What You Need to Know About the Changes in D&D’s New Monster Manual

Toward the end of last year, our family embarked on a flavorful adventure by exploring some of the top meal delivery services. What we cherished most was the chance to discover new ingredients and dishes that expanded our culinary horizons. On the flip side, the experience wasn’t without its quirks—like the peculiar fact that nearly every dish seemed to involve a stash of sour cream packets. Also, when crafting a full meal on just one cookie sheet, everything tended to blend together, resulting in a uniform taste. While the prep time was undeniably faster and the meals more intriguing, the flavors didn’t quite hit the mark we hoped for.

This culinary experiment came to mind during a private press event hosted by Wizards of the Coast last week, where they unveiled the latest edition of their Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. This new monster compendium is larger and more packed than ever, offering a buffet of options including expanded “monster sets” that allow Dungeon Masters to whip up encounters on the fly. Yet, unlike a meal delivery service like HelloFresh, the end result—what these creatures end up “tasting” like in your game—is entirely in the hands of the chef, or in this case, the Dungeon Master.

The new Monster Manual, scheduled for release in 2025, joins the updated Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide as the third cornerstone of the modern D&D tabletop experience. The prior version from 2014 leaned heavily on being a reference tome. In contrast, this edition sparks creativity, encouraging DMs to adjust, enhance, and reimagine monsters and NPCs in inventive ways. It’s less of a straightforward meal kit and more of a flexible cookbook, inspiring you to craft unique experiences with your players, tailored to their tastes.

One of the most welcome changes is a complete overhaul of the manuscript’s layout. Monsters are now cataloged alphabetically, rather than by their creature type. So, beloved beasts like the gelatinous cube now reside under G instead of the O section for “oozes.” For those who prefer to organize by creature type, there’s an appendix for that, as well as another sorted by Challenge Rating. Additionally, monsters are grouped by habitat, providing a handy list of potential encounters specific to environments like forests.

Readers will appreciate the significant expansion of monster sets. Gone are the days of just facing a few generic cultists; now, there are multiple variations all tied to a cultist theme. This ensures you can craft an encounter with foes that have complementary skills and abilities, an echo of the teamwork seen among the player characters. This thematic coherence runs throughout the book.

When a DM zeroes in on a particular monster or set, they’ll enjoy more creative freedom than ever before. Game director Jeremy Crawford revealed that alignments are now more of a gentle guideline, permitting DMs to alter, say, the demeanor of a classic red dragon to be a tad friendlier. Each monster also carries its own bit of flavorful inspiration, sparking new adventures and encounters.

You can pre-order your copy of the Monster Manual (2025) now. It’s set to hit local game stores first with a special collectible cover on February 4, followed by a wider release on February 18.