New D&D book includes more than 250 monsters, some of them ‘far more dangerous’

polygon.com:

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse is the newest book for Dungeons & Dragons, one that will help to build a bridge between the 5th edition of the game and what comes next. It gathers together more than 30 different playable races for the first time in one book, while also presenting more than 250 monsters from across the D&D multiverse. It’s the most monsters to be published in one book since the 5th edition Monster Manual and, according to lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford, many of them should “terrify” veteran players.

“Many of these monsters, especially the higher challenge ratings ones, are far more dangerous than they were the last time they appeared in print,” Crawford said during a preview event. “We’ve gotten pretty consistent feedback since the release of the core books back in 2014 that a number of our [high-level] monsters, in many circumstances, just felt a bit too weak — like they were punching below the challenge rating.”

Challenge rating (CR) is an easy-to-use indicator of a monster’s relative strength. Crawford and his team at Wizards of the Coast said they redesigned some monsters extensively, creating multiple combat options to allow them to truly live up to their powerful CR. In other instances, the team has simply reworked a monster’s powers, skills, and traits altogether.

“We kept asking ourselves, ‘Is this monster the best version of itself?’” Crawford continued. “We’ve also, in various places, created new traits. As you go through the book, you’re going to find some monsters where at first you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, I know this one. I’ve even used it in my game.’ But when you look to the stat block you’ll find, ‘Oh, there’s a new twist.’”

While the majority of the creatures in the