What are you most looking forward to in D&D’s 2024 Monster Manual?

The last of the three Dungeons & Dragons 2024 core rulebooks, the 2024 Monster Manual, is set for release in two weeks on February 18 — but you can grab a physical copy right now by heading to your local game store in the US and Canada. There is also a digital early access option for the highest tier subscribers of D&D Beyond.

Like the 2024 editions of the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide, the new Monster Manual seeks to expand on the 2014 fifth edition version while adding more flavor and increasing ease of use. The new version will include over 500 creatures, with more than 85 of those being brand new to the game. Simply flipping through the book to find the new entries is one of the things I’m looking forward to. We’re talking about a menagerie of monsters that already includes brains with legs, snails with shells impervious to magic, and hungry, sentient stalagmites. I’m very excited to see what new creatures have been cooked up for the latest compendium.

Maybe you don’t get that many chances to actually sit down and play D&D with a group, but you love perusing the art that accompanies the descriptions of labyrinthian dungeons and enchanted weapons. In that case, you might be most looking forward to the hundreds of brand new artworks, including full-page spreads of the ancient form of each dragon type.

If you typically find yourself behind the screen, you might be itching to get a look at features like the updated stat blocks and advice for running monsters. For those forever DMs who have been running campaigns for longer than they care to admit, there are things to look forward to such as more context and background for creatures like dragons along their life cycle and variants of popular foes such as vampires and owlbears.

The thing that I am putting at the top of my list, however, is getting a look at some of the epic, high-level monsters that are added in this edition. If you’re running out of challenges for your plucky adventurers, there are several creatures that would pose a threat to even a group of level 20 heroes with an entire armory of magical weapons.

By far my favorite of these epic foes is the Blob of Annihilation. Imagine a festering pool of rancid gunk infused with the remains of a deceased god. These suddenly malicious oozes have no size limit, so they can be as large as a fortress, entire town, or even a planet. I’m really looking forward to inserting one of these into the next campaign I draw up, even if it simply drives the plot instead of facing off directly with a group of heroes. So which aspect of the 2024 Monster Manual has you reaching for your dice drawer?