Whelp, we've come to the end at last. The Return of the Jedi of the 3 Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Core Rulebooks. I still think that the 2024 descriptor is stupid - we got not one, but TWO of the books in 2025! What kind of sense does that make? It's 5.5, get over it. I'm just glad that I've started seeing the 5.5 moniker used elsewhere online. Just shows that the fanbase gets it more than Hasbro, but I guess that's not really hard to do.

As is typical for monster manuals/guides/bestiaries, I found 5 creatures that I think are super cool. For this post, I trimmed down the selections to monsters that you can't find (per se) in the original 5e Monster Manual. Which was actually hard to do, not because they are hard to find, but because the artwork in this book is so good. I'm literally writing more in this top section so I can include other pieces of art that I thought were cool.

Ok, now that we've got some space for pictures, time to get to the new monsters!

Arcanaloth

It's really difficult to see a picture of a wolf standing upright and casting spells and NOT pick that to talk about. I really need to do a series of adventures set in the Abyss, because the more creatures/lore I learn about the Abyss, the more I'm intriqued. Arcanaloths are a type of yugoloth, fiends from said Abyss. However, as their name implies, Arcanaloths are creatures full of magical potential. All of that is enough to consider them cool/worth an inclusion in an adventure, but on top of that they carry a spell book called a SOUL TOME! Fail against its attacks, and you get sucked into the Soul Tome! Pair this guy with the Candlekeep Mysteries book and you've set the stage for a variety of adventures.

Arch-Hag

I didn't even get far away from the Arcanaloth before I found my next creature - literally on the next page! Hags were featured in the original 5e Monster Manual, but this new version includes the "Arch-Hag". It's everything you've come to expect from a Hag, turned up to 11 and made immortal. Don't worry, though, the biggest reason I needed to point out the Arch-Hag is that they aren't completely invulnerable. You just have to have their weakness nearby, which you roll on a table. This weakness could be something like a "devil's tear", but it also gets as wild as "the bones of the arch-hag's first love" or "a gift from the hag's twin". Literally one of the options is "the multiverse's worst pun" - how is this NOT made for me? Now I need an adventure where the heroes have to scour the multiverse for said worst pun. Most people would groan at that, but I know a few players that would have some serious fun with that premise.

Black Pudding

What's so creative about Black Pudding? It's just your standard "Ooze" creature, just black. Looking at its abilities, you'd be right. Corrosive form, split, spider climb; all the stereotypes are there. However, it's the table where you roll for where the Black Pudding comes from that makes this interesting. The first entry is "An ancient black dragon's acidic saliva", and it keeps going on from there. Picture the party killing the "big bad" of your adventures, slaying the evil dragon. The party then heads off to celebrate, not really sure why the adventure is still going on. Only to find out that the spit of the dragon has created a new creature that is now threatening the local area. That sounds like a great way to mess with the minds of your players in a meta-sense.

Solar

I'm starting to realize a theme with the new monsters that I picked. They are monsters you might be familiar with from the original version, just now back with a new twist. That might have been Wizards doing that on purpose with this book, and if so I applaud the creativeness. Looking at the Solar, I'm first wondering what the difference between this and a deva is. The multiverse is the difference. Solars are your classical angels/angelic hosts, only they step in when evils threaten the greater balance of the planes. If that wasn't cool enough, they can also teleport themselves and creatures around it to a space that it can see in the distance. Gives me "The Watcher" vibes from Marvel's "What If". Have one of these at the start of your adventure going around recruiting players from different planes of the multiverse and put some colossal task/threat in front of them to defeat.

Spectator

I swear I didn't open up the book and pick the monsters, it just happens that some of the creatures were on adjacent pages. I had already seen the Beholder previously in the book, why is there a 4 eyed Beholder here? It's a Beholder familiar! That's so cool & cute at the same time, if such a terrifying thing can be considered "cute". A magic user can use beholder eye stalks and manipulate their dreams to form this creature. It then stands guard, watching over something important of the magic user for 101 years. For this adventure idea, imagine a Harry Potter-style adventure where a professor has gone crazy and attempted to conduct the ritual to create the Spectator. Only the ritual has gone bad and now the Spectator is roaming through the school, attacking students through their dreams. Kind of a Harry Potter meets Nightmare on Elm Street crossover. Someone grab the caffeine!

Conclusion

I know everyone loves to hate on Wizards of the Coast, and there's plenty of reason to do so. However, all three of these books are solid. If you are still playing D&D 5th edition, these books are worth the money.
Seriously, it would have been an easy move to just stop printing the old Monster Manual, re-edit it with a new cover and send it out. The fact that there is tons of new creatures in addition to new artwork for existing creatures, is kind of nice to see.
One of these days I'm actually going to act on these ideas that I generate in these posts. First, I need more free time to play D&D….so I guess not anytime soon lol.

Notes/Disclaimers: I generally assume I know nothing. So if I've missed something, let me know in the comments. If you like these types of posts, consider subscribing to our patreon. Lastly, thanks to Wizards of the Coast for providing a review copy of this book.

5 Monsters Inspiring my Next Adventures in the New Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual