With WotC doing a big preview of the new PHB at Gencon, we've gotten a ton of new info now that the NDA on the contents of the new Player's Handbook is over. We've thus essentially got all the details on the changes to classes, spells, and rules (speaking of surprises, have you heard that Surprise got nerfed enormously? That will be fun to rule as a DM...) as fast as the various YouTube content creators can divulge it, and of course the book itself will come out in about a month and a half.
One of the big questions regarding the changes to classes and rules in general is whether the inevitable power creep of mostly buffing classes will compare to the design of new monsters - are we just going to be in a more powerful world overall?
Well, that's the big question. The new Monster Manual is going to be utterly massive (bigger than the 2014 one, which is already pretty huge,) with several new stat blocks, but also a revision to every existing stat block from 2014 (presumably - given that you're supposed to be able to use all the new monsters in existing adventures, at the very least they need to make sure there's a reprinted version of every monster that appears in every adventure... so probably just reprint all of them).
WotC claims that they're intending to balance the monsters better this time, especially at higher levels where some monsters were not providing the threat that they were really supposed to. But let's actually look at some of these to get an idea of what they're like.
My source here is the YouTube channel Cutting Words, with their "Monster Manual Sneak Peak" video.
The preview includes several Skeleton variants, as well as the basic Kuo-toa, and an Ancient Green Dragon.
Skeleton:
First off, let's talk about formatting:
The new 5.5 stat block looks a little different from what we're used to. Some of the changes from recent books have simply been carried over - if a creature has something they can do with their action, you'll find it under their actions, rather than having, say, Spellcasting live in their general features and traits like they did in earlier 5E books.
Probably the most jarring change is how ability modifiers are presented. Abilities are arranged in a 3x2 grid, showing the ability score, the modifier, and then the saving throw bonus in each cell of the grid. This is going to take getting used to, but it does but the relevant information (modifiers and saving throw) in a pretty center-stage position.
Taking a step back:
Alignment appears to have gone back to not hedging - a Skeleton has an alignment of Lawful Evil, not "typically Lawful Evil." I'm not terribly upset about this change, but I do think both the Monster Manual and the DMG should make it clear to new DMs that you're always free to change anything like this, so if you want a reformed demon who's Lawful Good (hey, if you can have a fallen angel, why not the reverse?) you should be able to do that, but that the alignment in any stat block is the "typical" example.
Above the ability scores are the creature's AC, Initiative bonus (with a "passive initiative" in parentheses next to it - a wonderful time-saver for DMs,) its HP, and its Speed (these also use those abbreviations, rather than spelling out Armor Class and Hit Points).
Going below the ability scores, one surprising change is that Damage and Condition immunities are now simply listed as "Immunities." Frankly, I think this is one area that could potentially cause a little confusion, though admittedly primarily with Poison damage versus the Poisoned condition, a damage immunity and a condition immunity that typically go hand in hand. There is some safe redundancy, though: the Skeleton, for instance, has immunity to both "Poison" and "Poisoned."
Now, another really interesting new category here is "Gear." The Skeleton, for example, has a Shortbow and a Shortsword, which spells out really clearly what they're carrying and also, I'd think, what players might be able to loot off of them. (There's no mention of arrows - so maybe even the official rules are sick of tracking ammunition.)
Otherwise, in the case of the Skeleton, the only real difference is that their Dexterity got bumped up to 16, giving them a +5 to hit, and their weapons now deal 1d6+3. They still have an AC of 13, because they no longer have "armor scraps" - deriving their entire AC from dexterity. Functionally, the basic Skeleton is identical to its 2014 version other than this boost to Dex, though that means that they are, technically, a little deadlier. (Yes, they're still vulnerable to bludgeoning.)
The Warhorse Skeleton and Minotaur Skeleton are also included here, though interestingly the Minotaur Skeleton is described as potentially being an amalgam of bones in the rough shape of a minotaur, and not necessarily an undead minotaur itself (given that Monsters of the Multiverse introduced a setting-agnostic humanoid playable species minotaur, I'm also very curious to see how the living minotaur looks in the Monster Manual).
Warhorse Skeleton:
Interestingly, the Warhorse Skeleton has an AC of 13 despite only having a +1 to Dexterity, and there's no parenthetical to describe why it gets higher armor than it seemingly should (the 2014 version, like the basic skeleton, has "armor scraps.")
