Monster Manual Suggests Changes Are Coming to Some Playable Species

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More non-humanoid playable species are coming to the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons. In videos released over the last two weeks to promote the 2025 Monster Manual, Wizards of the Coast has revealed they have reclassified several creatures that doubled as playable races in the previous version of 5th Edition as non-humanoid species. The goblin is now a fey creature, the kobold is now a dragon, and the kenku is now a monstrosity. It's likely that the hobgoblin and bugbear (both of which are goblinoid creatures in D&D) will also be reclassified in the Monster Manual. The 2024 adventure Vecna: Eve of Ruin reclassified the Warforged as a construct rather than as a humanoid, a change from the 2018 Eberron sourcebook. Lycanthropes are also reclassified as monstrosities in the 2025 Monster Manual, which could also have an impact on playable species.

There are 14 different creature types in D&D 5E, although it took D&D years to include non-humanoid creature types as an option. Centaurs (from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica) was the first non-humanoid creature type, followed by satyrs in Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Both of those books were Magic: The Gathering crossovers and classified those races as fey creatures. The Wild Beyond the Witchlight added Fairies and Haregon as playable fey creatures. Spelljammer added playable construct, monstrosities, and oozes via the Autognome, Thri-kreen, and Plasmoid. Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse also changed the Changeling from Eberron into a fey creature.

D&D hasn't stated their plans for the goblin, kobold, kenku, and warforged playable species rules, but these classifications should be reflected if/when the D&D team updates those species for the 2024 rule set.

Creature classifications matter in 5E D&D because certain spells only impact humanoids. Hold Person, Charm Person, Dominate Person, Finger of Death's zombification effect, Reincarnate, Calm Emotion, Friends, Crown of Madness, Magic Jar, and Simulacrum are all spells that only impact humanoids, for instance. Some of these spells have equivalents that can be used on any creature type but often require a higher level spell slot to be used.

On the flip side, one immediate impact is that, once the 2025 Monster Manual comes out, a bard PC will no longer be able to Charm Person their way out of tense encounter with a goblin or a kobold. Mind manipulation is no longer in vogue (or mechanically possible) when interacting with the game's beloved trash dragons.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer


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I mean, it is working as designed. "If it was designed a different way, it could work differently" doesnseem debatable so much as tautalogical.
the section under debate was more the 'working fine' part, sure it is working, and it is working as intended, but, well, 'working fine' feels a bit damning by faint praise, couldnt we get a notable deal more out of creature type with a relatively minor increase in complexity?
 

the section under debate was more the 'working fine' part, sure it is working, and it is working as intended, but, well, 'working fine' feels a bit damning by faint praise, couldnt we get a notable deal more out of creature type with a relatively minor increase in complexity?
Could we? Maybe, but I would think it would be better to move the other way, and further disentangle Type from having any mechanical effect: remove Hold Person and Hold Monster from the game, just have a Hold Spell, problem solved.
 

Could we? Maybe, but I would think it would be better to move the other way, and further disentangle Type from having any mechanical effect: remove Hold Person and Hold Monster from the game, just have a Hold Spell, problem solved.
i'm not sure that would be an improvement or solve the problem(or at least not just create as many if not more problems in the process), IMO 5e has many areas in which it has hobbled itself by clinging to this ''''virtue'''' of simplicity, but seeing as i don't think we'll agree on the matter i'll refrain from continuing the point any further.
 

i'm not sure that would be an improvement or solve the problem(or at least not just create as many if not more problems in the process), IMO 5e has many areas in which it has hobbled itself by clinging to this ''''virtue'''' of simplicity, but seeing as i don't think we'll agree on the matter i'll refrain from continuing the point any further.
Honestly, the only places I see ot causing an issue is when too much complexity has been retained for legacy reasons.
 



The amusing thing to me is that Tales of the Valiant made all this stuff irrelevant.

Instead of 'Hold Person' and 'Charm Person' the game has 'Hold' and 'Charm'. There's also 'Dominate' and 'Greater Dominate'. The spell is limited by creature size rather than creature type.

Basically any PC can become temporarily immune to Hold and Dominate by having Enlarge cast on them.
 

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