Pathfinder Monster Core Review

If you run the Pathfinder 2e remaster, Monster Core is on your table every session. It's the remaster's Bestiary: over 400 monsters, updated for the new rules, with art that still sets the standard. It's a 16 out of 20, a Hit. It would be higher if it helped me find the right monster faster.

For the rest of the remaster, see our reviews of the Player Core and GM Core, and our Pathfinder 2e review for the system as a whole.

What I reviewed

My special edition hardcover, faux leather, plus the PDF from my Paizo subscription. Monster Core came out March 27, 2024, at 376 pages, and it replaces the original Bestiary. I've used it in every remaster campaign I've run.

Rules15/20

Mechanically, not much changed. Same creatures. Same stat blocks. Same encounter math. Alignment is gone, replaced with holy and unholy, and spells and abilities carry their new remaster names. If you already run 2e, you'll barely notice the switch.

The dragons are the exception, and they're the best change in the book. They're no longer split into evil chromatic dragons and good metallic ones. The new dragons are adamantine, conspirator, diabolic, empyreal, fortune, horned, mirage and omen, and none of them are tied to alignment. With alignment gone from the game, that's how it should be.

Layout14/20

The book is alphabetical, with indexes in the back by creature type (aberration, animal and so on) and by level. The level index is the one I use. Pair it with GM Core's encounter budget and building a fight is fast.

On the special edition, the two ribbon bookmarks are a huge boon. When a fight has two different monsters, I keep a ribbon in each stat block and bounce between them.

What it doesn't have is an environment index, and that's my one real gripe. Your players are crossing a swamp. What lives there? In Monster Core, you're flipping alphabetically or hoping the type index gets you close.

I used to like alphabetical. Then I saw a monster book organized by environment. Nimble's does it, and it makes building encounters dramatically faster. That's the one thing I'd add here.

The art is exceptional. Most of it is reused from earlier Bestiaries, so it isn't new if you're upgrading. But when the originals were this good, I don't count that against it.

Usefulness18/20

For the remaster, it's essential. Monsters are the heart of every encounter, and at my table, this book is open to whatever the party is fighting. You don't strictly need it, since most of it is free on Archives of Nethys. But a physical bestiary is faster mid-session than searching a website, at least for me.

It doesn't replace everything yet. Paizo hasn't remastered all of Bestiaries 1 to 3, and Monster Core 2 is part of that ongoing conversion. I still pull the older books when I need a creature this one doesn't have.

Value16/20

Be clear on what you're buying. If you're coming from original 2e, Monster Core is mostly the Bestiary 1 again, with holy and unholy, renamed abilities and new dragons. The creatures themselves are the same. If you're starting with the remaster, it's the first bestiary you need, full stop.

Like the other core books, it comes as a standard hardcover, a special edition and a pocket edition, so nobody's priced out.

Who it's for

Every GM running the Pathfinder 2e remaster. If you already own Bestiary 1 and the free rules online cover you, it's a nice-to-have, not a must.

The verdict

A 16, a Hit. The bestiary you'll reach for every session, with great art and better dragons. Sort it by environment and it would be close to perfect.