Reading – Old World Bestiary

NOTE: This is an older review that I have transferred to battlegrip.com as part of my attempt to move my older works to this site. Consolidation, if you will, in the hopes that once I have everything on this site they need never move again. Fingers crossed and all that.

I have never played Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I have played a few games of Warhammer 40k, many years ago, but not once have I taken part in a game of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Also, I haven’t sat in on a game of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay* in the past (almost) two decades. Despite those facts, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay series (specifically, the new second edition line) is a line of roleplaying game books that I’m happy to classify in both the “best I’ve seen” and the “I really want to play this” categories. No other series on the market today holds my attention – or inspires me to play – as much as the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay line does. I feel it’s very important to make it clear, though, that I have never played this version of the game. Maybe I will someday (I hope I will), but, for now, I’m stuck collecting the books and treating them like fiction (reading material) rather than gaming tools.

Enough of that, though, it’s time to stop chattering about my lack of play and take a look at what I’m here to review.

What’s inside?

Billed as “A Compendium of Creatures Fair and Foul,” the Old World Bestiary* (128-pages, hardcover) is so unlike most other roleplaying game books of monsters that it can’t help but stand out as different. So different, in fact, that people unfamiliar with the tone and atmosphere of the setting (easily picked up if you read some of the novels or short stories set in the world) can’t quite grasp the concept of the setting. One review online (which is now no longer available), in fact, goes so far as to try to compare the Old World Bestiary* to the D&D* Monster Manual*; that’s so drastically distant from what the setting is about as to be a laughable comparison. The last thing I get from reading the Warhammer fiction is the idea that a standard dungeoncrawl (move from room to room killing monsters and collecting treasure) belongs anywhere in the setting. For example, the monsters in this book do not include treasure tables because the monsters described are not simple vending machines waiting for a player to shove his sword in the slot and collect the reward. And “monster creation” rules? Not necessary at all. (And besides, p. 78 of the Old World Bestiary* includes boxed text covering “Customizing Monsters,” which is all a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game master should need to get started playing around with monster statistics.)

Enough complaining about what others have to say about the book, though, and let’s get on with my own thoughts about the Old World Bestiary*.

Broken into two chapters (and three appendices), the Old World Bestiary* is cleanly divided into a player’s section and a game master’s section. Starting at the front of the book, with (obviously) Chapter One, players are given insight into numerous monstrous beasts (around fifty total) through what the book’s introduction calls “a transcription of Odric of Wurtbad’s suppressed work Perilous Beasts: A Study of Creatures Fair and Foul.” This first chapter is made up solely of accounts of the creatures described inside – a series of vignettes and (fictional) anecdotes written by people of the Warhammer setting, including some material written from the viewpoint of the monster in question (when appropriate). At over seventy pages in length, this first chapter makes up over half of the book’s 128-pages and, unsurprisingly, is broken down into smaller, more manageable sections (six total). The six sections are:

The Forces of Chaos. From cultists to beastmen and minotaurs to daemons, “The Forces of Chaos” covers the creatures (and misguided humans and humanoids) that have been enthralled and enslaved by the darkness of chaos.

The Greenskin Races. Orcs, goblins, snotlings . . . these and more are classified as “Greenskins” in the Warhammer world. This section of the book has several excellent examples of how much fun the book’s text is to read. A few of the shorter examples (from the Snotlings description) include:

“Just don’t make the mistake of laughing so hard they stab you in the ankle.”

“Look! Humie! Fight it fight it fight it! Jab jab jab! Get it get it get it! Yarrrggg!”

Now please keep in mind that these are very short examples. As a longer sampling of the text from this section (specifically, the entry on Goblins and Night Goblins), please consider this piece (credited to a Karl Glogauer, Holy Hermit):

“They trampled my herb garden, just for sheer devilment. I think they’re worse than Orcs – getting bullied all the time by bigger Greenskins gives them a real vindictive streak. I wanted to run out and show them the error of their ways with my staff, but there were a dozen of them and only one of me so I stayed hid in my cave.”

