I had the pleasure last week of reading an “extended preview” of A Folklore Bestiary presented by Knock! Magazine and The Merry Mushmen. There are actually two versions, D&D 5e and Old School Essentials (OSE). The Kickstarter runs through July 28, 2022 (6:00 AM CDT) and has already been funded – 10 times over! There are pledge options to get one or both versions. Tiers range from €15 (one 5e or OSE PDF) to €115 (two hardbacks and one PDF of each version), plus a €220 Retailer-only level. (As of this writing the Euro and US dollar are roughly equivalent.) Unlike many RPG Kickstarters, there are no stretch goals.
As I wrote above, this preview was a pleasure to read. Also to look at, with beautiful art. Folklore lovers might want to get in on this Kickstarter just for the imaginative takes on tales from a variety of cultures. The extended preview (42 pages out of 160 final page count) included entries based on English, Basque Country, Serbian, German, French, Flemish, and Brazillian folklore, all but two of them unfamiliar to me – although the editor assures me I will recognize more in the published edition. Although it is titled as bestiary, the writers didn’t limit themselves to animals and monsters. I met several not too nice (most of the time anyway) people, and even a Hell-bound carriage. Friendly warning: as anyone who has read the original Brothers Grimm might guess, these are often not just creepy but downright gruesome. Sound ideal for Halloween Game Night?
Entries are several pages long and have a lot of information. Each starts with the country/region it is from and phonetic pronunciation (for non-English names). There aren’t just descriptions, either. Some have a retelling of the tale; others have one or more vignettes describing encounters with the creature/person/thing. The latter take many forms – a prisoner interrogation transcript, or two very different meetings with the same entity were the most memorable to me.
Don’t worry, DMs, each entry has a lot of resources to help you plan a session, or an entire arc centering on it. All include statblocks for the appropriate version, with a lot of unique abilities plus several adventure hooks. Some of the hooks are designed for your players to work for, not against, the entity – will you help The Devil, in disguise, find his lost pupper? Some also include maps. There’s a map of the innards of the world’s biggest, scariest snail. Yes, it’s big enough to be a small dungeon. But, ICK!
I am really looking forward to seeing the complete A Folklore Bestiary upon release. I think you will too.
Linda Whitson
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