D&D 5E A Compilation of all the Race Changes in Monsters of the Multiverse

Over on Reddit, user KingJackel went through the video leak which came out a few days ago and manually compiled a list of all the changes to races in the book. The changes are quite extensive, with only the fairy and harengon remaining unchanged. The book contains 33 races in total, compiled and updated from previous Dungeons & Dragons books.

D&D 5E - List of All 33 Races in Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse contains 33 races compiled from previous Dungeons & Dragons books. Aarackocra Assimar Bugbear Centaur Changeling Deep Gnome Duergar Eladrin Fairy Firbolg Genasi, Air Genasi, Earth Genasi, Fire Gennasi, Water Githyanki Githzerai Goblin Goliath...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Full List of Monsters in Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse contains revamped stat blocks for 260 monsters previously published in previous Dungeons & Dragons 5E books. The list was compiled by YouTuber Bob Worldbuilder based on some blurry screenshots originally shared by Nerd Immersion (see the video...

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[Scribe]

I have to say I really hate this whole narrative of "grognards vs progressives" like there would be only two camps and you either need to embrace all the changes or oppose all of them. I have though for decades that D&D should be more inclusive and depiction of intelligent species is really problematic. Yet I still want some verisimilitude and simulationism.

Welcome to the 2020's of division and identity politics.

 

[MGibster]

Right at the front.
Why in hell is a woman depicted in that pose?

Her pose doesn't strike me as significantly different from the dragonborn standing next to her. Though it makes a little more sense for the dragonborn because it looks like he's on home plate looking to get to first base. They both look ridiculous.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I like the militarist archetype for hobgoblins, so I worry that these changes might move away from that. We'll see how the statblocks change.

The hobgoblin changes are even more stark when you consider how much more explicitly fey-flavored they are than the goblin and bugbear changes. For me it's the only altered PC race mentioned that seems like a completely alternate take on a race.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Her pose doesn't strike me as significantly different from the dragonborn standing next to her. Though it makes a little more sense for the dragonborn because it looks like he's on home plate looking to get to first base. They both look ridiculous.

Yes. That is completely true.

 

[JEB]

The hobgoblin changes are even more stark when you consider how much more explicitly fey-flavored they are than the goblin and bugbear changes. For me it's the only altered PC race mentioned that seems like a completely alternate take on a race.

I dunno, bugbears suddenly getting the ability to squeeze through small spaces also seems like a significant shift.

 

[ART!]

Before this book - Humanoid (goblin)
After this book - Fey (goblin)

There was no reduction in creature types

I think I got it into my head that goblinoid was a type.

What wasn't children-friendly in the core books?

And new players shouldn't be forced to buy a fourth expensive hardcover because the designers couldn't be bothered to put any roleplaying ideas in their own Player's Handbook!

So, they should or shouldn't fix their mistakes? What other options are there?

Yeah, I'm for all that.

Where they kinda lost me was on insisting that halflings not being as strong as half-orcs or fast as humans was a pressing social justice issue...

I think you're conflating some things here.
Arguably, the dropping of racially predesignated ASIs was done in the interest of avoiding biological essentialism (it also achieves other goals, so it's hard to know the complete motivations), but the change in movement speeds seems to be just in the interest of streamlining.

Causes Monster to have Disadvantage on their Attack Rolls while providing a +3 to AC to the PC.

I kind of dread what I think might be the answer, but why would that be true?.

This. Potential negative press is, in my opinion, by far the most important factor in WotC's decisions nowadays.

There's no way to know that.

 

[Weiley31]

I kind of dread what I think might be the answer, but why would that be true?.

I didn't write the Adventurer's Handbook to Dungeon Delving and other Mundane tasks of Treasure Seeking.

I just work the stalls.

 

[Uta-napishti]

The only super-dumb thing is the growing distinction between spells and other (frequently identical) magical abilities. This distinction is an architectural weakness they are actively and eagerly building into the game at the moment, for no reason at all I can see. Anyone get the memo why WoTC hates "spells" so much suddenly? It was the one unifying idea of magic in the 5E design. All kinds of special abilities, psionics, meta abilites, became spells, made everything So Much Simpler. Now, this is being reversed at top speed. Any speculation what the big design idea is? It HAS to be something bigger than a core designer hating counterspell. It better not be just to make people run monsters closer to CR, because that's totally insufficient. There has to be a (still hidden) player facing design change that hasn't been revealed yet. Any ideas?

 

[Weiley31]

The only super-dumb thing is the growing distinction between spells and other (frequently identical) magical abilities. This distinction is an architectural weakness they are actively and eagerly building into the game at the moment, for no reason at all I can see. Anyone get the memo why WoTC hates "spells" so much suddenly? It was the one unifying idea of magic in the 5E design. All kinds of special abilities, psionics, meta abilites, became spells, made everything So Much Simpler. Now, this is being reversed at top speed. Any speculation what the big design idea is? It HAS to be something bigger than a core designer hating counterspell. It better not be just to make people run monsters closer to CR, because that's totally insufficient. There has to be a (still hidden) player facing design change that hasn't been revealed yet. Any ideas?

They apparently want to make running Monsters for the DMs easier.

 

[Yaarel]

Anyone get the memo why WoTC hates "spells" so much suddenly?

I took the focus on "spells" only, to be rules clarification. Because what qualified as "magic" turned out to be murky, like dragon breath.