The Humanoids!

A defining ethos to the new Monster Manual is that Humanoid are people who can all do the same kind of thing. Literally every creature that isn't one of the PHB species (including those with playable stats in books like Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes) have had their creature type changed from Humanoids. I did a list in an earlier post, but generally, we've seen any former humanoid with an elemental vibe to it now turned into an Elemental (even quite fleshy-seeming Merfolk and Aarakocra and even Lizardfolk, who are considered a kind of earth elemental now). Gith are now Aberrations. And of course, Goblinoids are Fey.

This also means that the special entries for Orcs, Drow, Deep Gnomes, and Duergar are no longer included in the new Monster Manual. What, then, do you use if you come across one of these stat blocks in an older adventure?

Well, there is a much-expanded set of Humanoid NPC stat blocks, any of which can be of any humanoid species.

These humanoids are divided into various groups. You can kind of imagine them as being "classes," with lower- and higher-level versions of each.

In each of these categories, most of them give the "neutral" alignment, which in 2025 can represent someone who is True Neutral, but is also the catch-all for "any alignment."

Let's look at each group/tribe/category:

Assassins:

I'll confess I added this after starting with Bandits. This isn't a group, but a single stat block. Assassins are CR 8. Using one is relatively straightforward, and could be working with any disreputable group, such as Bandits or Cultists, or Spies.

While Assassins are pretty obvious bad guys (likely not the big bad themselves, but agents thereof,) they're not inherently evil. I actually think an elite monster-slayer could actually use this stat block as well - maybe you team up with an Assassin to go after a brood of vampires (recall that vampires, unlike most undead, are actually susceptible to poison).

Bandits:

Bandits are, of course, useful general-purpose ne'er-do-wells, representing criminals and robbers, though of course you could also use them as heroic rebels like Robin Hood's merry men.

Bandits come in four CRs: the standard Bandit is CR 1/8, the Bandit Captain is CR 2, the Bandit Deceiver, which has some magical abilities, is CR 7, and the Bandit Crime Lord is CR 11.

This is a pretty decent spread, and a Crime Lord could make for a major villain in a tier 2 or even early tier 3 adventure. Also, Bandit Captains and Crime Lords carry Pistols, so your players might be able to get their hands on firearms without spending the rather massive amount of gold for them.

The Deceiver has some crowd-control magic and an ability that can blind its foes, but for the most part, Bandits are primarily just martial fighters with a bit of Rogue-like evasiveness.

Berserkers:

Probably the best option for NPC Barbarians, Berserkers are ferocious warriors. There are only two variants, the CR 2 Berserker and CR 8 Berserker Commander. Notably, both start getting advantage after they're bloodied. Honestly, I think these will cover the overall flavor of most 2014 "Orc" stat blocks, if not matching their precise CRs.

Commoners:

One of a few stand-alone NPCs, nevertheless Commoners are, by definition, the default average for any just straight up normal person. There's a table of options for what they could be, which could be anything from a Baker to a Farmer to a Castaway or a Rioter.

These are among the simplest creatures in 5E, but they did get one major change - each Commoner is proficient with one skill of the DM's choice, and gets advantage on checks related to that skill. With 10s in all stats and a PB of 2, that means a +2 to a single stat, but it could mean that the local Farmer could assist a character with an Animal Handling check, or Student might be able to help a character research something in whatever field they're studying, or even be better at it than the PC.

Cultists:

What I think is the largest of these groups, we have three generic cultists, and then variants specific to different kind of occult influences.

The generic cultists are the Cultist, CR 1/8, the Cultist Fanatic, CR 2, and the Cultist Hierophant, which is CR 10. Once again, we're looking at a solid option in this last one for a major tier 2 villain. While the low-level Cultist has none, the other two have some magical ability, the Hierophant really being quite magical.

There are also several other Cultist options for the different occult powers. These are, oddly, all CR 8, and include Aberrant Cultists, Death Cultists, Elemental Cultists, and Fiendish Cultists. Unlike most Humanoids (including the generic cultists,) these all have Neutral Evil alignments. These could easily be working for a Cultist Hierophant, but they'd also be great minions for other major non-humanoid monsters. Death Cultists could be working for a Lich or other powerful undead. Aberrant Cultists could be working for an Aboleth or group of Mind Flayers. You get the gist.

In early tiers, one of these specialized cultists could be a really powerful lieutenant of a big bad, but at high levels, they could make good "adds" for a big boss fight, such as one against a Lich or powerful Fiend.

Druid:

We actually only get a single stat block here (there is an Archdruid in Monsters of the Multiverse that can serve you just fine - might have been nice to see it reprinted here). They ain't being coy here - this is quite literally the NPC Druid stat block. It's CR 2.

Gladiator:

Again, there's only the one stat block here, and represents a strong combatant with a spear and shield. To be honest I think this could have been put in another category if they hadn't needed to keep them because of previous books that used them.

