Fiend Folio Review C-D

Behold! C-D has been judged by the Orrery!

Carbuncle

★★★☆☆

Not really a bad creature, its got some nice things going for it (appears friendly but wants to mess with the party, valuable jewel in its head) the illustration is cute and looks like a creature from a medieval bestiary. But it's a bit plain all things considered (it also has a death wish which could prove amusing if say the players are told to take one to some far off king and it keeps trying to jump of cliffs and stuff).

Caryatid Column

★★★★☆

Firstly, as someone who knows things about architecture this is a bit like naming a monster 'doric capital' or 'ionic capital' as it's a specific architectural feature (an atlas or telamon being the male counterpart), however I like them. They're a neat guardian creature that I've used on several occasions. Beings that are part of a locales architecture are always fun. And I like that it 'will not necessarily enter into combat' since it's a guardian. Good entity all around.

For reference, here's some actual real life caryatid columns.

Caterwaul

★★★☆☆

Great name, fairly boring creature, could probably have been a good creature in the hands of a more evocative writer. It does seem like a bestiary entry. Something a medieval author might write about as wandering the desert stands mournfully wailing. Defiantly has potential.

Cifal

★★★☆☆

The fact that its name is an acronym is a bit odd, but the whole 'collective swarm of insects' shtick is cool. I could see myself adapting this creature for use. That said it is a bit empty in hooks. Why are several swarms working together? Whats it want? (If I was going to use the Cifal I would make it a social encounter, lots of meat there).

Clubneck

★★★★★

Listen its a hilariously wonky murder bird. Whats not to love? It hits that right level of wacky that it feels like a real bird (which are notoriously wacky). Love it. Would use it. Beautiful creature.

Coffer Corpse

★★★★☆

Okay, I love the coffer corpse solely because of the excellent name, art, and the fact that it mentions funeral barges. I really like barges. And skeletons. It is a bit empty though, being mostly a combat encounter with the gimmick that it looks defeated but then actually isn't. 

Crabman

★☆☆☆☆

Too pulpy for my tastes. Points off for being boring humanoid crabs (and not even fun humanoid crabs). Feels like something that would appear on an old cheap movie poster. A meh (and that's saying something given my love for crabs).

Crypt Thing

★★★★☆

At this point my love of skeletons should be quite obvious. The Crypt Thing is a bit of a gotcha, I would perhaps make it judge characters then teleport them away based on the judgement. The part where it insists teleported characters were disintegrated is fun. Could probably use a bit more reason for existing.

Dakon

★★☆☆☆

Apes are always a fun. Not much to work off of though. In need of a gimmick of some kind.

Dark Creeper

★★★★★

Yesssss. I love these fellas. The art for them with their sausage noises is fantastic. Short light hating people who like to steal magical trinkets and have a careful procedure for how they rob you. Oh and they explode when they die. I like to imagine that they lurk in the darker parts of cities, running underground magical trinket clubs where they all compare what they've pilfered. Excellent entry.

Dark Stalker

☆☆☆☆☆

A let down after the Dark Creeper. Doesn't add anything to the former and just serves as a tougher 'boss'. Zero stars. 

Death Dog

★★☆☆☆

I feel very neutral about these. Kind of weird that the text implies Cerberus exists. Two headed dogs are kind of neat aesthetically speaking. Not much interesting though. :/

Death Knight

★★★★★

A great entity. Despite its description mostly being ability lists it still manages to be pretty darn evocative (helped along by the wonderful art of course). I love that it's basically a 'warrior lich' and can easily imagine a Death Knight being a tentpole faction member (or leader) in a game. The bits about being created by a demon prince are good brain fuel too.

Demon, category

★☆☆☆☆

Some boring stuff about Demons. Demons' Amulets are neat I guess. 

Lolth, demon queen of spiders

★☆☆☆☆

Firstly, why give a godling stats? Secondly, none of this tells me anything about the goddess's character, personality, domain, or anything. How do people worship or venerate her? Whats her relationship to other gods (both literally, and in the sense of how her worshippers view it). And for a goddess of spiders, the spider connection isn't very well utilized beyond 'oooh spooky spider aesthetic'. Where is my palace woven of webs? Spider silk tapestries? Jumping spider pulled carriage?? Also also, this is going a bit outside the text, but I feel any spider gods/goddesses should be a bit plump around the middle (and maybe paired with spindlier limbs). It just feels right to do that. Lolth (just going of the Fiend Folio) is pretty much just missed potential. One star because maybe you could make the rough idea cool, (also black widow spiders are boring, howsabout an orb weaver or some kind of jumping spider instead). (also also also I hate the art for her).

Denzelian

★★☆☆☆

Cute lil' rock eating amoeba creature. Unsure of how players would interact with it besides its fancy eggs.

Devil, category

★☆☆☆☆

Some boring stuff about devils. Really criminal that they made devil's this boring.

Styx Devil

★★☆☆☆

Kind of neat. I like that the devil's chief goal is to imprison people and drag them back to hell. Not much to say about it really. 

Devil Dog

★☆☆☆☆

It's just a dog with a unique coloration that makes you scared when it barks. Way cooler name than it deserves.

Dire Corby

★★★☆☆

Very wonky but also somewhat endearing. It feels more like a spirit than anything else (and the art puts me in mind of some Japanese yōkai). Imagine a bunch of weird bird people charging at you crying 'Doom! Doom!' Could use some more hooks/reasons to interact with.

Disenchanter

★★★★★

A fantastic beastie that'll shake things up for players without being a gotcha. I can totally imagine all the scenarios this creature could be used in. As well it can be incorporated quite creatively into a setting. Maybe they're employed like security dogs at events and locales to sniff out magic items. Maybe they're used to clean up magical debris, fallout, or war zones. Wonderful entry. 

Doombat

★★☆☆☆

This is a better bat than bat, giant. It's got a sonic yip that can disable people. Still just a big bat :/ (I do like my bats however, and DOOMBAT is fun to say so it gets an extra star).

Dragons, oriental

★★☆☆☆

Because I'm lazy Im not going to break each of them down but summarize as a whole. Firstly, it all feels unnecessarily taxonimized. I can't make any judgements about the dragon's relations to Asian culture as my knowdlge there is somewhat lacking. Im kind of meh on most of them (the sea dragon is pretty neat). Dragons always have a potential though so two stars.

Dragonfish

★☆☆☆☆

This is literally just a lion fish but if a lion fish was a sneaky camouflaged flatfish that hides where adventurers can step on them (which I might add, is not how poisonousness or venomous animals usually color themselves in nature (the poison seems defensive not predatory)). Not sure exactly how I would ever end up using this fish. And the name is cooler than it deserves.

Dune Stalker

★★★☆☆

An interesting concept, and I can think of people who would really have at it with this fella. Doesn't really do much for me. Feels more appropriate for like a post-apoc game as some kind of cannibalistic mutant or something along those lines.

Next up! E-F, featuring elemental princes of evvvvilll, ettercaps, firenewts, and more!