D&D 5E What would you put in monster manual 2?

[jayoungr]

More constructs, animated statues, and the like.

 

[Bad Fox]

Kopru from the Isle of Dread! I love those guys...

 

[jodyjohnson]

300 evocative illustrations, 200 creature ecologies, backgrounds and hooks for adventure. Another NPC and Beast section - but with fantastic animals. Dozens of innovative creature abilities.

And, I guess, a bunch of numbers. And I wouldn't try to revise the monster math to make the creatures harder by CR.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

I agree an NPC book would be cool.

Dragon Warriors did a thing called Friends or Foes (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/93970/Friends-or-Foes) which is brilliant. A similar thing for FR/Sword Coast would be cool. Not just the "leaders" but interesting wanderers, ne'er-do-wells, antagonists.

 

[ccs]

Well, the 1st canidates for a MM2 should be any who've appeared in the various adventures they've published up to that point. Just like the original MM2....
I'm sure that covers at least 5 entries.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Well, the 1st canidates for a MM2 should be any who've appeared in the various adventures they've published up to that point. Just like the original MM2....
I'm sure that covers at least 5 entries.

Derro and Ixitxachitl at least - those are far too storied of monsters to be left out and only to be found in an accessory...

 

[Radaceus]

on the off topic:
Wanted additionals for 5e:

Rogues Gallery
Dungeoneers survival guide
Wilderness Survival Guide
(Grimtooth's) Traps

 

[Demetrios1453]

Bring it.

OK then!

It is a bit of a cheat since I've listed subtypes in with a main entry, so there are technically more than 100 monsters here. Listed with the monsters are the 3e/3.5 CRs for reference, other than a few cases where I couldn't find that and instead listed an estimated CR. I've added some notes in some of the more interesting cases. Also, conveniently, there is at least one monster for each letter of the alphabet, so any MM2 doesn't have to skip any letter headings.

1. Alaghi (4)

2. Angel:
Monadic Deva (12), Movanic Deva (9)
The deva listed in the current MM appears to be the astral deva, so I'm not sure how the naming of the various devas would be reconciled. The issue could just be glossed over altogether or it could be mentioned in MM2 that the MM deva is also known as the astral deva.

3. Aranea (4)

4. Archon:
Hound (4), Lantern (2), Owl (7), Sword (11), Throne (15), Trumpet (14), Warden (8)
The MM was seriously lacking in celestials, so here's a chance to make up for that. 4e seriously messed with the established Celestial lore, so this is a chance to retrofit what seems to me to have been a serious error. The archons will be easier to fix than the eladrin at least. As a further note, the hound archon should likely be raised to CR 5 in order to make it possible to summon using the enhanced version of summon celestial (the normal version would summon lantern archons).

5. Assasin Vine (3)
We definitely need to see more hostile plant foes.

6. Astral Dreadnought (17)
The first of many higher-level foes, something that the original MM was lacking (for good reason though, you need to establish the lower-level foes at first).

7. Bariaur (½)

8. Barghest (4)

9. Beholder:
Elder Orb (~27), Eye of the Deep (8), Gauth (6), Hive Mother (16)
You can't have too many beholder varieties! The gauth was notably absent from the MM when it makes a good mid-level foe. And the Hive Mother and Elder Orb make good high-level foes.

10. Bodak (8)

11. Brownie (~1)
Like plants and celestials, we definitely need to see more fey. Granted, brownies aren't the most hostile of fey, but any fey's attitude can turn on a whim. There will be more traditionally hostile fey later in the list.

12. Caryatid Column (6)

13. Catoblepas (6)

14. Crimson Death (11)

15. Crypt Thing (3)

16. Dark Tree (7)

17. Demodand:
Farastu (11), Kelubar (13), Shator (16)
The fiend type that got totally skipped in the MM, even with only three subtypes available.

18. Demon:
Alkilith (14), Babau (6), Bebilith (10), Molydeus (19), Nabassu (5/15), Rutterkin (3), Wastrilith (17)
You can never have enough demons in D&D! I could have listed several more, but these are the more important/established demons that were missed in the MM.

19. Devil:
Amnizu (7), Black Abishai (5), Blue Abishai (7), Green Abishai (6), Nupperibo (2), Red Abishai (7), White Abishai(5)
Same as demons, it never huts to have more devils. Again, these are the main established types that were missing in the MM, there are several more that could be added as well.

