So I got my monster manual book, any questions?

[CyberThread]

I'll post small, non rulebreaking stuff. If you have direct questions I will answer them :)

[Lord Kristivas]

I'll post small, non rulebreaking stuff. If you have direct questions I will answer them :)

Are there a lot of Templates? Half-dragon, etc?

[CyberThread]

half-dragon, shadow dragon, were-creatures.

[T.G. Oskar]

Mind telling a bit about Lycanthropes (or rather, Therianthropes, but for purposes of tradition)? Particularly the bit about characters contracting lycanthropy, and whether there's any restriction on it? Preferably all related to Werebears, as they're the only Good-aligned lycanthrope.

ADDENDUM - I almost forgot: anything to say about the Empyrean(s)? Is it (or are they) Celestials as the Angels do, or are they another kind of monster?

[Townopolis]

How many different stat blocks are present for goblins (i.e. premade goblin enemies)
Are there entries for playable races? Are there entries for ALL of the playable races?
Are there entries for human/humanoid NPCs, e.g. "commoner" and/or "warrior?"

[Greylind]

How many different stat blocks are present for goblins (i.e. premade goblin enemies)
Are there entries for playable races? Are there entries for ALL of the playable races?
Are there entries for human/humanoid NPCs, e.g. "commoner" and/or "warrior?"


I don't have the MM yet, but all of those questions have available answers already.
http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/MM_MonstersCR.pdf

There are two types of goblins listed, regular and boss.
There are no entries for playable races, except the drow. Also, no rules on monster/humanoid PC's.
There are multiple human/demihuman NPC's of various kinds, including Commoner, Knight, Noble, Berserker, etc, that can have their stats modified by the PHB racial traits. The humanoids generally come in two or more versions, often a common and a boss version, or for gith and drow different stats for the different encounter types, like warrior or mage.

Hope that helps!

[blelliot]

Did dragons get innate spells again?

[Ferrin33]

How are the abilities that target specific saving throws spread out? Bit of a long one to check out, but pretty important. :p

[archaeo]

Did dragons get innate spells again?

It's a variant rule. 6-year-old dragons on up can cast a number of spells equal to their Cha mod and can cast each spell once per day. The spells it learns can't be higher level than 1/3 the dragon's CR, rounded down. At the top of the heap, the Ancient Gold Dragon can have 9 spells per day, each of them at 8th level (Cha 28, CR 24).

I'm willing to bet that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon with this spellcasting variant will be the nastiest thing you can throw at a party in the whole MM. Heck, between clone and teleport, I'm not totally sure how you ever kill it!

[Ferrin33]

It's a variant rule. 6-year-old dragons on up can cast a number of spells equal to their Cha mod and can cast each spell once per day. The spells it learns can't be higher level than 1/3 the dragon's CR, rounded down. At the top of the heap, the Ancient Gold Dragon can have 9 spells per day, each of them at 8th level (Cha 28, CR 24).

I'm willing to bet that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon with this spellcasting variant will be the nastiest thing you can throw at a party in the whole MM. Heck, between clone and teleport, I'm not totally sure how you ever kill it!

No way to bump his CR up to 27? ;)

[D1ng]

Are those spells from any list? (I'm thinking heal would be really frustrating to the party and an 8th level Armour of agathys would be downright deadly).

I'm definitely going to be pitting a party against a young red dragon with haste, fireball, blur and scorching ray at some point

[Ferrin33]

Are those spells from any list? (I'm thinking heal would be really frustrating to the party and an 8th level Armour of agathys would be downright deadly).

I'm definitely going to be pitting a party against a young red dragon with haste, fireball, blur and scorching ray at some point

I'm curious as well, I assume it's sorcerer though.

[rlc]

sure, i have some questions:
-if you had a clone, same sex or not, would you bang it?
-is the riemann hypothesis correct?
-what's your first memory?

maybe i'll have some more later.

[CyberThread]

Mind telling a bit about Lycanthropes (or rather, Therianthropes, but for purposes of tradition)? Particularly the bit about characters contracting lycanthropy, and whether there's any restriction on it? Preferably all related to Werebears, as they're the only Good-aligned lycanthrope.

No Restrictions, you bit hit, you roll a saving dice and you become one or not. Their is a green box that lays out all of what you get, that really simplifies and makes it easy to add the template to a character. The rest is rp fluff, that is between you and the dm on if it is enforced.


ADDENDUM - I almost forgot: anything to say about the Empyrean(s)? Is it (or are they) Celestials as the Angels do, or are they another kind of monster?

Love child of the gods, not immortal, may be ressurected by its parents once killed unless the god hates them. Very lore neutral and fill in the blanks creature for having access to legendary actions



Did dragons get innate spells again?

Dragons are innately magical creatures that can master a few spells as they age, using this variant.A young or older dragon can innately cast a number o fspells equal to its Charisma modifier. Each spell can be castonce per day, requiring no material components, and the spell's level can be no higher than one-third the dragon's challenge rating (rounded down) . The dragon's bonus to hit with spell attacks is equal to its proficiency bonus+ itsCharisma bonus. The dragon's spell save DC equals 8 +its proficiency bonus + its Charisma modifier.




How are the abilities that target specific saving throws spread out? Bit of a long one to check out, but pretty important. :p

this question confuses me?


sure, i have some questions:
-if you had a clone, same sex or not, would you bang it?
-is the riemann hypothesis correct?
-what's your first memory?

maybe i'll have some more later.

Go back to 3.5 , and solo play with your BOEF :)

[Ferrin33]

this question confuses me?

X amount of monsters targeting Strength saves, Y number of monsters targeting Dexterity saves, Z number of creature targeting Constitution saves. Etc.

[CyberThread]

Don't know, haven't gone that deep into them yet.


Pretty typical pos attacks con, psionic attacks int, vanity insults attack wisdom.

