Category: Book of Beasts

Pathfinder 1e: Character Codex Coming Soon

If you follow Jon Brazer Enterprises on Twitter or Facebook, you may have seen the announcement that we are working on our next major 1e Pathfinder project. We call it the Book of Beasts: Character Codex. This book is going to be similar to the NPC Codex by Paizo in that it provides 20 NPCs—one for each level—for each class detailed in the book. This way you always have an NPC at the level you need for that class. Unlike the original Codex, this book will focus on classes not in the core rulebook. We will be covering classes detailed in the Advanced Player’s Guide, Advanced Class Guide, and Ultimate Magic.

The obvious question is, “Why do this now?” Pathfinder 1e is no longer supported by the main company and at least some portion of the audience has moved to the new edition. So why continue to support the older edition? First and foremost, we at JBE prefer the older edition. This is the edition we enjoy, and we want to continue supporting it. Why didn’t we do this book years ago when it was still the current edition? Honestly, I always expected Paizo to do it. I learned a strong lesson from the Book of the River Nations, where we took the OGL Kingmaker rules and reprinted them in a standalone book for players: namely “don’t do books that I expect the main company to do in the future.” While the book sold incredibly well at the time and is still one of our top 3 selling books of all time, sales of it essentially ended the moment that Ultimate Campaign was released. So we held off on a number of very good ideas for Pathfinder 1e that we expected to be done by the primary publisher. Now that they’ve moved on and we are still here, we think now is a good time to produce those books and adventures we talked about before. Watch this space for more Pathfinder 1e books and blog posts.

We will be releasing this book as a subscription and bundling it all up when complete. We’re borrowing this idea from some of our fellow publishers that the earlier you subscribe to this project, the lower the price will be. The price will go up as we add more PDFs to the subscription. So if you know you are going to want this, subscribe as soon as it comes out. What will subscribers get? They get the individual PDFs and a PDF of the final Book of Beasts: Character Codex Compendium as well as a coupon to order the final print version at a reduced price. As an added bonus, subscribers will also get the Hero Lab classic files of the characters. We will be selling them separately for those that are not interested in the full subscription, but subscribers get them included.

So what is the scope of the Character Codex Subscription? As mentioned above, we’re limiting the classes we’re drawing from the Advanced Player’s Guide, Ultimate Magic, and the Advanced Class Guide. We will be utilizing feats, spells and archetypes from these books plus the core rulebook, Ultimate Combat, and the Advanced Race Guide. That will provide you with some excellent NPCs from a diverse set of books. Some quick math though: 18-ish pages for 17 classes in those three books comes to over 300 pages for the NPCs. Note that doesn’t include any possible appendixes we know we’ll need (eidolons, mounts, familiars, etc) let alone any we haven’t thought of yet, nor anything else that will require pages (i.e. Title Page, OGL, etc). That is more than a little intimidating for a company our size. Currently, the Book of Heroic Races: Advanced Compendium is our largest book at around 250 pages and that took 2 years and a lot of sweat to finish. So we are thinking of covering 12 classes in this outing. That puts this project at around 200 pages before everything mentioned above. While still a stretch, it is considerably more manageable.

The question then becomes which classes do we include. The warpriest is almost ready to send off to the editors, and we have artwork picked out for the arcanist, magus, and slayer classes so they’re definitely in. That still leaves us 8 classes to pick. This is where you come in. Tell us what classes you want to see by voting in the poll below. If you don’t see the poll because of the browser you are using or various settings or if there are some classes you want covered above all others, please leave us a comment below.

Are you excited for this project, for additional Pathfinder 1e support? Is there something you want us to produce that is not yet available? We want to hear your voice. Tell us your thoughts. Post a comment and let your voice be heard.

Download all of JBE’s Pathfinder 1e books at the JBE Shop, DriveThruRPG, Paizo, and the Open Gaming Store.

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Pathfinder 1e: NPC or Monster “Codex” II?

After a number of conversations, I have hear a desire for either a spiritual successor to Paizo’s Monster Codex or the NPC Codex. I sat back, thought about it and it seems that such a product is not only possible but quite doable. I know I never did it before because I was always expecting Paizo to do such a book. Since that obviously never transpired and there appears to still be a desire for such a product, I would like to ask you for your opinion. Which appeals to you more?

Vote in the poll above and make sure to leave a comment below if you feel strongly about either book or some aspect of it. Perhaps you want it to focus on the Advanced Players Guide, it maybe you want Ultimate Psionic classes mixed in. Maybe you want more occultist minotaurs and shifter samsarans instead of elf witches or halfling inquisitors? Share your thoughts.

After voting, make sure you stop over at DriveThruRPG and grab one of our many adventures while they are in sale for only $5. This sale lasts only a few more days do head over there now.

