D&D General what is it that make certain monsters of certain categories?

In the Monster Manual it says:

So it's almost like Monstrosity is a general term that describes all monsters, unless they fit into a more specific category.

An Aberration, according to the Monster Manual, is:

So a Beholder could be categorized as a Monstrosity, but because it is an alien being with magical abilities drawn from its mind, it fits into Aberration.
I like that. Honestly, I think D&D could do with trimming down the number of types and adding supertypes. For example, you could probably list the main types down to:
Beast
Dragon
Humanoid
Plant
Spirit

Then have supertypes that can be applied to any of these:
Aberrant
Celestial
Constructed
Elemental
Fae
Giant
Infernal
Monstrous
Natural
Undead
 
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I like that. Honestly, I think D&D could do with trimming down the number of types and adding supertypes. For example, you could probably list the main types down to:
Beast
Dragon
Humanoid
Plant
Spirit

Then have supertypes that can be applied to any of these:
Aberrant
Celestial
Constructed
Elemental
Fae
Giant
Infernal
Monstrous
Natural
Undead
interesting, what would you describe the essence of the supertypes then?
 

"Aberration" usually refers to what 4e would call "creatures of the Far Realm": beings from outside of reality that are antithetical to the "natural" laws of physics. These beings tend to be very dangerous and malevolent.

"Monstrosity," an invention of 5e, seems to be a catch-all term for stuff that did not evolve naturally, but which is otherwise a relatively natural creature. As mentioned above, this would include things like owlbears and manticores. Creatures that are strange amalgams of other beings, or in some other way created unnaturally from natural creatures or materials. They also tend to be a lot less outright malevolent.

"Dragon," "giant," "fey," "fiend," and a number of other categories seem to be much more like what we would normally use species/family categories as. That is, they're things that have a fundamental nature or essence in common, one that magic can detect or affect in some way.
Speaking of 4e, even that used to be handled better back then. Each creature had both a type and origin. So aboleths for example, would have been "Aberrant Beasts" while mind flayers were "Aberrant Humanoids"
 

I like that. Honestly, I think D&D could do with trimming down the number of types and adding supertypes. For example, you could probably list the main types down to:
Beast
Dragon
Humanoid
Plant
Spirit

Then have supertypes that can be applied to any of these:
Aberrant
Celestial
Constructed
Elemental
Fae
Giant
Infernal
Monstrous
Natural
Undead
You mean like the 4e origin/type classification system?
 

I've been sorting a list of the monsters from 2e into 5e categories, so I've had to think about this.

The two trickiest distinctions are Beast <> Monstrosity and Aberration <> Monstrosity. An honorable mention goes to Humanoid <> Monstrosity, since monstrosities can be humanoid in shape.

I compared the Beasts and Monstrosities on D&D Beyond to see if there was a clear difference. Beasts can be intelligent, have alignments (rather than being unaligned), and even speak. They can look like you took a regular animal and stuck wings or a horn on it. They can have damage resistances and even cast (innate) spells (dancing lights for Deep Rothe).

My conclusion was that the principles for Beasts vs Monstrosities are basically this:
-Beasts almost always look either like real animals, or like something that could be a real animal on earth. Although rare, you can add a single out of place feature, such as a horn or wings. If you make the creature truly chimerical in form (more than just a minor feature on a clear single animal base), you have created a monster-osity.
-Beasts can very rarely have one minor supernatural ability. It might be a damage resistance, or some special feature. If they have more than one, or if they are more powerful (like a damage immunity), you have a monstrosity.
-Individual beasts who are magically transformed can remain beasts even if they gain features that make them more like a monstrosity. In the same manner, other creatures transformed into beasts can sometimes retain their abilities--like a mage who can still cast spells even though he's now a rabbit or something.
-Monstrosities either do not look like something that could be a real animal; or they do look similar to something that could be a real animal, but have supernatural features.
-You can probably safely follow a "rule of one" for beasts. It can have one thing out of the ordinary, like a physical feature, a supernatural ability, or intelligence (which might include language and speech). It should feel like it is a "natural" part of the world.

For Monstrosities vs Humanoids:
-Humanoids are bideps of any size from Tiny to Medium. Quadrupedal+ creatures like centaurs are monstrosities (or Fey).
-Humanoids can be anthropomorphic animals or any step in-between that and a human, but tend not to have extra appendages other than wings.
-Creatures that have populous societies are more likely to be humanoids than monstrosities.

Here are my impressions of 5e Monstrosity vs Aberration:
-Monstrosities look like a normal part of a fantasy world. Chimerical beasts like griffons or manticores, bipeds like doppelgangers, medusa or minotaurs, even oddities like carrion crawlers or mimics. Aberrations are less likely to look like a normal part of the fantasy world, and more likely to look like something out of alien sci-fi, though there are exceptions are both sides.
-Titans (in the 5e sense) are usually monstrosities also, such as krakens or astral dreadnoughts. They might be odd, but they are primordial entities of the cosmos associated with gods and such.
-Monstrosities are associated most often with the Material Plane, though some of them live on other planes also. Aberrations are not all native to the Far Realm, but most of them have some of that feel to them.
-As a general rule, while beasts should feel like a "natural" part of the world, monstrosities should feel like a normal part of the magic of the world (a treasure chest that eats you still feels like a normal magical threat), while aberrations should feel like they are bizarrely alien with no normal connection to the fantasy world.

Also, if you have something that is like a humanoid or monstrosity but you need it to be otherworldly, you can make it Fey, even if it doesn't fit the traditional Fey feel. Or if you have something you can't make humanoid by the rules, but you don't want it to be a monstrosity and you can make a case that it does have some of the traditional Fey flavor, you can make it a Fey (like the playable centaurs).
 


interesting, what would you describe the essence of the supertypes then?
Most of them are planes of origin - an Elemental Humanoid, for example is a human-like creature from the elemental planes - Djinni are a good example. Aberrant in that case would mean alien. From the Far Realm, or some equivalent place that exists outside the setting’s planar system. Some are more descriptive about the nature of the creature - constructed means an artificial version of the creature type - something like a clockwork animal would be a Constructed Beast. I think Monstrous would be more along these lines. A creature that is somehow unlike other examples of its type, such as having been magically mutated or otherwise altered.
 


so based on others conclusions I am in a fruitless endeavour.

If your endeavor is to find a definitive distinction between the two groups, yes. If your goal is to get the feel right for running (playing? It wasn't clear if you are being a player or GM) an aberration monster/character, I think the thread has had some insightful and beneficial posts.
 

If your endeavor is to find a definitive distinction between the two groups, yes. If your goal is to get the feel right for running (playing? It wasn't clear if you are being a player or GM) an aberration monster/character, I think the thread has had some insightful and beneficial posts.
I wanted to build a playable aberration for players to use as their race and I can't see how to balance the two components.
 

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