Gen Con 2024: Dungeons & Dragons Reveals First Look at 2025 Monster Manual

We got our first look at several revised monsters in the 2025 Monster Manual.

By Christian Hoffer

Wizards of the Coast has revealed several new statblocks from the upcoming Monster Manual. At a recent press event, Wizards of the Coast revealed the statblocks for the Ancient Green Dragon, Kuo-Toa, and several variations of Skeletons, all of which will appear in the 2025 Monster Manual. This marks the first time that players can see the redesigned creature statblock, along with a tease of how some monsters will be re-tooled in the new books. Wizards noted that these are still drafts and are still subject to change ahead of release. The new Monster Manual will be released in February 2025. 

Perhaps the most drastic changes can be seen in the new Ancient Green Dragon statblock. While the Ancient Green Dragon's Challenge Rating (CR) remains the same, the dragon has received a small buff in hit points but lost its proficiency in Constitution and Charisma saving throws. More importantly, the dragon has lost its Frightful Presence action but has gained spellcasting abilities, with a specialty of charm spells. It can now make three rend attacks (general physical attacks that replace the specific wing, tail, and claw attacks) or two rend attacks and cast an at-will spell during a Multiattack action. More importantly, the Ancient Green Dragon no longer has Legendary Actions, but instead has a heightened number of reactions, including some that are the equivalent to a Legendary Action. It's unclear if the dragon has Lair actions, but the stat block shows that the dragon has more reactions if in its lair. You can see the full statblock below. 

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The Kuo-toa statblock is far less drastically changed, with only one previously passive ability turned into a reaction, and the creature's base spear attack always dealing 1d8+1 damage instead of only when the creature is holding the spear with two hands. The Kuo-toa's Sticky Net and Sticky Shield abilities haven't changed, but they've both been reworded to be more concise and clearer. Also, the Kuo-toa is now an aberration and their look has been changed to match. 

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Finally, several Skeleton statblocks were displayed including a brand new Flaming Skeleton creature. Each of the skeletons have been tweaked in some way – the Warhorse Skeleton's Hooves attack can make a target prone if the Warhorse had charged fast enough, while the Minotaur Skeleton has less HP. 

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Again, all of these stats are subject to change, but they do show a sample of how the new Monster Manual is tweaking existing monsters. We can expect to see more previews in the coming months.

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