Monday, August 21, 2023

Review & Commentary On Book of Lost Beasts By Joseph Bloch From BRW Games For Adventures Dark And Deep Rpg & Other OSR Games

 "Nearly 200 new monsters for your old-school campaign!" 


From the massive prehistoric ambelodon to the terrifying plague zombie, within these pages you'll find a bevy of new monsters to use in your campaign. There are angels, bladegrass, undead dragons, rakshasa nobles, and much more! Creatures found in dungeons, wilderness, the prehistoric past, the sea, and even alien planes of existance are within." 

Joseph Bloch's  Book of Lost Beasts was a present from my wife last year for our anniversary. It was on the review pile and then with Wizards of the Coast's OGL debacle 'The Book of Lost Beasts' got put on the back burner of the review pile. But I'm determined to get this review done! 'The Book of Lost Beasts' is a really nice addition to the grand edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition style games. 'The Book of Lost Beasts' follows the Monster Manual I & II school of layout and stat blocks but cleaner. She comes in at 132 pages of old school monster filled horror to inflict on your players.



Personally, my wife invested in "The Book of Lost Beasts" because it works with old school Advanced Dungeons & Dragons or with a little tweak Troll Lords Castles & Crusades with a collection of 205 monsters. Now what "The Book of Lost Beasts" does is to help fill in some of the gaps found within the Monster Manual I&II. And what makes it useful is the fact it helps to fill in some of the ranks of monsters from Jeff Grub's Manual of Planes. Because 'The Book of Lost Beasts' gives us something  new are the ranks of nobility of the Dao, Djinn, Effrti, Madrid, and Rakasha.


































What makes "The Book of Lost Beasts" worth the price of admission is the fact that there are  205 or so monsters that  are  followed by appendices on Treasure Types and a random Creature for the Lower Planes generator. These remind me of  the ones found in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide again all in line with Jeff Grubb's Manual of the Planes. And many of the articles of the planes found in Dragon magazine. But is the "The Book of Lost Beasts" worth the price of admission?! In a word, yes the quality and care for the book is there. "The Book of Lost Beasts" is a perfect book to add into your archives for running OSR games. 

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