Aaah, that’s why. Typical digital books…
D&D 5E Let’s Read Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
This will be because this version of the darking first appeared in Wild Beyond the Witchlight, not MP:MotM.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
That might be why, but it's still weird considering they didn't do it for other creatures.
Take Baphomet for example, the OotA stat block is different from the DiA/MToF stat blocks. But you can still access the the OotA stat block.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
You will find other creatures updated when new versions of the stat blocks are published. That is normal, if not done in a 100% consistent fashion. I suspect when MotM goes live on D&D Beyond they will go round and add the legacy versions back in for owners of the older books.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Death Kiss (VGtM)
When Beholders dream, they create new Beholders. When Beholders dream of blood loss, they dream up a Death Kiss. Which can best be described as a cross between a Beholder and a leech. The resulting creature is significantly weaker, less intelligent, and less egotistical than their True Beholder progenitor.
The Death Kiss likes to wander around their lair and drink as much blood as possible, due to a paranoia they have about starving to death. This blood is then converted to electricity thanks to their aberrant biology.
Now for the question of “How do I use this thing in my game?” The Death Kiss can be found as a minion of a True Beholder, perhaps as a recent dream. The trick to this is that the Death Kiss really doesn't want to live under the shadow of a Beholder any more than any other creature does, and perhaps the PCs could convince the creature to leave them alone if they create an escape opportunity.
Another interesting possibility is that the PCs require the presence of a Death Kiss. Perhaps they need to harvest some of their strange body parts as a reagent for some kind of magical item. Maybe they need to generate a lot of electricity and happen to already have a massive supply of blood. In either case the focus of that particular adventure would be how to give a Beholder a Nightmare and survive the ensuing chaos.
The Death Kiss has a described combat routine. They latch their tentacles onto whatever targets they can grapple, then suck them dry, while regaining HP in the process. I find this to be a bit over-simplistic for a creature that has at least human levels of intelligence. So I will note that they can fly, and grapple from a distance, allowing them to at least employ the “Grapple stuff in the air” tactic I am fond of, while potentially keeping melee attackers away from their main body. Though any melee attacker will be forced to endure the automatic reprisal of their Lightning Blood ability. Another thing to consider is the fact they can suck the blood out of up to three targets, but only once per turn per target. Meaning they should grapple as many creatures as possible, and preferably weak ones like mounts in order to get some sweet blood based healing. The Death Kiss also has a combat option you may not realize at first, they can replace their Tentacle attacks with Blood Drains, allowing them to grapple a target, then immediately drain it the same turn.
The Death Kiss was nerfed a tad bit for this printing. Their maximum HP was brought down, and their tentacle attacks do less damage. However, the bulk of their damage comes from the Blood Drain power, which also heals them. So the overall effect of these changes are minor.
Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Deathlocks (MToF)
Not to be confused with Dethklok.
In case you were wondering, the “D” section of this book is going to have a bunch of monsters with shared entries.
Deathlocks are warlocks who failed to deliver on their pact with their patron, and were turned into obedient undead as a punishment. Naturally, this serves as yet another potential way to have a Warlock enemy come back from beyond the grave to cause trouble for players who are foolish enough to think killing someone will stop them. An alternative origin presented by the book is the idea that a necromancer is raising them as a special form of undead. Which is a bit on-the-nose but it works if you want to diversify your undead portfolio.
Dealthlocks can use Disguise Self to walk around town if the need arises, allowing for significantly more non-combat encounters than most undead.
In combat, the Standard Deathlock will ideally open up with a Hunger of Hadar spell in order to cut off a key area of the combat map. Then follow up by blasting foes with their Grave Bolt power. To deal with annoying enemy casters, they can toss Dispel Magic. Should they need to escape, they can try their luck with either Invisibility or Spider Climb, but not both, due to concentration. As it turns out, NPC warlocks are almost as single-track as PC warlocks are.
In the change over, Deathlocks gained the Unusual nature trait, and lost a bit of their spell list ( including the Warlock’s signature Eldritch Blast), as well as any optional alternate spell lists. But in return they received more spells to cast each day by virtue of not having the warlock spellcasting mechanic, and a multiattack that allows it to do significantly more damage than just spamming Eldritch Blast. Unlike other monsters in this book, their mobility spells did not get incorporated into their stat block as abilities.
Deathlock Mastermind
The Deathlock Mastermind is a higher level warlock. But its tricks aren’t all that different. Instead of Hunger of Hadar, it will drop Darkness on itself to abuse the ever-potent Devil’s Sight combo. Their Grave Bolt can also restrain targets, which can come in handy. While it can cast Fly, just don’t do it in combat. The Deathlock has a +1 concentration save, and no innate fly speed. It WILL be knocked out of the sky in one turn, which makes the turn casting Fly a total whiff. Dimension Door, on the other hand, is really handy for escape, even if it is just once a day.
Deathlock Masterminds had similar changes to the standard Deathlock, but also lost some of the damage on their Grave Bolt attack.
Deathlock Wight
The Deathlock Wight is really weird in this printing. They are a “lesser” form of Deathlock that is punished by having most of their spells removed. But all the Deathlocks had most of their spells removed. Which instead makes them just a lower CR Deathlock with a way cooler attack that actually makes it deadlier than it’s “full powered” brethren. In order to make them feel weaker, the Deathlock Wight lacks Turn Resistance, and suffers from Sunlight Sensitivity, but they make up for that with their lack of a weakness to silver weapons anyway.
