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Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm for Pathfinder Second Edition

Created by J. Evans Payne

The largest, most ambitious fantasy RPG bestiary ever conceived: 6,400 complete statblocks of 1,600 monsters, for Pathfinder 2E/5E/P1E.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Final Day!
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 23, 2019 at 09:11:53 PM

Hi all!  We're funded, woo-hoo, and I couldn't me more stoked about things.  

In the final day or two, typically I get inundated with questions and last-minute requests, and I'll do my best today and tomorrow to ensure I get back to each and every interested party.

Here's a rough collection of tidbits from recent communications that might help a broader audience:

News, Clarifications, and FAQs:

  • New Pledge Level: "Digital Resource File ONLY": Some backers are interested in the DRF add-on, but already are entitled to the ABRE.  I've added this pledge level to make it convenient for those folks to pledge and get what they want as cheaply as possible.
  • ABRE, P1E, Volume 5 is published and now available in PDF format on DriveThruRPG.  I will have Volume 6 completed early next month, and by Thanksgiving, I'll have started full heads-down on the 5E and P2E editions.
  • "5E:" This does indeed mean Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.  :)
  • OSRIC: You can add this on for $50 now, or via BackerKit survey following the campaign.  Your choice, same price.
  • Stretch Goals: I don't plan on any for this campaign.  It's already 1,600 monsters and I have enough of a backlog of work already, so I think the product as-is is in good shape.  :)

Onward!

New Add-On: OSRIC Hardcover
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 23, 2019 at 09:11:01 PM

The pledge levels mention the OSRIC Edition of the Bestiary, but no real further description of this is included anywhere in the campaign.  Sorry about that omission!

In addition to the P1E, 5E, and P2E editions of the Bestiary, I will be producing OSRIC and Warscale editions.  (Warscale is another beast altogether of my own design; please dive into the murky detail of the FTEG SAT campaign for some info on the Warscale Unit Bestiary.)

While the PDF of the OSRIC edition is included as described, a few backers have asked for the hardcover.

I believe I can fit the 1,600 monsters / 6,400 statblocks into a single hardcover volume, owing to the massive difference in complexity and detail in the OSRIC format.  A $50 add-on gets you the hardcover once it's completed.

I've updated the campaign description to include this, and the Digital Resource File Add-Ons.


Onward!

Final Days & New Add-On
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 23, 2019 at 09:09:52 PM

Hi folks!  We're getting toward the end, and I figured I'd do a quick update with a few items of note.

New Add-On: Digital Resource File

Several backers have requested a digital resource file of the content.  I have this completed already, actually, as my mammoth Excel tracker is how I manage the thousands of bits of information about all of this, so generating this is not the problem.

My conundrum is how to structure this so as to make it available to the folks who want it for digital use, but to not sabotage or cannibalize sales or pledges.  I always err on the side of making things available to backers, so I've come up with a solution.

The ABRE Digital Resource File will be a $10/20 add-on: You'll get an Excel file (or CSV, or whatever format floats your boat from an Excel dump) that contains nearly all of the relevant data.  It will not have the full multi-paragraph Feat and Ability descriptions, for example.  But it will have all of the core stats for 6,400 monsters ($20, ABRE) or 1,600 monsters ($10, ABR Abridged).

Hopefully that makes sense... you can add to your pledge amount now, or add it on via BackerKit following the campaign; whatever's easiest for you.

ABRE P1E Progress

  • Volumes 1-4 are completed and published in PDF.  
  • Hardcover editions of Volumes 3 and 4 are awaiting release once I receive the proofs, which should be any day now.
  • I should be completing Volume 5 today, with PDF publication this weekend ideally.
  • Volume 6 may even be finished by Halloween, though that's a long shot :)

Onward!

Funded! Huzzah & Next Steps
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 23, 2019 at 08:29:53 AM

Huzzah!  Many thanks to all who made this campaign successful.

What's Next

  • Kickstarter takes 2 weeks to finalize pledge collection.
  • Then I'll send out BackerKit surveys so you can confirm your shipping address and edition choices where appropriate, and do any Add-Ons you might be interested in.
  • In the meantime, I continue to finalize and publish volumes of the bestiary.  P1E Volume 6 is about 25% complete already and will publish in the next few weeks.

Onward!

Production Update & Master Index Notes
over 4 years ago – Fri, Oct 04, 2019 at 07:20:42 AM

Production Update

The Pathfinder (1E) version of ABRE, Volume 4 is now completed, and will be published shortly.  Churning along at about 2-3 weeks per mammoth 650-700 page volume, which is something I'm incredibly happy with.

Master Index

I've gotten some great suggestions and solid questions about the Master Index, so here are some additional details:

  • It'll be dozens of pages... if it's over 100, I'll likely make it a hardcover, since I adore hardcovers over softcovers.  Maybe I'll make it available in both formats just in case, if there's interest.
  • As a GM myself for 30+ years, my goal with the Master Index is to have it be a one-stop reference
  • That said, the FlexTale Encounter Generator will have even more usefulness, since it will contain not just page references, but encounter tables with contextual probability in the results and so on.

Planned Master Indexes

Here's what I have planned for the Master Index book.  I welcome additional suggestions if there's anything I've left out of here that you might find useful!

Each entry will indicate the monster's location in ALL Bestiary volumes.  Specifically, each entry will contain a Volume and Page # reference (e.g., "v1, p243") for each of the following:

  • ABRE Complete, Pathfinder
  • ABRE Complete, 5E
  • ABRE Complete, P2E
  • ABRE Abridged, Pathfinder (if the monster is in the abridged books)
  • ABRE Abridged, 5E
  • ABRE Abridged, P2E
  • ABRE OSRIC / S&W
  • Warscale Unit Bestiary (see the FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit campaign for more details about Warscale)

Thus far, I have about 73 tables, as follows:

  • All monsters (Complete), alphabetic
  • All monsters (Abridged only), alphabetic
  • By FlexAI Combat Role: One table each for Brutes, Soldiers, Artillery, Skirmishers, Lurkers, Controllers, and Leaders.  7 tables.
  • By Role Variant: One table each for Normal, Minion, Elite, and Solo.  4 tables.
  • By Role AND Variant: One table for each COMBINATION of Role and Variant.  So you'd have one table just for Brute Minions, and another one for Brute Elites, for example.  28 tables.
  • By Alignment and Alignment Component: One table each for Lawful, Evil, Good, Chaotic, NeutralGE, NeutralLG, and each of the 9 individual alignments (LG, LN, LE, NG, TN, NE, CG, CN, and CE).  15 tables.
  • By Terrain: one table each for Underground, Land, Urban, Coast, Any, Planar, Jungle, Swamp, Hills, Plains, Mountain, Forest, Desert, Aquatic, River/Lake, Ocean, and Water.  17 tables.

Since I have everything in a massive Excel tracker anyway, generating this huge horde of tables will actually NOT be as painful as it might seem initially.  :)


Onward!