As you can tell, this is pure “fluff,” flavor designed to give players a better feel for the campaign setting. The entire first chapter of the book, in case I haven’t made this clear enough, is nothing but flavorful text. This is a good thing.

Denizens of Lorien. Creatures found in the forest kingdom of the wood elves, this section covers dryads, treemen, unicorns and warhawks and is one of the shorter subsections of this chapter.

Children of the Horned Rat. Skaven and related creatures are described in this section. While there’s enough material to introduce skaven to your game, the fact that a separate book is out there – titled, appropriately enough, Children of the Horned Rat* – devoted to the skaven means that those game masters with a deep interest in skaven will find this chapter inadequate in comparison to the full book. This isn’t to say that the section is wasted space, only that there’s more in-depth information available. (Which, to be fair, could be said for other sections of this book. It just so happens that as much as I enjoyed reading the Old World Bestiary* I found the Children of the Horned Rat an even better book.)

Brigands and Beasts. This section includes many of the monsters that D&D* fans reading this book will expect to find in a book about monsters. Dragons, ogres, wyverns, giants, harpies – all of these and more are presented. Again, the entries in this section are fun to read and help to convey the feel of the setting. Consider this entry by Old Hobb (a peasant-farmer) about giant spiders:

“Oh yes, I remember the summer when we had the plague of Giant Spiders. No one knows why they swarmed down out of the hills that day, but we was overrun! Most decent folk locked themselves in their root cellars. They trampled on everything and carried off every sheep, goat and pig in the village. I heard tell that they took the mayor’s daughter as well, and her only babe in arms too. Mind you, they said some funny things about him and his goings on. His house got burned down a few years after that, and not by accident neither. Funny business. But like I said, I was no’ but a little’un.”

The Restless Dead. Commonly known as undead, the skeletons, zombies, mummies, vampires, and more in this subsection of the book provide the game master with those creatures we think of most often during the Halloween season (or, for some of us, all year long). According to their entry, zombies like to say “Uuhhhhh.”

Following the monster vignettes and anecdotes is the second chapter, which consists of game information necessary to use the previously described monsters in a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay* campaign. Chapter Two, Creatures of the Old World, is subdivided into five smaller sections.

The Slaughter Margin. Less than a page long, this subsection defines a new entry in the monster statistics found later in the book. According to the book, “The final line of every entry is a benchmark indicator of how dangerous a given creature is, which we’ve taken the liberty of calling the Slaughter Margin.” Think of it as Challenge Ratings with attitude. This is a simple idea, but evocative of the Warhammer attitude and a great addition to monster stats.

Skills & Talents. Nothing more than information on the new skills and talents that appear in the book. Not exciting at all, but useful for those of you who are lucky enough to actually play the game.

Mutations. An expanded mutations table for game masters to use instead of the table in the core rulebook.

Magic. Three new careers.

Creature Descriptions. This is the meat of the game master’s section of the book, brief descriptions of the monsters previously listed (descriptions that will feel more familiar to D&D players) as well as the necessary statistics. The monsters are listed in alphabetical order. Something that would have made this section of the book more useful would have been page references to the information in the first section of the book. This isn’t a huge issue, but it would have been a nice touch.

The book closes with three appendices (Mounts, Animals, and Optional Hit Location Tables) and a two-page index.

The Final Verdict

The Old World Bestiary* is a perfect example of why I think the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay* series is one of the best available in today’s market. In terms of reading material, this is one of the best books in the series that a gamer who is interested in the game – but does not have access to a group of willing players – can buy. As an added bonus, the book is not only fun to read but also beautiful to look at. While all of the art may not be original, it’s all perfectly-suited to carrying the feel of the setting.

Since I do not have experience in playing the game, I can only imagine how useful – and fun – the book would be for someone who actually gets to use it as a gaming resource.

The authors – T.S. Luikart and Ian Sturrock – and developer – Chris Pramas – did a wonderful job and their efforts (combined with the artists, editor, art director – indeed, everyone responsible for the book) resulted in an excellent product. Thank you, guys, for creating a book that I am happy to own.

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