Dungeons and Dragons has been undergoing an overhaul, starting with the release of the Players Handbook in September 2024. The Dungeon Master's Guide followed in November 2024, but the collection is incomplete - awaiting the release of the Monster Manual on February 18th 2025.
Our bookshelves are crying out for completion of the new Core Set, and with that date fast approaching, Wizards of the Coast have given us a sneak peak of what's to come from the new Monster Manual. Answering the question - "What's exciting about the new Monster Manual?", they claim this is the biggest ever, with over 500 monsters. More than 85 of these are brand new, including new variants of fan-favorite monsters like the Primeval Owlbear, and Vampire Nightbringer.
There are also now challenges at every level - Wizards accept that the old Monster Manual had some gaps at high level play, and these gaps have been well and truly filled. Finally, every creature in the game has been revisited, ensuring it's doing the most that it can with the kit that it has in a way that is challenging and fun for both players and DMs.
The book contains over 300 pages of monsters, monsters, and also some monsters. It's split into 4 sections - an intro section on how to use a monster, all the monsters in A to Z order, and then two Appendices - Appendix A, which is animals, and Appendix B, which is monsters listed by things like type, habitat, family, group, etc.
Appendix A: Animals is a list of all normal critters like cats and crocodiles, but also includes supernatural creatures like giant apes. It's things that might not be classified as "monsters", but that your players still might run into - either in the wilds, or in towns and cities.
