A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Moat Monsters: A Sourcebook for OGL RPGs

Moat Monsters: A Sourcebook for OGL RPGs is a role playing game supplement published by Skirmisher Publishing for use with OGL games. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 14-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $1.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter, one the Open Game License and on is an ad.

The Introduction explains that moats are frequently an integral part of the defences for cities and castles in a fantasy setting and are usually filled with water. Though moats were effective in the real world, in a fantasy one where magic exists, they are not as effective. Moats could be filled with different materials and energies and populated with monsters. It also discusses some other things that could be used in moats and how large they might be.

The bulk of the supplement is taken up by new monsters; it states that although undead are not specifically discussed, undead versions of the monsters could be found around the castles of appropriate beings such as necromancers.

Nineteen different monsters are then covered. There are a lot of elemental monsters and, unlike what might be expected, they are not all water-based; explanations are given as to why each elemental would be present and the fire elemental being needs a moat filled with flames.

Moat Monsters: A Sourcebook for OGL RPGs in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with the major sections linked. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of old stock black and white and colour images. Presentation is okay.

Though the supplement states it’s for use with OGL games, in truth it is suited for OSR games rather than anything more recent. The monster format is an older one and would require a lot of conversion to use in anything from D&D 3.x onwards, including Pathfinder; it’s stated in the supplement that it’s suited for Basic/Labyrinth Lord. The monster collection is pretty imaginative; there are a wide variety of types, even with a lot of elementals, and they function for different roles. Moat Monsters: A Sourcebook for OGL RPGs is a decent little bestiary and it can be found by clicking here.