy Flight could have ripped them off, filing off the serials and updating the stats for their own creature book. Instead they created all new background material for the creatures. This is worth the purchase price alone. What is better (for me, anyway) is the hooks. Each category of creature has at least three adventure hooks detailed at the end. So if Slayer in the group is getting cocky, use one of the hooks presented within to get him in fisticuffs with a Dragon Ogre. Also included is exposition on foes presented. Some are quite easy, and require little explanation, such as the Greenskins. Others are more rare and special, like a Dragon, which come with more guidance on how to best use. What is greatest about this book, in regards to background, is that it assumes nothing. There is a lot of information to consume about the Warhammer world, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed if you are new to it. It is also easy for the developers to assume things, so as to devote words elsewhere. This is not a fallacy they commit. What is even better is that they write it in such a way that is pleasant for the long time GM who knows it all. Chapter three then is where the book shines. I wish it had been twice as large, including Lizardmen, Chaos Dwarfs, Norsemen, maybe even a Jabberwocky or a Zoat. Those however it seems are destined to future supplements, which I can live with (Although I have a feeling I will be waiting some time for a Zoat supplement).

Creature Group Sheets

Next to the Bestiary section, this is my other favorite section of the book. Unlike the nemesis organization cards (which I care little for and have trouble seeing use) the group cards are right there and easy to use. Running an encounter with Skaven? You have the group card detailed, and its use will add another layer of evocation to your encounters. I can see myself using them all, but not more than once. There can be a lot of tracking going on, and some of the stuff is easy to overlook or forget, like with Dark Elves and needing to keep in mind if another Elf wounds a dark brethren. Combats in third edition have a lot of concurrent, moving parts, so another can be a pain to use, but it can also mean the difference between just another fight and something your party will remember for sessions to come.

Creature Actions

I have no big complaints here, not with the overall balance and utility of the actions presented. Fantasy Flight has done an excellent job in the way they balance and write action cards. But as is par the course here, the rest needs some work. The biggest offender is traits and who can use what. The traits themselves are clear and easy to identify. Where it starts to break down is what traits are included. Say I am looking for an attack that my Giant can use. I could scan the traits, but then I would be missing out on attacks like Overrun, which is only identified for Giant use by the easy to overlook bar sandwiched between the Conservative and Reckless sides. For full use then, I will have to carefully examine each action to see who can use it. Of course, I might already have a good idea of who can use what. But that is not a good assumption to go with. They nailed it with the background and completely missed the boat here. The final, and most corrupting offender here is the inexcusable omission of some kind of master list of who can use what. Really, that is all this book needed to save it. It would still be a pain to flip back and forth, but at least that flipping would have a destination as opposed to a listless search.

The Creature Guide and Creature Vault; Complementary or symbiotic?

While I have yet to own the Vault, it is becoming exceedingly clear to me that these two were designed for symbiosis, as opposed to the case of the Player and Gamemasters line, where the vault is recommended but optional. I can see myself using the guide to prepare for encounters, finding creatures and actions I plan on using, then assembling them in advance. That is really the only way to do it, in my opinion. You could get along without the guide, but you are missing out as you would be if only the Guide was only. Certainly to a lesser extent, but the loss is still there.

Extras and the unexpected

A favorite concept that has been introduced here is that of the grab bag. The grab bag approach is where you shuffle up your various decks and draw one or more cards at random from each, and then tie the disparate elements together. For example, I might shuffle together my location cards, item cards, and an insanity. I get burning building, profane artifact, and delusions of grandeur. I could then say that a local magistrate confiscated a corrupted dagger, which began speaking to him, telling him of his greatness. This voice leads him to believe the key achieving that greatness is sacking the burgomaster, whose influence is keeping him from becoming who he really is. So he burns the house down. The problem is that the PC’s are staying with this burgomaster as his guests. Leading us to an encounter of the party escaping a fleeing building and dealing with the consequences after. This is a great icebreaker for someone who find their self an hour out before game time and stumped as what to do. There are a few more pages dealing with encounter design, and they are all excellent, but the grab bag is what I appreciate the most. There are also a few extra cards that you can add to the campaign for player use. These are obstinately for NPC’s, but their unique application and use will likely see them in the hands of players. One such action is “Come, Face Me!” which allows a character to issue a challenge. Since challenges are an integral part of the war game, this is something I like to see. It is also a new application of a skill (leadership) that could use some more cards.

Wrap up

This book has all of the hallmarks of a first generation product; wonderful ideas marred by terrible execution. With that in mind, I feel like this is an incomplete review as I have yet to own the Creature Vault. When I do, I will write out a review. My problem is not with the two products being dependent upon each other, but with the way they are marketed. In no way does Fantasy Flight make it clear that both are needed to function properly. These are in a different function than the GM and Players line, chiefly because of the new content and material for a GM. Because of this, Fantasy Flight really should have released these in a different fashion. As it stands now, it is a misleading product at best, and outright deceptive at worst. Yet let me say it again – This is a good product corrupted with a poor format.