Hexmage-EN
Legend
I'm going through and comparing the lore entries for monsters between 2014 and 2025. Here's what I have so far:
Aarakocra
- MM2014 details the region of the Plane of Air that they live in while describing the war between the Wind Dukes of Aaqa and the Queen of Chaos and their role in opposing Elemental Evil. MM2025 greatly reduces this to what kinds of birds they might look like and mentions the Queen of Chaos and Wind Dukes in passing.
Aboleth
- MM2014 states that the aboleths are Primeval creatures that demand worship, lair in watery environments, gain new memories from creatures they eat, and reform in the Plane of Water when destroyed. MM2025 has most of the same details but states that their watery lairs are made in aquatic ruins or places of high magic. The statblock now has them reforming in the Far Realm by default instead of the Plane of Water.
Air Elemental
- In 2014 the Air Elemental is part of the Elementals entry, which states that elementals don't take form unless forced to by magic, dislike being summoned, and can be shaped by magic into specific varieties. They are said to like racing along the ground in addition to flying. In MM2025 there is no overarching Elemental entry, and Air Elementals are said to either be summoned or appear around nexuses of planar energy.
Animated Objects
- The primary difference between 2014 and 2025 is that the former says some animated objects might be able to speak while the latter makes no mention of this.
Ankheg
- Both the 2014 and 2025 Monster Manuals describe how they burrow and hunt for farm animals and game and suggest things that could be found in their tunnels. The main new innovation is that while 2014 implied ankhegs were solitary the more recent book states that multiple ankhegs can congregate where there is plentiful food.
Arcanaloth
- MM 2014 has them as part of the Yugoloth entry that details the group's origin, mercenary nature, that they return to Gehenna when destroyed, the four Books of Keeping that hold their true names, and the ultroloth called the General of Gehenna. The 2025 Monster Manual lacks an overview for Yugoloths. The arcanaloth-specific section in 2025 lacks the details that they keep records for yugolothkind and serve as diplomats and negotiators.
Assassin
- While there was no lore given for them in 2014, MM2025 states that most assassins kill for a reason and provides a 1d6 table of things an assassin may be infamous for.
Awakened Plants
- Another creature with no lore in MM2014, the MM2025 states that spells such as Awaken and magical influence create Awakened Plants, though some plants might naturally be awakened. Awakened Shrubs might be animate topiaries, while Awakened Trees can be created by the Feywild or the Shadowfell's influence.
Axe Beak
- The 2014 Monster Manual simply states that the axe beak has a nasty disposition. MM2025 has more details, saying that axe beaks have different plumage in different environments., can hunt alone or live in packs, and that giant axe beaks dwell in Primeval realms and compete with dinosaurs.
Azer
- The 2014 entry for Azers is full of information, saying that the creatures are master crafters, reproduce by sculpting and being imbued by the crafter azer’s inner flame, have a contentious history with the efreets and could help those acting against them, and specifies that azers value metal and gems. The 2025 Monster Manual cuts everything other than the azers being made of living bronze and being master crafters.
Balor
- Nearly identical to 2014 Lore, though without a demon section there's two pages of general demon lore missing
Bandits
- Adds table of 1d6 Bandit Motivations.
Banshee
- MM 2014 states they are formed from the spirits of female elves who used their beauty to control others instead of using it to “bring joy to the world”, whatever that means. Banshees covet beautiful objects but hate seeing their own reflections. MM 2025 says any soul tormented by bitterness or sorrow can become a banshee, but that some Elven communities say they are associated with those who hoarded or destroyed beauty. Includes a list of 1d6 Banshee Sorrows.
Barbed Devil
- Without a dedicated devil section some general lore on devils has been omitted from MM2025. Other than this, Barbed Devils actually get much more lore than MM2014, which pretty much just said they work as guards to more powerful devils. MM2025 adds that they also scour the planes for treasure, serve as accountants in addition to guards, maintain networks of imp spies, build specialized hoards that focus on one type of item, and refuse to steal. The Barbed Devil statblock includes the Diabolical Restoration trait.
Barlgura
- MM2014 states simply that barlgura gather in packs and keep trophies from their kills. MM2025 keeps all this and adds that when prey becomes scarce the barlguras turn on each other, that they can bear features of predators common to the area, and embed trophies in their own flesh.
