D&D (2024) Humanoids in the MM...

[UngeheuerLich]

I'm not sure yet, but this is my guess. Humanoids are going to be reserved mostly for PC species. Orcs are now a PC species and won't have a fixed alignment. If there are other humanoids in the MM, they won't have an alignment either. The monsters that changed type will fill that "slaughter on sight" orc role, though with a little more nuance to their reasoning. Goblins are malicious fey. Gnolls are Abyss spawned locusts. Werewolves have abandoned humanity. Etc.

I'm very interested to see where they are going with this. I feel we are missing some nuance yet.

Maybe hobgoblins and bugbears will see more use in my games.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah. Alignment, for as nonsensical as it is, has penetrated into the mainstream via memes in a way that losing that would be detrimental to the culture of the game even if better for the actual game.

Saving throws (especially seen in 4e when they were static defenses) and +1 anything I feel have similar places. You can build far better games without them, but the humor and reference of "save vs paper shredder" or "+1 shovel" is too valuable to give up.

Given that Alignment at this point is entirely aesthetics and narrative, I don't think it really matters for the game per se at all anymore.

 

[Parmandur]

One problem I see is the question of how they handle orcs. In many adventures and games orcs and goblins serve similar roles.
Maybe they could have worked as giant kins. I think in 4e orcish was a dialect of the giant language.
Maybe this way, powerful built could have been justified.

It seems the Orc statblock is going to be gone, or rather repurposed into a Sowcies-agnostic NPC statblock. Any NPC, like Cultist or Pirate, can be an Orc.

 

[mamba]

only for their still-on-sale adventures

isn’t that all of them?

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not sure yet, but this is my guess. Humanoids are going to be reserved mostly for PC species. Orcs are now a PC species and won't have a fixed alignment. If there are other humanoids in the MM, they won't have an alignment either. The monsters that changed type will fill that "slaughter on sight" orc role, though with a little more nuance to their reasoning. Goblins are malicious fey. Gnolls are Abyss spawned locusts. Werewolves have abandoned humanity. Etc.

I'm very interested to see where they are going with this. I feel we are missing some nuance yet.

Pigeonholing goblins as malicious fey is IMO a real step backwards from how they've been depicted in various media over the last couple decades at least (beyond my personal dislike of them being fey). From a business standpoint, goblins are just about as popular as orcs, so the main reason I see them giving orcs a pass on the fixed role but not goblins is simply that orcs have generated more (or higher profile) controversy. That is an unfortunately limiting decision that undercuts the work they're doing by not applying it more broadly in areas where it is just as valid.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Maybe hobgoblins and bugbears will see more use in my games.

I use hobgoblins all the time. I also give them the empires they are clearly supposed to have.

 

[Steampunkette]

While it would be nice to bring back Outsider as a type representing someone from the Inner or Outer planes, the word runs up against WoTC's desire for inclusivity thanks to its' RL definition IMO. How about using the word, Planar, to represent those from the Planes?

Oh, sure. Planar Being, Extraplanar, Beyonder, Aetheric. Any old word will do, the important thing is the category itself.

Though in hindsight... Maybe it should be a Subtype?

Then you can have Planar Humanoids and Planar Monstrosities. (Or Extraplanar, Beyonder, Aetheric, whatever, monstrosities!)

 

[Yaarel]

While it would be nice to bring back Outsider as a type representing someone from the Inner or Outer planes, the word runs up against WoTC's desire for inclusivity thanks to its' RL definition IMO. How about using the word, Planar, to represent those from the Planes?

"Planar" works.

The spell "Protection from Evil and Good" actually has nothing to do with alignment. It makes more sense to call it "Planar Protection".

Likewise "Detect Evil and Good" is "Detect Planar".

"Planar" is a useful term when referring to "Planar Origin", such as Material, Ethereal, Fey, Shadow, Elemental, Astral, Celestial, and Fiend.

 

[SkidAce]

Yep, sticking to my earlier prediction that "animal people" will generally translate to "monstrosity". (Though I figured quaggoth psionics would have made aberration more likely for them, guess they're seen as the former.)

I don't want my kingdom of Rakasta labeled "monstrosities". Nor do I want my nomadic lizardfolk to be called such.

In fact, I think they would be offended.

 

[SkidAce]

I will never hear the word "non-humanoid" and not immediately assume you're talking about a living creature that isn't two arms, two legs, and a head in human configuration. D&D's usage of that term is counter-intuitive.

...back to demihumans I guess...


just kidding.