DnD Monstrosities Get Major Update in 2025 Monster Manual

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In Dungeons & Dragons creatures are broken out into unique types that provide both narrative and mechanical impacts. Specifically the types are: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Ooze, Plant, Undead and Monstrosity.

Over the years, the latter category of Monstrosity has become a kind of catch all to describe a wide range of seemingly unrelated creatures. At their core, however, Monstrosities really come in two flavors: Beings that are the result of unnatural magical manipulation (such as owlbears and mimics) or mythological beasts (such as the medusa and hydra).

Now, Monstrosities are getting some major updates in the pages of the new 2025 Monster Manual, which is available for order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon. This includes new creature variants, enhanced lore and some surprising recategorization of classic DnD monsters.

So just what can players expect when this latest batch of Monstrosities is unleashed? Below, we break out all the details.

What’s changed with Monstrosities in the 2025 Monster Manual?

Below are the changes that Wizards of the Coast has made to the Monstrosity category in the new rules.

Recategorization of Lycanthropes

One surprising new update is that the werecreatures (which were previously categorized as Humanoids) have now been moved to the Monstrosity category. This change reflects the fact that lycanthropes are no longer purely humanoid but are instead creatures transformed by curses or magic. From a rules standpoint, this means that certain abilities and effects specifically targeting humanoids no longer apply to monsters like werewolves.

In addition, the curse of lycanthropy is now included within each werecreature’s stat block. This is a fairly significant change as in the 2014 rules details on curses were largely relegated to the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which meant having to flip through two different sources.

New Variants of Classic Monsters

In the new 2025 Monster Manual, the Monstrosity category continues to house many of DnD’s most iconic and legendary creatures, with options such as chimeras, hydras and mimics. That being said, the book also introduces a number of new variants of familiar foes which have more varies Challenge Ratings than their standard counterparts.

This includes the new Bulette Pup (a smaller, cuter, yet still deadly version of the Bulette), the Cockatrice Regent (a larger and more powerful version of the Cockatrice) and the new Primeval Owlbear (a more vicious version of the Owlbear that also has the ability to glide short distances).

Incorporation of Transformed Creatures

Several creatures that were once categorized differently have now been shifted to the Monstrosity category due to their origins involving magical transformation or curses. For example, the Quaggoth, which was previously a humanoid, now fits the monstrosity category due to its backstory of magical distortion. Other transformed monsters like the Kenku have also been shifted over to the Monstrosity creature type to better reflect their origins.

Again, these changes will have an impact on gameplay since it means that certain spells, effects and weapons may behave differently to certain creatures than they would have in the previous 2014 Monster Manual.

Expanded Lore for Legendary Monstrosities

A number of Legendary Monstrosities are also getting an upgrade in the pages of the 2025 Monster Manual. This includes the Kraken and the Tarrasque, both of which sport new stat blocks, lore and updated abilities. The goal is to make these Monstrosities fresher and more unique, meaning that tactics players have used in the past won’t necessarily work anymore.

Notably, these creatures also utilize the new DnD stat block format, which is designed to make it easier from Dungeon Master’s to use Legendary monsters, which tend to be more complicated than standard creatures given the sheer number of actions and abilities they possess.

Final Thoughts

Monstrosities may be a catch-all for a range of DnD creatures, but it’s also a category that features some of the game’s most iconic beings. One of the issues, however, is that many of these monsters have become all-too familiar for longtime players. Which is why it’s encouraging that Wizards of the Coast is refreshing and rethinking Monstrosities to offer more mechanical and narrative potential, in addition to featuring new variants and Challenge Ratings. It’s a monstrous problem that might finally have an answer.

For a complete look at all the changes you can pick up the new Monster Manual now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.

Below is also a recent video from Wizards of the Coast on the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel which offers more detailed on changes to Monstrosities.

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