As hardcore Dungeons & Dragons fans and forever DMs know, the D&D 5e ruleset is in the midst of a massive update. While the 2024 editions still technically fall under the 5e umbrella, there are some significant differences in the 2024 rules as printed in the 2024 Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide. To go along with these changes to the core rulebooks, Wizards of the Coast is also putting out a new version of the Monster Manual. Recently, the D&D team shared a few highlights for what’s new in the upcoming 2024 Monster Manual.

The livestream, which players can now watch via replay, offers a first look at one specific monster category – monstrosities. Monstrosities include many of the most famous creatures from the D&D universe, such as the owlbear cub in Baldur’s Gate 3, hydras, and mimics. As such, this category of monster is a significant one for many campaigns, and these magical creatures are getting some pretty big changes and additions in the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Monster Manual.
The Owlbear in Dungeons & Dragons
While the Monster Manual no doubt contains plenty of additional surprises, the sneak peek really highlights some new creatures and mechanics in the monstrosities category.

D&D 2024 Monster Manual Makes Major Changes to Werewolves

One of the major reveals in the sneak peek video relates to Lycanthropy, the condition that creates werewolves and other were-creatures. Previously, werewolves were considered humanoid creatures due to the fact that they started out as some humanoid creature before being affected by lycanthropy. However, the team felt that the strangeness of a werewolf wasn’t appropriately reflected by this humanoid creature category, so they’re shifting lycanthropes to the Monstrosity ruleset instead.

The reason for this shift is to ensure that characters and NPCs who suffer from lycanthropy will feel stranger and less human. This includes adding the Curse of Lycanthropy directly into the stat block for these Monstrosities, making it much easier to keep track of what it means to become a werebear in Dungeons & Dragons. This change is intended to make the DMs life easier, with less page flipping during gameplay since more of the information they need is all in one place.
Some of the new artwork for the upcoming Monster Manual
The werewolf is not the only creature that’s jumping ship from other categories into the monstrosities designation, trying to take those humanoid creature variants and better reflect their strangeness. This includes the Kenku, a race of bird-like humanoids, because they are considered a creature that used to be something else before getting transformed or cursed.

Creatures changing types to the monstrosity category isn’t the only change D&D fans can expect with the updated Monster Manual. For instance, the iconic mimic has a newly expanded entry in the 2024 manual that showcases illustrations of several different types of mimics. The text has also been expanded to help DMs get creative beyond the chest that turns into a mimic when players try to snag some loot. Now, the mimic page includes an extensive list of options from the silly to the horrifying to help DMs spark their creativity.

Other major changes include the addition of a new CR 7 Primaeval Owlbear, which has even scarier abilities including a fly speed of 5 feet that lets it glide clumsily into combat. Rust monsters have also gotten some revamps to make it easier for DMs to ruin players’ days by rusting their gear.

Players and DMs looking to fight big bads will no doubt be excited by these updates to the Monster Manual, which can help infuse campaigns with monsters that feel even more magical and daunting. The 2024 Monster Manual for D&D 5e is set to release in about a month on February 18th, 2025. It is available for preorder now in digital and physical formats. The standard price point will be $79.98 USD, but preorders are on sale for $59.99, making this a great time to invest in the updated manual.