D&D (2024) More D&D 2024 Tidbits: Aasimar, Goliaths, Town-Eating Gelatinous Cubes

Here are a few more tidbits from Game Informer's magazine coverage of the new edition's rulebooks.

• Iconic characters like Bobby the Barbarian, or Raistlin and Caramon Majere feature in the art.
• Each class and each subclass has its own piece of art.
• Species now include Aasimar, Goliath, and Orc.
• Bastions are in--player built bases.
• Greyhawk is the sample setting in the Dungeon Master's Guide.
• Each book is 384 pages.

Monster Manual

• 75 new monsters in the Monster Manual; over 500 in total.
• Challenge rating remains the same.
• There are some new lower challenge vampires, and a higher challenge one called the Nightbringer.
• Blob of Annihilation is a gelatinous cube that can eat towns.
• Elemental Juggernaut, Archhag.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

The inclusion of Aasimar leaves me hoping that there will be some non-innately spellcasting species from MotM included as well.

I think the Goliath is occupying that space. It seems like early on that they decided they wanted 12 classes and 4 subclasses, 12 species and 16 backgrounds with a lot of built-in symmetry of opposite choices. They floated the Aardling as possible more colorful alternative knowing that they would use Aasimar as the backup. I am pretty sure all of the "why not just use an Aasimar in this spot?" because of the divine flavor they were offering against the Tiefling only reinforced that.

I am not sure what would have ended up in the Goliath position if that had failed, maybe a non-divine, non-magical Animalfolk type which I would have probably preferred to having in the core over both the Goliath and Aasimar. I get why they limited how they were going to approach this design space, but they may have got too hung up on specific numbers and everything being overly symmetrical to test some concepts that might have actually gotten more traction.

 

[mamba]

Do they have such?

Monsters of the Multiverse does (type and terrain), I would expect it in the new MM as well

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Thinking more on what an Endgame Beast might be, looking back at the Epic Level Handbook from 3e, it might be a Legendary Beast, or Devastation Vermin (and don't forget 3e had Colossal-sized Spiders too) or the Ruin Swarm an actual apocalyptic swarm of locusts.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Rilmani are classified as Celestials in 5e, and they're very different from the "sort of like Klingons but metallic" designs they had in 2e in that they are now more like constructs made of living metal (possibly liquid) and energy, with some very geometric shapes in some cases. Rilmani have been considered as a possibility for Aasimar ancestors since at least the Skills & Powers Dragon Magazine article on Planescape races near the end of 2e.

Planescape and Spelljammer had some new Fiends and Celestials that'd make cool ancestors for Tieflings and Aasimar. An Abyssal Tiefling descended from Killer Space Clowns. Aasimar from Mercanes. Either born from Planar Incarnates, giving new meaning to Planetouched.

 

[Yaarel]

I think the Goliath is occupying that space. It seems like early on that they decided they wanted 12 classes and 4 subclasses, 12 species and 16 backgrounds with a lot of built-in symmetry of opposite choices. They floated the Aardling as possible more colorful alternative knowing that they would use Aasimar as the backup. I am pretty sure all of the "why not just use an Aasimar in this spot?" because of the divine flavor they were offering against the Tiefling only reinforced that.

I am not sure what would have ended up in the Goliath position if that had failed, maybe a non-divine, non-magical Animalfolk type which I would have probably preferred to having in the core over both the Goliath and Aasimar. I get why they limited how they were going to approach this design space, but they may have got too hung up on specific numbers and everything being overly symmetrical to test some concepts that might have actually gotten more traction.

Shifter should be able shift back-and-forth between fully human, fully a specific individual animal, and any form in between.

This full shifter can handle the werewolf tropes as well as the furry tropes.

 

[Yaarel]

because that way it is consistent. Why group dragons, demons and devils, but not undead, aberrations, oozes or constructs

I would be fine splitting the Monster Manual into sections, each section a different creature type.

I think that would be most helpful.

Then in the appendices, have a list for CR, and an other for terrain.

 

[Quartz]

Blob of Annihilation is a gelatinous cube that can eat towns.

Does anyone else remember the Househunters from Dungeon magazine? House-sized mimics.

 

[mamba]

I would be fine splitting the Monster Manual into sections, each section a different creature type.

I think that would be most helpful.

I’d rather have it all alphabetical so I do not need to know the type first to find something

Then in the appendices, have a list for CR, and an other for terrain.

and then have one more table by type

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I would be fine splitting the Monster Manual into sections, each section a different creature type.

I think that would be most helpful.

Then in the appendices, have a list for CR, and an other for terrain.

This would be my preferred categorization method, as I tend to like to create encounters of different monsters of similar creature types.

 

[Yaarel]

This would be my preferred categorization method, as I tend to like to create encounters of different monsters of similar creature types.

And it is practical, such as browsing the Fey creature type while thinking of an encounter for the players who are in the Feywild.