D&D 5E What Monsters got nerfed from early D&D/AD&D to now/5e

[Yardiff]

2 monsters I can think of off the top of my head that started out pretty tough but are now 'not so much' are the Will 'O the Wisp ans the standard Mummy.

Will 'O the Wisp was a 9d8 HD, AC-8 creature that was immune to all spells except Maze and Magic Missile. Now its 9d4 HD, still has a lot of immunities but is only a CR2 monster for 5e.

The Mummy needed a +3 weapon to do full damage. Now it has resistance to non magical weapons and is considered CR3 for 5e.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Pretty much most undead (level draining, aging, paralysis), all monsters who are venomous or gaze attacks, rot grubs, and oozes/slimes/molds, monsters with magic resistance, and monster with immunity.

So...pretty much half of ADnD monsters are nerfed by comparison

 

[Arilyn]

I miss things like mummy rot. I always dreaded mummies, now they're just another bag of hp to be killed. I miss monsters that are immune to non magic or need silver. Total immunities made you do some research, made monsters seem scarier. Half damage is boring, you just need to hit more. Yawn.

 

[Mycroft]

Demons and Devils took a hit, especially spellcasting, no blade barrier for the marilith, etc.

There are also some odd omissions, such as the displacer beast lacking a bite attack.

One major thing I do not like is proficiency bonus being based off of CR for monsters, should be hit dice (like PCs, and some NPCs).

 

[Li Shenron]

Undead as a category due to the abolishment of level drain.

Otherwise the real winner is obviously the Nymph, who got nerfed to the point of not existing anymore.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Reading this thread up to this point, I’m all...

 

[Mycroft]

Otherwise the real winner is obviously the Nymph, who got nerfed to the point of not existing anymore.

Ah, thank you, I had forgotten to convert it to 5th Ed. I have converted most fey that have not already been covered (and celestials, fiends, etc). I also ported back the cold-iron deal from 3rd Ed (for many fey, demons, eladrins, etc).

 

[dave2008]

One major thing I do not like is proficiency bonus being based off of CR for monsters, should be hit dice (like PCs, and some NPCs).

I think I agree with you here. I am starting to be bothered by the lack of meaning for hit dice (other than HP), and I think I may start using HD for prof. bonus. Thank you for bringing that up!

 

[Mycroft]

I think I agree with you here. I have started to be bother by the lack of meaning for hit dice (other than HP), and I think I may start using HD for prof. bonus. Thank you for bringing that up!

Right on, I have been using Hit Dice for proficiency bonus for everything for a few years now. CR is way too nebulous and subjective for my tastes. Basically, some monster's attacks and DCs go up by 1 or 2, and a handful go down by 1.
Also, makes designing new monsters easier (or converting), as you bypass the circular reference in the DMG.

 

[aco175]

Monsters took a hit just as much as PCs. The classes have more powers and HP compared to earlier editions, maybe not 4e, and needed to change to be 'balanced' to each other. 2e had +5 weapons to throw around since you had no class powers as a fighter. You needed monsters that only a +5 weapon could hit to make an epic battle.

There is a lot of save or die monster abilities that are gone and I do not have any problems with that. Same with needing +weapons to hit something. 5e changed the rules on needing magic to be competitive, so they needed to change the monsters.