Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse is arriving on May 16 and with it comes over 30 playable races! These races have been collected from across the multiverse—from the Feywild's harengon to Theros' satyr—and have been tweaked to make them setting-agnostic.
In this article, we're going to examine a few of the all-time greats when it comes to monstrous races: the goblin, hobgoblin, and kobold. We'll discuss what's changed for these races since their original appearance in Volo's Guide to Monsters and show how to build characters around them.
Ability score Increases and Languages
Newer Dungeons & Dragons races don't come with set ability score increases. Instead, players will get to choose one of the following options at character creation:
- Increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1
- Increase three different scores by 1
Instead of preset language proficiencies, you'll learn Common and one other language of your choice (with your DM's approval).
Goblin
To enable more diversified goblin characters, the updates in Monsters of the Multiverse present goblins in a more positive light than previous sources. As made apparent by adding the Fey Ancestry trait, Monsters of the Multiverse focuses on how goblins originated in the Feywild and were later conquered by the god Maglubiyet when they crossed into the Material Plane.
Goblin Traits
In Monsters of the Multiverse, goblins retain all of the traits from their previous version, with slight tweaks. They are still Small creatures that are exceptionally good at hiding, escaping danger, and taking down foes that are larger than them. Their trademark ability, Fury of the Small, is slightly changed to deal damage equal to your proficiency modifier and can be used a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier per long rest. They are also granted the Fey Ancestry trait, which provides them advantage on saving throws made to avoid and end the charmed condition.
The most significant change comes from the ability to choose your ability score array, rather than having to work with a set +2 Dexterity, +1 Constitution. While this previous array was incredible for stealthy rogues, Charisma-focused bards or Intelligence-focused wizards would overlook the goblin as a viable race. Now, you could easily make a Strength-focused goblin Battle Master who wears heavy armor for defense and can use their Nimble Escape to move around the battlefield while using Fury of the Small to pump up damage.
Hobgoblin
Hobgoblins receive quite the glow-up from their grim depiction in Volo's Guide to Monsters. In Monsters of the Multiverse, hobgoblins are described as charismatic leaders who form deep bonds with their comrades. Like the treatment goblins received, Monsters of the Multiverse focuses on the hobgoblin's origins in the Feywild and ties that into their new racial features.
Hobgoblin Traits
In exchange for their martial weapon and light armor proficiencies, hobgoblins now receive an interesting racial feature called Fey Gift in Monsters of the Multiverse. It allows them to take the Help action as a bonus action a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Starting at 3rd level, when you take the Help action in this way, you also benefit in other ways:
- You and the creature you help gain temporary hit points.
- You and the creature you help temporarily increase your walking speeds.
- When the creature you help hits a target with an attack roll, that target gets disadvantage on the next attack roll it makes within the next minute.
Being able to take the Help action as a bonus action is already a strong ability because it grants a party member advantage on their next attack or ability check. Getting to also debuff an enemy or gain some temporary hit points make this an even more stellar resource in combat.
Previously, hobgoblins came with a set +2 Constitution, +1 Intelligence array, which provided a solid base for a tank wizard when combined with the race's light armor proficiency. The addition of the Fey Gift feature from Monsters of the Multiverse opens up the door for new builds. Combine Fey Gift with the Fortune from the Many trait—a reskinned Saving Face feature from the hobgoblin's previous appearance—and you have a solid support-focused martial class that works excellently with other martial party members. But while Fey Gift makes good use of an empty bonus action slot, builds that already have a use for their bonus action, like bards, rogues, and two-weapon fighters, might want to look elsewhere in order to maximize their action economy.
Kobold
The kobolds of Volo's Guide to Monsters is the only race to receive two ability score increases instead of the typical three. They also have Sunlight Sensitivity, which can be a challenging setback in campaigns that tend to spend more time above ground than not. In Monsters of the Multiverse, the kobold's racial traits offer a more level playing field plus abilities from their draconic ancestors.
Kobold Traits
The new version of the kobold introduces the Draconic Cry feature, which replaces the previous version's Pact Tactics. This new feature functions fairly similar in that it is a reliable source of advantage on attacks. However, it is an expendable resource, costing a bonus action and only being usable a number of times equal to your proficiency modifier per long rest. In exchange, Draconic Cry also offers allies advantage on their attacks and doesn't require an ally to be within 5 feet of you to activate it.
In place of the Grovel, Cower, and Beg racial trait, kobolds are given a new feature called Kobold Legacy. This new trait allows you to choose between a skill proficiency in Arcana, Investigation, Medicine, Sleight of Hand, or Survival, getting advantage on saving throws against the frightened condition, or a sorcerer cantrip.
Like Pack Tactics, the Draconic Cry racial trait lends itself to a martial build as it can give you advantage on attacks against enemies within melee range. This can be an excellent way to ensure you can reliably sneak attack as a rogue or when you just need to land that smite as a paladin. These martial builds will be able to make good use of either the advantage against being frightened or the sorcerer cantrip granted through Kobold Legacy. The frightened condition can be a tough one to overcome for builds lacking proficiency in Wisdom saves, and the sorcerer cantrip could be a great way to snag green-flame blade or booming blade.
A Multiverse Worth of Options Awaits
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse allows players to choose from over 30 races, each of which can be viable in any number of new and exciting builds. Players will have to be careful, however. The book also contains over 250 monster stat blocks that Dungeon Masters will undoubtedly use to put your new characters to the test!
Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.
hate the new take on goblina and hob goblins. The sanitizing of lore and races is a potlically correct move and in honsety something that does ubset some
Not to um actually here, but they have said that mordencanans and volo's are going to be fully replaced with multiverse. So as far as I understand with D&D beyond these new changes are going to be treated as core cannon rules and not variants. We've seen them do this exact same thing of erasing a previous racial stat before with the original publication of kobolds getting a -2 to strength on top of their other stat gains. Same thing with orcs losing their -2 to int. I agree fully that if these were in fact treated as variants it would be fantastic, but they have actually reported that they will be replacing it, and that I'm not a fan of.
I would like Monster's of the Multiverse more if they didn't delist the books it's "replacing."
Goblinoids --
This is why tasha's is stupid. The fact Bugbear are stronger then a goblin is what makes them special. Now we get to have a generic goblinoid. This is what happens when a company listen to the noise and stops thinking for themselves. I will never allow Tasha in my game. Hobgoblin are intelligent by nature, Goblin are dexterous, and Bugbear are stupid sacks of muscle.
Even using those rules
A bugbear can have a 5 as their STR score.
A goblin can have a mere 5 as a DEX score.
A hobgoblin can have a 4 as their INT score.
Also a Bugbear could get to a 20 in INT or DEX, a Goblin could get to a 20 in INT or STR, and a hobgoblin could get to 20 in STR or DEX.
If you want to make the generic bugbear people face off with a "stupid sack of muscle" that's your choice.
That is NOT a reason to make it more difficult for any other player to make their Bugbear an incredibly smart character who isn't physically strong.
Bugbears have never been described as stupid in any edition. They're strong but they're also cunning. Also, there's a whopping +2 difference in strength between a 3 foot tall goblin and a 7 foot tall bugbear under the pre-Tasha's rules and the ability score caps at 20 regardless of race. There's never been the wide gulf in ability scores people seem to think there's been. Not in 5E.
Except, you know, they are making it so you HAVE to use the new rules because they are removing the old versions from market place and all new races will only be added that only use the Tasha ASI standard. It really is only a matter of time before they just errata all the races to the Tasha standard of 2 paragraphs of "This is Race, They look like this but you can ignore it if you want. Here's the human attributes for age/size/etc also feel free to ignore those. Here are the features which are js stuff copied from other races or classes."
Unless the players or DM bought the original version before the new book they aren't getting a choice, it's Multiverse or nothing. And given Wizards is now the owner it's likely they're going to also discontinue the other books too. Even if not, this is DnDB, so if they the ability to access the old ones going forward it won't mater if you own the old books you need to use the new rules for the site.
But what of us who enjoyed the old Kobold traits?
Learn2Homebrew
I don't like the new hobgoblin, I won't be having it in my setting/table. Done. Nothing saying I have to.
Talk to your DM if you want the original or different than current version monster to play. People can make homebrew races on DnDBeyond.
Want official lore? Check out the wikis online or YouTube. There is way more to the lore than the few things listed in Volos or any 5e book.
Which is why the whole change was so unnecessary in the first place and (I feel) genuinely detracts from the racial identities. Since the difference was relatively small and completely possible to overcome it didn’t need to be changed, all it did was add another dimension to differentiate the various races and now it’s gone and they all feel more generic dispute their traits.
Regarding the help action. I always thought whomever you apply it to gains advantage so out of combat, when you apply it to your friend Joe they gain advantage on their stealth check or whatever.
But in combat you'd apply it to an enemy so whichever of your team mates attack first would gain advantage on their next attack.
The.new hobgoblin feature males it sound like it's applied on your team mate even in combat but if the above rules applied, other than the rare skill check during combat, what else would it apply to? Unless I'm wrong about helping attacks
That came up way back when this version of the Hobgoblin was still in UA and they never changed it. 🤷♂️
I dislike how WotC is releasing these new races as an "update" instead of as race variants. Especially considering how they gutted kobold in the removal of its defining feature pack tactics and sunlight sensitivity which could often be played around with clever positioning and could add to RP and at worst was a net 0. Draconic cry pales in comparison being limited resource and only being feasibly useful in melee range. Not to mention the best Kobold legacy is taking minor illusion which if you really wanted to have you'd just play any caster.
The removal of the old content is a whole separate matter which is also not amazing.
Exactly, if anyone can choose their ASI's then what's the point of warforged or variant human? Their adaptability is what made them special and unique among other race options. The better option would have been so that your ability scores can be beneficial regardless of what class you are so str can be useful to the orc wizard or int useful to the Tiefling barbarian.
Even if the hobgoblin is now a support race, having to spend an action to help in combat is worse than taking an attack action, especially if you have more than 1, if it was a bonus action to help instead then it would be reasonable, but why waist an action
Also I have the book
Three races that they mess up just use the original racial
Assimar (extremely nerf to the ground to worse than base human), kenku (soft nerd for no reason and its about their speach getting nerf), and hobgoblin (help action is an action and not a bonus action)
The rest are okay with only the goblin, and goliath having a huge buff.
Also why give goblins fey ancestry when you don't make them immune to sleep spell just give them charm resistance
The monster tho are fantastic, as a player this book gives me a mix feeling. Some races are overly nerf to meet the new agenda "proficiency" while not balancing off the nerf.
For a DM this book is great and updates a lot of monsters
.
It literally does the opposite of reducing the uniqueness of characters because there is no ASI encouraging race/class combos. Now you can pick a race based off the cool ability it gives you instead of the bonus to stats. Your take is so bad it actually causes me to lose brain cells every time I see it.
Me.
But why would you ever use the base ASI's? It literally hinders creativity, build diversity, etc.
Huh, gonna ask my DM that when the next campaign starts, a tunneling kobold trap maker is now in my future.