Most of the entries come from writers who are being published for the first time, in effect acting as a forum to display their abilities (contact information for each is located at the back of the book). Despite their lack of experience, the writing is generally crisp and perhaps more importantly here seems to be a solid grasp of d20 mechanics.
The book boasts a decent color cover depicting a rumble between several of the monsters detailed within, while the interior artwork is a mixture of black and white and color pieces. Many of the color pieces look as though they’re done with pencil crayons, creating a less than professional look. A few of the illustrations are noticeably below average, but most are of professional quality and some---notably that of Bart Selbig, who elevates the entire project with his work---are truly excellent.
Layout is crisp and attractive, and the book is free of onerous editing gaffes. One rather nice touch was the format, which saw the book organized into several logical chapters: Beasts, Constructs, Fey, and Undead. Alphabetical and ranked by CR listings are found at the back of the book for your convenience.
Eric Lofgen provides several welcome creatures based on mythology, including the valkyrie, fury, and the leviathon, while Peter Ball contributes a half-dozen fey creatures (anyone playing Pendragon should take note). Less welcome are the new variations of familiar undead (in particular the mummy and vampire) offered by John Stam. These are based on classic horror themes, but visually and conceptually are little different from their standard brethren. And really, how many kinds of mummy and vampire do we really need?
There are many highlights:
Beasts include the frightening psionic arachnids known as the buibui suitable for any Underdark campaign in place of the over-used mindflayers; the larva wyrm, bloated maggot-like creatures that are the fate of depraved mortal souls after they die, doomed to torment those that yet live; and two types of really intriguing trolls (swamp and trapdoor-trolls).
Among the constructs we find are ancestral guardians, terracotta beings created to protect crypts and vaults; the cathedral gargoyle, a welcome alternate to that appearing in the Monster Manual bearing little resemblance to that of popular culture; and the paper golem, created by discarded scrolls (perhaps even serving as walking spell books).
My favorite chapter is that covering fey, a collection that accurately captures the feel of the faeries. They include bonerappers, malicious beings found around graveyards in the presence of undead and known for beating bones together to create frightful rthythms; the moth-winged, light-hating nightwings; and stoneheads, fey that look like toads and whose magical powers come from gems lodged in their skulls.
I normally love undead, but was under-whelmed by those presented herein. As mentioned previously, four of the six are merely variants of mummies and vampires. However, the gaunt ghoul, created the combination of surgery and necromancy, and gravediggers, beings carrying coffins upon their backs and created to protect graveyards, are both inspired ideas.
Unlike goblins and many standard D&D foes many of those presented herein can be used in a host of different genres without forcing your PCs to suspend their disbelief.
An electricity golem fits perfectly in a Deadlands campaign, the result of a mad scientist’s efforts to create artificial life, while the fey black dogs are ideal to throw against pulp or Victoriana characters exploring the moors of Britain. I’ve used the stoney maw, a creature easily mistaken as a boulder, to bedevil my players as they’ve explore the Jundland Wastes in my Star Wars campaign, and even intend to use the red coat, a fey that can transform into a fox, as the basis for a thieving super-villain in an upcoming Mutants and Masterminds session set in England.
As an initial entry into the sourcebook market, Gaming Frontiers: Monsters is an excellent effort. The production values are above average and the writing shows considerable ingenuity. For less than $7 you get over 50 new monsters, many of which are highly original. That’s good value.