Functionally, the only change here is that their Hooves attack deals only 1d6+4 (down from 2d6+4) damage, but if the target is Large or smaller and the warhorse skeleton moved at least 20 feet straight toward the target before hitting, the target gets knocked prone.
Here, we see a "charge" style feature that would in previous books be a trait separate from the Actions, now simply made part of the action, which I think is a smart change that will allow DMs to remember to use these features more.
Minotaur Skeleton:
The Minotaur Skeleton actually has its HP reduced - down to 45 from 67 (or 6d10+12 from 9d10+18). Otherwise, AC and ability scores and saving bonuses are the same.
Like mentioned above, the old version had a Charge feature, which is now rolled into the Gore attack action. Gore has been pretty significantly redesigned, now dealing 2d6+4 piercing on a hit, but if the skeleton moves at least 20 feet toward a target immediately before the hit, the skeleton deals an extra 2d8 piercing and if the target is Large or smaller, it's knocked prone.
The Minotaur Skeleton no longer carries a Greataxe, instead getting a Slam attack as an alternative, which deals a bit more damage (2d8+4 bludgeoning) but doesn't have that charge feature.
This, I think, is a good example of making a creature more reasonable in its design. The old Minotaur Skeleton has both a Greataxe and a Gore attack, the former doing significantly more damage with the same attack bonus and the same range. The only reason you'd ever expect the monster to use its Gore attack in the 2014 version is if the party somehow disarms it - a rare case.
Here, however, it becomes clear that the DM should use Gore as an opening move as the monster charges into battle, but once in melee, they'll instead be sticking to using Slam as their primary attack. Also, the lack of a saving throw on being knocked prone is definitely a bit of a boost to its power - given how Weapon Mastery is going to allow martial characters to really shape the battlefield, it's good that monsters will start doing the same.
Flaming Skeleton:
This is a brand-new stat block that adds a somewhat tougher skeleton monster to the mix. I won't go into all the details, but it's a CR 3 monster with higher AC and HP than any of the other skeletons, and can attack with a flame scepter or can hurl flames at range. It also blows up when it dies.
Now, what's notable here is that we get our first example of how abilities that call for a saving throw will be formatted. Here's how it's written out:
Death Burst. Dexterity Saving Throw. DC 13, each creature in a 10-foot Emanation from the skeleton when it dies. Failure: 7 (2d6) Piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) Fire damage. Success: Half damage.
This is certainly less wordy than older 5E abilities like this, which are typically written in more natural English. This is kind of a "just the facts, m'am" format. For someone experienced with D&D like I am, this is all quite efficient and easy, but I do wonder how a brand-new DM will react. It's actually probably fine, because it's likely to be a frequent format akin to how attack rolls are laid out.
Actually, here's something I didn't even notice: For attacks, things have been slimmed down a bit. The Flaming Skeleton's Flame Scepter attack reads like this:
Flame Scepter. Melee Attack Roll +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 5 (1d6+2) Bludgeoning damage plus 3 (1d6) Fire damage.
Notice that it doesn't specify it's a "weapon attack?" And furthermore, notice how it doesn't say "one target?" That latter part has always felt like the most redundant thing in 5E stat blocks. I think the only time an attack doesn't say that is if it's like "one target that is grappled by the monster" or something. It does look as well that there won't be any distinction in a stat block between spell attacks and other kinds.
Kuo-Toa:
Moving on from our flesh-challenged undead, we come to everyone's favorite insane fish people.
The first big change is that Kuo-Toa are now aberrations, rather than humanoids. I think WotC is making a concerted effort to define humanoids as creatures that are really just people, with the full range of human morality and culture. I think you're always going to run into some weird implications when fighting across a world with many different fantasy species and cultures, but much as Gnolls were reclassified as monstrosities in Monsters of the Multiverse, I think this is mean to make us feel a little less conflicted on attacking Kuo-toa on sight... which might work? (I did have a friendly Kuo-toa NPC in my first campaign who the party more or less adopted named Old Dunk, whom the rogue inexplicably referred to as "D.B.," which happens to be the initials of my oldest friend, often referred to that way in my family because he's also named Dan.)
To start, most of the stats are the same - AC, HP, speeds, ability scores, skill bonuses. They retain the Amphibious trait. The Otherworldly Perception trait is functionally identical. Sunlight Sensitivity has actually gotten more punishing - imposing disadvantage on all ability checks and attack rolls, not just Perception checks and attack rolls.
