At Wizards of the Coast, they have taken note of what the players wanted. Aware that getting into Dungeons & Dragons was difficult, that searching for information in the books was sometimes a headache, and that managing high-level characters was an impossible task, they have worked to make all of that much simpler. And they have done so through a revision of the fifth edition manuals, which are an absolute delight. We talked about them in the past. The Player’s Handbook seemed wonderful to us. The Dungeon Master’s Guide a […]
At Wizards of the Coast, they have taken note of what players wanted. Aware that getting into Dungeons & Dragons was difficult, that searching for information in the books was sometimes a headache, and that managing high-level characters was an impossible task, they have worked to make all of that much simpler. And they have done so through a revision of the fifth edition manuals that are an absolute delight.
We talked about them in the past. The Player’s Handbook seemed wonderful to us. The Dungeon Master’s Guide an absolute fantasy that is everything this book should have always been. But there was still the third book, perhaps not the most important, but the one that most ignites the imagination of many of us: the Monster Manual. And now that Wizards of the Coast has presented it and let us see it, we can confirm one thing. It is as incredible as the other two new core manuals.
Bigger than ever, more manageable than you can imagine
If something stands out about the new Monster Manual, it is that it is big. Very. It is a voluminous book, filled with illustrations, where each monster has its own image to spark our imagination and fuel the players’ nightmares. But it doesn’t end there. Because if it is so big, it is because the content matches.
With over 500 monsters, it is the largest Monster Manual to date. And it doesn’t settle for just including all the interesting monsters they’ve designed over the years. More than 85 of these creatures are completely new, to ensure you always have new threats to face. That doesn’t mean the Beholders, Illithids, or the terrifying Tarrasque aren’t returning, of course. All of them are updated to be playable with the changes introduced in this new revision of the fifth edition.
But if something stands out about this new Monster Manual, it is that everything is now organized in a much more organic way. All the monsters are now much easier to find thanks to numerous lists that organize the monsters by types, habitats, or by the difficulty of encounter they pose. This will greatly facilitate not only finding the creature you are looking for at any given moment but also what kind of creatures can appear at any specific moment of an adventure.
Similarly, the humanoid monster stat blocks have now been redesigned to represent any class of humanoid creature. With more than forty stat blocks, it means that it’s now easier than ever to create an NPC on the fly. Whether it’s a dwarf, a drow, a golem, or a goliath, these tables will instantly provide you with the essential stats of any class of humanoid character you want to create, no matter how spontaneous the moment is.
A revamped version for new and veteran players
To all this, it should be added that there is a greater focus and care on high-level monsters. Something that has been neglected until now. This means that high-level characters will finally be able to experience adventures with a much greater diversity of threats and encounters, which was not common until now.
With all this, the aim is for this Monster Manual to be the definitive version of what this manual has been so far. And it seems they have achieved it. Much more usable, much easier to navigate, and with a more visual character, making it a perfect addition for anyone who regularly plays Dungeons & Dragons. Or wants to get into the world of role-playing. Because if there’s one thing Wizards of the Coast has focused all their attention on, it’s ensuring that new players have a perfect new entry into their game.
The Monster Manual is available starting February 4th on D&D Beyond for Master Tier subscribers and from February 11th for Hero Tier subscribers. The physical release of the book will be on February 18th. And we can’t wait to have it in our hands.
DandD Beyond is an application that, in general terms, aims to bring together a wide variety of tools related to Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most famous role-playing games of all time, which will soon release its fifth edition. In this sense, it compiles and explains its rules in detail, making it very practical for new players. It also allows the creation of characters from scratch and the generation of random automatic games. Without a doubt, it is a very practical and interesting complement that provides digital coverage to a classic tabletop role-playing title.
