Players of D&D fifth edition and Numenera (Cypher System) will once again get to cross the streams with Monte Cook Games’ latest tabletop RPG sourcebook, Beasts of Flesh and Steel. The sourcebook is a collection of freaky and fascinating creatures that work with both the fifth edition of the world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying game and Monte Cook’s previously-released Arcana of the Ancients sourcebook.
Beasts of Flesh and Steel (BFS) - as Arcana of the Ancients did - brings you a “fantastic assortment of science-fantasy creatures born in the Ninth World.” Designed and written by Bruce R. Cordell and Sean K. Reynolds, the sourcebook has 192 pages (hardcover and PDF) featuring 140 creatures that are a curious and grotesque mix of muscle and metal, meat and mechanics - you get the picture. The Challenge Ratings (CRs) for these monstrosities range from one to twenty-five and are fitting for a strict fifth edition fantasy game, a sole Cypher System game, or a game that combines the stylings of each into a single campaign.
There are a few creatures from the sourcebook shown on the announcement blog post and in a small gallery with the product on the Monte Cook Games webstore. Some look not unlike what you’d expect to see in a given D&D game. There’s a humanoid creature with troll-like skin and three (or four?) eyes wearing a green cloak and hood. But then, there’s another creature with a blue alligator-type body with six legs and what seems to be a giant pair of wire cutters for a head. There’s also a giant green-and-yellow crab-like creature that seems to have grown into a piece of - spaceship (?) - and now carries that around on its back. If you’ve played the video game Torment: Tides of Numenera (and you should!), you’ll probably recognize the [SPOILER ALERT] creature called a Nychthemeron you encountered in Circus Minor [END SPOILER ALERT]. Its stats are in the BFS sourcebook, so you can now unleash it on your own unsuspecting party.
The creature artwork in the BFS sourcebook is outstanding, as expected from a Monte Cook product, as is the simple and easy-to-read page layout and creature stat blocks. There is a free 16-page PDF preview available for you to download and get a closer look at some of what’s in the sourcebook.
You can preorder the Beast of Flesh and Steel sourcebook now from the Monte Cook webstore for $44.99.
Source: Beast of Flesh and Steel