In combat, the Deathlock Wight will cast Fear to get some sweet AoE control, then follow up with their multiattack. Should Fear prove ineffective, they will supplement their tactics with Hold Person. While they can plink away with Grave Bolt, they will try to get in close so they can finish off any bleeding out enemies with their Life Drain attack. This Life drain attack deals less damage, but it allows the Wight to turn the recently dead into a zombie after a day, and they can control up to 12 of these zombies. Which is WotCs subtle way of telling you “Hey, these things should have about 2d6 zombie minions”
Deathlock Wights lost some damage on their Life Drain attack and the Misty Step spell, but gained damage on their Grave Bolt attack, and had their Life Drain attack added to multiattack which makes up for the damage loss.
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Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Deep Scion (VGtM)
Seep Scions are people who have been transformed into humanoid-piscine hybrids. Which is a fancy sounding description for “Fish people.” And different fish people than the tritons, or mermaids, or aquatic elves, or kuo-toa, or sahuagin, or locathah. All I’m saying is there are a lot of fish people in the sea, and for some reason we still don’t have dog people. But I digress.
The Deep Scions are fishy foes that infiltrate the surface world on behalf of their deep-sea masters. Allowing you to pull off that Shadow over Innsmouth flavored campaign you have been wanting to do. Or maybe you have a Fathomless warlock in your party? These Scions could be part of the cult where they got their fishy powers. Or perhaps they are working on behalf of a different Deep One who is a rival to their patron.
In combat, the Deep Scion must choose what form it wants to be in. Their Humanoid form or Hybrid form. Both have distinct advantages depending on the terrain. If there is water, they want to be a hybrid to get the most out of their powers and swim speed. If there is no water around, they want to be in humanoid form in order to walk faster, and not raise suspicion. You may want to delay the reveal until round two for maximum narrative impact, and to get the Scion into the best possible position to use it’s powers.
While in Hybrid form, the Scion deals more damage, and has use of their Psychic Screech Power. An AoE stun that also allows the Scion to inform its master of everything that has happened to it in the past 24 hours. The Scion is going to want to screech in every combat, if only for the information backup property, which means they are going to want to use it in the water if water is within a reasonable distance.
A clever party can use this against the Scion. By keeping the Scion out of the water, they can delay the screech until the Scion realizes they are not getting away with their life otherwise. And even then, if the Scion screeches outside of water, it will prevent the information transfer. Either way can be considered a big win for the players.
Or maybe they could just use Silence, that might work too.
The Deep Scion was not changed significantly in this new printing. Edit: other than being changed into a monstrosity instead of a humanoid.
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Leatherhead
Possibly a Idiot.
Demogorgon (OotA, MtoF, But not the one from that show on Netflix)
The Prince of Demons, the Sibilant Beast, Master of the Spiraling Depths, Host body of the heads Aameul and Hathradiah. Demogorgon looks like a huge two-headed baboon, with tentacles instead of hands, and the lower body of a dinosaur. And he is essentially the closest thing that demonkind has to a boss.
Demogorgon’s end goal is to destroy the universe. Even prolonged exposure to his cult symbol can cause people to slip into a delirious state. His preferred cultists are blessed with his whispers echoing in their minds, granting advantage on all mental saves. Most of his mortal followers are either serial killers or adventurers, especially warlocks of either. Which is a condemnation of the adventuring profession if I have ever heard one.
Demogorgon is a CR 26 endgame boss, and is at his worst when encountered in his lair. Interestingly enough, his home of Abysm is mostly underwater, and though he has a swim speed, he does not have the ability to breathe underwater. While at home, he can use a lair action to cast the Darkness spell 4 times at once (without concentration). Which he can abuse thanks to his Truesight. Alternatively he can create an illusionary duplicate that has a 50% chance of misdirecting the first attack or interaction with him per turn.
As for the Demon Prince’s personal combat powers, he is a melee controller masquerading as a brute, with a few special powers and spells as ranged options. While his Tentacle attacks can prevent healing due to max hp drain, a DM is going to want to use his multiattack with one of his Gaze attacks every turn for maximum action economy. The Hypnotic Gaze is particularly brutal, allowing total mind control of the target. Beguiling is the next best thing if somehow all of the PCs are immune to charm. Confusing Gaze is technically the weakest, but also bypasses the need of a saving throw, which might be good to use if the players have a bunch of ways to boost them. For Legendary Action priorities, the first one is casting Feeblemind on the party Cleric or Bard, which denies access to their spellcasting powers and communication skills. Dispel Magic is another good spell to use, mostly to strip away a party's defensive buffs. After that, consider using the Gazes again. Action lockdown is deadly effective, and chaotic minds are totally on-brand for Demogorgon.
Demogorgon was considerably buffed for this reprinting. While he may have lost his madness table (as well as any references to madness) he gained the ability to use his Gazes as part of his multiattack, and the cast a spell legendary action, which significantly upped his control game. He also has more HP than the MToF printing, but less HP and DPR than the OotA printing.
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Weiley31
Legend
Don't forget the most important part: He now does FORCE DAMAGE! So, so sucks to be a Raging Barbarian.
RoughCoronet0
Dragon Lover
But….why would you handicap yourself by playing anything other than a Bear Totem Barbarian.
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