D&D 5E Check Out The Full Monsters of the Multiverse Cover Art

The wraparound cover art for January's Monsters of the Multiverse -- an updated compilation of existing D&D monsters -- has been revealed. The cover features an astral dreadnaught, the same monsters which adorned AD&D's Manual of the Planes in 1987.

The front cover had been revealed previously, but this is the clearest picture yet of the full art piece by Greg Rutkowski. Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse is part of the 3-book gift set which also includes Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, all together in a slipcase.

"The Future of D&D" (New Core Books in 2024!)

The online D&D Celebration event, which has been running all weekend, comes to a close with The Future of D&D, a panel featuring WotC's Ray Winninger, Liz Schuh, Chris Perkins, and Jeremy Crawford, hosted by Elle Osili-Wood. D&D is exploring the multiverse Revisiting classic settings. 1st of...

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Monsters of the Multiverse is "a treasure trove of creature related material from previous products compiled into one book and updated." Improvements are based on feedback, rebalancing monsters with new and old art.

The book contains over 250 monsters, and 30 playable races, including all of the setting agnostic races that have been published outside the Player's Handbook.

Some content from Witchlight, Fizban's, and Strixhaven was influenced by Monsters of the Multiverse.

The books is available first in the gift set, but will also be available separately later in the year.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Here is all the old art of the Grue

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Yeah that's how the Grue always kinda looked.

matches the description too.

Huh. Just goes to show how differently text can be interpreted. Those fangs aren't as pronounced as my version, and it looks way too much like a "normal" humanoid for my tastes.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Huh. Just goes to show how differently text can be interpreted. Those fangs aren't as pronounced as my version, and it looks way too much like a "normal" humanoid for my tastes.

Well they are a mutated humanoid.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Well they are a mutated humanoid.

And so are Mind Flayers. I do think that they should look like a mutated humanoid (my version was that), but I'm just not loving the small differences that it has (the occasional Darth Maul spike, no lips, creepy smile), and think that they could've done more to get across the "alien-ness" of the Star Spawn.

Like, look at the examples of previous edition art work that you posted. All of those examples still look at least vaguely Humanoid, but still get across the alien-nature of the monster. They look way more "alien" than this version, which looks like it could be a player race (a weird one, sure, but there are weirder options already).



Not really any reason to discuss this. I'm glad if other people like it. I'm not a huge fan, though.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Really? I loved that book and still use it for inspiration when my games travel to the outer planes...

I never got into Planescape, probably because I felt Manual of the Planes was great and more than enough for me.

Yours is essentially my take on MotP and Planescape. The 1e Manual of the Planes was a book I loved, and I pored over it for ideas all the time. Including for non-planar inspiration. Planescape made the planes feel small and finite to me. MotP made them feel endless and awe-inspiring.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Very cool cover but sorry WoTC I'm not investing in any new D&D 5e books until 2024.

Our 5e campaign crashed three months into Covid. I've taken the opportunity to try other fantasy games like Fantasy AGE, Symbaroum and now Shadow of the Demon Lord.

The jury is out is to whether or not I will buy 5.x (or 6e). SotDL is a very strong contender as a D&D replacement game.

I hear what you're saying. I'm ambivalent about buying new official 5e material, too, until I see what the 2024 revamp looks like. This is especially true for books that are rehashing material already in print from not too long ago. I'd be all for a new monster book if it involved mostly new material.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Yours is essentially my take on MotP and Planescape. The 1e Manual of the Planes was a book I loved, and I pored over it for ideas all the time. Including for non-planar inspiration. Planescape made the planes feel small and finite to me. MotP made them feel endless and awe-inspiring.

Why did it make the planes seem small to you.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Why did it make the planes seem small to you.

Planescape had a defined "culture" for adventuring in the planes. So much focus was on that culture that it made it seem to me as if the planes were more of a backdrop than an infinite array of infinite universes. It just felt like another setting, not an unending multiverse.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Planescape had a defined "culture" for adventuring in the planes. So much focus was on that culture that it made it seem to me as if the planes were more of a backdrop than an infinite array of infinite universes. It just felt like another setting, not an unending multiverse.

But there was multiple ways to explore the planes and the main focus was on the Hub City of Sigil. So I don’t get how that made the other planes feel smaller.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

As I said, it focused on that culture so much that it made it feel as if Planescape was only that culture, and everything in the multiverse revolved around it. 1e Manual of the Planes, or 3e's version, never presented a unifying culture, so they made the planes seem infinite. Sure, there were other ways to explore the planes; thus, I didn't need Planescape and its berk-speak, Lady of Pain, and hub-city. They only limited the scope of the planes.

Beyond that, I don't know what to tell you.