So Much Art From the 2025 Monster Manual

Here's some preview art from the 2025 Monster Manual, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast's "Everything You Need to Know Video" on the new book.

A classic Faceless Stalker:

A demon of some kind:

Arch-Hags:

Some kobolds:

A Nalfeshnee, perhaps?

A revenant:

Blue dracolich:

Death Knight:

Death tyrant:

Chimera:

Githyanki (with the central warrior recreating a classic pose):

A mummy lord:

A marrow:

A balrog balor:

Mimics:

While I'm tempted to say a tressym, this actually might be a new sphinx design:

Bone fiend:

Sladd:

Rust monster:

Platinum(?) dragon:

Bronze dragon:

Hezrou, perhaps?

Fire giant, not Karlach:

Cloud giants:

Zombies:

Red dragon:

Hags (including a male hag):

Dryads (including a male dryad):

Horned devil:

Incubus and succubus:

Vampires:

Vampire:

Colossus:

Spirit naga:

Copper dragon:

White dragon:

Blue dragon:

Gold dragon:

Black dragon:

 

[Azzy]

Naw, it's legit awful, beyond cringe inducing embarrassingly bad. It's a like someone said let's make some lame bubblegum fantasy art with some ai prompts and spent about an hour or two messing around. This is that, it's souless and uninspiring, it's at times just plain silly. The more "humanoid" characters are just so lame looking, hahaha... compare to something for example, from Elmore or many others, seriously not even in the same universe.

I think your post is embarrassingly bad.

 

[AstroCat]

I think your post is embarrassingly bad.

Thats ok, the art is still also bad. Sure, some are hell bent on "loving" anything and really anything, they can do no wrong, content wotc 2024 throws their way. Thank goodness I don't feel that kind of social corporate loyalty to wotc or Hasbro. If the content is bad, and it's bad, I don't have to like it. The fear some have is if you don't fall in line and love everything about 2024 modern day wotc, all of sudden you are put in some kind of "others" bucket.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

As in thinking the MM art is really bad, yep I'm serious, I think it's really bad compared to so much other "d&d" monster art I think is awesome.

Bubblegum fantasty with Ai prompts. You are just straight up insulting the artists.

Here are two full pieces not zoomed in on or affected by Youtube quality. I think these are excellent pieces. How are these anything like you said.

 

[Chaltab]

Bro. I hate Hasbro and haven't bought a blasted thing from WOTC since Spelljammer. But I'm not going to pretend that I hate art because the company that paid for it sucks.

 

[AstroCat]

Bubblegum fantasty with Ai prompts. You are just straight up insulting the artists.

Here are two full pieces not zoomed in on or affected by Youtube quality. I think these are excellent pieces. How are these anything like you said.

"I" think those are not appealing and look janky to me, not liking them really at all, content, coloring, style not doing for me. And it's funny they actually look like midjourney art. The "artist" technical skills are not relevant to whether I have to like the art.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

For comparison here is a Elmore with some Minotaurs.

It's an excellent piece with lots of skill in it. But I don't like it as much for what I feel a D&D Minotaur should be.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

"Without being titillating" seems to completely miss the point of the monster. Just eliminate them if you don't actually want a sexual sin demon.

To be exact here, the art we have seen is purely of the Incubus the Dream invading Fiend, not the Succubus the seducer.

 

[Chaltab]

For comparison here is a Elmore with some Minotaurs.

It's an excellent piece with lots of skill in it. But I don't like it as much for what I feel a D&D Minotaur should be.

It's incredibly well done, but giving the minotaurs actual cow heads does make them seem cute rather than menacing. Which is fine if that's meant to be the vibe, but not if it's supposed to be a scary monster.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It's incredibly well done, but giving the minotaurs actual cow heads does make them seem cute rather than menacing. Which is fine if that's meant to be the vibe, but not if it's supposed to be a scary monster.

I like his and appreciate his background more than the Minotaurs I feel.

 

[AstroCat]

To be exact here, the art we have seen is purely of the Incubus the Dream invading Fiend, not the Succubus the seducer.

What's wrong with titillating in fantasy art? It doesn't have to be just curious why it can't be?