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

[FitzTheRuke]

I know you guys haven't had your Monster Manuals long but have you noticed much in the way of anything needing errata yet?

Surprisingly, no! My staff at my store used to make jokes with D&D books (particularly 4e ones) about "how quick can you find a mistake?" (It was usually four or five in a few minutes of fast flipping-through.)

And as we all know, some day1 errata (like the donning time of a shield) was needed for the 2024 PHB.

So... not yet for the MM is a very good effort.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I don't actually care about that. I am far more concerned with utility (which is where I think the "apply a species to a NPC statblock" falls down).

I think that the utility is fine, in that if you are about to run a session where your PCs face a horde of orcs, you have a ton of orcs to use. Sure, your standard "grunt" orcs are "toughs" but you have orc scouts, orc berserkers, orc cultists, orc guards, orc captains, etc. It's pretty versatile.

The only thing strange is that, aside from fluff (and the very probable addition of darkvision and maybe the old "agressive trait" (I'd add it, myself, but that's up to you) - it's the same session (mechanically) as if your PCs were raiding a small town of humans.

But the story is different, and all the RP would be different.

As I've said before, it's not how I would have done it if I were WotC (I'd go the other way and include Humans, Elves, Drow, Dwarves, Halflings, etc in the MM with at least four statblocks each and then tell people to mix'n'match 'em with a few simple swappable traits).

... But it's totally usable.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Surprisingly, no! My staff at my store used to make jokes with D&D books (particularly 4e ones) about "how quick can you find a mistake?" (It was usually four or five in a few minutes of fast flipping-through.)

And as we all know, some day1 errata (like the donning time of a shield) was needed for the 2024 PHB.

So... not yet for the MM is a very good effort.

Hierophant needs mage armor scrapped from stablock.

Hobgoblins use a shield and longbow and long sword two handed. Their armor should be chain mail as it wears that on the picture. Poison should at least go down to 2d4.

Maybe ancient red dragon should have a level 3 command spell, not level 2.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

Whose the wicked looking chick in the gold mask!?!?
That's a prime BBEG look right there for a campaign!

I believe that's art for the Fiend Cultist (presumably meant to be a worshipper of Mammon) that's on Beyond, but didn't make it into the print book.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Hierophant needs mage armor scrapped from stablock.

Hobgoblins use a shield and longbow and long sword two handed. Their armor should be chain mail as it wears that on the picture. Poison should at least go down to 2d4.

Maybe ancient red dragon should have a level 3 command spell, not level 2.

Right, but those are opinions, and probably not errors.

I agree with you, though!

(Actually, the Mage Armor, I think really is an error, so we've got ONE so far, and a couple that would be "improvements" but we'd have to get WotC on board!)

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Right, but those are opinions, and probably not errors.

I agree with you, though!

(Actually, the Mage Armor, I think really is an error, so we've got ONE so far, and a couple that would be "improvements" but we'd have to get WotC on board!)

I really would like to double check the math of monsters for them. I would even do it in my free time for free.

And while we are at it I would even do some formatting and convenience checks that won't cost them money...
... like adding CR to monsters grouped by type and group.

And some consistency checks.

They just have to write a friendly mail to me.

 

[Tonguez]

Lizardmen, in aggregate, are still humanoids.

This specific lizardman, the geomancer, has the elemental(earth) type because of his magic. That would still be true if I reskinned the geomancer into an orc or a human.

I think that might be the issue - what makes geomancy special that it causes Lizards to become elementals? Why not Lizatdman pyromancer? Or Lizardman Hydromancer

or indeed Orc Geomancer or Human geomancer?

Equally Lizardman sovereign, who looks at a swampdwelling gator and thinks, yeah earth elemental!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Whose the wicked looking chick in the gold mask!?!?
That's a prime BBEG look right there for a campaign!

Fiend Cultist. I am guessing of Mammon or something from the image.

 

[TwoSix]

I think that might be the issue - what makes geomancy special that it causes Lizards to become elementals? Why not Lizatdman pyromancer? Or Lizardman Hydromancer

or indeed Orc Geomancer or Human geomancer?

Equally Lizardman sovereign, who looks at a swampdwelling gator and thinks, yeah earth elemental!

Has anyone said those other variations don't exist?

I mean, does anyone think that the Monster Manual is meant to be an actual catalog of every monster that exists within a setting? I've always assumed it's a tool, meant to give the DM a platter of creatures to build encounters out of. I've never assumed it's definitive.

 

[Tonguez]

Has anyone said those other variations don't exist?

I mean, does anyone think that the Monster Manual is meant to be an actual catalog of every monster that exists within a setting? I've always assumed it's a tool, meant to give the DM a platter of creatures to build encounters out of. I've never assumed it's definitive.

Not when theres no monster design tools to help DMs change things - sure the MM is a menu of selectable features for my encounter building, it gives the common lore - but anything not in the lore doesnt exist until it is added and that needs extra effort made harder by arbitary monster categories and powers....