Review of The Random Esoteric Creature Generator For Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra (2019 edition)

Blurb from the publisher: 'This is a new edition of the Random Esoteric Creature Generator using the text from the 2018 10th Anniversary printing of this book. It also includes the three introductions used (or proposed) in previous editions, plus a new one.

The Generator itself is a table-based random monster generator designed to create quite unusual, but usable, monsters for your game. It was originally self-published in early 2008, and then picked up for a more professional edition by Goodman Games at the end of 2008. And then, years later, it has come home for an ever fancier edition with all-new artwork and a new layout.'

What you get: Your EUR 16,50 or equivalent will buy you both the print as well as the pdf version of The Random Esoteric Creature Generator For Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra, a 48-page, full-colour softcover book in A5 format for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess game line.

The 66-page pdf can be purchased alone for EUR 9.

There is a discrepancy between the current physical and pdf edition. The pdf edition is the 10th Anniversary Edition with a stock number of LOTFP0049. The physical edition however is numbered LOTFP0059, and explicitly reads 'This edition uses the text from the 2018 10th Anniversary printing of this book'. Thus, it is one edition after the 10th Anniversary edition. The book does not state its publication year. I have tentatively put 2019 on the product's ID, since the probability of the book being published twice in 2018 is rather small. The pdf on the other hand is a 2018 product.

The pdf edition's additional page count is due to the over 15 additional pages of images from the original, home-published edition, as well as the Goodman Games edition. The physical post-10th Anniversary edition does not include these extra pages.

Contents: Following six pages of four slightly different introductions, the book immediately enters the basics of monster creation. It explains the concepts it is based on for all sorts of parameters like alignment, armor class, damage, experience, hit dice, intelligence, morale, movement, and many more. The book states in advance that it aims to create 'mindless killing machines on the level of rabid animals', and that 'intelligent foes [...] should never be a mere random encounter'. Note that when the book was created Lamentations of the Flame Princess as a system did not yet exist. System-wise the book caters towards a more generic brand of OSR, and explains the thinking behind its decisions.

From there on the generator works on the premise of tables. In order to fully complete a monster a GM needs to linearly roll on eleven different tables. Most of them relate to crunch, a few however also relate to fluff.

A 2d10 roll will determine the Basic Body Shape out of seven choices (e.g. flat, serpentine, polyhedron), another will determine its Basic Characteristics out of eight (e.g. fish, plant, insect etc), while a d20 or another type of die will go further into its general type (e.g. a fish can be a shark, it can also however be a seahorse, a piranha or a ray). Keeping with the 2d10 theme comes the determination of size (seven choices one of which is called 'Run! It's Godzilla!'), its movement (ten options, including standard, slithering and levitating) and its attack methods (seven options including claw, bash and bite). A percentile will be rolled for the monster's distinctive features, and I count 54 entries that could determine your baddie: albino, shell and wings are only three of them. Features are not just named; the book actually explains what the features mean game-wise. The idea is that one rolls the dice until the creature feels complete. Special Abilities are determined through 2d100 referencing a table of over 180 (!) entries. Examples include draining a particular characteristic when attacking, having acid instead of blood, causing damage that doesn't heal, immunity to all sorts of things, and many more. The delivery of a monster's special attack (10 options like on sight, gas, and projectile), its combat tactics (ten options like attacking spellcasters, the weakest, or non-humans first) and its motivation (seven options like territoriality, fear and hunger) are the three last tables a GM needs to consult.

Putting it All Together is the final chapter that rounds everything up. It is reminiscent of Dungeon Master's Guide or Dungeon Magazine entries, with advice on how to make the encounters with these creatures more potent. Examples include preparing the details so that you don't stutter during the heat of the session, paying attention to how fearsome monsters come out as, how to use them effectively, how to mix them, how to regulate their origins (e.g. natural environment, summoning etc), a well-deserved insistence on never naming them ('Alien'; enough said), and how to get even deeper and create racial and social tensions.

