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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Ery much so. Folks are coming floating two issues WotC is addressing, one in the MM and one in the DMG:

1. In the MM, many Monaters underperformed or overperfkrm for their CR because the Monster was slightly miscalculated in 2014. So aome CR 3 critters were chunps, some CR 5 hit way above their weight, etc. So for the new MM, mu h as was done with Monsters of the Multiverse, everyday being tweaked to more accurately fit the assigned CR.

2. In the DMG, the 201t Encojnter Guidelines were a quick and dirty substitute for WotC in-house Encojnter building system which is a complex series of intercon ected Excel spreadsheets because they couldn't print that in a book. Mostly the 20q4 guidelines work as their internal system does, but has more misses and room for dire miscalculation. For the new DMG, they are providing a refined method to design Encounters that ia less likely to create pushover or accidental TPK scenarios.

Too bad that backwards compatibility prevents them from ditching CR. Out of all the complaints about 4e - I don't recall anyone wanting to return to CR from Monsters having Levels. I really, really wish that they'd stuck to that system.

 

[Parmandur]

Too bad that backwards compatibility prevents them from ditching CR. Out of all the complaints about 4e - I don't recall anyone wanting to return to CR from Monsters having Levels. I really, really wish that they'd stuck to that system.

I mean, potato pahtatho to a certain extent.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?

10 so far because I've counted: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Gnome, Orc, Tiefling, Dragonborn, Goliath, Aasimar.

I would push for Goblin to be the 11th because Goblins have been reprinted 4 times already as a PC option.

If they're going for a 12 species and 12 classes parity, then there's room for one more after that.

 

[Parmandur]

Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?Hey, if the Aasimar are in, does that mean that my thought that Githyanki would be in is impossible? Have they said how many species are in the book, and do we have them all checked off? Anyone want to do an audit for me?

The last they said anything explicitly (at tge creators panel last year), there were stated to be 9: Human, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Dwarf, Dragonborn, Tiefling, Goliath and Orc. But now we have 10, because Aasamir made it in? I'd say Gith are still possible, strictly speaking, but I am not sure what their plan is.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The last they said anything explicitly (at tge creators panel last year), there were stated to be 9: Human, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Dwarf, Dragonborn, Tiefling, Goliath and Orc. But now we have 10, because Aasamir made it in? I'd say Gith are still possible, strictly speaking, but I am not sure what their plan is.

10 so far because I've counted: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Gnome, Orc, Tiefling, Dragonborn, Goliath, Aasimar.

I would push for Goblin to be the 11th because Goblins have been reprinted 4 times already as a PC option.

If they're going for a 12 species and 12 classes parity, then there's room for one more after that.

Wouldn't be bad to make it have 12 Species, like the Classes.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I mean, potato pahtatho to a certain extent.

Not in practice, no.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I think 10 is a good number.

 

[Parmandur]

Not in practice, no.

In practice, the name isn't hyper-important, but 4E style Monsters and Encounters were not.in the cards: a fuzzier old school system was coming whether they used the words "Challenge Rating" or "Monster Level".

 

[Parmandur]

Wouldn't be bad to make it have 12 Species, like the Classes.

Yeah, that could make sense. Very possible that we have a few more surprises in store.