A Folklore Bestiary: RPG Book Review

Part "Three and a Half" of the TTRPG toolkit books I'd want with me if I were stuck on a desert island and wanted to run an RPG: A Folklore Bestiary.
This is a book of monsters taken from the folklore of Europe, Asia, and North America, focusing on cultures that are often under-represented in traditional monster books, such as the Basque region, Serbia, and even Northern California. Each monster comes with multiple hooks to integrate them into an adventure, and fun tables of extras such as hair style, names, curses, loot, and more. Two of the creatures are turned into races/classes available for PCs. The book is available in two versions: One for 5E, and one for Old School Essentials or other classic era fantasy adventure games.
0:00 Introduction
0:41 Selection Criteria
0:50 Part 1: Tome of Adventure Design
0:54 Part 2: KNOCK! Magazine
1:00 Part 3: Veins of the Earth
1:28 Overview
11:19 Monster Overhaul
15:07 The Monsters Know What They're Doing
16:38 Wrap-Up
BUY A FOLKLORE BESTIARY
Old School Essentials Version: www.themerrymushmen.com/produ...
5E D&D Version: www.themerrymushmen.com/produ...
BUY THE OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO
Monster Overhaul (PDF): www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
(Print version should be available June 2023)
The Monsters Know What They're Doing: www.amazon.com/Monsters-Know-...
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[@nicklarocco4178]

It's a great book. Anything to help get out of the rut of monsters waiting in a room of a dungeon just to fight is good. I love having weird and whimsical "monsters" that are more of a puzzle than just a fight.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Yes, this is it exactly! I really appreciate you watching and commenting! Your support has been amazing!

[@solomonstillthebest5737]

Hello, I stumbled on this channel just yesterday or so. I was searching for videos on the history, or rather, the meta-history, of Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and I discovered your ongoing series about the history of dungeons and dragons. Your videos are exactly the kind of thing I was searching for. Most videos I found would talk about the history of Eberron from the perspective of, like, the three dragons, etc, but what I'm after was, like, when Eberron was added into the dungeons and dragons universe, what inspired it, and what the game as a whole gained from it. I was very, very pleased to discover your video on Greyhawk and I've marathoned your "history of" videos. They're really interesting and told from the perspective of someone whose clearly been playing this game for decades. I love your very low-tech set up and unscripted approach to the material, it's like i'm watching a lecture in University about the history of the game. If it was slick and edited and tightly scripted it would lose something, I feel. I was disappointed to see your channel has only just started up and thus you haven't yet gotten to many of the subjects I would want to hear about but I'll definitely be listening to it with great interest going forward. Keep making your videos, please! Also, love the user name. Fun fact, I started researching DnD because I'm planning to introduce my kids to it this coming weekend! Wish me luck.

[@daddyrolleda1]

This comment really made my day! Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to write such a detailed and inspired comment. It really helps to know what people do and don't like. I've been quite anxious about my lack of technical skill and the fact that I don't write out a script for my videos but speak off the cuff when recording. My "low tech" set-up is definitely VERY low tech! But I'm very glad you appreciate it! Please do let me know what topics you'd like to see me cover, but your example about Eberron is exactly the kind of thing I'm doing on this channel - I'd talk about the context of the setting in the history of the game, not the "in-world" history of the setting. Also, so glad to hear you're introducing your kids to the game! Fantastic! Are you using 5E or a different edition? And, if I may ask, how old are your kids? I have a 13 year-old daughter and I started a campaign for her and her friends about 2.5 years ago. I've been thinking about recording some videos wherein I talk about how I run her game, the decisions I made on what edition to run, what adventure to play, how I modify things to fit my DM style, challenges I've encountered with the group and how I adapted to them, and that kind of thing. Is that something you'd be interested in? Also, if you use Twitter, there's a group on Twitter where we use the #TTRPGParent hashtag to chat about games with kids, and also a really fantastic resource is twitter.com/TTRPGkids (they also have a website). Cheers, and thanks again!

[@jonothanthrace1530]

3:06 I like how the book tried to crawl away for a moment, gave me a laugh. I also like the sun-faded look of the OSE edition, it makes it seem a bit more authentic to the old-school experience.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting! So, that "book crawling away" happened because I bumped into my set-up that I've hacked in order to be able to record these videos with my phone. It is not at all sturdy so the slightest bump makes everything shake!

[@douglasaustin7532]

Great review of these books. I love reading lore about monsters. Creatures from folklore are fascinating to me. I agree with having background on the creatures to spur adventure ideas. I’ll definitely check out the Folklore Bestiary. .

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you so much for watching and for commenting, yet again. And, I really like that you were excited enough to check out the book. I'm really glad I could introduce you to it! Cheers!

[@paavohirn3728]

Looks great! All of those but especially the folklore one. Thanks for sharing!

[@daddyrolleda1]

You're very welcome! And, thank you for watching and commenting! I really appreciate it!

[@normalstupid]

The folklore book sounded fun, but the other two blew my mind! My games often end up, like you say, "roll to hit", "miss", "roll again", "hit"! So I am going to invest in these and make my combat a lot more fun for all involved!

[@daddyrolleda1]

That's fantastic! I love hearing that, and that something I like is helping others with their games. Thank you for watching, and for commenting to let me know. Cheers and Happy Gaming!

