D&D (2024) Monster Manual 2025 Stat Block Compilation

This thread contains a compilation of the Monster Manual 2025 stat blocks which have been previewed publicly so far.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm not saying it is a serious issue, but it is annoying. It will slow things down occasionally, but we will adapt and it will be fine. But again, they already had it in the previous book, they could have just left it in and it wouldn't be a problem at all. No one would have even noticed and commented on it. It would be a 100% non-issue. By removing it they made people (like myself) unhappy for no benefit.

Sure, it may be annoying.

But I do hesitate to state definitively that copying 2014 would have been "no problem at all." Because they didn't leave it in. And if there wasn't a good reason, you are essentially arguing "The designers decided to make the game worse for the lulz of it" which is incredibly uncharitable.

What was the reason? I don't know. I wasn't at the designer meeting when they made that decision. But they did have a reason, even if it was as pedestrian as "the guy who would be typing and spellchecking that is better used on this other part of the project, and this isn't vital information to put in the book"

My players do tend to be older, and we played the crap out of 3.0 and 3.5, where everything was internally consistent. I'm not saying I want to go back to that, but there is no harm having a little bit explanation for why things are the way they are. I guess what I really object to is that it feels like they are focusing more on the game part of Dungeons and Dragons and less on the immersive storytelling.

Never said there was anything wrong with having an explanation. Said that the sky isn't falling and the sun isn't consuming the earth just because they didn't give you a default explanation. A minor annoyance? Sure. A dire problem? Not even close.

I would be pleasantly surprised if the AC descriptions are in the final product. Gear is another issue that just feels bad. If a creature uses an item, then the characters can pick it up and use it. Maybe not effectively, but there would need to be an in-game reason for it. "Because it would unbalance the game," is a super lame reason to prevent a character from trying to do something.

Not listing it as gear to be picked up makes it clearly a DM choice. Many people will run gear as an absolute. "It says they get this, so this is what they get". This way, it is a choice. If you want the PCs to have sticky shields? Go for it. But it isn't the default option.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Is this really all we have seen? Like five or six stat blocks?

 

[Sulicius]

Is this really all we have seen? Like five or six stat blocks?

I hoped for more this week, but we didn’t even get anything after the last video. They have over 500, they keep saying! Give us some crumbs!

 

[Morrus]

 

[Parmandur]

Is this really all we have seen? Like five or six stat blocks?

The star blocks are what they are selling in the book, so...yup. Mainly art and rough overviews of changes or additions.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The star blocks are what they are selling in the book, so...yup. Mainly art and rough overviews of changes or additions.

Sure, but usually we see a little bit more by way of specifics. Also: Make no mistake. They are selling an Art Book as well.

 

[Stalker0]

and interesting question on the arch-hag, what happens if it dies in an area that doesn't allow teleporting or plane shifting. Does it drop to 1 but otherwise just hang around, does the curse still activate?

 

[Reynard]

View attachment 393874

Am I weird for being legit mad they cut this off the way they did?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Am I weird for being legit mad they cut this off the way they did?

It’s the same as the Gold Dragon were they cut off half the block, but this time they are making it more clear they did that.

 

[Sulicius]

and interesting question on the arch-hag, what happens if it dies in an area that doesn't allow teleporting or plane shifting. Does it drop to 1 but otherwise just hang around, does the curse still activate?

One result is intended, the other one is dissatisfying . I’d go for the first.