Basilisk
- The MM2014 Basilisk entry state that basilisks born in captivity can be trained to avoid meeting the gaze of its master and those it designates, and therefore Basilisk eggs are valuable. It further states that fluids within a basilisk's gullet can be processed to cure petrification. Unfortunately, MM2025 omits all this in exchange for a 1d8 table of Petrified Basilisk Victims with entries like an adventurer wearing an ornate key or random animals.
Bearded Devil
- MM2014 states simply that the Bearded Devil is a shock trooper with a hair trigger temper. MM2025 expands on this slightly to state that they encourage the mortal tyrants they work for to greater evil.
Behir
- MM2014 describes behirs as favoring out of the way lairs and that they were created by storm giants to fight dragons. MM2025 alters this slightly to say that storm giants created behirs by altering blue dragons and that they attempt to eat dragon eggs.
Beholder
- MM2025 essentially restates the lore from MM2014, albeit with a little less specifics on beholder lairs.
Berserkers
- The primary difference between MM2014 and 2025 here is that berserkers are no longer said to hail from “uncivilized lands”.
Black Dragons
- MM2014 states that black dragons are the most evil and sadistic chromatics that collect the treasures of fallen civilizations. Their presence creates shambling mounds, and they use lizardfolk and kobold underlings while trying to undermine other dragons. They toy with their prey, creating false means of escape. MM2025 reduces a good bit of this general lore, paring it down to black dragons wishing to destroy things and rule over the ruins while hoarding tarnished symbols of hope. In exchange, each age category now gets some lore. Young Black Dragons now ally with powerful undead or aberrations, Adult Black Dragons amass cultists and undead, and ancients use undead and fiends to try and kill every other living thing other than themselves.
So far the aarakocra and azer have had the most lore removed, though both of them at least got an extra Monster statblock. The Basilisk lost some good info in exchange for a random table of limited usefulness. Most of the others have been largely equivalent to MM2014, though Barbed Devils surprisingly got a good bit of useable new details that makes them more interesting than I've seen before and ready to serve as a low-level adventure's main villain.
Aarakocra
- MM2014 details the region of the Plane of Air that they live in while describing the war between the Wind Dukes of Aaqa and the Queen of Chaos and their role in opposing Elemental Evil. MM2025 greatly reduces this to what kinds of birds they might look like and mentions the Queen of Chaos and Wind Dukes in passing.
Aboleth
- MM2014 states that the aboleths are Primeval creatures that demand worship, lair in watery environments, gain new memories from creatures they eat, and reform in the Plane of Water when destroyed. MM2025 has most of the same details but states that their watery lairs are made in aquatic ruins or places of high magic. The statblock now has them reforming in the Far Realm by default instead of the Plane of Water.
Air Elemental
- In 2014 the Air Elemental is part of the Elementals entry, which states that elementals don't take form unless forced to by magic, dislike being summoned, and can be shaped by magic into specific varieties. They are said to like racing along the ground in addition to flying. In MM2025 there is no overarching Elemental entry, and Air Elementals are said to either be summoned or appear around nexuses of planar energy.
Animated Objects
- The primary difference between 2014 and 2025 is that the former says some animated objects might be able to speak while the latter makes no mention of this.
Ankheg
- Both the 2014 and 2025 Monster Manuals describe how they burrow and hunt for farm animals and game and suggest things that could be found in their tunnels. The main new innovation is that while 2014 implied ankhegs were solitary the more recent book states that multiple ankhegs can congregate where there is plentiful food.
Arcanaloth
- MM 2014 has them as part of the Yugoloth entry that details the group's origin, mercenary nature, that they return to Gehenna when destroyed, the four Books of Keeping that hold their true names, and the ultroloth called the General of Gehenna. The 2025 Monster Manual lacks an overview for Yugoloths. The arcanaloth-specific section in 2025 lacks the details that they keep records for yugolothkind and serve as diplomats and negotiators.
Assassin
- While there was no lore given for them in 2014, MM2025 states that most assassins kill for a reason and provides a 1d6 table of things an assassin may be infamous for.
