Publisher: BRW Games
Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary: A Comprehensive Review
Are you looking for a monster manual that will spice up your Adventures Dark and Deep campaigns? Do you want to explore a vast and varied collection of creatures that will challenge and inspire your players? If so, you might be interested in Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary, a book that contains over 900 monsters, including more than a hundred completely new ones, with many illustrations.
In this review, I will tell you everything you need to know about this book, including:
- What is Adventures Dark and Deep and why you should play it
- What is Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary and what it offers
- How to use the book to create engaging and balanced encounters
- Where to buy the book and how much it costs
By the end of this review, you will have a clear idea of whether this book is worth your time and money. Let’s get started!
What is Adventures Dark and Deep?
Adventures Dark and Deep is a role-playing game that is based on the original rules of the first edition of the most popular role-playing game in the world. It is a revision and expansion of those rules, incorporating new classes, races, spells, monsters, and more. It is designed to capture the spirit and feel of the classic game, while adding more depth and options for players and gamemasters.
Adventures Dark and Deep is compatible with most old-school games, meaning that you can use it with any adventures, settings, and supplements that were created for the first edition or its retro-clones. If you are a fan of the old-school style of play, or if you are curious about how the game evolved over time, you will enjoy Adventures Dark and Deep.
What is Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary?
Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary is a monster manual for Adventures Dark and Deep. It is one of the core books of the game, along with the Players Manual, the Game Masters Toolkit, and the Castle Keeper’s Guide. It contains over 900 monsters, ranging from classic fantasy creatures like dragons, giants, undead, and demons, to more exotic and unusual ones like aboleths, beholders, flumphs, and modrons.
The book also includes more than a hundred completely new monsters that were never seen before in any official or unofficial source. These monsters are inspired by various sources of literature, mythology, history, and religion, as well as by the author’s own imagination. Some examples are jesterkin, savantkin, mystickin, mountebankkin, gorgimera, sandman, soulmonger, and many more.
Each monster has a detailed description that covers its appearance, behavior, ecology, society, combat tactics, special abilities, statistics, treasure type, frequency, number appearing, alignment, movement rate, armor class, hit dice, attacks, damage, saving throws, morale, and challenge level. Each monster also has a brief introduction that explains its origin, history, or legend. Many monsters also have variants or subspecies that have different features or powers. Most monsters are accompanied by one or more illustrations that show their appearance.
The book is divided into four parts:
- The first part introduces the concept of monster, its characteristics, and its statistics. It also explains how to read the monster entries, how to determine their challenge level, how to assign them experience points, and how to modify them for different levels of play.
- The second part presents the monsters in alphabetical order, with a detailed description for each one.
- The third part offers some tables to generate monsters randomly or to choose the most suitable ones for a given situation. It also includes tables to create hybrid or mutant monsters, combining the features of two or more different monsters. It also has tables to create unique or legendary monsters, with distinctive traits that make them more memorable.
- The fourth part contains some indexes and appendices useful for the game. It has indexes of monsters by type, by challenge level, and by frequency. It also has appendices with special rules to handle situations like aerial combat, underwater combat, psionic combat, and combat between monsters.
How to use Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary?
Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary is a valuable resource for any gamemaster who wants to create engaging and balanced encounters for their players. The book offers a huge variety of monsters to choose from, with different levels of difficulty, different types of abilities, and different roles in combat.
The book also provides guidance on how to use the monsters effectively and creatively in your adventures. It gives tips on how to match the monsters with the theme, the setting, the mood, and the plot of your story. It also suggests ways to make the monsters more interesting by giving them personalities, motivations, goals, allies, enemies, and secrets.
The book also helps you to avoid common pitfalls and mistakes when using monsters in your game. It warns you about the potential problems of using too many or too few monsters, too easy or too hard monsters, or too similar or too different monsters. It also advises you on how to deal with unexpected situations that may arise during combat, such as fleeing, surrendering, negotiating, or parleying with the monsters.
A possible title for the paragraph about the most interesting monsters is:
Meet the Kin: Four New and Unique Monsters in Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary
One of the most interesting aspects of Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary is the variety and originality of the monsters that it contains. The book features many creatures that are not found in any other source, and that are inspired by various sources of literature, mythology, history, and religion, as well as by the author’s own imagination. Some of these monsters are:
- Jesterkin: These are small, mischievous humanoids that love to play pranks and jokes on others. They have a natural talent for magic and can cast spells as illusionists. They often travel in groups, looking for fun and adventure. They are chaotic neutral in alignment and can be either friendly or hostile, depending on their mood.
- Savantkin: These are intelligent, scholarly humanoids that have a thirst for knowledge and a knack for invention. They can create various devices and gadgets, such as clockwork animals, mechanical wings, or steam-powered vehicles. They are usually neutral in alignment and prefer to avoid conflict, unless their curiosity gets the better of them.
- Mystickin: These are mysterious, mystical humanoids that have a connection to the forces of nature and the planes of existence. They can manipulate reality with their willpower and can cast spells as mystics. They are often solitary and secretive, seeking enlightenment and harmony. They are usually neutral in alignment and tend to be benevolent, unless provoked.
- Mountebankkin: These are cunning, charismatic humanoids that have a flair for deception and persuasion. They can use their charm and wit to influence others and can cast spells as mountebanks. They are often found in urban areas, where they engage in various schemes and scams. They are chaotic neutral in alignment and tend to be selfish and greedy, unless they find a worthy cause.
These are just some examples of the new monsters that you can find in Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary. There are many more to discover, each with its own unique traits and abilities. If you want to add some spice and flavor to your Adventures Dark and Deep campaigns, you should definitely check out this book. You won’t regret it!
Conclusion
Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary is an essential book for anyone who wants to play Adventures Dark and Deep or any other old-school game. The book offers a huge amount of monsters to use in your campaigns, with great attention to detail and creativity. The book is a source of inspiration for gamemasters and a challenge for players. The book is a tribute to the history of role-playing and a testimony to its vitality.
If you are looking for a monster manual that will spice up your Adventures Dark and Deep campaigns, you should definitely check out Adventures Dark and Deep – Deep Bestiary. You won’t regret it!
Adventures Dark and Deep Bestiary on DrivethruRpg