[togapika]

What genies are in the book?

[Jacob.Tyr]

What genies are in the book?

Dao, Djinni, Efreeti, and Marid.

[togapika]

Dao, Djinni, Efreeti, and Marid.

Do they have anything new/interesting about them this edition?

[Rfkannen]

What is the most powerful thing that a druid can turn into?

[CyberThread]

What is the most powerful thing that a druid can turn into?




Level 20 caster

[Inevitability]

Couple of questions about the unicorn, since the sorcerer in my group summoned one recently (Wild magic is the best!).

-What is an unicorn's Insight modifier?
-What is their challenge rating?
-Do they have any spell-like abilities (or 'innate casting')?

[CyberThread]

Couple of questions about the unicorn, since the sorcerer in my group summoned one recently (Wild magic is the best!).

-What is an unicorn's Insight modifier? No Skills Section, oddly enough
-What is their challenge rating? 5
-Do they have any spell-like abilities (or 'innate casting') Tons ?




there you go

[rlc]

what's the lowest cr legendary?

[CyberThread]

what's the lowest cr legendary?



Unicorn,,,

[Dralnu]

Is there monster stats for sheep? I ask this because last session ended with my wild magic sorcerer turning himself into one and the stats aren't in the PHB.

[CyberThread]

Is there monster stats for sheep? I ask this because last session ended with my wild magic sorcerer turning himself into one and the stats aren't in the PHB.

no,,,,,,,,

[Ferrin33]

no,,,,,,,,

IS there animal similar to one?

[Inevitability]

IS there animal similar to one?

Maybe a deer? Goat would probably work too.

By the way, I find it curious how many people who come to this thread do so because of Wild Magic. That ability is funny and all, but they shouldn't have released it a month before some of the things it refers to are available.

[Rfkannen]

Well I have always liked half ogres, I heard those are in there, anything about them? Size, cr?

[Totema]

Any info about pre-existing races being used as monsters (kinda like how the 3.5 MM had dwarves, elves, etc.)? Also, are there aasimars and if so how do they look?

[rlc]

Any info about pre-existing races being used as monsters (kinda like how the 3.5 MM had dwarves, elves, etc.)? Also, are there aasimars and if so how do they look?

there are monster templates (like commoner, etc) and you just plug in the racial traits. and no aasimar.

[The New Bruceski]

Is there any info for DMs on monster use/placement, or is it just a book full of stats? Specifically curious if it calls out monsters like the Intellect Devourer or others with swingy save-or-lose abilities, where callous placement relying only on CR could lead to very poor encounters.

[TheCrowing1432]

Is CR better used here?

[Aramis Rhett]

Is there a PC template for becoming a Lich?

[Inevitability]

Is there a Donkey statblock? Or any reference to them at all?

Would it be possible for a Medium rider to ride a donkey?

[CyberThread]

Is there any info for DMs on monster use/placement, or is it just a book full of stats? Specifically curious if it calls out monsters like the Intellect Devourer or others with swingy save-or-lose abilities, where callous placement relying only on CR could lead to very poor encounters.
Mixed


Is CR better used here?
Not really

Is there a PC template for becoming a Lich?
No

Is there a Donkey statblock? Or any reference to them at all?

Would it be possible for a Medium rider to ride a donkey?

Id answer but it would be making an ass of myself

[Vowtz]

Someone said there are no rules for monsters as player characters, is this correct?


That's very... Sad. :smallfurious:

[Inevitability]

Id answer but it would be making an ass of myself

Har har har. Now could I get a response? :smallannoyed:

[Z3ro]

Well I have always liked half ogres, I heard those are in there, anything about them? Size, cr?

Large, CR 1. Though they do have my favorite quote of the MM so far:

"When an ogre mates with a human, hobgoblin, bugbear, or orc, the result is always a half-ogre. (Ogres don't mate with dwarves, halflings, or elves. They eat them.)"

ETA:

Is CR better used here?

The CR is pretty consistent when it comes to things like attack bonuses, damage and hit points (with some exceptions). When it comes to special abilities it's all over the board, from under to over rated. All in all though I don't think it's horrible on average.

[archaeo]

Har har har. Now could I get a response? :smallannoyed:

There are no donkeys, but I imagine you could use the statblock for draft horses instead, which are large and therefore eligible for mounting.

[Inevitability]

There are no donkeys, but I imagine you could use the statblock for draft horses instead, which are large and therefore eligible for mounting.

Thank you. :smallsmile:

[Rfkannen]

Large, CR 1. Though they do have my favorite quote of the MM so far:

"When an ogre mates with a human, hobgoblin, bugbear, or orc, the result is always a half-ogre. (Ogres don't mate with dwarves, halflings, or elves. They eat them.)"




So if they breed with an orc, a bugbear, or a human they still have the same stats? What exactly does it look like?


Also how hard do you think it would be to make them a pc race?

[Totema]

Someone said there are no rules for monsters as player characters, is this correct?


That's very... Sad. :smallfurious:

IMO, if they put all those options in the DMG like they've been hinting at, it's better that way. It's easier on a player for their options to be spread across two books instead of three. The MM should mostly be a reference for the DM (or the druid who wants to try a new wild shape form), and it's not intuitively a place for a player to pore through when they're building a character.

But if they don't, then yeah I'll be pretty pissed too. :smallannoyed:

[Z3ro]

So if they breed with an orc, a bugbear, or a human they still have the same stats? What exactly does it look like?


The art for the half-ogre does look rather generic...



Also how hard do you think it would be to make them a pc race?

Not difficult, so long as you drop the racial hit dice. Probably something like +6 str +4 con, -2 int and wis, darkvision, large. As long as you're running a feat game, shouldn't be too overpowered as a human could take polearm master at that level and probably be a stronger character. The only real issue is it looks like large weapons do a lot more damage; they have the sample monster doing 2d8 with its longsword, but considering you get basically no other abilities, it should be ok.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm thinking about a territory on the Prime Material ruled by salamanders. Do the salamanders in this version of the MM work for that?