The book ends with a reprint of the 2008 edition's cover. The concept between the two bare-breasted, mantis-armed, goat-legged ladies is the same, the execution however is patently different.

The strong points: What's more honest than saying 'here is what I am going to do', and then doing exactly what you said you will? This is the reason behind the success of the Random Esoteric Creature Generator. You will get quaint, brand new monsters. They will all be killing machines without remorse Your players won't be able to identify them. As to what they do, the characters will have to find out the very hard way.

The generator is incredibly easy to use. Just because it says 'roll 2d20 or whatever other die' the gaming police will not arrest you if you choose instead of rolling. That's in fact the genius behind it. Instead of giving you ready-made results that might be hit or miss in the context of your game, it gives you an algorithm, a process. It is admittedly basic, and can only create one type of monsters and not complete ecologies of them. When you go to the butcher's however you get meat. The meat is that the chance of your players knowing in advance what they encounter is zero. As in 'absolute zero'. You control everything, and not through a derivative design, but through a process that can go way further than even the most bizarre or goofiest entries in other monster manuals.

The advice chapter at the end of the book contains useful information for newer GMs. Many of us might not need it. I personally don't understand why GMs name any monster the characters haven't encountered yet, but that's just me. Just because I play that way however does not mean that this might not be a novelty for other experienced GMs. Good stuff, all in all.

The art is of the usual LotFP standard. There is an equally gorgeous and devilish bare-breasted woman under the Northern Lights on the front cover, with five male severed heads crowning her goat feet. This is a fantastic concept, and I am not only talking about her curves. Add the well-done nudity in the inner pages, the disturbing sexual allusions, the innards and the gore, and we are talking about the quintessence of LotFP. As usual, not all the pieces were created by the same artist. I remind you that the pdf is not identical to the physical edition. The images at its end show which edition they came from and what their initial rendering was. It is heart-warming to see the three adventurers searching in the dark with the dragon behind them as a cartoonish sketch, and the same computer-generated image in full colour in this last edition.

The pdf is of a high quality. Bookmarks go two levels deep (and they couldn't have gone any deeper). All images are extractable. The table if contents looks as if it has live links, unfortunately however they don't lead somewhere. This might just be my pdf Reader mind you.

The weak points: The book serves a very specific function. If you want ready-made monsters, you won't find them. If you crave for intelligent monsters that interact with your campaign in complex ways, the process it describes will not lead you there. Easy example: the sub-chapter 'psychic abilities' contains this text and not a word more: 'Oh please.' It might not sound important, think however how many mythical monsters were dangerous due to their psychic abilities, and you will realize how limited you are.

Not all the monsters you create via this book will be equally interesting. Some of the Goodman Games' images that can be found on the 10th Anniversary pdf are a fantastic example of goofy designs and what-the-hell-were-they-thinking moments. I don't necessarily count this as a weak point, mind you. Goofiness was an inherent part of D&D's first and second editions. Timed right it can make a session even more memorable than grimness. Yet, at times you will see that your creations will need even further elaboration (and an extra touch of fluff through gratuitous use of your imagination). That is normal. The book serves as a source of inspiration, not as a panacea for all ailments.

If boobs, butts, and penises out of horror movies scare you, you might wish to continue with your therapy before buying this book. I didn't need to write that, did I?

I understand how proud James Edward Raggi IV feels about the path he single-handedly created against many odds and quite an opposition. Still, those initial six pages hosting four fairly similar introductions come out as pointlessly confrontational. One of them, potentially the most aggressive one, would have sufficed. What better way to stick it up than including an additional 3, 4, or 5 pages of good advice on memorable monsters?

Conclusion: The Random Esoteric Creature Generator For Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra (2019 edition) is a solid book on focused monster creation with particular traits. It is easy to use, achieves exactly the results it aims for, and ultimately emits a very strong old-school feeling. You might not need to use it for every single monster that your players will face, for those that you do however the horror and surprise will not be forgotten.

For more info on The Random Esoteric Creature Generator For Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra (2019 edition) and Lamentations of the Flame Princess, visit its website at http://www.lotfp.com.

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