D&D is about to complete its big overhaul in 2024 – and so far I have opinion about the whole exerciseI wasn’t a complete curmudgeon about this. It even seems to me that The Dungeon Master’s Guide is very good.if a little superficial, but hey – this is an introductory document, we can leave specific tips for content creators and heartbreaking arguments during the session.
The 2024 Monster Manual, which will be released on February 18, 2025 (yes, it’s a little confusing), features 85 new monsters compared to its 2014 counterpart. Moreover, the entire catalog of jokes has been revised, as explained in a recent interview with Todd Kenreck posted on the D&D YouTube channel.
Head of Design Jeremy Crawford and Senior Designer F. Wesley Schneider discussed the team’s goals for this improved volume, and frankly, it all sounds good. The proof will be in the black pudding (it’s a D&D monster, I don’t just want black pudding), but I like what I hear.
Namely, Wizards is solving one of 5e’s oldest problems: CR is a damn shaky system for balancing combat encounters at best. For the uninitiated, CR – or “Challenge Rating” – is a number that says “four adventurers of this level should have a moderately difficult time fighting this thing.” For example, you’ll be able to throw a CR six monster into a party of four adventurers, each level six.
The problem is that D&D 5e is such an oddly balanced system that it’s always been difficult to work with for a number of reasons – action economics, magic items, power inflation with new subclasses, you can pick your poison. This problem only becomes more problematic the more complex and powerful the monster becomes. Luckily, despite the game’s biggest flaws, the team changed their design philosophy.
As Crawford explains: “Ten years ago, we calculated CR like this: ‘If the DM picks the most powerful option each round, then here’s the monster’s CR.’ Many of us as DMs have found that sometimes we don’t want to choose the deadliest option every round, but this also often results in the monster feeling weaker than it should. Now we’ve completely changed our methodology…no matter what Legendary sequence you choose, that monster will still be at CR. “
Essentially, there is less pressure on the DM to fully interpret the strategy of the monster he is using to use it optimally – work with the suggested order of operations and theoretically everything will be fine. “We are lying [this] “Come out,” Schneider says, “and we say to the DM: hey, do you see these abilities? Prioritize, that’s what you need to focus on.”
Crawford later clarifies that the book has a section designed to help DMs play dice: “[If] as a DM, you don’t know what a monster should do, we put in “always look for the next abilities and prioritize using them IF your goal is to cause harm”… we also wanted to make it a lot easier for the DM to bring the thrill and horror when it’s appropriate for their campaign.”
This kind of information overload optimization extends to things like spells and legendary actions: “We’ve taken a number of gameplay elements that previously existed outside of the stat block in things like lair actions—and moved them into the stat block itself. Not only did it make life easier for the GM by having everything he needed to know about how to control the creature right in front of him in the stat block, but it was also a chance for us to introduce new abilities.”
What are these new abilities? Crawford argues that Wizards has made a serious effort to differentiate its monster groups with proper mechanical flair. For example, as Crawford explains, most Vampire-type enemies will have some way of becoming slippery in combat, reminiscent of the time Vampire Spawn in the 2024/2025 version moved without provoking an opportunity attack, which surprised the 2014 Veteran table.
“As you go up into CR… you’ll see more and more new things. Here’s one example: when you get to the vampire section… not only are there more vampires than before – many of our monster families have expanded – we In the vampire section there is not only a new lower CR variant, but also a new higher CR variant and another intermediate option. We have three brand new vampires.”
One point Schneider brings up that really concerns me is that monsters should also be accompanied by examples of where in the campaign they might appear, and what plot hooks can be used to explain their presence. For example, “Animated Objects” also [include] table: “Why is this object animated?” And it’s like maybe fairies made it, maybe a wizard created it, maybe things are possessed or something. Each of these possibilities? It’s a completely different story.”
In fact, the Monster Manual sounds like it’s been reimagined as a vehicle. For history, expanding the circle of creatures. There are a ton of new NPCs introduced – performers, pirates and the like – but Crawford also explains that the emphasis was on introducing the BBEGs, also known as the “big bad evil guys.” These are high-level creatures that can become sworn enemies of the entire campaign.
“We wanted a DM to be able to look at the book and essentially have a menu of options for the question, ‘What is the biggest bad at the end of this campaign?’ Previously, you had some great options in the dragon category, the undead category, and the demon category… and it was kind of, we made sure that you had a choice, heck, even in the construct category, the celestial category, and the slime category. category, fairy category, and so on and so forth.” In other words, “we wanted the Tarrasque to have several comrades.”
We made sure you have options, hell, even in the construct category, the sky category, the slime category, the fairy category, and so on.”
Jeremy Crawford
As for finding all these new monsters in the book, everything was simplified there too. There will be tables of creatures by CR, name, type, environment, and subgroups such as demon or fiend. “This Monster Manual has much more infrastructure than in 2014 to help DMs prepare and design adventures.” According to Schneider, “If you’re looking for Pit Fiend. You won’t find it under a D. You’ll find it under a P. For Pit Fiend.” Glory to Mystra.
Overall, a solid set of positives – players will, again, have to spend some time with the Monster Manual to see if it’s worth the price of entry. Not because I think Schneider and Crawford are lying about quality of life upgrades, which would be weird, but because the real point will be how these monsters are created, as well as how they fit into other rules updates . e.g. Player’s Handbook.
That said, if you’ve enjoyed the update so far, the 2024 Monster Manual doesn’t look like it will disappoint – and the art showcased in the video above really does look great, so there’s some nice photography to be had. your creativity is running wild as you again figure out how to scold the group for being late to the session.