D&D 5E Zooming In On Monsters of the Multiverse [UPDATED!]

Earlier, WotC announced Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse, a new D&D compilation of monster material from previous products updated to a new format. These screen grabs are as good as I could get them. They're not terribly clear, but you can make more out than in the original images.

The screenshots show the original entry in Volo's Guide to Monsters next to the new entry in Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse.

"The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood. D&D is exploring the multiverse Revisiting classic settings. 1st of...

www.enworld.org

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UPDATE -- a cleaned up version of the War Priest has appeared on imgur.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

But I mean, do we know the book won’t contain any Monster Manual stat blocks? I kinda doubt that it won’t, personally.

I don't know, but given the MM is getting its own update, I doubt there will be many if any MM creatures in it.

One weird thing I noticed was Nautiliods on the cover, I don't remember any book giving creature stats on Nautiliods, just basic ship info, but my memory might be failing me.

 

[ad_hoc]

I too would rather not have the demon lords in the book though the DM screen suggests they will be in it.

Oh well, not a deal breaker.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I too would rather not have the demon lords in the book though the DM screen suggests they will be in it.

Oh well, not a deal breaker.

I'm more curious if the Grung are just monsters or a PC race too.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The funny thing about the art is for something that is supposed to be setting neutral, the art isn't setting neutral, the War Priest is very clearly a Priestess of Selune! Which makes the fact that she is a WAR Priest weird given she's a Moon Goddess, not a War Goddess.This could be a hint that like AL, they plan on making Domains universal instead of tied to specific Gods in the PHB 5.5e.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I'm more curious if the Grung are just monsters or a PC race too.

Hmm. They could reprint the Grung monster stats and the PC race in the book. They could do the same for Locathah and Tortles, too. That'd be cool.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The funny thing about the art is for something that is supposed to be setting neutral, the art isn't setting neutral, the War Priest is very clearly a Priestess of Selune! Which makes the fact that she is a WAR Priest weird given she's a Moon Goddess, not a War Goddess.This could be a hint that like AL, they plan on making Domains universal instead of tied to specific Gods in the PHB 5.5e.

Domains were never tied to specific gods - they were always just suggested domains. In fact, the column is literally called "Suggested Domains" in the deity lists in the back of the PHB. Granted, some choices will be a bit hard to explain in RP terms ("You want to be a Light Domain cleric of Shar?"), but they aren't outright forbidden.

A War Domain cleric of Selune would just be sworn to root out creatures of darkness through any means. All clerics of Selune do that to some extent, but she's really serious about it!

 

[Demetrios1453]

Hmm. They could reprint the Grung monster stats and the PC race in the book. They could do the same for Locathah and Tortles, too. That'd be cool.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they do that. Especially with the locathah, which have usually been in the MM in previous editions...

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

You want to be a Light Domain cleric of Shar

Easy! Shar is the goddess of darkness, and darkness absorbs light, so you channel the light that your goddess absorbs!
/s

 

[Demetrios1453]

And, as I said way upthread, even if the Demon Lords and Archdevils are included, as well as all other VGtM and MToF creatures, that still gives us at least 14 creatures from other books that will be included - they've told us that there will be at least 250 creatures in this book, and VGtM and MToF have 236 in total. In all probability probably it might be more like 20 or so - and that's if the 250 quoted isn't just a vague number and it's even more. Removing the individual creatures does improve that, but if we get around 20 creatures from other books, that's not too bad actually...

 

[Demetrios1453]

I don't know, but given the MM is getting its own update, I doubt there will be many if any MM creatures in it.

One weird thing I noticed was Nautiliods on the cover, I don't remember any book giving creature stats on Nautiliods, just basic ship info, but my memory might be failing me.

I hadn't thought of this before, but they might put in the ship stats from Saltmarsh (since they are compiling things like this from other books for this one, and it's really useful info to have in a general book and not just in an adventure), and then maybe throw in some extras like nautiloids. There are some very general stats for one in Dungeon of the Mad Mage (along with stats for a Spelljamming helm), so it wouldn't be too hard to update it to a full stat block. It would be pretty neat, and actually a selling point if they did so, as it would be something entirely new in the book...

Heck, they could even throw in other vehicles like those in Descent to Avernus, and add further regular vehicle stats...