I looked at the Numenera Bestiary 3 free preview, and you will not believe what I’ve found!

Table of Contents

In part 1 of the book, we see all the usual good stuff that we come to expect from the previous bestiaries.

Part 2 is interesting with three new sections: “Common Wild and Domesticated Creatures”, “Companion Creatures by Level” and “Mounts”. It will be interesting to see if they will port over companion rules from Predation, which I find super fun!

Creature Index

The index contains the list of all published creatures so far plus 150 new ones. Let’s count how many new ones there are!

  • Level 1 - 6
  • Level 2 - 21
  • Level 3 - 30
  • Level 4 - 45
  • Level 5 - 32
  • Level 6 - 21
  • Level 7 - 16
  • Level 8 - 4
  • Level 9 - 4
  • Level 10 - 1

The total here is 180 monsters, so I assume they are not counting the ones already published in other books like Predation, Jade Colossus and other supplements.

During the counting, I noticed a lot of dinosaurs added and creatures marked as “megafauna”. A quick check later and yes, we are getting dinosaurs from Predation!

Apart from dinos, I spotted a couple of familiar names as well. Trilling Titan and Awakened Relic are two examples. I like the fact that creatures across the other books are getting compiled into the bestiaries. One might not have all the supplements, but if you want just creatures, all you need are the bestiaries.

Creatures

There are six creatures presented in the preview, and they are as imaginative and horrific as expected from the weird brains at MCG. Sometimes I wonder how these people sleep at night.

Each creature has a large image, a layout improvement that came with Discovery and Destiny. MCG is improving their presentation with each new book they publish. The sidebars are useful as always with links to other books and filled with GM intrusions.

Something I also like is how lore and mechanics are weaved into the creature descriptions. Just in these six examples, I found mentions of installations, iron wind, midnight stones, mutations, salvaging and Lattimore. They genuinely feel like a part of the Ninth World, however strange that sentiment might sound.

If I were to pick a favorite, it’s the Mego. An absolutely terrifying monstrosity. A bastard child of A Quiet Place and Annihilation.

Mounts

This section lists types of mounts and a rarity table. It looks useful, a go-to place whenever characters require mounts. It lists areas where specific mounts can be found.

Conclusion

This little preview shows that MCG is continuing to spoil us with top quality content, and still somehow manage to up the ante with each new book they publish. If I find Predation companion rules in the full book, I will jump from joy, and if not, I will continue to pretend they are a Numenera canon.

You can download the free preview or preorder this book at the MCG Webstore