Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts 3 Review
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The popular third-party D&D publisher unleashes a monster mash of deadly new creatures
While a lot might have changed with Dungeons & Dragons over the past few decades, monsters have always remained a core feature of the game. Unfortunately, many of the beasts that have been unleashed over the years have been beaten to death by players (both literally and figuratively). After all, how many times can you throw a group of goblins and skeletons at players before things start to feel a little stale?
Enter Tome of Beasts 3, a new book from Kobold Press that features 400 unique new creatures with personality and tactics to go along with their stat blocks. Notably, this marks the fourth entry in Kobold’s long running series of DnD monster books, following Tome of Beasts 1, Tome of Beasts 2 and the Creature Codex. The book is also a product of a record setting Kickstarter that generated over $767,000 in backing in late 2022.
Tome of Beasts 3 is now available to the general public in print and PDF formats, including a special edition hardcover and a few additional accessories and companion materials. So is this a creature feature worth picking up? Read our review to find out.
Table of Contents
What’s the art and design like?
What are the different versions of the book?
What other tie-in products are available?
Final thoughts and review score
Who is Tome of Beasts 3 for?
As with similar monster books, Tome of Beasts 3 is designed solely for Dungeon Masters running D&D fifth edition. That being said, seasoned players who’ve long memorized the stat blocks, weaknesses and abilities of classic D&D creatures, are likely going to be pleasantly surprised when the encounter any of the creatures from the book.
In fact, the 400+ monsters found within the Tome cover a range of options. From clever spins on classic creatures from official Wizards of the Coast publications like the Monster Manual and Monsters of the Multiverse to completely unique designs that have never been seen before. The sheer amount of available monsters is staggering.
It’s also worth noting that almost all of the monsters found in Tome of Beasts 3 can be tweaked to fit into just about any existing 5e campaign, including more off-the-beaten-path settings like Strixhaven and Spelljammer. The book also offers some helpful advice on tweaking stats or customizing monsters for different environments or adventures. If you’re a DM who likes to plan in advance, you’re definitely going to find something in here worth adding to your next adventure. But the book works just as well if you’re looking to mix things up with a random encounter or two.
What’s included in Tome of Beasts 3?
At over 420 pages in lenght, Tome of Beasts 3 packs a serious punch in terms of content. The book is really broken down into four key sections:
- Introduction: This offers some useful tips on creature behaviour, languages and customization, and sets the overall tone of the book, which is about trying to surprise and challenge players, rather than just hacking and slashing.
- Monsters: The tome follows a similar format to the Monster Manual, listing beasts in alphabetical order along with a write up of their ecology, behavior and stat block. The detail here is impressive and each monster is incredibly well thought out.
- NPCs: The book also contains a short section that features a number of useful NPCs that can be thrown into just about any campaign. Like the monsters, these are also a far cry from cliched NPCs and each offering is unique and surprising.
- Appendix: Finally, the book has a handy appendix that breaks monsters out by Challenge Rating, Type and Environment, all of which allows for DMs to quickly drop creatures into just about any situation.
What are the monsters like?
The quality of the monsters in Tome of Beasts 3 is incredible and easily on par (if not better) than what Wizards of the Coast has produced in the past in similar content. From unique twists on classic creatures like dragons to more bizarre (and genuinely terrifying) monstrosities, the book really runs the gamut. There’s also plenty of specific monster types, including undead, elementals, demons, lycanthropes and even powerful interplanar beings. It really is a smorgasbord of monsters.
A few of our personal favorites are:
- Bone Lord: A powerful undead monstrosity constructed out of multiple sets of interconnected bones.
- Cave Mimic: A mimic that’s literally the size of a cave that lures in travellers into its depths before snapping shut.
- Clockwork Pugilist: A being born of magic and clockwork that uses its fists to fight for its owners amusement.
- Planewarped Derro: An underdark-dwelling derro mutated by travel among the dark planes of existence.
- Dire Owlbear: Dwarven-bred owlbears that are trained for battle and equipped with armor.
- Ettin Kobold: A deadlier, two-headed version of the common kobold.
- Glacial Crawler: A terrifying, worm-like creature that hunts the frozen wastes
- Goblin Siege Engine: A kind of giant clockwork mech developed by goblin engineers
- Godslayer: A massive magical construct that’s literally designed to kill gods.
- Splinter Matron: A hideous tree-like creature that was once a dryad before being altered by the fey.
- Xecha: A humanoid-shaped creature made of slime and used to infiltrate strongholds.
- Smokeplume Zombie: An undead that’s wreathed in ever-burning infernal flames
What’s the art and design like?
As one of the largest third-party publishers of D&D 5d materials, Kobold Press is known for their solid artwork and design. Tome of Beasts 3 is no exception. The artwork is simply stunning and in many ways even more polished and unique than what Wizards of the Coast typically produces with official materials.
The level of polish is also clearly on display if you pick up the print version of book, which features high-quality paper, great binding and really has some solid shelf appeal. That being said, if you’re looking to save a few bucks, the PDF is a solid choice and there are also VTT versions available.
There’s a reason why Kobold Press remains one of the top third-party D&D publishers, and this book shows that they can easily produce anything that matches official WotC content when it comes to art and design.
What are the different versions of the book?
Like other similar Kobold Press books, Tome of Beasts 3 comes a few different versions:
- Standard: Available in PDF and hardcover, with cover design by Chris Rallis.
- Limited Edition Hardcover: With cover art by Addison Rankin
- Pocket Sized: A smaller softcover print version of the book (slated for release in May 2023)
What other tie-in products are available?
While the primary Tome of Beasts 3 book is the main draw, Kobold Press has released several tine-in accessories (with many of these the result of the Kickstarter stretch goals). This includes:
- Tome of Beasts 3 Lairs: Available in print and PDF, the book features 23 unique D&D one shot adventures that utilize monsters from the book and are designed for characters from Level 1 to 12.
- Pawns: Over 500 cardboard pawns based on monsters from the book, with the figures created in a range of different sizes.
- Dice set: 7 engraved acrylic dice that use the Bone Lord design featured in the book.
The books are also available for VTTs including Foundry, Shard, Fantasy Grounds and Roll20. According to updates on the Tome of Beasts 3 Kickstarter, Kobold Press will also be releasing new miniatures and monster cards in the near future.
Where can you get Tome of Beasts 3?
Currently you can pick up print, VTT and PDF versions of the book from a few different places, including:
You should also check with your friendly local game store to see if they have copies.
Final thoughts and review score
Monsters have always been a key part of D&D, even if some of the more familiar creatures are getting a little long in the tooth. In Tome of Beasts 3, however, Kobld Press proves that there’s still plenty of new monsters out there for players to slay.
With its stunning artwork, unique designs and staggering array of options, this is one tome that will keep players and DMs rolling in beasts for years to come.
Final Review Score: 20/20 (A Critical Hit!)
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Ollie Delano is a Staff Writer who lives in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He’s been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years and currently plays in a weekly game group where he rolls way too many natural 1s and chugs way too much Mountain Dew. His favorite D&D campaign setting is Eberron and his favorite character to play was a Tiefling rogue named Draxiss who enjoys both literal and figurative backstabbing.
