D&D General Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual?

[LordEntrails]

Because D&D can be about more than just murder hobo'ing?

 

[Vaalingrade]

They know what they did.

 

[DemoMonkey]

"how often do you actually use the stats of Good Monsters, rather than just the lore?"

When the players say "F' it, let's do him!"

So ... more often than you might think.

This is one of the reasons I think the current kerfuffle over monster alignment is overblown. All you have to do is switch the question from "Are they evil?" to "Do they have good stuff and we think we can take them?" and the point becomes moot!

 

[toucanbuzz]

Adding when there may be times good has to fight good. A 3E epic adventure involved celestials guarding something the party needed to save their world, and they weren't going to be swayed by the PCs pretty words from their eternal duty.

Or, they've been dominated, mind controlled, tricked into fighting, on opposite sides of an issue, and so on.

 

[Scribe]

For both of you, how often do you actually use the stats of Good Monsters, rather than just the lore?

Certainly rarely. These are not typical daily encounter types of creatures.

 

[bedir than]

I'm old enough to remember when the good elves fought the good dwarves at the Battle of Five Armies

 

[Baron Opal II]

Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual?

I was thinking about how much space the Metallic Dragons take. All those Celestials. It's a lot of tree pulp used to stat out monsters most groups aren't going to fight.

Were they always there? Do you use the stats, or just the lore?

The good monsters are there as allies and patrons, occasionally the target of summoning spells.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual?

So help me understand. Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual? Were they always there? Do you use the stats, or just the lore?

So where are they supposed to put the Orcs and the Drow now? Are we still fighting those? What the heck is going on around here?!

 

[overgeeked]

Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual?

Because good monsters exist in the world and need stats.

It’s a common mistake to make, but it’s still a mistake to think the word “monster” in this context absolutely means evil, bad, or needing to be killed, etc.

I was thinking about how much space the Metallic Dragons take. All those Celestials. It's a lot of tree pulp used to stat out monsters most groups aren't going to fight.

Again, a common misconception. The existence if a monster stat block does not imply the PCs are going to fight it.

So I was wondering: why are they there?

I can think of two ideas:

1) Verisimilitude.

The world of D&D is made up of monsters with stats and lore. There are Bad Dragons, and they exist because they have stats and lore. For Good Dragons to exist, they need stats and lore.

2) As Allies / Enemies of Evil

I suppose these Good Monster stats could be used when fighting alongside the adventurers, or as foes for evil groups. But these seem like edge cases.

Any of that works.

So help me understand. Why are there Good Monsters in the Monster Manual?

As above, you’re misunderstanding the word monster in this context and assuming anything with a stat block is meant to be fought and killed.

Were they always there?

As far as I can tell, yes. All the way back to 1974 and earlier.

Do you use the stats, or just the lore?

Both. When necessary.

From the first page of the Monster Manual...

“WHAT lS A MONSTER?

A monster is defined as any creature that can be interacted with and potentially fought and killed. Even something as harmless as a frog or as benevolent as a unicorn is a monster by this definition. The term also applies to humans, elves, dwarves, and other civilized folk who might be friends or rivals to the player characters.”

 

[CleverNickName]

So where are they supposed to put the Orcs and the Drow now? Are we still fighting those? What the heck is going on around here?!

I haven't used Orcs or Drow in my adventures since...heck, probably the mid-1990s.