Trolls. Are they still thin, rubbery, regenerating creatures rather than nigh-indestructible beasts formed from stone and returned thereto by the sun? I do so want real trolls, and I want to know if I'm going to have to homebrew them.

Is the Blood War still on?

I've seen a table of contents for the DMG, and it does cover monster characters.

[CyberThread]

I'm thinking about a territory on the Prime Material ruled by salamanders. Do the salamanders in this version of the MM work for that?

Trolls. Are they still thin, rubbery, regenerating creatures rather than nigh-indestructible beasts formed from stone and returned thereto by the sun? I do so want real trolls, and I want to know if I'm going to have to homebrew them.

Is the Blood War still on?

I've seen a table of contents for the DMG, and it does cover monster characters.

Your thinking of grimlocks

[SaintRidley]

Thought Orogs were the Orc-Ogre hybrids.

[CyberThread]

Orogs are orcs blessed with a surprisingly keen intellect that ordinary orcs believe is a gift from the ore goddess Luthic. Like Luthic, orogs prefer to live underground, although the scarcity of food often brings them to the surface to hunt. Orcs respect an orog's strength and cunning, and a lone orog might command an orc war band.

[Zweisteine]

Someone said there are no rules for monsters as player characters, is this correct?
Not even kobolds? :smallfrown:

[Totema]

Also, are there kender? Please say there's no kender...

[Rfkannen]

Also, are there kender? Please say there's no kender...


Kender are in the dmg

[Rfkannen]

Not even kobolds? :smallfrown:

D: I didnt even think about that. Yeah the second I get the mm I am homebrewing a kobold player race and makeing it one of the main ones in the world.

[blelliot]

Have any monsters got any shaman entry? Like bugbears or orcs?

[Draken]

Have any monsters got any shaman entry? Like bugbears or orcs?

Lizardfolk have a shaman, which is basically a druid, orcs have the Eye of Grummsh (a cleric), goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears have no spellcaster, Sahuagin have the priestess, drow have the priestess of Lolth (obviously), Kuo-toa have an archpriest and the whip, which is a lesser priest.

[cobaltstarfire]

D: I didnt even think about that. Yeah the second I get the mm I am homebrewing a kobold player race and makeing it one of the main ones in the world.

Someone over in homebrew already did it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?371508-Playable-Kobolds!) (with a couple of variants) if you don't want to go through the trouble of doing it yourself. (or want a base to jump off of)

[Rfkannen]

I am just going to post every question I have.

What monsters are related to elves? To dwarves/halfings?

Bugbear cr?

What are some of the low cr short humanoids?

What is the alignment and lore of the minotaur? I heard they were mixeing it up

are there giant turtles?

Are drow turned into drider for being good or bad to loth?

What is the highest lv npc

And are deep gnomes nuetral?

[Draken]

I am just going to post every question I have.

What monsters are related to elves? To dwarves/halfings? Respectively, drow, duergar, nothing.

Bugbear cr? 1. 3 for the Chief.

What are some of the low cr short humanoids? 1/8 to 1. 1/8 to 12 if you count NPCs of the proper races.

What is the alignment and lore of the minotaur? I heard they were mixeing it up Magically mutated cultists of Baphomet who became a race capable of breeding true.

are there giant turtles? Yes. CR 17. Oops, giant, that is the dragon turtle I mentioned. No rules for simple turtles.

Are drow turned into drider for being good or bad to loth?Bad.

What is the highest lv npc Archmage, CR 12.

And are deep gnomes nuetral? Neutral good.

Tencharacterlimit.

[Shining Wrath]

IMO, if they put all those options in the DMG like they've been hinting at, it's better that way. It's easier on a player for their options to be spread across two books instead of three. The MM should mostly be a reference for the DM (or the druid who wants to try a new wild shape form), and it's not intuitively a place for a player to pore through when they're building a character.

But if they don't, then yeah I'll be pretty pissed too. :smallannoyed:

Gonna try again: do they have salamanders?

[Mr.Moron]

Gonna try again: do they have salamanders?

Yes. There is an entry for Salamanders in the Monster Manual.

[Inevitability]

Interesting that even an archmage is only CR 12. That implies PC's who get all the way to 20 are practically demigods.

[Draken]

Interesting that even an archmage is only CR 12. That implies PC's who get all the way to 20 are practically demigods.

CR doesn't key directly to personal power the way character levels do. A Storm Giant is CR 13, but I will be damned if the thing can't give a level 20 character going solo a run for his money.

[Rfkannen]

Interesting that even an archmage is only CR 12. That implies PC's who get all the way to 20 are practically demigods.

The cr 12 means that is powerfull enough to fight 4 lv 12 pcs.

[cobaltstarfire]

So apparently, there will be a Monsters by CR index, it's just going to be in the DMG rather than in the MM. Seems a little bit weird to me, but ehh, at least they have one somewhere for those who don't want to bookmark or flip through the MM when building a their encounters

[Inevitability]

The cr 12 means that is powerfull enough to fight 4 lv 12 pcs.

Yes I know. It is just that at level 20, an archmage is an 'are you even trying anymore' encounter for the average party. Hence my earlier statement.

[Greylind]

Yes I know. It is just that at level 20, an archmage is an 'are you even trying anymore' encounter for the average party. Hence my earlier statement.

At level 20, either give the archmage some allies, possibly "summoned" fiends or the like, or switch out for a lich.

[Rfkannen]

What do goblins look like?

Did they mention a relation between goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears?

dryads, what are they?

lowest cr humanoid?

Out of these races do any of them have an "always" in their alignment. Ogres, Half ogres, Goblins, Orcs, Orogs, Hobgoblins, Bugbear.