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Pathfinder 1e: Dark Soldier

Image by Matt Bulahao

The dark folk have not gotten much love. These underground dark reflections of the humanoid races rarely held the spotlight. So I am going to work to fix that. Below is a new entry into the society of of the dark folk, the dark soldier. These fighting legions keep their people safe from the greater dangers of the underground world, be they monstrous in origin or other humanoids. While open warfare is a rarity among the dark folk, dark soldiers frequently serve as body guards for the dark guildmasters protecting them from assassination attempts.

If you need more darkness-themed monsters in your game, check out the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane, on sale now at DriveThruRPG. Check out all of JBE’s Pathfinder 1e titles while they are 40% off their regular price at DriveThruRPG. Download now.

Dark Soldier CR/HD 3

Init +1; Perception +8 (see in darkness)
Size Medium; Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 17 (touch 12, flat-footed 15); Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2; CMD 18
hp 40
Weakness light blindness

Attacks

Melee 2 short swords +6 (1d6+4/17–20)
Ranged dagger +4 (1d4+8/19–20)
Attack Options critical striker, poison use, stun attack (Fort DC 7, stunned for 1 round, success negates); CMB +6

Statistics

Utility Spells at will—darkness, detect magic
Str +4, Dex +1, Con +2; Intimidate +11, Perception +8, Stealth +8
XP 800; CN humanoid (dark folk)

Special Abilities

Death Throes (Su) When a dark soldier is slain, its body combusts in a flash of bright white light, leaving its gear in a heap on the ground. All creatures within a 10-foot burst must make a DC 12 Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d6 rounds. Other creatures of the dark folk subtype within 10 feet are blinded for 1 round on a successful saving throw, due to their light blindness. The save is Constitution-based.

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Pathfinder: Grave Hulk

Grave Hulk by Eric Quigley

It is another Shadowsfall Friday. Today, we bring you a monster straight from the brain of Richard Moore. He wrote this one for his home game sent it over to me to send off to you. If you use it in your game, buy him a drink if you see him at a convention.

As always you can find more awesome monsters like this for your game in the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane at the JBE Shop, DriveThruRPG, Paizo, and the Open Gaming Store.

Grave Hulk CR/HD 9

Init –2; Perception +17 (darkvision 60 ft.)
Size Large (10 ft.); Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 25 (touch 14, flat-footed 19); Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +10; CMD 29
hp 126

Attacks

Melee 2 claws (reach 10 ft.) +17/+17 (2d6+15)
Attack Options (DC 16) awesome blow, energy explosion (1/day, 20-ft. radius, 1d6+9 slashing); CMB +15

Statistics

Str +7, Dex –2, Con —, Int —, Cha +4
XP 6,400; NE undead

Special Abilities

Absorb Corpse (Su) As a move action, a grave hulk can grab the body of an unconscious Medium-sized or smaller living creature at less than 0 current hp, automatically dealing claw damage to it. If the creature dies from this blow, the grave hulk absorbs its body into its form, gaining 4 temporary hit points per hit die of the absorbed creature.

A grave hulk is formed from dozens of dead bodies, their putrefying flesh and bone twisted by necromantic magic into a vaguely humanoid form that stands some ten feet tall. It reshapes its body as it moves, manifesting new claws and limbs seemingly at random and even discharging bone shards in destructive showers when surrounded by foes.

Although a grave hulk can be made out of approximately 25 corpses via create greater undead, most grave hulks either occur naturally in areas suffused with extreme levels of negative energy or are constructed in rituals that profane the culture or religion of the dead whose bodies will comprise the creature.

In combat, a grave hulk prefers to use its awesome blow in conjunction with its superior reach to keep foes at bay, instinctively discharging its energy explosion ability whenever three or more enemies are within its radius of effect. It is not smart enough to distinguish friend from foe in most cases, however, so poorly-worded instructions from its master could have disastrous consequences for a novice necromancer who attempts to control one.

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Pathfinder: Kytons

Like all outsiders, kytons do not feed on the same food as humans. That does not mean they do not need to consume something to sustain their existence. For devils, it is despair. Any type of despair will do but they particularly love the aroma of despair from oppression. If a soul they take for their own gives up and accepts that there is no escape from Hell, they feed upon that despair. That is their food. Which is why devils work so hard to make someone give up and accept the terrible situation around them instead of fighting to change it. For azatas, it is joy. They feast upon the child-like joy and wonder of a soul experiencing a place for the first time. This is why the chaotic good plane constantly sprouts new flowers and features an ever-changing landscape, perfect for adventure.

Kytons feed upon willful surrender. They love someone that willingly accepts pain. These outsiders will never remove the ability for a soul to not accept the pain they offer because a forced surrender taints the taste of that surrender to them, making it unpalatable to them. So the pain they offer is pleasurable to those that give of themselves willingly. This differs from devils in that a devil always aims to outmaneuver their target, so they have no choice but to give in to a devil; such actions are an anathema to a kyton. The chainclad want that sweet taste of willingness.

