A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Rappan Athuk Bestiary (S&W)

Rappan Athuk Bestiary (S&W) by John Stater, Gary Schotter and Jeff Harkness is a role playing game supplement published by Frog God Games for use with Swords & Wizardry. 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 also available in a version for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

The supplement is available from DriveThruRPG as a 17-page PDF for $4.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and one the Open Game License.

A Monster for All Occasions explains that, after converting Rappan Athuk, the dungeon felt large enough in and of itself (which it is), but the new monsters found in the dungeon could also be used in other settings, and that’s what this supplement intends to do.

Following this are the monsters themselves. There are 27 monsters described, with a number of subtypes as well. Each monster, and their subtype, if appropriate, is statted, described and then followed by at least one, and in some cases more, adventure hook that can be used to integrate the monster into a setting.

Rappan Athuk Bestiary (S&W) in Review

The PDF is decently bookmarked with every monster linked, though not the subsections. Navigation is pretty good. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are no illustrations. Presentation is plain.

This is simply a bestiary, though the adventure hooks are a very nice addition. The monsters themselves do not always originate in Rappan Athuk, as a number are included from other sources, such as The Tome of Horrors, and in some cases are from earlier sources than that, back to the early days of D&D. Rappan Athuk Bestiary (S&W) is a decent little bestiary with useful adventure hooks and it can be found by clicking here.