Guards:

Guards are pretty simple, making good options for major settlements' policing force. They can also serve as guardians for a country estate or the like.

There are two options here, the Guard is CR 1/8, while the Guard Captain is CR 4.

Ability-wise, there's not a ton going on here, so I think this is mainly a stat block to pull out if your party is causing chaos in a major city, or potentially to use as poor schmucks that get destroyed by monsters as your party comes to a city's defense.

Knights:

A pretty good option for NPC Paladins, Knights are heavily armored martial characters who also get to do a bit of radiant damage.

There are two options here. The Knight is CR 3, and the Questing Knight is CR 12 (one of the highest humanoid CRs). Notably, the Questing Knight has an aura that grants immunity to being charmed or frightened. A great option for a powerful allied NPC, or for a misguided or self-righteous antagonist.

Mages:

A good catch-all for Wizard NPCs, Mages can of course complicate any fight, though their damage output is simpler than in 2014.

We get three varieties. The Mage Apprentice is CR 2, the Mage is CR 6, and the Archmage is CR 12.

Mages run the gamut of benevolent sages to devious manipulators, and given that the fantasy genre is more or less defined by the existence of magic, you're going to have tons of opportunities to have Mages show up in nearly any adventure.

Nobles:

The privileged and powerful, Nobles of course can represent anyone with political power, and particularly inherited power.

There are two Noble options. The standard Noble is CR 1/8, with some skill proficiencies that reflect the kind of court intrigue in which they are raised. The Noble Prodigy is a bit more unusual: they have various magical abilities that are implied to be the result of some kind of magical ancestral line or something. Using Charisma as their spellcasting ability, I imagine that these reflect some kind of minor Sorcerous power, meaning that this could kind of work as your NPC Sorcerer.

Naturally, as a freedom-and-equality-loving American, I'm inclined to think of Nobles as skewing more evil than good, but you could easily go either way here. A Noble who is involved in some plot to seize power could easily serve as a villain, with plenty of other humanoid NPCs (and maybe non-humanoid allies) aiding them.

Performers:

An interesting new option - I don't think any of these were in 2014 - these characters could be good NPC Bards. I could imagine Performers either being the members of a player Bard's theatrical company or touring group, or you could have performers that come into towns and commit heists and the like.

There are three varieties of Performer. The basic Performer is CR 1/2. The Performer Maestro is CR 6. And the Performer Legend is CR 10.

Generally, Performers have some good charm effects and some Bard magic.

Pirates:

Bandits of the sea (or air, if your setting has lots of airships, like mine does!) Pirates do honestly overlap a lot with the Bandit "tribe," but there's a bit of that swashbuckling flavor here, literally invoking some of the elements of the subclass that didn't quite make it into the 2024 PHB for Rogues.

Pirates come in three varieties. The base Pirate is CR 1, the Pirate Captain is CR 6, and finally, the Pirate Admiral is CR 12.

Admittedly, with vehicle proficiency kind of removed in D&D'24, there's not a lot here that absolutely makes these ship-based NPCs, but they have that flamboyant, charismatic vibe, with ways to charm in the middle of a fight despite not being spellcasters.

It's really a damned shame that Spelljammer didn't get into ship-to-ship combat mechanics, but these could also easily be space pirates. These folks could easily attack players on any kind of large vessel. Pirates could also act as mercenaries or hirelings aiding players in their travels. Given their focus on Charisma in addition to Dexterity, you can really have some fun with these being rowdy, colorful characters, whether they be enemies or allies.

Priests:

More conventional religious figures than Cultists, Priests tend to have more beneficial magic, including healing. More directly than the Cultists, these are good stand-ins for NPC Clerics.

There are three Priests, the Priest Acolyte, which is CR 1/4, the Priest, which is CR 2, and the Archpriest, which is CR 12.

Priests lend themselves well to being friendly NPCs that fight alongside, or aid in other ways, the party. The Archpriest can cast Greater Restoration and Raise Dead, so they're prime candidates for the "one of our party members died and none of us have Revivify!" NPCs.

However, Priests could also be villainous - they might serve evil deities, or they could be self-righteous heretics, drawing on the powers of a benevolent god despite failing to live up to that deity's values. (It is, of course, up to DMs and the stories they want to tell whether the gods themselves are fallible the way that real-world clergy are). A Priest could also be a good-aligned antagonist.

Scouts:

NPCs that can travel the wilderness, these function pretty well as NPC Rangers.

We get two Scout types. The Scout is CR 1/2, with some skill proficiencies that a wilderness expert would want to have. The Scout Captain is CR 3, and is a pretty effective ranged combatant along with those skills.

These would be perfect stat blocks for hired guides through a treacherous wilderness. As enemies, they could be sent to harry the party through such a wilderness, sniping from afar with hit-and-run tactics.

Spies:

So, I have a long-term fascination with spycraft, particularly the kind of Cold War-era spycraft with all the dead-drops, weird gadgets, and coded messages.

