03 9818 8593
Hawthorn
Description
The Dolmenwood Monster Book — Referee’s Bestiary
The woods breathe here. Behind every hedgerow lies a story half‑told, and beneath each moonlit lane something watches with patient, crooked interest. This book gathers those stories and gives them teeth: 87 creatures drawn from the tangled heart of Dolmenwood, each one a small performance of horror, wonder and sly menace. Pages glow with strange illustrations; each entry offers not just stat blocks, but scene‑ready hooks that slip into a tale like a whisper in the dark.
You’ll find the ordinary turned uncanny — familiar animals rewritten for these wronged woods, from gobbles that trundle through fog to gelatinous apes that stain the riverbank — and the everyday folk who share their lives with the uncanny: anglers who hum to drown out memory, pedlars with pockets full of bad luck, fortune‑tellers who barter truths for teeth. There are rival adventuring parties you can roll up in a breath, and three hundred rumours — fireside fragments that seed investigation, escalate dread, or send players stumbling toward a very particular kind of doom.
For referees who like to improvise, the book’s monster‑creation rules let you stitch new horrors from familiar parts, always in the voice of Dolmenwood: melancholic, thorned, and somehow childlike in its cruelty. Stat blocks are laid out for instant use at the table so a strange noise outside the cottage need never wait for you to find the page.
This is Core Book 3 of 3 — a companion to the Player’s Book and the Campaign Book — produced as a handsome, sewn hardcover with a ribbon bookmark and printed endpapers that keep rules where you need them. A warning: the tales here carry adult themes and elements of horror. Do not bring this to the nursery.
What’s inside (128 pages, hardcover, A4/Letter)
- 87 fully detailed monsters, each with evocative flavour text, encounter seeds, and full‑page illustrations
- 53 mundane and uniquely Dolmenwood animals (gobbles, gelatinous apes, and more) for colour and ecology
- 9 common everyday folk types (anglers, criers, fortune‑tellers, lost souls, merchants, pedlars, pilgrims, priests, villagers) with roleplaying hooks
- 27 NPC stat blocks covering typical adventuring classes for quick deployment
- An adventuring‑party generator to roll up NPC parties and rival questers on the fly
- 300+ rumours and fireside tales — quick prompts to seed sessions and guide investigation
- Monster‑creation guidelines so referees can craft new threats that fit Dolmenwood’s tone
- Clear, easy‑to‑read stat blocks and layout for rapid reference at the table
Production and safety notes
- Deluxe sewn binding with ribbon bookmark and printed endpapers (rules summaries)
- Core Book 3 of 3 — requires the Dolmenwood Player’s Book and Dolmenwood Campaign Book for play
- Contains adult themes and elements of horror; may not be suitable for children
Use this book to populate your Dolmenwood with memorable, uncanny creatures and to turn every road, wood and cottage into a story waiting to be told.