Below are some of the images of kytons of Shadowsfall. Some of these will be in the upcoming campaign for Shadowsfall while others will be in a a future Shadowsfall monster book.

Below is a whelp kyton, one of the lowest form of kytons in existence. Its eyes are not under a blindfold as many believe. It keeps what humans would consider eyes closed until it uses its unnerving gaze where the target sees itself in a similar position of voluntary servitude as the whelp. The chain it wears around its neck attacks anyone that attack it. Additionally, the chain lifts it off the ground by the neck when it needs to fly. It carries out small jobs that are beneath the status of more powerful kytons. For all this, it gets to feed upon the willing submission from those that kneel to its master.

Kyton, Whelp CR/HD 2

Init +1; Perception +7 (darkvision 60 ft.)
Size Tiny; Speed 15 ft., fly 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 14 (touch 12, flat-footed 12); Fort +1, Ref +1, Will +5; CMD 12; Concentration +5
hp 20; DR 5/good or silver; Immune cold, fear effects

Attacks

Melee chain +3 (1d8+3), 2 claws –2(1d6+1)
Attack Spells (DC 13 + spell level) 1/day—inflict light wounds, scare
Attack Options unnerving gaze (30 ft., DC 13, shaken for 1 round); CMB –1

Statistics

Utility Options alertness, telepathy 60 ft.
Dex +1, Int +2, Cha +3; Bluff +10, Escape Artist +7, Fly +7, Perception +7, Perform (act) +10, Sense Motive +10, Stealth +10,
XP 600; LE Outsider (kyton)

Be sure to download all our Pathfinder books at the JBE Shop, DriveThruRPG, Paizo, and the Open Gaming Store.

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Pathfinder: The Undead of Shadowsfall

Last week, we announced that we are creating our own setting known as Shadowsfall. It is a worlds where a lich tried to take over the world, killed the sun goddess, and was destroyed by the other gods. Here, you are a survivor fighting for the living in the aftermath of all that. Nine out of every ten creatures are undead and more than half of them are mindless.

So saying that undead feature prominently in any Shadowsfall game is an understatement. With the survivors either in protected cities, living near some fortification to retreat there when the undead hordes come close, or wandering the wastelands hunting for food and slaying small groups of walking corpses they encounter, seeing a zombie or skeleton here is as common as seeing a goblin, kobold, or orc in a standard fantasy setting. Today I just want to take a few moments and share with you some of the undead creatures that “live” in this land of poor sunlight. Long time fans of JBE will recognize these pieces as being from the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane.

You can also see some of the other walking corpses like the orc skeletal champion and a ravager wolf. Today, however, we’re going to share with you the stat block for the unquiet giant. This big brute is jovial in the way it smashes everything in its sight. Its a fun monster to have wandering around.

Unquiet Giant CR/HD 13

Init +0; Perception +17 (darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision)
Size Huge; Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 30 (touch 16, flat-footed 23); Fort +14, Ref +14, Will +14; CMD 35 (39 vs bull rush)
hp 198; DR 15/slashing; Immune undead immunities
Weakness easily distracted

Attacks

Melee greatclub +22/+17/+12 (3d8+23) or 2 slams +22 (3d6+25)
Ranged spirit stone +16/+11/+6 (28)
Attack Options improved combat maneuver, rock throwing (120 ft.), stun attack (13/day, Fort DC 14); CMB +26 (+30 bull rush)

Statistics

Str +9, Con —, Wis +4, Cha +6; Climb +21, Intimidate +17, Perception +17
XP 25,600; CE undead (giant)

Special Abilities

Easily Distracted (Ex) Although it is immune to all mind-affecting spells and spell-like abilities, an unquiet giant is highly susceptible to mundane distraction. At the start of its turn, it must succeed a DC 15 Wisdom check to fight normally. If it fails, it attacks a random creature within its reach.
Spirit Stone (Su) An unquiet giant imbues every stone it throws with the essence of its final battle, flying unwaveringly, and even veering to follow its target. An unquiet giant uses its Charisma bonus instead of its Dexterity bonus to its attack rolls when throwing rocks. All rocks thrown in this manner are considered to be magic weapons for purposes of damage reduction.

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Pathfinder: Orc Skeletal Champion

Image by Eric Quigley

We’re bringing you our Pathfinder blog this week on Monday instead of Friday like usual since last week was the GM’s Day Sale that occupied us. This week we are bringing you an orc skeletal champion. To make this one, we had to write a skeletal champion graft. We will be sure to include it in a future Pathfinder 1e monster book we create. We are after all first and foremost monster designers and making new monster books is something we can hardly stop ourselves from doing. We move creating these baddies so much that we just have to share them with you. Anyways, we hop you enjoy this monster in your game.

