I went to my FLGS yesterday and picked up the last of the new Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 core books, the new Monster Manual.
It was the original AD&D Monster Manual that got me into D&D originally, so any new Monster Manual has a long climb to impress me.
Yes, it is true. There are no orcs in this book, nor humans, halflings, elves, dwarves, duergar, dragonborn, or gnomes.
There are goblins, bugbears, and hobgoblins. Also, monsters still have alignments. So the oft repeated rumor that WotC/Hasbro was getting rid of alignments is not true. There are still plenty of purely evil creatures to kill. Note: Goblins are now chaotic neutral. I actually like this, more akin to how I have been playing them.
The art is gorgeous, as expected, and there is art for every monster and then some.
The stat blocks are mostly the same as D&D 5.0 (2014), they are a bit clearer to read. Saving throws are all listed now, even when they are just the same as the ability modifier.
The new book sits at 384 pages. The 2014 Monster Manual was 352.
Following in the footsteps of every major "Even" release (2nd ed, 4th ed, and this as 6th ed) each monster fits on 1, 2, or 4 whole pages. This makes reading the monster stat easy while in game; everything is right there. It also follows the trend established by many OSR and D20 publishers. Lots of monster books have been doing this, going back to the Creature Collection from Sword & Sorcery Studios in 2000. While it does make reading easy, sometimes narrative text and lore takes the hit to make room for stat blocks. I am mixed on that. I love the layout, and I am generally a fan of one-page monsters, but I feel like some monsters get shorted.
My biggest pet peeve, though, is the alphabetical organization. For example, Blue and Black Dragons are listed under "B" right along with Balor. Red Dragons are under "R." This continues for all groups, including Giants, demons, devils, and everything.
An interesting little quirk of this and a logical extension from the 2014 MM, Succubi are now an independent fiendish creature and Neutral Evil. They are also distinct from the Incubus. They are no longer separated by gender, but by role. Succubi (male and female) drain life via physical touch and Incubi (male and female) drain via dreams. I like the split in roles and it allows us to have two creatures to fill the role of the mythological succubus.
You can see this movement away from "gendered" monsters throughout the book. The art for the dryad is androgynous, which is fine. I have had male and female Ginko Dryads ever since I learned that ginko trees can be male or female. There are female satyrs. Again, there is precedent for that in art. Sphinxes are no longer Andro- or Gyno- but rather Sphinxes of Wonder, Secrets, Lore, and Valor. Ok, that I actually like. But, there are no nymphs. I came to the D&D Monster Manual by way of Greek myths, so this feels a bit odd to me.
Honestly. I have been moving away from Orcs as my big bads for a while now. Goblins have always been too much fun to make completely evil. Give me gnolls, yuan-ti, or beholders as my monsters, and I can slaughter them indiscriminately.
Even Star Trek made allies out of the Klingons and, eventually, the Romulans, so why can't D&D grow in its nuanced takes as well.
While the book is plenty large, I am disappointed there are no named Demons and Devils here. No Demon Princes, no Lords of the Nine, no Slaad Lords.
This book completes the Dungeons & Dragons 5.5 aka 2024 version of the Core Rules. I am not 100% sure I'll get much more of this line. I am not playing D&D 5 in any flavor at the moment. But who knows.
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