Awakened Plants
- Another creature with no lore in MM2014, the MM2025 states that spells such as Awaken and magical influence create Awakened Plants, though some plants might naturally be awakened. Awakened Shrubs might be animate topiaries, while Awakened Trees can be created by the Feywild or the Shadowfell's influence.
Axe Beak
- The 2014 Monster Manual simply states that the axe beak has a nasty disposition. MM2025 has more details, saying that axe beaks have different plumage in different environments., can hunt alone or live in packs, and that giant axe beaks dwell in Primeval realms and compete with dinosaurs.
Azer
- The 2014 entry for Azers is full of information, saying that the creatures are master crafters, reproduce by sculpting and being imbued by the crafter azer’s inner flame, have a contentious history with the efreets and could help those acting against them, and specifies that azers value metal and gems. The 2025 Monster Manual cuts everything other than the azers being made of living bronze and being master crafters.
Balor
- Nearly identical to 2014 Lore, though without a demon section there's two pages of general demon lore missing
Bandits
- Adds table of 1d6 Bandit Motivations.
Banshee
- MM 2014 states they are formed from the spirits of female elves who used their beauty to control others instead of using it to “bring joy to the world”, whatever that means. Banshees covet beautiful objects but hate seeing their own reflections. MM 2025 says any soul tormented by bitterness or sorrow can become a banshee, but that some Elven communities say they are associated with those who hoarded or destroyed beauty. Includes a list of 1d6 Banshee Sorrows.
Barbed Devil
- Without a dedicated devil section some general lore on devils has been omitted from MM2025. Other than this, Barbed Devils actually get much more lore than MM2014, which pretty much just said they work as guards to more powerful devils. MM2025 adds that they also scour the planes for treasure, serve as accountants in addition to guards, maintain networks of imp spies, build specialized hoards that focus on one type of item, and refuse to steal. The Barbed Devil statblock includes the Diabolical Restoration trait.
Barlgura
- MM2014 states simply that barlgura gather in packs and keep trophies from their kills. MM2025 keeps all this and adds that when prey becomes scarce the barlguras turn on each other, that they can bear features of predators common to the area, and embed trophies in their own flesh.
Basilisk
- The MM2014 Basilisk entry state that basilisks born in captivity can be trained to avoid meeting the gaze of its master and those it designates, and therefore Basilisk eggs are valuable. It further states that fluids within a basilisk's gullet can be processed to cure petrification. Unfortunately, MM2025 omits all this in exchange for a 1d8 table of Petrified Basilisk Victims with entries like an adventurer wearing an ornate key or random animals.
Bearded Devil
- MM2014 states simply that the Bearded Devil is a shock trooper with a hair trigger temper. MM2025 expands on this slightly to state that they encourage the mortal tyrants they work for to greater evil.
Behir
- MM2014 describes behirs as favoring out of the way lairs and that they were created by storm giants to fight dragons. MM2025 alters this slightly to say that storm giants created behirs by altering blue dragons and that they attempt to eat dragon eggs.
Beholder
- MM2025 essentially restates the lore from MM2014, albeit with a little less specifics on beholder lairs.
Berserkers
- The primary difference between MM2014 and 2025 here is that berserkers are no longer said to hail from “uncivilized lands”.
Black Dragons
- MM2014 states that black dragons are the most evil and sadistic chromatics that collect the treasures of fallen civilizations. Their presence creates shambling mounds, and they use lizardfolk and kobold underlings while trying to undermine other dragons. They toy with their prey, creating false means of escape. MM2025 reduces a good bit of this general lore, paring it down to black dragons wishing to destroy things and rule over the ruins while hoarding tarnished symbols of hope. In exchange, each age category now gets some lore. Young Black Dragons now ally with powerful undead or aberrations, Adult Black Dragons amass cultists and undead, and ancients use undead and fiends to try and kill every other living thing other than themselves.
So far the aarakocra and azer have had the most lore removed, though both of them at least got an extra Monster statblock. The Basilisk lost some good info in exchange for a random table of limited usefulness. Most of the others have been largely equivalent to MM2014, though Barbed Devils surprisingly got a good bit of useable new details that makes them more interesting than I've seen before and ready to serve as a low-level adventure's main villain.
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