Be sure to check out all our Pathfinder books at the JBE Shop, DriveThruRPG, Paizo, the Open Gaming Store, Amazon, and Noble Knight Games.

Orc Skeletal Champion CR/HD 4

Init +7; Perception +12 (darkvision 60 ft.)
Size Medium; Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 19 (touch 13, flat-footed 16); Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +5; CMD 20
hp 44; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune cold, undead immunities
Weakness light sensitivity
Defensive Options channel resistance +4

Attacks

Melee +1 scimitar +8 (1d6+13/18–20)
Ranged composite (+4) longbow +6 (1d8+9/x3)
Attack Options combat reflexes, create spawn, power attack; CMB +8

Statistics

Str +4, Dex +3, Con —, Wis +1; Climb +12, Intimidate +9, Perception +12
XP 1,200; CE undead (orc) fighter

Special Abilities

Combat Reflexes (Ex) Orc skeletal champion can make up to 5 attacks of opportunity each round and can make attacks of opportunity when flat-footed,
Create Spawn (Su) Any creature killed by the orc skeletal champion rises as a skeleton in 1d4 days and is under the command of the orc skeletal champion. The orc skeletal champion can have up to 10 skeletons under its command at once.
Power Attack (Ex) Orc skeletal champion’s scimitar attack changes to +6 (1d6+22/18–20)

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Pathfinder RPG: Carrion Bug

Last week, I write my first Pathfinder monster in quite some time and I remember how much I enjoy doing it. In fact you might even say I caught the “bug” again. So I couldn’t help myself and I created another one.

The image that caught my eye this week is a bug eating a long decomposing corpse. Naturally my first thought was to Shadowsfall with how useful this would be. Humans and other intelligent living creatures
would want to keep these guys around since they could be useful in devouring zombies and making sure their own fallen do not rise again as undead. Yet they would still be a problem, eating the things that eat the things that eat the things that become food for the players. So even if the forces of the living wanted them around, they would still need to keep their numbers under control. So thinning their numbers would be a solid low level adventure.

If you like this monster, please let us know in the comments below and take a look our other monster books here at JonBrazer.com, DriveThruRPG, Paizo, and the Open Gaming Store.

Carrion Bug CR/HD 1/2

Init +0; Perception +2 (darkvision 60 ft.)
Size Small; Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 13 (touch 12, flat-footed 12); Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0; CMD 12
hp 11

Attacks

Melee bite +1 (1d4+1 plus disease)
Attack Options (DC 9) disease (onset 1d3 days, frequency 1/day, effect 1 point of Con damage, cure 1 save); CMB –1

Statistics

Utility Options mindless
Dex +1, Con +3, Int —, Wis +2
XP 200; N Vermin

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Pathfinder: Ravager Wolf

I mentioned last month that we at JBE decided to continue with Pathfinder 1e support. Having said that, we decided to not continue on as business as usual. Since Paizo will be ending support for PF1 soon, we no longer feel the need to continue on in their footsteps; we want to do things our way. One of those ways is that we do not care for the core Bestiary monster creation rules. Personally, I never followed them. If anything, I did them backwards from the way the Bestiary described them. So all our monsters from here out will be using the Pathfinder Unchained monster rules. Today being Friday, I decided to make one for fun. Let me introduce you to the Ravager Wolf.

First a little background. The artwork was originally intended for the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane, however, we cut it for space. I always liked this image of a wolf with its guts cut out and felt bad we never used it. So today I am creating a monster around this image. The ravagers are corpses of animals that are consumed by the darkness and are reanimated into unlife. Each is more vicious than their mundane counterparts as they suffer from a constant hunter and an unquenchable desire to feed. Even worse, as they get more powerful, they get more intelligent. This one here is one of the weaker ones as well as one of the most commonly encountered. These creatures are without mercy and will attack as soon as see an opportunity.

Be sure to follow the JBE blog since we will be posting more monsters and other options while we are working on new Pathfinder 1e projects. Also, be sure to tell you friends that we at JBE are working on some awesome Pathfinder projects. We need your help in letting everyone know that plans to stick with 1e PFRPG that we are here for them.

We hope you enjoy this monster.

Ravager Wolf CR/HD 3

Init +5; Perception +11 (darkvision 60 ft., scent)
Size Medium; Speed 30 ft.

Defenses

AC 17 (touch 12, flat-footed 12); Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +4; CMD 18
hp 33; Immune undead immunities

Attacks

Melee bite +6 (1d12+4 plus bleed), 2 claws +1(1d4+2)
Attack Options bleed (1d6, DC 15 or any magical healing); CMB +6

Statistics

Str +4, Dex +1, Con —, Wis +2; Climb +8, Perception +11, Survival +8
XP 800; CE undead

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