[Draken]

What do goblins look like? Golden brown, big ears, big nose, red eyes, strangely muscular. The goblinoids make me think of more elaborate depictions of the ones shown in Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic.

Did they mention a relation between goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears? Yes. All three entries have mention of their connections.

dryads, what are they? Fey.

lowest cr humanoid? Commoner NPC (CR 0), followed by a wide variety of CR 1/8s such as kobolds.

Out of these races do any of them have an "always" in their alignment. Ogres, Half ogres, Goblins, Orcs, Orogs, Hobgoblins, Bugbear. None, rejoice, weeeeee! In more serious terms there is a listed alignment for everything, without and mention of variability. It just says "[Size] [Type], [Alignment]". The only exceptions being Empyreans and Cloud Giants who have a percentage split between alignments.

Answers given.

[Rfkannen]

Answers given.

Ah thank you, most of the awnsers were what I meant, But with dryads I mean do they look like tree monsters, seducers , or other?

[Draken]

Ah thank you, most of the awnsers were what I meant, But with dryads I mean do they look like tree monsters, seducers , or other?

If I were to compare them to their 4ed, 3.5ed and 3.0ed incarnations, they would be closer to the 3.5ed. Although with more alluring art. Less bark, more leaves.

[Rfkannen]

If I were to compare them to their 4ed, 3.5ed and 3.0ed incarnations, they would be closer to the 3.5ed. Although with more alluring art. Less bark, more leaves.

aw thats a shame

[Doomchild]

So we've heard a lot about the Intellect Devourer and how deadly it is, but I've also vaguely heard that there's a general trend toward more deadly monsters than perhaps 3e or 4e players were used to. How true is that? Are there plenty of other monsters that seem to be quite deadly, or does the Intellect Devourer stand out as a particularly deadly example?

EDIT: One more question... if CR is supposed to indicate that a CR X creature can challenge an entire 4-man party of Xth level characters, then why are there any creatures in the monster manual with a CR over 20? Character levels cap at 20, don't they? Creature design aside, if the Terrasque is supposed to be a challenge to a 4-person party of 30th level characters, then what business does it have in a game that only goes to 20? Is "hard mode" seriously the only reason?

[khachaturian]

any rules for templates that would allow you to use animate dead to create anything other than standard zombies and skellies?

[Draken]

So we've heard a lot about the Intellect Devourer and how deadly it is, but I've also vaguely heard that there's a general trend toward more deadly monsters than perhaps 3e or 4e players were used to. How true is that? Are there plenty of other monsters that seem to be quite deadly, or does the Intellect Devourer stand out as a particularly deadly example?

At a CR of 5, the Zombie Beholder has a random one in four chance of shooting a disintegrate ray at someone in range for 45 (10d8) damage. This is in no way reduced from the same disintegrate ray used by the CR 13 living Beholder.

Monsters of CR 1 and above are extremely lethal.


EDIT: One more question... if CR is supposed to indicate that a CR X creature can challenge an entire 4-man party of Xth level characters, then why are there any creatures in the monster manual with a CR over 20? Character levels cap at 20, don't they? Creature design aside, if the Terrasque is supposed to be a challenge to a 4-person party of 30th level characters, then what business does it have in a game that only goes to 20? Is "hard mode" seriously the only reason?

I hear that the DMG will have rules for building encounters based on the experience they grant, not around the CR of the creatures involved. It is likely that "Epic" CR'd creatures such as liches, ancient dragons, empyreans and the tarrasque are supposed to stand in for several fights of a given "adventuring day".


any rules for templates that would allow you to use animate dead to create anything other than standard zombies and skellies?

No. Skeletons come in one form, zombies come in three: humanoid zombie, ogre zombie and beholder zombie. The first two... Kind of allow you to "reverse engineer" a template you could use but the last one has wild differences from the "base creature".

Even the templates that do exist in the book are not really too easy to apply in monster construction, those rules are probably in the DMG (the listed half-dragon example is very different from the creature mentioned as its baseline and the template does not mention most of the changes made).

[Doomchild]

At a CR of 5, the Zombie Beholder has a random one in four chance of shooting a disintegrate ray at someone in range for 45 (10d8) damage. This is in no way reduced from the same disintegrate ray used by the CR 13 living Beholder.

Monsters of CR 1 and above are extremely lethal.

Wow, I just don't understand the rationale there. That will KO almost everyone other than a Barbarian at full health, and kill some characters outright. But are there many such examples like this at all CRs, or just one or two every few levels?


I hear that the DMG will have rules for building encounters based on the experience they grant, not around the CR of the creatures involved. It is likely that "Epic" CR'd creatures such as liches, ancient dragons, empyreans and the tarrasque are supposed to stand in for several fights of a given "adventuring day".

I guess that makes sense, but... seriously, a 10 level difference? If the creature is even remotely "balanced," how is an adventuring party supposed to legitimately defeat that thing? Bounded Accuracy, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, what are they forced to hire a small army of mercenaries to help them kill it? Actually... if that works, that might be kind of cool...

[Draken]

Wow, I just don't understand the rationale there. That will KO everyone other than a very lucky Barbarian who is at full health, and kill some characters outright. But are there many such examples like this at all CRs, or just one or two every few levels?

There are a bunch of crazy dangerous things. Let me tell you about the Mind Flayer, a classical CR 7.

On its first action, it uses mind blast. Forcing an intelligence save out of pretty much everyone, the DC is 15. Everyone but the wizard, rogue, paladin and druid has to roll that 15, pretty much. Those who fail take 22 (4d8+4) damage and are stunned. They are very likely to remain so.

The wizard now needs to, on his own, murder that mind flayer in one turn, because on his next turn the thing will attack one of the stunned guys with its tentacles, deal 15 damage, grapple it, and force another intelligence save against stun. This time, the stun is until the grapple ends, aka: until the mind flayer releases you, because you can't try to escape due to being stunned. Also there is a one-in-three chance that the flayer can mind blast again.

