PUBLISHER: WIZARDS OF THE COAST/TEN SPEED PRESS | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The Young Adventurer’s Guide books are essentially sourcebooks for Dungeons and Dragons that are very light on rules. The idea is that young and inexperienced players can flip through them and get a feel for the world of D&D without having to worry too much about things such as challenge ratings or hit points. D&D has its own mythology of sorts; over the years it has become a collection of interesting and persistent ideas that have inspired countless fantasy stories and games. Navigating these can be a little daunting, which is where these books come in.
It starts with tiny creatures first. Of course, this is D&D so rather than giving us details about the humble rat, it starts with a Cranium Rat; a hive of psionic rats that know exactly what you’re thinking. We move onto the Demi-Lich, a sort of spell-casting floating skull filled with power and evil. This also let’s the book drop a bit of classic D&D lore in the form of Acererak, the legendary flying skull himself and a big part of various D&D horror themed adventures.
The book carries on in a similar vein throughout; it’s not enough to explain the difference between a pseudo-dragon and a dragon, we also learn how different those encounters would go for adventurers. An entry about Death Knights leads to another entry about the legendary undead knight Lord Soth and so on. This book is packed with monster lore and though we get werewolves and medusa in the mix, the book does not short-change the reader with stuff they may already know. Each entry is written in a way to inspired would-be D&D Dungeon Masters and fantasy writers to create their own stories.
Though aimed squarely at younger players, there’s enough here for old hands as well. Some of those who inhabit Starburst Towers remember when Dungeons and Dragons came in a white box with a picture of a wizard on the front of it and in our considered opinion, this is a very handy book if you’re looking for a quick bit of inspiration. Like the rest of the Young Adventurers series, Beasts and Behemoths is absolutely worth your time, especially if you wish to inspire the next generation of gamers.
