Dungeons & Dragons: A New Playable Monster Book Could Be In Development

Dungeons & Dragons Updates: Many of the playable monster races in Dungeons & Dragons were deleted or changed last year, so it’s conceivable that Wizards of the Coast is working on a new book that will introduce updated playable monster races to the game. Volo’s Guide to Creatures is a D&D book that contains stats for a variety of monsters, allowing them to be converted into playable races that may be utilized in adventures.

Volo’s Guide to Monsters contains races that are no longer included in the D&D rules. Wizards of the Coast updated D&D’s racial rules in 2020. Because they carried stat drawbacks, the playable monster races in Volo’s Guide to Monsters were singled out as being retconned.

The goal moving forward is to make all races viable, and penalizing some of them makes them less appealing to gamers. This is especially true in the current version of D&D since there are no penalties for any of the races in the Player’s Handbook. Errata for Volo’s Guide to Monsters was issued by Wizards of the Coast, which eliminated the stat penalties.

In Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, a new version of the race rules was added, making it simple for players to modify current races or rework them into something entirely new. Volo’s Guide to Monsters contains material that is currently deemed old, and Wizards of the Coast may be planning something to replace it in print form.

Dungeons & Dragons’ Missing Hobgoblins & Kobolds

ScreenRant

Fairies, hobgoblins, Woolfolk, and rabbit folk were recently added to D&D by Unearthed Arcana. Another article updated the Dragonborn, as well as adding gem Dragonborn and a new kobold variant with the ability to pick its draconic heritage.

The fairies and rabbit folk will be in The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, the owl folk will be in Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, and the gem Dragonborn will be in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, according to Unearthed Arcana articles. The hobgoblin and kobold, on the other hand, are still missing.

Representatives from Wizards of the Coast noted during the press event for Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons that not all material in an Unearthed Arcana article is related, and some of it is being preserved for future publications.

Wizards of the Coast has been open about the Mages of Strixhaven subclasses being deleted from Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, so it’s doubtful they’ve been destroyed. Because these are playable copies of well-known monsters, it’s possible that a new monster book is on the way, one that will officially replace Volo’s Guide to Monsters.

If such a book is in the works, it will most likely not be released until 2022, as the Dungeons & Dragons calendar for 2021 is already jam-packed. It’s probable that it’ll be wedged between the upcoming iconic ads, which will debut next year.

The new book may not only modify the rules for playing as these creatures, but also the mythology surrounding them, putting them on par with the humanoid races in the Player’s Handbook in terms of culture and civilization, so they aren’t merely adventurers’ fodder.