The wizard has another turn to try to kill the flayer, by the way, it has advantage on saves vs spells and some rather massive mental saves, so it won't be disabled any time soon. All his allies but one make their saves against mind blast again, since they still need to roll 15 or more, they likely fail.

If the flayer is still alive (it is) is uses extract on the guy who is grappled, dealing 55(10d10) damage A barbarian with average health and a con of 18 is now dead. Mind Blast may be back up.

Repeat until everyone is dead or the flayer is wounded enough that it decides to Planeshift away. This thing never stops being sheer murder, except that as you move further up the levels, you may be expected to face more than one at a time!


I guess that makes sense, but... seriously, a 10 level difference? If the creature is even remotely "balanced," how is an adventuring party supposed to legitimately defeat that thing? Bounded Accuracy, yeah, yeah, yeah, so, what are they forced to hire a small army of mercenaries to help them kill it? Actually... if that works, that might be kind of cool...

It is supposed to be a big challenge. I guess it is kind of how the published adventure path finishes with a fight that is nearly twice your level in CR.

[SaintRidley]

Mhmm, sweet lethality. I love it.

[archaeo]

Wow, I just don't understand the rationale there. That will KO almost everyone other than a Barbarian at full health, and kill some characters outright. But are there many such examples like this at all CRs, or just one or two every few levels?

Really, the majority of the statblocks seem pretty reasonable. A lot of these extremely dangerous monsters are sprinkled across the CRs, presumably to allow for a satisfyingly deadly boss encounter for every level of play.

It'll take a lot more system mastery and research for anybody to say anything more than "seems pretty reasonable" or "seems pretty unbalanced" though.


The wizard now needs to, on his own, murder that mind flayer in one turn, because on his next turn the thing will attack one of the stunned guys with its tentacles, grapple it, and force another intelligence save against stun. This time, the stun is until the grapple ends, aka: until the mind flayer releases you, because you can't try to escape due to being stunned.

Of course, the Wizard can also try thunderwave or another spell that pushes.

I get the impression a 7th level party might have a shot at this thing, especially if it isn't getting caught unaware by the Mind Flayer. A lot of the divine casters have things that will buff saving throws, Bards can give inspiration dice to use on them, they don't really have that much HP, etc. etc.

But that said, I think the crazy Mind Flayer-centric ecology set is designed around "very deadly glass cannons" and is more or less called out as such. There aren't really so many of these save-or-sucks around. Maybe later, when I'm feeling more spritely, I'll count up the usage of these things.

[Doomchild]

It is supposed to be a big challenge. I guess it is kind of how the published adventure path finishes with a fight that is nearly twice your level in CR.

I have to keep reminding myself that, to WotC, a CR 7 is supposed to be an "appropriate" encounter for a party of four level 7's, and not a challenge. Whereby "appropriate" can be generally accepted to mean "easy enough to fight four of these in a day without being in any real danger of losing any one of your party members."

And yet... there's stuff like That Damn Devourer and the Mindflayer that, as an "appropriate" encounter have serious TPK potential... so... if monsters are this deadly, and, presumably, some CR 20 monsters can just TPK whole parties of 20th level characters, then... again, wtf is up with a CR 30 creature (note: I am sure the Terrasque isn't actually that hard to beat. It wasn't in 3e, I'm guessing it's not that crazy in 5th, though I could be wrong)?

[Draken]

The tarrasque is very resilient and very accurate in its attacks, but the damage it does is not entirely out of control.

The most hilarious thing to fight, I would say, is a Sphinx in its lair (which is pretty much where you will always fight sphinxes). It's lair actions control time and space. It can force you to reroll init. It can change your age by 1d20 years in whichever direction it prefers. It can cause the whole fight to jump 10 years into the past or into the future. It can move itself and up to 7 creatures in its lair to a different plane and return with however many it prefers.

One of these is not like the others.

Disclaimer: Sphinxes make great plot devices for time travel campaigns.

[Doomchild]

The tarrasque is very resilient and very accurate in its attacks, but the damage it does is not entirely out of control.

The most hilarious thing to fight, I would say, is a Sphinx in its lair (which is pretty much where you will always fight sphinxes). It's lair actions control time and space. It can force you to reroll init. It can change your age by 1d20 years in whichever direction it prefers. It can cause the whole fight to jump 10 years into the past or into the future. It can move itself and up to 7 creatures in its lair to a different plane and return with however many it prefers.

One of these is not like the others.

Disclaimer: Sphinxes make great plot devices for time travel campaigns.

WOW. That is insane and unbeatable. And yet... *single manly tear* I love it.

[Seerow]

How common are legendary creatures throughout the book? Like how many of them do you see compared to normal monsters? Is there a good variety spread across CRs, or are they mostly concentrated at high level?

[Greylind]

How common are legendary creatures throughout the book? Like how many of them do you see compared to normal monsters? Is there a good variety spread across CRs, or are they mostly concentrated at high level?

I don't have my MM yet, but some already available resources indicate there are about 38 legendary creatures in the book (including two of each kind of dragon, adult and ancient, plus the sample dracolich, and a couple of variants of other legendary creatures.), ranging from the CR5 unicorn, and then from CR10 to CR30.

[Z3ro]

The tarrasque is very resilient and very accurate in its attacks, but the damage it does is not entirely out of control.

The most hilarious thing to fight, I would say, is a Sphinx in its lair (which is pretty much where you will always fight sphinxes). It's lair actions control time and space. It can force you to reroll init. It can change your age by 1d20 years in whichever direction it prefers. It can cause the whole fight to jump 10 years into the past or into the future. It can move itself and up to 7 creatures in its lair to a different plane and return with however many it prefers.

One of these is not like the others.

Disclaimer: Sphinxes make great plot devices for time travel campaigns.

