Dungeons & Dragons: Monster Manual (2024)
The third and final Dungeons & Dragons 2024 core book has been released – the Monster Manual. And yes, before you say anything, I know it’s actually 2025 – but the community has branded this revision as the “2024” version of D&D, so there you have it. This book is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it is the last of the three “core rulebooks”. This means that the 2024 release of D&D is now complete. Technically speaking, these three books are all you need to play the game. Second, this release also signifies what should be a turning-point for third-party publishers. It says, “it’s time to get on board and create products designed for these new rules”. Only, that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening. I know we’re only three months into 2025, but to date, all third-party material that’s coming out seems to still assume players are playing the 2014 version of 5E. If you’re wondering why this is the case, then continue reading. My review for this book should be a pretty strong indicator.
This book, like the other 2024 core rulebooks is, without a doubt, a quality product. The cover is sturdy, the binding is tight, the artwork is phenomenal, and the page-format is huge improvement over the 2014 Monster Manual. Elaborating on that last point, the organization of information on the page is fantastic. The text formatting is very readable and the stat blocks are well organized. There’s just one problem… Every monster in the book is now listed strictly in alphabetical order by name. That might sound like it makes sense, until you realize that categories of monsters are no longer lumped together. This is a problem because let’s say you’re writing an adventure and you want to throw a Devil into the the mix as an opponent. If you try looking up “Devil” in this book, you won’t really find what you’re looking for. Instead, all of the various devils are now scattered amongst the pages by name. For example, “Bearded Devil” is now wedged between Basilisk and Behir. I understand that the appendix of the book features a “monsters by group” area. But, to me, that just one more page flip I normally wouldn’t have to make. I wish I could say this was my biggest gripe with the book, but that’s not the case.
If you’re familiar with 2024 D&D, then you know there has been a big shift in the way certain monsters and races are being handled. For example, the new PHB eliminated Half-Orcs as a playable race and replaced them with regular Orcs. Well, with this in mind, Orcs are no longer included as a “monster” in this new Monster Manual. Goblins are still there, Kobolds are still there. But Orcs are not. Also absent are Drow and Duergar – two more classic D&D monsters. The idea here is that “humanoid races” should not be included in a book filled with beasts. I understand the idea. But in practice, I think it’s a poor choice. I realize that Orcs have evolved into being more than just opponents (a decision that I could debate all day), but do we really want to go against decades of established lore? For what? Virtue signaling?
Despite eliminating several classic stat blocks from the book, this release does rightfully claim to be the biggest Monster Manual to date. There’s a total of 509 stat blocks in this book. Of course, some of them are spin-off monsters. What I mean by that, is this book takes some entries and creates alternates for them. For example, the Berserker is now split into Berserker and Berserker Commander. This creates two stat blocks for what traditionally has been one. I know some voices on the Internet have been critical of this, but personally, I have no issue. More options are a good thing.
I know that my previous reviews of the 2024 books have included detailed list of changes. If I were to try to do that with this book, this review would be insanely long. Every monster in the Monster Manual has been changed in some way. That’s over 500 changes to document. I simply won’t be doing that. Still, this revision to the Monster Manual does make several BIG CHANGES to some classic D&D creatures. Longtime staples like chromatic dragons have seen their abilities changed in some pretty big ways. These changes have been a hot point of debate online in recent weeks. Personally, I have mixed feelings on them. I recognize that many of these changes were made with the intent of making each monster unique, giving monsters a little extra “flavor”, and also so that revisions could be made to their challenge rating. But, at the same time, some of these changes just seem puzzling. A good example of this would be changes to the Succubus and Incubus monsters. Historically speaking, these two demonic monsters were similar in many ways, but also two distinctly different creatures. Now, the Monster Manual specifies that these are indeed, one in the same creature. They are able to change forms from male and female to suit their needs. Yet, both of the Incubus and the Succubus still have different stat blocks, and the two stat blocks are considerably different? Why?! I thought males and females were equal. Why should gender-swapping change the abilities this monster can use? It doesn’t make logical sense.
Of course, there are other changes as well. Some good, some bad. It would be impossible for me to list them all here. But many of these changes seem to have been made to fall in line with the new way 2024 D&D rules are handled. For example, Keen Sense traits have been eliminated from all monsters that previously had them. Instead, these monsters now proficiency in stats like Perception. The end result is the same concept, but different way of doing things. Other revisions focus on the way certain attack effects (poison, paralysis, etc) are handled. I’m sure lots of people will have opinions on these changes. But at the end of the day, I can’t claim this difference is going to make a big change one way or the other assuming you are not mixing 2014 and 2024 rules. What I mean by this is, if you’re playing 2024 characters against monsters from the 2024 Monster Manual, you’ll have no problem. But, if you’re playing 2014 characters against something from this newly revised book, things could potentially get weird.
This is where the “D&D 2024 is fully compatible with D&D 2014″ argument starts to deteriorate. Yes. Old adventures can be ran using the new rules as long as you swap out the monster stat blocks. Failure to do so, is going to start to show cracks in the system. We knew this was inevitable. This book shows us exactly why.
With all of this in mind, you’re probably still wondering what is my bottom line when it comes to this book. In short, I’ll say this. The 2024 Monster Manual is a quality product and it does a good job of re-framing monsters for the latest revision of D&D. Now, it is up to you to decide what you think of D&D 2024. With the core rulebooks out of the way, we’re about to start getting supplemental releases and adventures. In my opinion, these upcoming releases are really going to tell the tale. Are players going to embrace the new Dungeons & Dragons, or has WotC finally lost their grip on the crown jewel of TTRPGs? Time will tell.
