Vampires, Owlbears, and More Have Unique Variants in the New Monster Manual!

The 2024 Monster Manual hits shelves on February 18, bringing with it over 500 monster stat blocks, including dozens of exciting additions. Among these new creatures are fresh takes on some of D&D's most iconic adversaries, abominations, and potential allies, ready to fuel your imagination and add variety to your encounters.

In this article, we'll dive into six exciting new monster variants and share tips on how to incorporate them into your adventures!

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!

Vampire Familiar: Blades and Spies for Dark Masters

Artist: Olly LawsonA vampire familiar brings a meal to a vampire spawn.

Not every vampiric servant is an Undead spawn. There are living people who can be found among a vampire's inner circles as vampire familiars. Some vampire familiars may serve their masters willingly out of an aspiration to become vampires themselves. Others may have been coerced into their service through magic or through desperation. But whether your vampire familiars are of the Renfield or Guillermo persuasion, they make an excellent addition to your vampire's coterie.

While it's pretty grim work to serve as a vampire's entourage, the dark bargain made by vampire familiars does have some perks. Familiars are bestowed with supernaturally quick reflexes that allow them to take the Dash or Disengage actions as a Bonus Action. They can also use their Umbral Daggers attack as a means of giving their targets the Paralyzed condition, allowing these familiars to capture targets for their vampiric masters.

One of the most important aspects of a vampire familiar is they can expose themselves to daylight without any consequences. While their masters rest, the familiar can do their bidding or serve as their first line of defense. Vampire familiars also have an active telepathic connection with their masters while they're on the same plane of existence. This means the vampire can perceive through their familiar's senses, making them excellent spies and scouts during the daylight hours.

Story Opportunities for Vampire Familiars

Here are a few ways in which you might use a vampire familiar in your stories:

  • Hostage Situation. A request to find a missing person could turn into a rescue mission when the characters discover their target has been charmed into a vampire's service as their familiar.
  • Cat and Mouse Intrigue. If the characters are using daylight to their advantage to perform reconnaissance on the local vampire, they could be secretly tracked by a vampire familiar.
  • Scoping Things Out. A suspicious NPC could arrive in town with an unknown mission. Characters may discover this NPC is a vampire familiar preparing for their master's arrival.
  • First Line of Defense. The characters might try to get the upper hand on a vampire by storming their home in the daytime. But, to the characters' dismay, the vampire is using charmed vampire familiars to protect their resting place.

Primeval Owlbear: Unleash Ancient Fury

Artist: ZUZANNA WUZYKAn Owlbear looking fierce.

One of D&D's most formidable (and somehow cuddly) critters is getting a supercharged variant! If you've ever looked at an owlbear and thought, “Let's add a touch of ancient magic,” then say hello to the primeval owlbear.

This Huge Monstrosity towers over its typical owlbear brethren and touts a host of dangerous features. Their Ravage attack can deal additional damage if the primeval owlbear charges its target before the attack, and they have a powerful Screech that can incapacitate creatures and dish out Thunder damage.

If that wasn't enough, the primeval owlbear can innately resist magic, so good luck trying to cast Charm Monster on it. It even has a Fly Speed of 5 feet, which grants them additional movement options in and out of combat.

Story Opportunities for Primeval Owlbear

Here are some ways to use a primeval owlbear in your campaign.

  • We're Not in Kansas Anymore. Primeval owlbears are the result of owlbears who have been influenced by the wild magic of ancient forests and Feywild domains. They work well as an indicator that adventurers may face more powerful threats in these untamed regions.
  • Leader of the Pack. The primeval owlbear has a CR of 7 compared to the regular owlbear, which has a CR of 3. So, if you're looking for a way to add a boss-battle vibe to a fight against a group of owlbears, using one primeval owlbear as a pack leader could considerably ramp up the challenge.
  • Revisiting Favorite Foes. Since the primeval owlbear offers a challenge for higher-level adventurers, they're a fun way to revisit a monster once characters have outgrown the challenge of a normal owlbear.

Centaur Warden: Nature's Noble Guard

Artist: ERIC BELISLEA Centaur Warden channeling nature magic

Centaurs serve as sentinels of nature, guarding forests, plains, sites of primeval power, and their home plane of the Feywild. Centaur wardens frequently serve as the leaders of these militia-like forces. They also often take on the role of emissary between Fey rulers and outsiders that happen upon their territory.

Centaur wardens have a CR of 7, and they forgo the Pikes and Longbows of centaur troopers in favor of attacks imbued with natural forces. They have a Forest Staff attack that deals Bludgeoning and Poison damage, and they can use Entangling Trail as a Bonus Action, which allows them to navigate the battlefield without provoking Opportunity Attacks, damaging and restraining the foes they pass.

They can also deal with their enemies at range using their Sun Ray attack, which dishes out Radiant damage and, when it hits, gives the target the Blinded condition until the start of the centaur's next turn.

Story Ideas for a Centaur Warden

  • Liaison. Since centaur wardens can serve as frontmen for other Fey beings, they could be important NPCs that the characters must seek out if they want an audience with a Fey noble.
  • Animal Whisperer. Centaur wardens can cast Speak with Animals at will, so if your party doesn't have spellcasters with that in their spell list, a centaur warden can be a good NPC to use as a way of communicating with a Beast for story reasons.

Haunting Revenant: A House of Horror

Artist: CRISTI BALANESCUA Haunting Revenant poses as a house.