[@TTRPGkids_Steph]

The Folklore one, in particular, has such a vibe to it with the artwork - I like that it comes with a few characters (I imagine that's really good for testing out encounters before running with players), and all those details being story-based are really cool.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you, Steph! AND... unlike KNOCK! Magazine (which I do love), this one is "family friendly." KNOCK! has a few f-bombs and such in it, whereas "A Folklore Bestiary" does not have anything controversial in it at all. And it's a great learning tool to be educated on folklore beyond standard Greek/Norse/German stuff that so much of D&D is based on.

[@redwyrmofficial]

That is some truly evocative and stunning artwork.

[@ryannilsson7955]

Great video, Martin! Very helpful as a purchasing guide.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that feedback. Cheers!

[@johnfielder2064]

looks like a great, love books with more folklore in them

[@daddyrolleda1]

It really is a fun book. I like all the stories behind the various creatures and where they come from. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@beargenxgm]

Thank you for this! I've been wanting to pick it up, but the price was prohibitive for it. Looking forward to watching 😀

[@daddyrolleda1]

I hope you enjoy it when you see it! I contributed to the Kickstarter so the cost was, I think, a bit lower than it is now. And of course, that International Shipping can be quite expensive!

[@MrChasanDayve]

I have to say that all three of these books look like they'd improve my collection no end. I especially love the folklore one, it is both beautiful and incredibly detailed. Thank you for all your hard work.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank YOU for your support. I sincerely appreciate it. I definitely really enjoy "A Folklore Bestiary" and I'm also really looking forward to getting a print copy of "Monster Overhaul." The more I flip through the PDF, the more I see that I like. I just don't really enjoy reading PDFs - I work on a screen all day for my job, and the last thing my eyes want at the end of the day is looking at yet another screen to read!

[@davezenz]

Solid review. Thank you!

[@daddyrolleda1]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@Lightmane]

Looks like a cool book. I like the way it's laid out too.

[@daddyrolleda1]

The layout is really nice. I do wish they could've figured out how to make sure each monster was on a single two-page spread to eliminate flipping, but there's too much content for that. But that's a minor quibble - the page layout itself is excellent.

[@RuiSaltao]

Great suggestions!

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like that! I take it you were familiar with all of these already? I am really looking forward to the print version of Monster Overhaul. I'm an old guy and my eyes get tired reading PDFs on screens!

[@RuiSaltao]

@@daddyrolleda1 not really in the spirit of dessert island books, but perhaps a recommendation for people introducing their kids to the game and the lore: The Monsters & Creatures Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons): A Young Adventurer's Guide This is coming out in August. The other books in the collection were a success over here. Questing Beast has a review here on KZbin if you're curious.

[@daddyrolleda1]

I have had good things about the younger skewing books in the D&D line for kids. Sounds really fun!

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

If I’m remembering correct it’s A5. A4 is the analogy of US Letter, A5 is ½ A4 size. Thats the genius of the system. A1 is the base, every number above is ½ the size of the previous number (again, if I’m remembering correct).

[@daddyrolleda1]

Thank you! I always get confuse because I feel like A5 should be *bigger* than A4, but then I remembered that A4 was the size of the smaller one, and I fumbled over in in the description but didn't want to have to re-record it again!

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

@@daddyrolleda1 I do the same.

[@estelaplateada4]

Small correction: Skerples did not do the art for Veins of the Earth, that was ScrapPrincess. Skerples has written several adventures and books in the OSR: Tomb of the Serpent Kings, Kidnap the Archpriest, Magical Murder Mansion, Magical Industrial Revolution

[@daddyrolleda1]

Darn it! I *KNEW* that! I got it correct in my review of "Veins of the Earth." I'm not sure why I messed it up while making this video. Going too fast, I guess. Thanks for catching that. I'm not sure if there's a way I can fix it without re-recording and re-uploading the entire video. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!

[@estelaplateada4]

@@daddyrolleda1 I think it's fine, mistakes happen, and sorry myself for being pedantic. Keep up the fantastic videos!

[@daddyrolleda1]

Sorry for the delay here - sometimes the system doesn't seem to show me replies so I'm finding I've missed a few. In any event, I didn't think you were being pedantic at all! You correct me, rightly so, but in a nice way without being critical or offensive. No worries at all - and thank you so much for your support!

[@MrRourk]

Need Folk Magic of the Haven Isles to go with it.

[@daddyrolleda1]

It is on my list! I saw a review of that, and it looks like a really great book! Thanks for the reminder!

[@surflovingtattooedhorrorfan]

Can it work w/ 3.0/3.5 or Pathfinder? Also shared to my FB&Twitter

[@daddyrolleda1]

I cannot thank you enough for sharing this! It really means a lot to me! I saw your tweet like mere seconds after I'd posted my video! I'd say if you want to use the book with 3.X or Pathfinder (1E) that you'd be better off getting the 5E version and tweaking it. 5E is *supposed* to be backwards compatible with previous editions and I think a lot of it could work "as is." The main things you'd have to adjust are the Saving Throws, as 3.X/PF uses the Fort-Reflex-Will whereas 5E saves are based on all 6 ability scores. There's also the concept of bounded accuracy in 5E which is complicated to explain in a mere comment, but the gist is that 5E was scaled down in terms of power level whereas 3.X/PF let bonuses continue to accrue as high as they could go. All that said, if I wanted to use one of these as a DM of a 3.X/PF game, I'd just use it as is and adjust it on the fly if it seemed too powerful or not powerful enough. But then again, I'm lazy when it comes to converting things between editions and usually don't bother!