Holy crap, I somehow missed out on this awesomeness when I gave the book my first read-through. I love the idea of the sphinx turning a party into a bunch of literal babies; good incentive for middle-aged characters.

[mr_odd]

Are there entries for mind flayers?

[archaeo]

Are there entries for mind flayers?

Scroll up, Mr. Odd.

[Inevitability]

Are there entries for mind flayers?

I don't have the book, but if you look a few posts up, you'll see someone talking about them. Apparently they are TPK machines who can just retreat to a nice quiet plane the moment they are close to getting killed.

[archaeo]

I don't have the book, but if you look a few posts up, you'll see someone talking about them. Apparently they are TPK machines who can just retreat to a nice quiet plane the moment they are close to getting killed.

Certainly, the fluff makes it pretty clear that they prefer to fight behind a bunch of minions; you probably won't kill one unless you corner it via magic or guile.

As I said upthread, there are a lot of very dangerous "boss" monsters spread across CRs. A Mind Flayer would be an excellent capstone to a meatgrinder level 1-7 campaign.

[Rfkannen]

Describe the noses of the goblinoids! also orc noses.

[Orpec]

Are there any rules for useing the monsters in the npc stat blocks? Like haveing a ogre-mage archmage.

So goblins arent green anymore, anything else diffrent?

[archaeo]

Are there any rules for useing the monsters in the npc stat blocks? Like haveing a ogre-mage archmage.

While the MM suggests adding racial features from the PHB to the NPCs, it doesn't give a lot of mechanical advice for adding in monster stuff. Personally, I'd just be inclined to refluff as necessary; there's nothing in the Archmage block that prevents it from being an Ogre-Mage, for example.

Personally, I think these stat blocks are also very easy to refluff; in my campaign, I plan on using the huge number of dragon stat blocks to represent humanoids who have been granted ultimate arcane powers, for example. It's definitely not hard to take things and re-fit them for your campaign. On the other hand, it's a book that has a really good mix of stats and fluff, with a lot of lore that's sort of festooned with plot hooks. It's certainly been well-reviewed.


So goblins arent green anymore, anything else diffrent?

Lots of things! More in-depth threads exist around the Internet, but a good chunk is discussed above. As befits an anniversary edition, lots of monsters draw their flavor from editions past, though there are quite a few 5e original things going on in the fluff. For the most part, however, this is a "greatest hits" collection.

[Orpec]

While the MM suggests adding racial features from the PHB to the NPCs, it doesn't give a lot of mechanical advice for adding in monster stuff. Personally, I'd just be inclined to refluff as necessary; there's nothing in the Archmage block that prevents it from being an Ogre-Mage, for example.

Personally, I think these stat blocks are also very easy to refluff; in my campaign, I plan on using the huge number of dragon stat blocks to represent humanoids who have been granted ultimate arcane powers, for example. It's definitely not hard to take things and re-fit them for your campaign. On the other hand, it's a book that has a really good mix of stats and fluff, with a lot of lore that's sort of festooned with plot hooks. It's certainly been well-reviewed.



Lots of things! More in-depth threads exist around the Internet, but a good chunk is discussed above. As befits an anniversary edition, lots of monsters draw their flavor from editions past, though there are quite a few 5e original things going on in the fluff. For the most part, however, this is a "greatest hits" collection.

Cool idea on the refluffing.

Ah yes I see, so what exactly is a goblin boss? Also do you have links to those other threats.

[archaeo]

Also do you have links to those other threats.

I mean, head to EN World, head to RPG.net, head to reddit. Most of the discussion here seems focused on RAW and optimization, as people are trying to wrap their heads around the hidden complexities of the rules. The MM is still front page news on most of these sites, so it shouldn't be too hard to find!

[Doomchild]

What are the effects of size on natural attacks like bite, claw, etc? Are there rules in the MM about these attacks?

[stitchlipped]

however, this is a "greatest hits" collection.

I knew Id fall in love with the 5e MM as soon as I learned it had hook horrors in it.

Probably the coolest moment of my career as a player involved one of these beasties, the sense of glorious nostalgia in seeing it among the pages is enormous.

[archaeo]

What are the effects of size on natural attacks like bite, claw, etc? Are there rules in the MM about these attacks?

The only rules on size that I can find are in the PHB, and only matter when handling shoves and grapples. You can perform these actions on creatures that are one size category above yours. The paragraph and table on size in the MM just tells you how big the monsters are, which will be useful for grid-based combat.

There may be class abilities that change this, but I can't recall any right off. Anything else is covered in the monster's stat block itself.

[Doomchild]

The only rules on size that I can find are in the PHB, and only matter when handling shoves and grapples. You can perform these actions on creatures that are one size category above yours. The paragraph and table on size in the MM just tells you how big the monsters are, which will be useful for grid-based combat.

There may be class abilities that change this, but I can't recall any right off. Anything else is covered in the monster's stat block itself.

Then I can't figure out, for the life of me, why a Hawk (and there was some other tiny Beast too) deals only 1 damage with its talons. Shouldn't it be at minimum 2? Since it's Dex modifier is 2? Shouldn't it more accurately be at least 3 or maybe even 1d2 or 1d3 +2? I just don't understand it. I have a Ranger player that I gave an animal companion to at 1st level (since Ranger 1 is really lackluster), and she wanted a Hawk companion. Turns out, it's mostly useless at 1st level anyway, but that it can only make one attack for 1 damage is just insult to injury.

[Draken]

What are the effects of size on natural attacks like bite, claw, etc? Are there rules in the MM about these attacks?

There are no tables for die size of natural attacks according to size. And natural weapons on stat blocks run a wide gamut of values, going as low as the measly 2d10+10 bite of the Ancient Silver Dragon (Gargantuan) and as high as the 4d12+10 of the Tarrasque (also Gargantuan).

THAT SAID.

