I've just finished my first pass on the Grimwild Bestiary chapter, so I'm dropping it here for everyone to check out, use, and give some feedback on! It is available at the bottom of this post in the backer exclusive section, which you can also access by late backing.
The bestiary assumes that you're somewhat familiar with most of these monsters, serving largely as a refresher on them as it goes over their main tropes and shows how they might be structured as challenges. I also toss in plenty of details to paint the scene (like colors, sights, sounds, and smells) and expand upon each monster or give some ideas on working them into the fiction with a set of motivations (wants/hates) and a table of options below each monster.
It's just under 100 monsters, each with plot hooks, random tables, and more. Also, many of them have expanded entries comprising entire quests or vastly expanding on variant options for them. Check out the PDF (attached in the backers Exclusive Content below)!
Many of the monsters have some of my own tastes and ideas involved, especially some of the more straightforward ones. I took quite a bit of creative liberty to add some spice. Remember that none of it is canon or rules—Grimwild isn't a setting and the monsters are just piles of fiction to drop into your game, where you can map it back to rules with the system. You can tinker around and change things as you like. It all finds its way back to rules with ease.
Please keep in mind that this has not been proofread and I will be going back through and cleaning up clunky wording next week. I just finished getting everything into layout and wanted to get it out in front of you all. I'm working on finishing the Scenarios and Exploration chapters now, then will be going back through for a final edit to wrap up the writing!
Leave comments here of course, or have a back-and-forth for detailed feedback on our Discord. I'm around there pretty much all the time and people have been setting up games. Come get involved!
For those not already backing, late backing will be closing at the end of October which should also signal the wrapping up of the writing. It'll quickly move on to proofing and sensitivity reading, then off to test prints. Remember that there are no plans for the offset print edition to be put up for purchase later.
Hop on board and get to fighting Liches and Zombies like the heroes below!