We have two Spies, the standard Spy being CR 1, and the Spy Master being CR 10.

Spies are, of course, creatures of intrigue, and could be in the employ of any individual or organization that seeks hidden information. Naturally, sinister forces could employ these to infiltrate benevolent factions and the like, possibly befriending the player characters while seeking to funnel information about them (like if the party finds a dangerous magic item and hide it, the spy might reveal that location to villains who might want to retrieve it).

But they could just as easily be allies, either attempting infiltrations on the party's behalf, or being the source of information that might direct the players toward where they need to go next.

Toughs:

If Bandits are more evasive hit-and-run criminals, Toughs are basically "muscle." (I guess "thug" has some racist connotations, though I don't know if I think those connotations are so universal as to warrant changing the name. But then, I'm some white guy, so my opinion on such matters is basically worthless). A criminal gang could very easily have Bandits and Toughs as part of it.

Toughs come in two varieties. The general Tough is CR 1/2 and the Tough Boss is CR 4.

Warriors:

If Berserkers are Barbarians and Knights are Paladins, Warriors are basically your NPC Fighters.

And, given that Fighters are the kind of class that basically any culture will produce, Warriors could easily be used to represent any kind of soldier or trained combatant, whether they be professional soldiers in a royal army, high-rent mercenaries, or dangerous bodyguards to a villain.

Warriors come in three varieties. The Warrior Infantry is CR 1/8. The Warrior Veteran (equivalent to the old "veteran") is CR 3. The Warrior Commander is CR 10.

    And with that, we've covered every Humanoid NPC group. (We actually left out just one humanoid stat block - the Vampire Familiar, who belongs more to the Vampire group). I think this covers you for quite a lot - while Cultists don't quite match the "NPC Warlock" archetype, and the closest we get to a Sorcerer is the Noble Scion. (Rogues, on the other hand, could be seen in Bandits, Pirates, or Spies.

This is a pretty wide array of creatures that could fit quite well into tiers 1 and 2, and perhaps lower tier 3. By the time you get to late tier 3 and onward, it seems that for the most part, any serious humanoid threats will have probably by that point transformed into something inhuman, like a Fiend or Undead. If you really want a humanoid big bad that will take you all the way into tier 4, you'll likely need to have them extremely elusive and primarily act through inhuman monsters.

I suppose in theory you could have something like, say, a Cultist Hierophant with several of the high-level humanoids acting as minions or allies.

Tell you what, let's see what we need to build a challenging (high difficulty) encounter for 20th level characters using only humanoid creatures.

With five PCs, we have a budget of 22,000 per player, or 110,000 overall. Suppose our main villain is an Archmage (a classic villain). So, that's 8000 xp. Only 102,000 left to spend. Let's throw in four loyal knights who are dedicated to the cause of this Archmage, I don't know, ascending to godhood? That's 8000 apiece, so 32,000, leaving us a mere 70,000 xp left to spend. Well, if this guy's (maybe it's sexist to assume it's a dude. This villain) trying to become a god, surely he's got a cult dedicated to him. There's a Cultist Hierophant who is the villain's top booster (5,900 xp) leaving 63,100 xp left to spend. Now, we have options for the top cultists, all of the specific ones being CR 8, so whatever flavor of evil deity our archmage is trying to become, we'll toss in, say, 6 of these working under the Hierophant. Each is worth 3,900 xp, so with 6, that's 23,400 xp, leaving us 39,700 xp left to spend.

Phew, we're getting there. Our Archmage has some elite support, but they need some foot soldiers beyond the four knights. There are some warriors fighting for them, not fanatics, but well-paid mercenaries. They're led by a Warrior Commander (5,900 xp) bringing us down to 33,800.

Ok, so the Archmage has to have some students as well, right? Let's toss in 6 Mages. 2,300 xp apiece gives us 13,800, so we now have just 20,000 xp to spend.

Hoo boy.

It might overlap a bit with the Cultists, but maybe there's a sect that has already converted into a more traditional church. They're led by an Archpriest, worth 8,400 xp, leaving only 11,600 xp to spend. And we forgot to actually add the other Warriors! So let's do that. Throw in... like 15 Warrior Veterans. These are worth 700 a piece, so 15 gives us 10,500, meaning we only have 1,100 xp left!

Phew, what can we fit in there?

Actually, let's toss one of our Warrior Veterans, gaining 700 xp left, which gives us exactly the 1,800 xp we need for a single Gladiator - perhaps some beloved champion of our evil archmage.

So, in total, we have:

1x Archmage

4x Questing Knight

1x Cultist Hierophant

6x Death Cultist (or other specific Cultists)

1x Warrior Commander

6x Mage

1x Archpriest

14x Warrior Veterans

1x Gladiator

    So hey, nothing special. Just 35 separate creatures to run.

I will say, this is a profoundly unwieldy encounter, with far, far too many reactions and such to actually track. But it would make for an pretty epic finale to a major campaign.

That said... just use a Lich, man.