You can infer the effects of size increases (actual size increases, not the Enlarge spell) on damage dice based on the larger creatures that use weapons. The effect is rather simple. Each size category adds one more dice to the weapon.

Large creatures with greatswords hit for 4d6+[Str]. Huge creatures for 6d6+[Str]. There are no Gargantuan creatures with manufactured weapons but they would probably hit for 8d6+[Str]. It is rather simple.

[Doomchild]

So then is it your best guess that the natural attacks of monsters are just whatever the designers and reviewers felt was appropriate to that particular creature?

[Draken]

So then is it your best guess that the natural attacks of monsters are just whatever the designers and reviewers felt was appropriate to that particular creature?

Yes. To filler or not to filler.

[Sartharina]

I also have a Monster Manual! My FLGS was selling it a few days early, and I was over there for Game Night.

I have to say - the weretiger picture is VERY awesome.

[Sartharina]

Also - very important information about undead, that I'm not sure has been asked, questioned, or answered yet:

There are no "Mindless" undead. Even skeletons and zombies have intelligence (Skeletons INT 6, Zombies INT 3). They're also inherently evil - they are animated by an evil spirit that will, if given no other orders, will attack anything on sight. Zombies are almost mindless, but not quite. They're smart enough to receive direct orders in a language they understand, and know how to attack living creatures around it on their own initiative, but that's it.

Skeletons are inherently Lawful Evil, and they need to be constantly commanded to NOT attack living creatures. For example - if they need to get somewhere blocked by the door, they will try to open it, and if that doesn't work, look for another path if one's available before resorting to breaking the door down.

[Gnomes2169]

I've got mine as well, so I suppose I'll add my voice to that of the answers committee.

Personally, I like what they did with the devils and demons (though I'm surprised that they gave the daemons their 2e names again, but otherwise kept them the same... Pretty sure Daemon is, like, 5509999999 bajillion% cooler than Baatziachoo.)

[Sartharina]

I've got mine as well, so I suppose I'll add my voice to that of the answers committee.

Personally, I like what they did with the devils and demons (though I'm surprised that they gave the daemons their 2e names again, but otherwise kept them the same... Pretty sure Daemon is, like, 5509999999 bajillion% cooler than Baatziachoo.)

"Daemon" needs to go away. It's just an archaic spelling of "Demon" ("ae" is "æ" is "ee" is "e"), and there's no difference in pronunciation. And Baatezu is Devil, not Daemon. And Yugoloth, Baatezu, and Tan'ari are much cooler than Devil, Demon, and Demon.

[archaeo]

"Daemon" needs to go away. It's just an archaic spelling of "Demon" ("ae" is "æ" is "ee" is "e"), and there's no difference in pronunciation. And Baatezu is Devil, not Daemon. And Yugoloth, Baatezu, and Tan'ari are much cooler than Devil, Demon, and Demon.

Ehhh. I feel like those are sort of Fantasy 101 names, but this is all just a matter of taste.

"Dæmon" doesn't seem to appear in the MM? Am I missing it somewhere? I hardly think using an archaic spelling is any more of a weirdness than saying "Tan'ari," with its Basic Fantasy Apostrophe. Plus, any excuse to pretend I'm playing a His Dark Materials RPG! :smallbiggrin:

[Sartharina]

Ehhh. I feel like those are sort of Fantasy 101 names, but this is all just a matter of taste.

"Dæmon" doesn't seem to appear in the MM? Am I missing it somewhere? I hardly think using an archaic spelling is any more of a weirdness than saying "Tan'ari," with its Basic Fantasy Apostrophe. Plus, any excuse to pretend I'm playing a His Dark Materials RPG! :smallbiggrin:Demons are in the MM, also known as Tan'ari (And are listed under Demon). My issue with Pathfinder is they try to treat Demons and Daemons as different things when it's the exact same word. Daemon = Demon. Tan'ari, while a fictional word, at least isn't trying to pretend to be a new word for something else when it's not.

But we do have Baatezu, Tan'ari, and Yugoloths back. And Yugoloths are not given a 'more common' name. They are listed as Yugoloths.

I'm actually annoyed that the Devils use the "X Devil" name in their statblock instead of their Baatezu names.

[Inevitability]

What is the origin story of myconids? Any references to the Carrion King?

Also, what makes the various myconids in the MM different from each other?

[Cambrian]

What is the origin story of myconids? Any references to the Carrion King?

Also, what makes the various myconids in the MM different from each other?The Myconids in the MM are a sprout, adult, and sovereign. They mainly talk about them as a meditative species that endures mundane labor for basic needs but live to sit around in a communal dream meditation using their spores.

They can also reanimate creatures as Quaggoth Spore Servants. Basically plant zombies that wither away after 1d4+1 weeks.

They have 3 pages dedicated to them and the best page splash I've ever seen :)

But nothing on their origins...

[Beacon of Chaos]

The only thing you need to know about the 5e monster manual...

Flumphs are back.

[Inevitability]

The only thing you need to know about the 5e monster manual...

Flumphs are back.

We already knew that. They released a preview.

[Sartharina]

The only thing you need to know about the 5e monster manual...

Flumphs are back.

So are Gas Spores. And this time there's an explanation for why they look like beholders (They originally grow on the corpses of beholders - and if you survive getting gassed by a Gas Spore, you have beholder-related hallucinations)

[KnotKnormal]

I noticed that elementals are only listed as large, as in past MMs there were multiple sizes and abilities for each size... is there a way to adjust them?

[Gnomes2169]

The only thing you need to know about the 5e monster manual...

Flumphs are back.

They did not properly express the flumphs' weirdness in the comic.

Bring back the flumphs in the comic, author man! (So that everyone properly learns of their weirdness) :smalltongue:

[Inevitability]

I noticed that elementals are only listed as large, as in past MMs there were multiple sizes and abilities for each size... is there a way to adjust them?

