Get ready for the biggest and most monster-packed Monster Manual ever! The 2024 Monster Manual releases February 18 and contains over 500 monsters to challenge your players. Full of iconic creatures, revamped favorites, and brand-new baddies, this monstrous menagerie will keep your encounters stocked, no matter where your multiversal adventures take you!
Let's take a tour of the 2024 Monster Manual and see how this massive tome of monsters is chock-full of challenges for your table.
- Over 500 New and Updated Monsters
- Legendary Monsters for Higher-Level Play
- Revamped NPC Stat Blocks
- Variations of Iconic Monsters
- Monsters Are Easier to Find
- Advice on Running Monsters for DMs of All Levels
Claim Your Free Copy of Hold Back the Dead
Hold Back the Dead is a single-session adventure part of D&D's yearlong 50th-anniversary celebration. In this adventure designed for four to six level 4 characters, players are tasked to defend Ironspine Keep against the looming horde of the sinister lich, Szass Tam.
Dive straight into the action with stat blocks from the new Monster Manual, a full map of the fortress defense zones, details on siege weapons, and pre-generated character sheets!
Over 500 New and Updated Monsters

Whether you're prepping encounters, seeking inspiration for your campaign, or crafting a world of your own, the 2024 Monster Manual is here to inspire you.
The revised book features over 500 monsters, including more than 85 brand-new creatures, and hundreds of pieces of gorgeously crafted artwork. From the terrifying tarrasque to the brain-munching mind flayer, each monster has been carefully rebalanced to ensure encounters are challenging and fun.
In addition to balancing each monster for the 2024 rules, monsters now use an updated stat block design with new language that focuses on making monsters easier to use.
Habitat and Treasure
Most monster listings now provide new information about a creature's habitat and treasure to help you plan your encounters. For example, the section on centaurs provides a list of environments where centaurs could typically be found and the potential treasures that could be acquired from them.
Gear
There is also a new Gear section that appears on the stat block of creatures who possess equipment suitable for use or retrieval. This allows Dungeon Masters to easily determine what items a defeated creature might leave behind in addition to the treasure mentioned above.
Thanks to this new addition, if your Fighter wants to upgrade to Plate armor, you can pit them against a monster with this item listed in their Gear section, like the hobgoblin warlord. This ensures they’ll walk away with the gear they seek after a hard-fought victory!
Legendary Monsters for Higher-Level Play

Whether you want to end your campaign with a bang, introduce a world-shattering threat, or pit your players against a villain they'll never forget, the high-level threats introduced in the 2024 Monster Manual will give you that jaw-dropping final encounter.
You'll discover new titanic monsters capable of causing vast destruction, like the CR 22 elemental cataclysm, alongside scheming villains that make the perfect BBEG, like the CR 21 arch-hag. You'll even find stat blocks for high-level creatures perfect as allies and leaders of your campaign's factions.
These high-level threats have also been made easier to run with streamlined attacks and revamped Legendary Actions, ensuring you can focus on the fun during your epic encounter!
Revamped NPC Stat Blocks

The stat blocks of monsters with the Humanoid creature type have been redesigned to represent any Humanoid species. Now, these stat blocks include distinct mechanics aligned with a certain role or profession. So, whether you're introducing your player characters to a charismatic drow performer or a questing goliath knight, you can find inspiration for your NPCs.
With over 40 of these stat blocks that range from CR 1/8 to CR 12, you'll be able to find the perfect nonplayer character for every occasion!
Variations of Iconic Monsters

Have you ever wondered what the owlbears of the most ancient and magical wildernesses look like? Well, look no further! The 2024 Monster Manual contains variations of iconic monsters, like the primeval owlbear, who have distinctive abilities from their original counterparts.
These variations are perfect for creating varied encounters, forming unique groups of monsters, and challenging higher-level characters during combat. Just wait until your party sees a scourge of vampire nightbringers commanded by a vampire umbral lord heading their way!
Monsters Are Easier to Find

The 2024 Monster Manual introduces extensive lists to help you find the monsters you need or spark inspiration for your adventure. These lists, a new addition to the Monster Manual, were previously found in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Now, all your monster needs are in one book! You'll find the Monster Manual's menagerie organized by habitat, creature type, and Challenge Rating, making it easier than ever to prep encounters and keep your sessions running smoothly.
You'll also be able to search for that perfect monster much more quickly because the entire book has been reorganized so monsters appear in alphabetical order, grouped alongside their stat block variations to make them easier to find.
Advice on Running Monsters for DMs of All Levels

