D&D (2024) Is Monster Manual 2025 compatible with 2014 Characters?

[Cybsjan]

I think 14 Charachters and 24 Monsters is a great recipe. I think the 24 MM is the only 24 book I will end up using.

I've been calling it "14C/24M"

Same charachters harder monsters better presented.

I was thinking about the same thing! but reading this topic made me less excited haha! there doesn’t appear to be that much of a difference. Have you already tried the new monsters out against the old characters?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It will take me some time using the '25 MM to gauge overall how these monsters perform against my generally combat-competent and savvy players. I think it will be very easy/ a non-issue to use the new stats with "older" characters.

It'll be interesting to see what The Monsters Know What They're Doing guy thinks of the new book. His blog/books were a great way to make the 2014 monsters hit as hard (or harder) than they were supposed to. The first time I used his advice, my players were visibly dismayed.

 

[Retreater]

I don't think the 2014 Monster Manual is compatible with 2014 characters.

 

[Chaltab]

I don't think the 2014 Monster Manual is compatible with 2014 characters.

How so?

 

[Retreater]

How so?

I was being snarky.
But the power boost they got in 2025 seemed necessary, especially for the high CR creatures.
Even without the new features in 2024, characters can trounce many creatures from the old MM.

 

[Greg K]

Other than new monsters, what new does the 2025 Monster Manual have to offer of interest if I already have the third party 5.0 supplements Bloodies & Bruised, Home-Field Advantage: A Compendium of Lair Actions, Legendary Actions for Low Level Monsters, Go For the Eyes!, and Monster Weaknesses?

 

[pawsplay]

I haven't seen anything that interacts weird on the player side. It should be seamless. Most of the changes amount to changes in the specific immunities and resistances given (usually to be more forgiving to the players) and changes in how some copypasta attack routines like Constrict and Gore work (they are now usually baked into the base attack or Multiattack), which doesn't interact with PC abilities hardly at all.

Above CR 11, you might see some paradigm differences. But since moving up +/- 3 levels on the Challenge chart has almost inconsequential effects on XP in practical terms, anyway, that also doesn't matter. I'll bet you couldn't tell me offhand if CR 15 is 13,000 XP or 20,000 XP, and it's pretty plain that one monster in particular giving half again too much XP, or not, is not going to affect most campaigns. The dirty secret about Challenge is that, as vague as it is, it's also not that important to be very precise.