Find a monster of the size and CR you need, call it an elemental, refluff where needed. Done.

[Gnomes2169]

I noticed that elementals are only listed as large, as in past MMs there were multiple sizes and abilities for each size... is there a way to adjust them?

There isn't an official way yet (but it was part of the DMG table of contents when that was released as a spoiler s few months back.) As it stands, you can pretty much just adjust it like everything else. So you'll have to go off of gut feeling or Surf's guide to make "proper" adjustments for now.

[Beacon of Chaos]

We already knew that. They released a preview.
It is still the only thing you need to know.

[AGD]

I have seen some Pages of this Monster Manual on Google Pictures. The Stats of the Monster have a Number in Brackets behind them(Like "Str 30 (+10)"). What is the Meaning behind the Number in Brackets?

[Draken]

I have seen some Pages of this Monster Manual on Google Pictures. The Stats of the Monster have a Number in Brackets behind them(Like "Str 30 (+10)"). What is the Meaning behind the Number in Brackets?

It's the ability modifier. You use it for the monster's ability checks, skill checks and saving throws if there isn't a specific save value or ability/skill check listed in their entry (and most don't).

[Gnomes2169]

I have seen some Pages of this Monster Manual on Google Pictures. The Stats of the Monster have a Number in Brackets behind them(Like "Str 30 (+10)"). What is the Meaning behind the Number in Brackets?


It's the ability modifier. You use it for the monster's ability checks, skill checks and saving throws if there isn't a specific save value or ability/skill check listed in their entry (and most don't).

This. It's literally just there to help the DM run the monster. If there is a different number given for the particular action, then you use that one instead.

[Doomchild]

So I just got the monster manual recently, and maybe I'm just blind or stupid, but I don't understand: how are certain monsters' saving throws determined? Some monsters have no saving throws listed? Does that mean they have no proficiency with saving throws at all?

[Greylind]

So I just got the monster manual recently, and maybe I'm just blind or stupid, but I don't understand: how are certain monsters' saving throws determined? Some monsters have no saving throws listed? Does that mean they have no proficiency with saving throws at all?

Correct. If there's no save listed, they use only that ability score bonus for the save.

[Doomchild]

Correct. If there's no save listed, they use only that ability score bonus for the save.

Is that explained somewhere?

[SaintRidley]

Page 8, Saving Throws.

[Doomchild]

Page 8, Saving Throws.

THANK YOU. I don't know how I missed that. Twice.

[Gnomes2169]

So I just got the monster manual recently, and maybe I'm just blind or stupid, but I don't understand: how are certain monsters' saving throws determined? Some monsters have no saving throws listed? Does that mean they have no proficiency with saving throws at all?

That's exactly what it means, yes. Most low-level monsters are sort of terrible in the save departments, and they don't get to add their proficiency to their saving throws unless it's listed.

[AGD]

It's a variant rule. 6-year-old dragons on up can cast a number of spells equal to their Cha mod and can cast each spell once per day. The spells it learns can't be higher level than 1/3 the dragon's CR, rounded down. At the top of the heap, the Ancient Gold Dragon can have 9 spells per day, each of them at 8th level (Cha 28, CR 24).

I'm willing to bet that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon with this spellcasting variant will be the nastiest thing you can throw at a party in the whole MM. Heck, between clone and teleport, I'm not totally sure how you ever kill it!

Does that mean, that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon can cast 9th level spells, because he has an CR of 27. At least after this Post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18201021&postcount=8). And I woul like to know, how that is the nastiest Thing? I have only recently discovered D&D through the Baldurs Gate Series, so forgive me, if i am asking Bull****, but 9 Spells doesn't seem like much to me, because PCs can cast much more Spells. Or have Monsters generally much less Spells than PCs and don't need so much Spells, because they are only there for one Encounter with the PCs, where the PCs must face much more Encounters with Monsters in a row.

[Rfkannen]

Does that mean, that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon can cast 9th level spells, because he has an CR of 27. At least after this Post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18201021&postcount=8). And I woul like to know, how that is the nastiest Thing? I have only recently discovered D&D through the Baldurs Gate Series, so forgive me, if i am asking Bull****, but 9 Spells doesn't seem like much to me, because PCs can cast much more Spells. Or have Monsters generally much less Spells than PCs and don't need so much Spells, because they are only there for one Encounter with the PCs, where the PCs must face much more Encounters with Monsters in a row.


9th LEVEL spells, aka the highest level of spell

[AGD]

9th LEVEL spells, aka the highest level of spell

Is that a "Yes" to my first question?

[archaeo]

Does that mean, that an Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon can cast 9th level spells, because he has an CR of 27. At least after this Post (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18201021&postcount=8). And I woul like to know, how that is the nastiest Thing? I have only recently discovered D&D through the Baldurs Gate Series, so forgive me, if i am asking Bull****, but 9 Spells doesn't seem like much to me, because PCs can cast much more Spells. Or have Monsters generally much less Spells than PCs and don't need so much Spells, because they are only there for one Encounter with the PCs, where the PCs must face much more Encounters with Monsters in a row.

With the right 9 spells, that ancient dragon can escape from any situation, clone themselves so that if they die they'll just be reborn, and instantly shut down enemy spellcasters. All while continuing to still be a dragon.

The spellcasting variant, if it had a CR modifier (hard to do), would place the Ancient Golden Shadow Dragon well above CR 30, I suspect. It's certainly far more dangerous than the Tarrasque, even if you play the big T optimally.

Edited to add:


Is that a "Yes" to my first question?

As a variant rule on top of an optional template, I'd say that it's up to the DM. The Shadow Dragon template doesn't give an explicit CR modifier, just suggests one via its example; I would suspect that an Ancient Shadow Dragon would get more than a +3 modifier, and giving it 9th level casting would boost it far above and beyond that +3.