20. Dinosaur:
Deinonychus (3), Diplodocus/Seismosaurus (12), Ichthyosaurus (6), Mosasaurus (10), Quetzalcoatlus (8), Stegosaurus (7), Velociraptor (2)
The dinosaurs in the MM covered most the the main types, but still missed a few. Deinonychus and velociraptor cover smaller predators (in case you didn't know, the Jurassic Park "velociraptors" are actually based on deinonychus, while actual velociraptors were smaller), diplodocus/seismosaurs covers the missing sauropods, stegosaurus covers the stegosaurs (although stat-wise they probably won't be terribly different from the ankylosaurus from the MM), quetzelaoatlus fills the large pterosaur niche, while ichthyosaurus and mosasaurus give us more aquatic variety. The only thing missing is a hadrosaur, but they weren't likely terribly aggressive anyway (and one like iguanodon could be added if necessary).

21. Dragon, Gem
Amethyst (3, 8, 14, 21), Crystal (2, 7, 12, 20), Emerald (2, 8, 14, 21), Sapphire (2, 8, 15, 21), Topaz (3, 9, 14, 22)
Given the name of the game, more dragons are almost a must, and the neutral dragons are the main type to be updated. Not sure how their psionic powers will be represented if there isn't an established full set of rules for psionics, but I'm sure things can be made to work.

22. Dragonne (7)

23. Eladrin:
Bralani (6), Coure (2), Firre (10), Ghaele (13), Shuere (~ 8), Shiradi (14), Tulani (18)
Ugh, one of the big sins of 4e (in my opinion) comes home to roost. Do we rename the old eladrin to something else? Say the playble eladrin are a minor subrace? Beyond that, the bralani eladrin should probably be dropped to CR 5 for the same reason as the hound archon, to give an option for the enhanced version of summon celestial.

24. Elder Brain (25)

25. Elemental:
All types: Small (1), Elder (11)
We definitely need more sizes for elementals. Small and "run for your lives!" sizes are a good start, although further sizes could be added as well. But as each one would require four stat blocks, adding too many might be prohibitive.

26. Elf, Aquatic (½)
They are mentioned in the sahaugin entry in the MM but never stated out themselves, which I found odd...

27. Elf, Drow, High Priestess of Lolth (~ 15)
While the drow options we got were nice, we need a big scary ultimate drow foe to round them off.

28. Energon:
Xag-Ya (4), Xeg-Yi (5)
I've always had a soft spot for these balls of positive and negative energy. One of my proudest moments as a DM was creating a trap that utilized their otherwise almost never-used mutual annihilation feature.

29. Firbolg (12)

30. Formian:
Myrmarch (10), Queen (17), Warrior (3), Worker (½)
Although modrons are much more fun as LN outer planar creatures, we definitely need more insectoid races...

31. Frost Worm (12)

32. Gray Render (8)

33. Giant:
Fog (8), Mountain (26), Verbeeg (~3), Voadkyn (~5)
Can't go wrong with more giant types! And the verbeeg and voadkyn haven't been updated since 2e as far as I'm aware...

34. Gibberling (1/3)

35. Gnoll, Flind (2)
Their crazy weapon always makes them a memorable foe. It might be a good idea to up their CR to make them more of a gnoll "leader" subtype.

36. Guardinal:
Avorlial (9), Cerdival (3), Equinal (6), Leonal (12), Lupinal (5), Mustival (2), Ursinal (10)
The celestial type that wasn't messed up in 4e since it was thankfully overlooked. The mustival is probably optional, as the cerdival and the lupinal will fulfill our summon celestial needs quite nicely.

37. Hag, Annis (6)

38. Hippocampus (2)

39. Huecuva (7)

40. Hydra:
Cryohydra (10), Pyrohydra (10)

41. Jermlaine (½)

42. Kelpie (10)
Two evil fey, something sorely lacking in 5e so far.

43. Kobold, “Leader” (~ 2)
Oddly enough, while most humanoids got a "leader" type in the MM, the kobolds didn't.

44. Krenshar (1)

45. Leprechaun (~4)

46. Leucrotta (4)

47. Lillend (7)

48. Locathah (½)

49. Loxo (2)

50. Lurker (3)

51. Lycanthrope:
Werebat (4), Werecrocodile (3), Wereshark (4)
There are lots of other lycanthropes that can be added, but these seem to be the most interesting of the types that aren't in 5e yet.

