D&D (2024) Skeleton Entry and Stat Blocks from New Monster Manual

Posted by Christian Hoffer on Twitter, here's a third stat block from 2025's Monster Manual!

Also don't forget check out the ancient green dragon and the kuo-toa.

 

[vagabundo]

OK, I am curious. As a prolific monster designer myself, but one that does not particularly care for undead, what would you add to make it feel like a skeleton? The only thing that comes to the top of my head is to make it weaker than the parent creature because well - it is just a skeleton. However, I am open to your ideas and suggestions. What do you want a skeleton to be?

I gave a few examples in my previous post. But drawing on skeletons as monsters like they are scary maybe a fear effect/aura. They are connected to death so maybe death saves are worse when they are around. Bones are brittle so maybe maybe each hit disables a limb and they keep coming like terminator. They are animated by dark energies so maybe that's toxic and leaks. They move erratically, slow then quick so can move without triggering attacks across the battlefield.

I'd probably want a few examples using mechanics from above, maybe increasing in complexity as level increase and then a little toolkit for the DM to make their own.

Reskinning a Minotaur and calling it a day seems a little lazy to me.

And someone brought up 4e monsters, while they didn't always hit the mark and had problems, 5e was definitely a step backward in design.

 

[Reynard]

OK, I am curious. As a prolific monster designer myself, but one that does not particularly care for undead, what would you add to make it feel like a skeleton? The only thing that comes to the top of my head is to make it weaker than the parent creature because well - it is just a skeleton. However, I am open to your ideas and suggestions. What do you want a skeleton to be?

I think the main skeleton schtick is that they are relentless. They don't get hurt unless you shatter them. And in many cases, if they are blasted apart, they put themselves back together.

So I would give them immunity to piercing, cold, poison. I would give them resistance to fire, lightning, slashing and acid. they would take full damage from bludgeoning and thunder. In any case, if they are dropped to 0 hop they would immediately make a Con save versus 10+ half the damage that dropped them. If they succeed, they begin to reform, rising in 1d4 rounds with 50% of their starting HP. If it was a critical hit that dropped them, they do not reform.

 

[Clint_L]

Heh. RAW, I suppose that's true! I guess it menaces the living with its slashing-damage greataxes, then puts them away and just does bludgeoning damage in combat instead. And then the greataxes disappear after the monster is defeated, which is why they're not listed as gear! It all makes sense now.


IDK, now I kinda hope they keep it. This could be fun!

Or it could be swinging a big old rusty axe that is more about bludgeoning than slashing. Or maybe another weapon. Why does this matter? Is it that hard to wrap the imagination around?

 

[dave2008]

You don't care if 5E 2024 - a product that WOTC wants you to pay money for - is going to be better than 2014?

I don't care about the marketing, that is what I was referring to.

However, in reality I do not care much if 2024 5e is "better" than 2014. We run our own houseruled / homebrewed version of 5e (and have for 8+ years) and that will not change in 2024 or beyond. We don't need a revision or a new edition. We are having more fun playing now than we have in the 30 years previously. So we are good.

Now, everything I have seen suggests the 2024 versions of the books are indeed better by some amount, but that will not affect me, my group, or our game in any real tangible way.

 

[dave2008]

I think the main skeleton schtick is that they are relentless. They don't get hurt unless you shatter them. And in many cases, if they are blasted apart, they put themselves back together.

Interesting, I get the relentless aspect, but I have never known the putting themselves back together as common theme. Generally I think of skeletons as the bottom feeders of undead, very weak and disposable. Not unkillable death machines.

 

[dave2008]

So I looked it up and in 3.x, they had Bludgeoning DR which means they were actually resistant to bludgeoning damage, and in AD&D they were resistant to slashing and piercing. Also in both cases they were immune to cold damage.

In 4e they are vulnerable to radiant and immune (which was rare in 4e) to poison and disease

 

[dave2008]

I gave a few examples in my previous post. But drawing on skeletons as monsters like they are scary maybe a fear effect/aura. They are connected to death so maybe death saves are worse when they are around. Bones are brittle so maybe maybe each hit disables a limb and they keep coming like terminator. They are animated by dark energies so maybe that's toxic and leaks. They move erratically, slow then quick so can move without triggering attacks across the battlefield.

I can see those being interesting for some special skeletons, but they don't fill the idea of a bone simple skeleton, which is what I want, to me.

And someone brought up 4e monsters, while they didn't always hit the mark and had problems, 5e was definitely a step backward in design.

Some are and some aren't. Overall 4e monsters are more dynamic, but the whole system was as well. 4e monsters also had their problems, particularly at higher levels and solos. 5e legendary monsters are generally (and in particularly past MM) all on par or better than their 4e equivalents IMO. Legendary actions / resistance alone (though that is changing some in 2024) improved solos immensely.

 

[Reynard]

Interesting, I get the relentless aspect, but I have never known the putting themselves back together as common theme. Generally I think of skeletons as the bottom feeders of undead, very weak and disposable. Not unkillable death machines.

I'm not thinking od D&D monsters, I am thinking of media depictions.

 

[coyote6]

So I looked it up and in 3.x, they had Bludgeoning DR which means they were actually resistant to bludgeoning damage, and in AD&D they were resistant to slashing and piercing. Also in both cases they were immune to cold damage.

That's incorrect; in 3e, skeletons had DR 5/bludgeoning, which means they reduced weapon damage they took by 5, but that bludgeoning damage bypassed that reduction. "DR #/foo" means "reduce damage by #, except from type foo."

 

[dave2008]

I love 4E. I also have an interest in that this game we love doesn't regress. Some of this is opinion - I'd be hard-pressed to find a 5E monster that is more interesting than their 4E counterpart, but that is fundamentally a matter of opinion.

Almost all legendary monsters (particularly post MM) are as good or better than their 4e equivalent IMO. That appears to be even more so in the 2024 edition.