Monsternomicon A D20 System supplement from Privateer Press Rating: (4 ot of 5 hearts)

This high quality book sets a standard against which other d20 products (or even RPG books in general) need to be compared. The presentation and illustrations are superb.

"The Monsternomicon Volume I: Denizens of the Iron Kingdoms" is a compilation of monsters, obviously, and it also begins detailing the "Iron Kingdom" campaign setting. The book is constructed with a background theme; it is the collected work of an adventuring-scholar, a specialist of Extraordinary Zoology. Each one of the more than 80 creatures is introduced by an anecdotal entry by "Professor Viktor Pendrake of the Royal Cygnaran University", followed by game-term descriptions. A "treasure" entry specifies what can typically be found on the creature, such as special weapons, products of its crafts or merchantable body parts. Adventure hooks are suggested for each creature. A little silhouette of the monster next to the silhouette of a human being helps us gauge the creature's size.

A notable particularity of this book is the "Legends & Lore" entry, detailing four degrees of information about each creature. A few sentences describe common, uncommon, rare and obscure knowledge. A section on knowledge skills and research methods suggests ways to put this information in the hands of the players.

Another noteworthy idea is the "Quickplates", templates that can quickly be applied to a base creature to tailor it for particular circumstances. For example, the Alpha Hunter quickplate can make an animal more dangerous. The Bloodthirsty quickplate offers a creature the possibility to rage. You also have quickplates such as Tough, Holy, Maligned. A pretty nifty idea.

The book also describes three prestige classes and a few character races that are specific to the Iron Kingdom campaign setting. It also skims into the setting's cosmology.

The Iron Kingdom campaign setting includes gunpowder and firearms, as an exotic element of the setting. We also find here some magical/mecanikal amalgams that give rise to steam-powered golems with magical artificial intelligence. A pretty idiosyncratic element of this book is the mixture of undead and mechanikal parts, such as with the Iron Lich, an undead with a soul-fueled furnace. Still, most creatures in the book can be used in traditional D&D settings.

Again I want to insist on the high quality of this book's illustrations, and its presentation in general. I am looking forward to delve deeper in this setting once more books are out.