Which RPG-s have the best bestiaries?

[Outmind]

I like facing challenging monsters on the battlefield, but what I love even more is when these monsters are accompanied by thought-out lore snippets and additional information in the game's bestiary or monster manual.

So, which games did their bestiaries the best? Also, are there any RPGs where the bestiary plays a more active role than just a compendium of information?

For example, I love the bestiaries in Mordor / Demise: Ascension. At first, they only have a few monsters in them. Each new encounter gets recorded and minimal info on the monster is provided. Then after you've killed a fair amount of the same monster you discover something more about their resistances and weaknesses. Finally, if you have a mage, you can tame the monster and reveal everything there is to know about it plus a little lore.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Kalin]

Planetscape cuz big boobys

 

[JarlFrank]

So this is a thread about the best-iaries, eh?

 

[Shadenuat]

Oddly enough JRPGs had them for ages yet for WRPGs it's not a common thing. I think this is because japanese love systematically catalogue everything in their games for easier understanding.

 

[AdolfSatan]

Pokémon

Spoiler

What? You were waiting for the troll smiley?

 

[Dorateen]

Elminage Gothic has a good one.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

ADOM has good one build in game.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Not exactly RPGs, but I've always been fond of the bestiaries in Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen. A large part of it probably originates from the fact that I loved browsing the bestiary section of my WFRP rulebook as a kid, though.

 

[luj1]

If by bestiaries you mean enemies, ToEE. Nothing like a pair of giant lobsters scissoring your paladin in half in the first combat encounter.

If by bestiaries you meant in-game compendiums, then that's a completely unnecessary element in RPGs and a waste of the development cycle. It's part of the modern trend of feature bloat.

 

[Daedalos]

urmom

 

[smaug]

probably the gold box and infinity engine games.

i like generic fantasy monsters

 

[Dorateen]

Extraneous from the game, but included as part of the Curse of the Azure Bonds Adventurer's Journal:

 

[Ibn Sina]

The Witcher no question. The only one being remotely unique based on slavic folklore and not just rehashing Bugbears and Kobolds.

 

[Sreggin Etah I]

probably the gold box and infinity engine games.

i like generic fantasy monsters

me too,fuck all pretentious crap ! just give me orcs and dragons to kill !

 

[Viata]

Monster Girl Quest.

 

[anvi]

Why waste all that money on models when you can just fill your game with draugr and mudcrabs!

 

[Gregz]

The largest bestiary of all gaming systems is pnp D&D, no contest.

As for cRPGs, roguelikes tend to have the best bestiaries because ASCII monsters don't require an artist. It's almost always the case that the better the graphics, the fewer the monsters. Art ain't cheap.

 

[Sreggin Etah I]

Arcania Gothic 4 bestiary is great,alot of enemies variety !