The Slippery trait is no longer a passive trait - we'll cover it when we get to reactions.
For attacks, the Kuo-toa's options have been slimmed down to a "Strange Spear," which is like their old Spear attack, but it's now only in melee and does 1d8+1 damage. So, we don't have to worry about it using a player-style spear that would normally do 1d6 damage and have a thrown option. Here, it's pure melee and purely a 1d8.
"Net" has been replaced by "Sticky Net," and like the Flaming Skeleton's Death Burst feature, we use the new saving throw feature format. Nets, of course, were also reclassified to adventuring equipment rather than weapons, and use a Dex save rather than an attack roll. The new design simply calls for a DC 10 Dex save against a target within 15 feet, and on a failure, the target is restrained until they either get free with a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check made as an action (either the creature or someone else can do this) or they destroy the net, which now is merely immune to bludgeoning, piercing, poison, and psychic damage, rather than specifically requiring slashing damage.
The "Bite" attack is just gone. Once again, as a DM we have a pretty obvious game plan - we can use the Net at range to restrain players, or if one Kuo-toa is trying to aid their allies, and then the Strange Spear is there when it's time to start doing actual damage.
In the Reactions section, we now have both Sticky Shield and Slippery.
Sticky Shield seems to work more or less as it did previously, but the formatting reflects a new way of describing reactions, which has a Trigger that describes what allows the creature to use the reaction (in this case, a creature missing them with a melee attack that uses as a weapon - notably not a "melee weapon attack.") And the Response, which is pretty close to the old version (though you can apply Athletics proficiency to free your weapon, which feels like it's really codifying the notion that every Strength check is an Athletics check).
Slippery is now an alternative reaction - rather than passively giving the Kuo-toa advantage on ability checks and saving throws to escape a grapple, it now simply lets them slip out of a grapple at the end of a creature's turn (not even necessarily the creature grappling them).
So, for a CR 1/4 creature, Kuo-toa are fairly complex. One thing I find interesting is that the Strange Spear and Sticky Shield are not listed as "gear" the way the Skeleton's Shortsword and Shortbow are. I guess that this is probably meant to specify that that equipment is not there for the players to take - there's nothing game-breaking about collecting more generic weapons, but players who want to take and use those sticky shields won't have it listed as free loot (I might justify this by saying that the shield only remains sticky when the Kuo-toa can secrete the goo that coats it, and which dries out after a while).
Ancient Green Dragon:
Ok, all of this is good for a tier 1, even tier 2 party (those Flaming Skeletons can remain relevant for a while given their CR) but what about a big epic boss monster?
Our final preview here is the Ancient Green Dragon, and if the previous entries have mostly been subtle tweaks and re-wordings, well... get ready for something quite different.
The Ancient Green Dragon is our first example of a legendary creature in the new format. Notably, in the 2014 design, legendary creatures often have three features: legendary resistance, legendary actions, and often (not always) lair actions.
One of these is back and basically the same, one has been seriously changed, and one seems to have been replaced with something way simpler. We'll go into these before we go over the stat block as a whole.
Legendary Resistance appears to be essentially unchanged, except that our Ancient Green Dragon now has four per day instead of three... and can get five per day if they're in their lair.
Legendary Actions have been replaced by what I am calling Legendary Reactions (though they're simply called Reactions). The dragon can take up to three reactions per round, though only one per turn. They also get a fourth reaction if they are in their lair.
Lair Actions, at least in this case, appear to be just gone - replaced by getting additional legendary resistances and reactions.
So... that's crazy. I think regarding legendary resistance, maybe it's just the party composition I have, but I almost never burn all of a boss' legendary resistances, given that they tend to have really good saving throw bonuses and it's usually more reliable to hit them with attacks.
As a note, one of the reactions the dragon has is triggered simply when "another creature the dragon can see ends its turn," which is nearly what triggers a legendary action anyway. I haven't played with this style of monster yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic, as the other two reactions here are a bit more interactive with the party.
The dragons in the 2014 PHB were, I think, pretty generic. Basically every chromatic dragon had claw, bite, and tail attacks and then a breath weapon and frightening presence. While we only have this one example, it looks promising that we might see a greater distinction made between what different kinds of dragons actually do.
Indeed, looking at the 2014 Ancient Green Dragon, I realize that I literally listed all of their actions just now without even looking. So let's not bother comparing them one-to-one and just talk about what the new AGD can do.
