D&D 5E D&D's official twitter feed is giving previews of art and contents from Monsters of the Multiverse

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Also: If the Duergar don't get the Dwarven racial traits, does that mean Shadar-Kai lose out on Fey Ancestry? I mean I was never big on having them as Elves either, but from a background lore perspective, it made sense that they had it since they were the results of Shadowfell fey and the Raven Queen's followers "mingling" together.

Not clear yet. I actually kind of do hope that they lose some of the elven racial traits, as I think that would be a cool way of showing how the Shadowfell (and/or magic of the Raven Queen's apotheosis ritual) corrupted them over the centuries/(millennia?).

And I'm still not convinced that we need both Sea Elves and Tritons, especially since both of them are majorly defined as hating Sahuagin. Like, if we have one green/blue-skinned aquatic race with webbed fingers that fights underwater battles with the Sahuagin, do we really need another one of those but with an elven flavor?

 

[Parmandur]

Huh. I wonder why. And what has happened to the aasimar and shifter subraces?

Subrace is outdated rules wise, thanks to Tasha's. different ASI is meaningless now, and rigidly following the same base Race traits is a restriction rather than an empowerment.

 

[Parmandur]

For those that don't want to have to watch the video, the 30ish confirmed races for the book are as follows:

1. Aarakocra
2. Aasimar
3. Bugbear
4. Centaur
5. Changeling
6. Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin)
7. Duergar
8. Eladrin
9. Fairy
10. Firbolg
11. Air Genasi
12. Earth Genasi
13. Fire Genasi
14. Water Genasi
15. Githyanki
16. Githzerai
17. Goblin
18. Goliath
19. Harengon
20. Hobgoblin
21. Kenku
22. Kobold
23. Lizardfolk
24. Minotaur
25. Orc
26. Satyr
27. Sea Elf
28. Shadar-Kai
29. Shifter
30. Tabaxi
31. Tortle
32. Triton
33. Yuan-Ti (strangely, it doesn't say "Pureblood" on this section)

That's mostly what I was expecting it to be. There's a few surprises (Fairy and Harengon), and there's no Locathah or Grung in it (or the 8 Tiefling subraces), but it's more or less just the races (and subraces that are now becoming full races) from Volo's Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes put in this book in an updated format. Genasi got some buffs, from what I heard, too.

Edit: I forgot to mention, it appears that none of the races that previously got Sunlight Sensitivity will have it from now on. (Duergar in this book, but probably not Drow, either, in the upcoming reprint of the PHB.)

That's about what I expected: it has all the Elemental Evil, Volo's & Mordenkainen's material, plus the Tortle Package, two generic Eberron options, three Hellenic options from the Magic Settings, and two pretty generic options printed in an adventure (probably meant for this book originally).

The Grung and Locanth were not fully vetted options, rhe way Tortles were: just Chris Lindsey's homebrew put out for charity.

 

[pukunui]

Subrace is outdated rules wise, thanks to Tasha's. different ASI is meaningless now, and rigidly following the same base Race traits is a restriction rather than an empowerment.

It's a handy way to save space. Imagine how much extra space the races section of the 50th anniversary edition will take up with them having to repeat all the shared traits that the various types of elves, dwarves, etc have in common.

 

[Parmandur]

It's a handy way to save space. Imagine how much extra space the races section of the 50th anniversary edition will take up with them having to repeat all the shared traits that the various types of elves, dwarves, etc have in common.

My hypothesis is that the "Astral Elf" from the most recent UA is their scheme for a new Elf that needs no Subraces: it covers both Wood and High Elves, and more, just fine. Based on what we have seen in the post-Tasha scene, space differential is minimal.

 

[pukunui]

My hypothesis is that the "Astral Elf" from the most recent UA is their scheme for a new Elf that needs no Subraces: it covers both Wood and High Elves, and more, just fine. Based on what we have seen in the post-Tasha scene, space differential is minimal.

Maybe? As I said in the other thread, this book feels like one of those "end of line" compendium products where everything gets a good polish to "finish off" the edition before the new one is brought out. It also feels like a Book of Nine Swords-style experimental "bridging" book.

Since we know that 50Ae is coming out in two years, I'd rather they stop pulling a George Lucas on 5e and save all the major changes for the new edition.

 

[Parmandur]

Maybe? As I said in the other thread, this book feels like one of those "end of line" compendium products where everything gets a good polish to "finish off" the edition before the new one is brought out. It also feels like a Book of Nine Swords-style experimental "bridging" book.

Since we know that 50Ae is coming out in two years, I'd rather they stop pulling a George Lucas on 5e and save all the major changes for the new edition.

What this feels like is a Monster Manual 2, pretty simply. Just monster stat blocks, and some Racial options.

Whatever the 2024 iteration is, it is supposed to be 100% backwards compatible. So, continuing the iteration as they go makes sense. They aren't restarting the game, not the way they have in the past. This is aimed at people who haven't bought the past 7 years of ancillary products, while keeping up with advancemenmade, such as Tasha's rules.

 

[pukunui]

What this feels like is a Monster Manual 2, pretty simply. Just monster stat blocks, and some Racial options.

Given that Volo’s and Mordy’s are both still in print, this book is 100% rehashing existing content in new ways. I would not call that a Monster Manual 2. It’s more of a “Monster and Playable Race Compendium”.

They may claim that 50Ae will be fully compatible now but I’ll believe that when I see it.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Given that Volo’s and Mordy’s are both still in print, this book is 100% rehashing existing content in new ways. I would not call that a Monster Manual 2. It’s more of a “Monster and Playable Race Compendium”.

They may claim that 50Ae will be fully compatible now but I’ll believe that when I see it.

I would to try and dig up the quote, but I am pretty sure I have seen this set called extended Core, or something like that, where this, the PHB, DMG, and MM are all Core rules.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

My hypothesis is that the "Astral Elf" from the most recent UA is their scheme for a new Elf that needs no Subraces: it covers both Wood and High Elves, and more, just fine. Based on what we have seen in the post-Tasha scene, space differential is minimal.

The Githyanki in the updated form gets one of the Astral Elf's features (the "Astral Knowledge" one that lets them replace proficiencies during long rests), so the UA could have also been dual-purpose in playtesting whether or not people like the idea of that kind of mechanic.