52. Mind Flayer:
Alhoon (18), Ulitharid (12)
These will help fill out the ranks of high-level foes. And even-scarier mind flayers are always a "blast"

53. Modron:
Decaton (8), Nonaton (10), Octon (11), Septon (12), Hexton (13), Quinton (14), Quarton (15), Tertian (16), Secundus (19), Primus (?)
The MM had the base modrons, so it would be nice to update the hierarch ones. Granted, as these only exist in limited numbers, it may not be necessary (at least for now) to stat out all of them, especially the very rare ones at the top of the modron hierarchy.

54. Mongrelfolk (1/3)
Likely to be updated anyway, from what we've been told.

55. Morkoth (5)

56. Muckdweller (¼)

57. Naga:
Dark (8), Water (7)

58. Neogi:
Adult (4), Great Old Master (6), Spawn (¼)
Yeah, they are Spelljammer-specific, but they can be adapted to general spider-like enslavers in other settings.

59. Necrophidius (2)

60. Nereid (4)

61. Nymph (7)
Odd that we had the dryad but not the nymph.

62. Ooze:
Crystal Ooze (~4), Mustard Jelly (~7), White Pudding (6)
It's interesting how few oozes 5e has so far, so it's a good idea to add to their number.

63. Ophidian (2)

64. Orc – High Warlord (~ 15)
Like the drow priestess, another high level foe to be one of the main "bosses" of a campaign.

65. Paraelemntal:
Ice (1,5, 11), Magma (1, 5, 11), Ooze (1, 5, 11), Smoke (1. 5, 11)
The DMG has descriptions of the borders between the elemental planes that are very like the Paraelemental Planes of old, so why not bring back the paraelementals as well?

66. Phoenix (24)

67. Quickling (~3)
One of my favorites among the evil fey, I would very much like to see them updated!

68. Retriever (11)

69. Satyr, Korred (~4)

70. Selkie (1)

71. Sirine (5)
Another evil fey missing from the MM.

72. Skeleton – Template/More Types
It would be nice to get a template to create skeletons from any appropriate creature. If not that, at least a wide variety we can throw into games and adapt to other creatures.

73. Sphinx:
Criosphinx (7), Hieracosphinx (5)

74. Spriggan (3)

75. Sylph (5)

76. Terror Bird (4)

77. Tlincalli/Manscorpion/Stinger (4)

78. Triton (2)

79. Troll:
Aquatic (Scrag) (5), Two-Headed (~6)
Can't go wrong with more troll variants!

80. Unicorn, Black (3)

81. Vaporighu (9)

82. Vargouille (2)

83. Vegepygmy (~ ½)
Another monster likely already being updated from what we've been told.

84. Wemic (3)

85. Xill (6)

86. Yellow Musk Creeper (4)

87. Yellow Musk Zombie (½)

88. Yeth Hound (3)

89. Yuan-ti, Anathema (18)

90. Yugoloth:
Baernaloth (?), Canoloth (6), Dergholoth (~ 7), Hydroloth (~ 8), Marraenoloth (10), Piscoloth (10), Skeroloth (3), Yagnoloth (10)
It was nice to see yugoloths in the MM - I honestly thought they would be skipped over. But we only got four, compared to the many types of devils and demons, so it would be nice for a MM2 to update more of them.

91. Zombie – Template/More Types
Same as skeletons


92. Giant Bombardier Beetle (2)
93. Giant Stag Beetle (4)
94. Giant Squid (9)
95. Squid (1)
Several more animal types overlooked in the MM.

96. Huge Centipede (2)
97. Huge Crab (7)
98. Huge Scorpion (7)
99. Huge Spider (5)
Huge-sized forms of arthropods were missing from the MM, so here are a few that were in previous editions.

100. NPCS:
Archdruid
High Priest
Holy Warrior
Master Assassin
Master Tracker
Weaponmaster
(all ~10 – 15)
Higher level archetypes - right now we only have one high-level NPC, the archmage, so adding these would help round out the NPC list.


Finally, these three creatures have already been updated for 5e (two in OotA and one in the DMG), but it would be nice to see them in the MM2. As they have already been updated, I didn't list them among the 100. Their CRs are the official 5e CRs and not previous editions'.

Derro (¼):
Savant (3)

Ixitxachitl (1):
Vampiric (3)

Larva (0)

 

[Demetrios1453]

Well, I guess that wall of text of a list scared everyone off lol

 

[delericho]

They should skew towards the mid- and high-CR foes, as the first MM has a fair number of lower-CR ones. Beyond that, I'm mostly cool with whatever selection they put out - provided the book is of the same level of quality as the first MM (and, ideally, the same size), I'll be happy.

That said, I would quite like to see Chitine and Spellweavers. I don't know why, but I've always had a soft spot for those particular beasties.