Ok, we'll compare one thing one-to-one: the basic stats.
The Armor Class, speeds, immunities, senses, and languages are the same (though the CR is actually not affected by being in its lair!) They're also amphibious.
However, a few of these basics have changed: they have more HP (up to 402 from 385, or 23d20+161 from 22d20+154 - hey, they leveled up!)
They also got a boost to Charisma, up to 22 from 19, but no longer have proficiency in Constitution or Charisma saving throws.
They have a new feature called Battle Ready, which gives them advantage on initiative rolls. Notably, beyond this, they also get a +8 to these rolls despite only having a +1 to Dex, implying a kind of proficiency in Initiative.
I suspect that Battle Ready might be a common feature among a lot of legendary creatures, to make it more likely they get a good initiative - their passive Initiative (again, something I really like) is 23 (the extra +5 being how you approach advantage when it comes to passive scores).
They're actually a little less skilled - they lose proficiency in Deception and Insight, which is kind of surprising, honestly. I know that a lot of player actions like Search and Influence might make their own scores more relevant than a monster's - I might just make it a Very Difficult check (DC 25) to read an Ancient Green Dragon rather than have a contested Deception versus Insight.
Now, let's talk actions:
Rather than having separate Bite, Claw, and Tail attacks, all of the dragon's melee attacks are simply "Rend," which has the same +15 to hit and deals 2d8+8 piercing and 3d6 poison damage. The multiattack combo is three Rend attacks, but they can replace one of these attacks with one of the At Will spells from their spellcasting feature.
And yes, all ancient green dragons now have spells, rather than being a kind of kludgy variant option.
The spells are Charisma-based, giving them a DC of 21.
They can cast Charm Monster (level 5 version), Detect Magic, and Dissonant Whispers (level 4 version) at will. So, that's two creatures charmed or 7d6 psychic damage against the target they whisper to.
They can also cast Cloudkill at 8th level or Geas twice a day each (that's 8d8 on the Cloudkill).
And finally, they can cast Modify Memory and Polymorph each once per day.
So, we've got a bit of damage, but mostly a lot of mind-altering magic that really plays into the flavor of green dragons being master manipulators. I particularly like that they can weave a Dissonant Whispers into their multiattack - maybe sending a tanky foe fleeing while they lay into the squishy spellcasters.
Naturally, as a dragon, they have poison breath. This is unchanged from the old version, just with the new wording for features that call for saving throws.
Now, let's talk about those reactions.
Charming Presence: The first simply triggers when a creature they can see other than themselves ends their turn, effectively a classic legendary action. This just lets them cast Charm Monster at 5th level.
Corrosive Miasma: This triggers when the dragon either uses its legendary resistance trait or is hit with a ranged attack. The response allows them to create a 30-foot radius sphere within 90 feet of them and force every creature inside to make a Con save (DC 21) or take 4d6 Poison damage and -2 penalty to their AC until the end of their next turn. While the Dragon will be immune to the damage, it does seem that they could potentially catch themselves with the armor penalty - but hopefully they have the space to hit the party without hitting themselves.
Rend Retaliation: This triggers any time the dragon takes damage, and they can respond by making a Rend attack.
And that's it!
You know, I think that the real thing this has made me do is examine how disappointingly generic the dragon stat blocks in the Monster Manual really are. Very little beyond their breath weapon's damage type and their corresponding damage immunity is actually all that different between the various dragons.
It's going to be weird getting used to a world with these new "legendary reactions" and no lair actions, but I think the overall design here is actually much more interesting, and I can see how a fight with a green dragon is probably going to look very different from a fight with a red dragon or a blue dragon, which can only be a good thing.
So far, I'm pretty impressed with what I'm seeing. The simpler, low-CR monsters didn't get really profound changes, but I don't think they needed them.
What I think is fascinating about all of this is the way that the new stat blocks will be able to play a role in old adventures. I've been contemplating running Curse of Strahd at some point, but I'm pretty sure that if I do, it will be using the new core rulebooks (and probably altering the story in various ways to both surprise players who might have already played in it or run it, as well as to incorporate more expansive lore from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft).
Ideally, with the new Monster Manual, any encounter in an old adventure that has the players fight, say, a group of ghouls or a gang of bandits, will just become more interesting and dynamic thanks to these updated designs.
We're still a long ways out from the Monster Manual, which won't come until February, but I think if this is the kind of update we can expect for all the other monsters, I'll be pretty happy with it.
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