The 2024 Monster Manual kicks off with a revamped “How to Use a Monster” chapter which breaks down stat blocks with clear explanations, ensuring DMs of all skill levels get the most out of their monsters.
Complementing this is an all-new "Running a Monster" section, which provides practical advice for ensuring your monsters perform up to their Challenge Ratings.
Whether you're a new DM learning the ropes or a seasoned storyteller looking to freshen up on the basics, these sections will have you well-equipped to unleash the full potential of every monster in your campaign!
Pre-Order Your Copy of the 2024 Monster Manual Today
On top of being the biggest Monster Manual ever, the 2024 Monster Manual implements design philosophies learned over a decade to ensure it offers exactly what Dungeon Masters need. With new monsters, streamlined tools, and breathtaking artwork, this book will surely offer inspiration for every encounter, no matter where your adventures take you.
Pre-order your copy of the 2024 Monster Manual today and prepare to unleash the multiverse's greatest threats at your table!

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 partner, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.
I seriously hope there are more CR 3, 4, 5 & 6 Beast-type monsters… Moon Druids basically get shafted without having a greater variety of beasts to wild-shape into.
Yes
I hope there would be a very descriptive info about every monster in how "they reproduce themselves" and if there are any monster with no-gender or, with both of them at the same time. Also I hope it could describe their own natural habitat and what do they eat and drink for living.
Where'd you hear that? I'd been under the impression from what I'd read that it wasn't happening. But it's good news to know if it's true that the MM will have more detailed monster creation than the current 2024 DMG's guidelines.
yes, I think I saw some place early digital access starts 2/4/25
Will there be a boxed set of all three rulebooks *wonders*
yes
I second this! The idea of setting books dedicated solely to monster lore for that particular setting would be so useful. Especially for Eberron, since so much of its creature lore is intentionally different from the old Tolkien-Esque standard.
I'm 99% sure Palidram was being facetious about being glad about getting rid of lore in the MM.
That said it valuable to hear the position from the other side. (Personally I'm in the camp of wanting lore in the MM. I find it aids my creativity to have a baseline.) So I'm wondering if the inclusion of Forgotten Realms lore in the current MM has created issues for your games with mismatched player expectations that weren't prepared for Eberron-style lore (I assume that's your preferred setting?)?
Would like to know if they gave a D about jamming Fizbans 5 Gem dragons into the new M.M and even updated the looks. Good grief, the reverse wings of the Topaz grinds my gears. Finally an orange ( gem-wise at least ) dragon and nope it have to be EXTRA different🤪 Sure " magic, natural " excuses. Akso when fo we get thr final Icons of the Realms Adult Amethyst dragon with same base sizing as the others????
Lastly... AFAIK. 1 dragon in a Monster Manual counts as 4 monsters due to 4 life stages.
And would wish for lost/ forgotten dragons of each main deagon family to be included officially. To keep it short. WotC, check out Dungeon Dads dragon vids, he deserve praise for resurrecting dragons YOU neglect so brazenly. Including actual PURPLE dragons, the Deep dragons seemingly are cousin/ sub-species of. Also Orange sodium spewing tropical jungle dragons and salt spewing Yellow dragons from the coast!😉
Given lore being mostly specific to specific settings it would make sence to put all that lor ein seperate books and leave the monster manual for just the monsters so uou can put them in anywhere
Cool! Might buy it ಠ_ಠ
I have to say, I MUCH prefer the older organization of monsters like Dragons and Giants. Having them all in one section under "Giants" or "Dragons" but at least it has "Monsters by Type" lists in the back.
On another note... they have repeatedly stated that this is the largest Monster Manual to date, and it is big, but I was comparing it to the massive 'Monstrous Manual' (2e) and they were comparable in page count (both at 384) BUT this Monster Manual claims "over 500" monsters and the Monstrous Manual claims "over 600" monsters. I couldn't find an exact count of either, but I can assume that "over 500" means 500-599 and "over 600" means 600-699, giving the 2e Monstrous Manual the crown of "Largest Monster Manual to date".