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BASICS
The Monsternomicon (Volume 1 – Denizens of the Iron
Kingdoms) from Privateer Press is a 240-page hardback
book that gives you over 100 new monsters that populate
their campaign world, The Iron Kingdoms. You will also
find new templates (Quickplates), Prestige Classes, and
PC races within these pages. The cover is full-color and
all of the interior art is black & white. Retail price is
$29.95 USD.
BETWEEN THE COVERS
Each creature in Monsternomicon is given at least two
pages of space and some get as many as four and the
narrative about each monster is written as if it came out
of old book. In the space given you’ll find the standard
stat blocks, combat and treasure sections, but also much
more. The first thing that I noticed, and really liked, was
that you get a little drawing of the monster in question
standing next to a human. Sure, we can all picture (and
look in the PHB) how much bigger a large creature is from
a medium one, but this shows you how much bigger
54
(height and width) a Black Ogrun is from a standard
human. A very cool idea. I liked all of the interior
artwork and it being done in black and white really didn’t
take away from it as it’s done in a very dramatic style.
Each entry also features a Legends & Lore section where
DM’s can give out information ranging from Common to
Obscure (with associated skill checks) about each
monster. There are also adventure hooks that will help
get your party to the task of encountering these baddies
asap.
You’ll find a few re-writes of standard Dungeons and
Dragons monsters, like trolls and goblins, but they are
done to bring them into the Iron Kingdoms setting. Also,
since the book is really all about the monsters that you’ll
encounter in the Iron Kingdoms you will also find several
magic/mechanical monster hybrids and constructs like the
Animatons, Deathjack, Iron Maiden, and Mechanithralls to
name a few. Yes, there are dragons in here and boy are
they rough customers. There are three unique dragons
presented that range in CR from 49 to 66 and they will
mess you up! They are suitable for wrecking the country
and having a band, probably a large one, of heroes go
and trash them.
The Quickplates are put together like the more standard
templates, but will add a special flair to a monster, like a
leader, and do so quickly. If you have a pack of
werewolves menacing your party just drop the Alpha
Hunter Quickplate on to the leader and they’re in for a
little (not earthshaking, but nice) surprise.
Before you get to the Prestige Classes there is an NPC
entry for Viktor Pendrake, the author of the
Monsternomicon. Yes, the guys at Privateer Press wrote
the book, but Viktor Pendrake is the name assigned to the
narratives in each entry. A nice touch of character here.
The three PrC’s (Adventuring Scholar, Bone Grinder, and
Monster Hunter) could easily fit into another campaign
world.
VALUE
Absolutely two thumbs up here. I loved this book! If your
party has not adventured in the Iron Kingdoms then this is
a perfect way to drop something completely different into
their laps. Since this book was labeled Volume 1 I hope
that another tome is in the works.
www.privateerpress.com