D&D (2024) I have a Monster Manual. AMA!

[Yaarel]

What is a monster, anyway?

Actually, what is a "Monstrosity", exactly?

Is it specific to the Material Plane. What makes them different from other planar creature types?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It is a bit out of left field, but it gives Lizardfolk a bit of a shtick beyond being scaley Orcs.

They already had one. They live in swamps and don’t have a problem with eating other humanoids. To Lizardfolk, meat is meat. Orcs were more raiding cavemen that wanted to conquer the world for Gruumsh. I already used Orcs and Lizardfolk in pretty different ways, as did the official books.

 

[Chaltab]

Monstrosities are classical monsters (IE the Kraken, griffon, hydra) and stuff altered by magic (owlbears, werewovles, mimics)

 

[MonsterEnvy]

That's what I was thinking when I saw the conversion chart honsestly. I didn't know how much HP the Tough had (still don't know the exact number) but I used the 5e Thug a lot so I know it has 32 average HP compared to the average 15 the standard Orc had.

More than doubling the base HP of Orc encounters from the 2014 rules is probably going to cause some low level parties undue grief.

2014 Orcs hit harder than Toughs. I think their HP was reduced a tiny bit.

 

[Yaarel]

Ogrillons were "humanoids cursed by foul magic or wrathful deities" to become ogre-like.

Wow!

So the Ogrillon can now function where the old school Orc often did?

They seem to be no-longer "humanoid". Perhaps no longer sapient? Transformed by "foul" (necromantic?) magic.

This hints at the Orc-Ogre-Orcus/Hades reallife etymology.

 

[Parmandur]

They already had one. They live in swamps and don’t have a problem with eating other humanoids. To Lizardfolk, meat is meat. Orcs were more raiding cavemen that wanted to conquer the world for Gruumsh. I already used Orcs and Lizardfolk in pretty different ways, as did the official books.

So what about Orcs that live in swamps, such as in Eberron...? Making all of the pretty same Humanoids a little more different seems like a pretty clear goal here.

 

[Yaarel]

Azer were already Elementals in 2014. Merfolk I kind of expected to be Fey, that’s probably how I’ll represent them in my games to separate them from the Tritons, who are already tied to the Elemental Plane of Water. Aarakocra kind of makes sense, given their connection to the Elemental Plane of Air, but I agree that Lizardfolk being Elementals is weird, even if they come up with some lore justification for it.

For Triton, I would probably go with either Celestial or Fey (for either Greek or Classical).

I like Merfolk as Elemental Water, but might still make them natives of the waters in the Material Plane and-or hang out in the Border Ethereal. The Water Plane would also have some them.

 

[mellored]

Do all creatures seem to have initiative boost?

The few samples I saw all seemed to have high initiative.

 

[Yaarel]

Monstrosities are classical monsters (IE the Kraken, griffon, hydra) and stuff altered by magic (owlbears, werewovles, mimics)

Honestly I dont find a "category" in those examples.

Isnt the Kraken a "Celestial/Fiend Titan"?
Griffon qualifies as a normal Beast, having features resembling lion and eagle. (Platypus would be a normal Beast.)
Hydra could easily be the Dragon creature type.

Owlbear could be a normal Beast. (@FitzTheRuke?)
I view Werewolves as a Shapeshifter that attunes nature, Primal magic. It can have the Beast type, or Humanoid, or both, or alternate.
Mimic could be Aberration.


I dont know what a "Monstrosity" is.

 

[Parmandur]

Honestly I dont find a "category" in those examples.

Isnt the Kraken a "Celestial/Fiend Titan"?
Griffon qualifies as a normal Beast, having features resembling lion and eagle. (Platypus would be a normal Beast.)
Hydra could easily be the Dragon creature type.

Owlbear could be a normal Beast. (@FitzTheRuke?)
I view Werewolves as a Shapeshifter that attunes nature, Primal magic. It can have the Beast type.
Mimic could be Aberration.


I dont know what a "Monstrosity" is.

They covered that in the Monstrosity video, and apparently there is a definition in the book: basically any case of natural beings who have been modified or combined without falling into one of the other categories.