Creature Collection 2: Dark Menagerie Core Rulebook (Sword and Sorcery)

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MONSTER SUPPLEMENT FOR YOUR D&D CAMPAIGNS
Review: Well, i was pleasantly surprised when this arrived at my door. The d20 Open Gaming License looks likes its off to a good start. I was not impressed with the initial Creature Collection and didn't even buy it, but this one is of MUCH better quality. The black and white artwork is generally very good with the occasional lacking picture. Just a brief listing of the pros and cons of this manual:
Hundreds and hundreds of strange and deadly monsters, all fully detailed and versatile in all types of climates, from cities to swamps to deserts to oceans. As mentioned, most of the artwork is very good and a great visual aid for players so they know exactly what it is that is about to kill their characters.
Cons: Virtually all of the material is heavilly rooted in the Scarred Lands campaign setting. This in and of itself isn't bad, but a lot of the details will be hard to mesh with other campaigns. Much of the descriptions are ultraviolent and lend a very dark tone to the book, but that probably won't be a deterrent to most readers.
But if all you want is the picture, a brief blurb and the 3E stats,(like me) this book is for you. That said, i don't know much about Scarred Lands aside from reading the CC2, but it looks like a DANGEROUS place to live. The world is full of murderous, grotesque monsters intent on slaying all life, with the ruminations of Gods and Titans thrown into the mix to make it even more dangerous. The VAST majority of these creatures were created by gods and titans both living and dead, but they can still be adapted to individual campaigns without too much trouble.
I look forward to CC3 and hope that Sword and Sorcery Studios can outdo themselves with the next one. They're one gaming company to keep an eye on as they grow, and they've earned this DM's respect.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly is a Dark Menegerie!
Review: Yes, the Creature Collection 2 is a good buy....Having been a White Wolf fan for years, I hoped that this SSS/White Wolf book would have some good stuff in it - and it does. It has great artwork, an unconfusing listing of monsters page by page, and interesting backgrounds for each creature that can be used by the DM or just taken into consideration within your own camaign. It also gives "template creatures" which basically can be made into any creature of any type. It's a book buy, and the artwork is great. Go ahead, check it out.