Revenants are spirits known for possessing bodies and other materials to enact their wrath against those who wronged them. A haunting revenant ups the spooky ante by possessing an entire structure linked with their demise–be it a crumbling castle, malevolent mansion, or derelict ship. They don't merely lurk within a haunted house; they are the haunted house. The structures inhabited by these spirits appear as normal structures, welcoming victims they can consume within their walls.

Their primary method of vindicating themselves on their victims is to use their Invitation action to teleport creatures inside their haunted space. Once a creature has been trapped this way, the haunting revenant batters it with animated furnishings or malevolent manifestations in the way of its Object Slam attack, which has Advantage if the target is within the revenant's space.

Getting out of a haunting revenant once you're trapped isn't easy. You could try planar travel, such as the Plane Shift spell, but the revenant's Haunted Zone feature causes spells cast within its walls to fail unless the caster succeeds on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw. The only other way of escape is to reduce the revenant to 0 Hit Points.

Story Ideas for a Haunting Revenant

Here are some ideas for using a haunting revenant in your game.

  • Spooky House on the Hill. It seems like every town has that one house with a dark past that locals steer clear of. With a haunting revenant, you can lead the characters on a quest to uncover the mystery behind it!
  • Surprise! A revenant has a similar appeal to a mimic. It's fun to catch players off guard with what seems like a mundane object. The shock of an entire warehouse suddenly launching an attack will exponentially increase that surprise.
  • A Returning Enemy. Like other revenants, haunting revenants revive after 24 hours if Dispel Evil and Good isn't cast on its remains. The haunting revenant possesses a different structure on the same plane of existence, so your characters might find themselves stalked across the realm by haunted houses unless they have a Cleric or Paladin handy.

Violet Fungus Necrohulk: Witness Death in Bloom

Artist: VIKTOR TITOVA shambling mound of decay and bones.

A variant of the violet fungus that's almost as much fun to say as it is to unleash in combat. A violet fungus necrohulk is what happens when a violet fungus colony fuses with an ample heap of decay. The result is a shambling mass of fungal spores with a CR of 7 that's massively more of a challenging enemy to face.

The most fearsome thing about this imposing fungal infestation is its Absorb Body Bonus Action, which allows it to graft Medium and Small creatures onto its body. A grafted creature gains the Restrained condition, and if it dies while grafted, the creature's body is destroyed as it is absorbed by–and heals–the necrohulk.

Story Ideas for a Violet Fungus Necrohulk

  • Is the Floor Moving? If the party is heading into a sewer or the Underdark, they could encounter scattered violet fungus, which are easily dispatched—until a hulking form suddenly rises and lurches toward them, turning the tables.
  • Treasure Hunting. The violet fungus necrohulk's ability to graft and absorb its victims gives your characters the opportunity for a treasure hunt if the necrohulk absorbed a thief carrying a valuable magical item.

Cyclops Oracle: Keep One Eye on the Future

Artist: DAARKENA cyclops wielding a pillar as a weapon as a cyclops oracle looks on.

Cyclopes are iconic figures of myth that are descendants of the gods themselves. But, while most cyclopes are known for their brutish forms that nobody would want to run into on a bad day, a cyclops oracle also has the brains to match the brawn.

At CR 10, the cyclops oracle is an imposing physical threat with access to Radiant Strike, a melee attack that delivers a whopping amount of Radiant damage. Their Ranged attack, Flash of Light, also deals Radiant damage and gives its recipients Disadvantage on attack rolls against the cyclops until the end of the cyclops' next turn.

Beyond their damage-dealing capabilities, they also have an assortment of Divination spells that can help track items or uncover lost lore. This means a cyclops oracle might make an interesting ally–or at least informant–instead of an enemy.

Story Ideas for a Cyclops Oracle

Here are some ways you can use a cyclops oracle in your stories.

  • An Ally, Whether You Like It or Not. Cyclops oracles are servants of the divine who can look into the past as easily as they can the future. They may see the dire need for the characters' involvement in a particular quest–and their impressive combat abilities might make them fairly persuasive.
  • An Enemy with Foresight. If the cyclops oracle is guarding a divine relic that the party wants, its ability to see the future and predict the capabilities of the characters poses a fun challenge for players to overcome.
  • The Monster MacGuffin. The party could be seeking a seer to help them understand past events or those that are yet to come. Finding a cyclops oracle could take your party on a perilous journey to a remote island, desert locale, or even into the Underdark.

There's More Monsters Where These Came From

The new Monster Manual packs nearly 400 pages with stats and tables for both your favorite creatures and those destined to become new favorites. Inside, you'll find versatile NPCs ready to drop into your campaigns, along with improved organization to help you quickly locate the perfect creature for any encounter. And with brand-new variants of iconic monsters, there's even more to discover and unleash at your table.

Pre-order your copy of the new Monster Manual today, and get ready to fuel your encounters and your imagination!

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Riley Silverman (@rileyjsilverman) is a contributing writer to D&D Beyond, Nerdist, and SYFY Wire. She DMs the Theros-set Dice Ex Machina for the Saving Throw Show, and has been a player on the Wizards of the Coast-sponsored The Broken Pact. Riley also played as Braga in the official tabletop adaptation of the Rat Queens comic for HyperRPG, and currently plays as The Doctor on the Doctor Who RPG podcast The Game of Rassilon. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

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