Multiple classic monsters got much-needed reworks in Dungeons and Dragons‘ new 2025 Monster Manual, but this new book also added some new creatures in addition to the old. Ranging from new variants on existing monsters to brand-new horrors entirely, there are plenty of fresh options to help you create danger for your players. Some new monsters are begging to be picked as basic foes and BBEGs for your next campaign.
As the 2024 Player’s Handbook brings new character ideas in D&D for your players, the 2025 Monster Manual adds almost 80+ never-before-seen monsters to the iconic TTRPG. Some new monsters are versions of existing foes that have been around for quite some time. On the other hand, other foes introduced have completely distinct mechanics that could create a challenging and unique combat experience.
10
Animal Lord
Celestial Defenders Of Nature
The Animal Lord is a new monster in the 2025 Monster Manual that actually comes from a much older edition of D&D. This Celestial creature is an immortal spiritual defender of animal life on the Material Plane, serving as divine protectors of the beasts that live upon various worlds. These creatures can take the form of whatever animal you need them to be, usually as Foragers, Hunters, or Sages by definition.
Animal Lords usually only appear in the Material Plane to defend the creatures they represent in times of great disaster. You could easily use one of these creatures in your campaign as a herald of dark tidings to set up an adventure.
Animal Lords are almost demi-gods, making them perfect creatures to test a party or answer their burning questions about your world. These benevolent entities could be the perfect Patrons of a Celestial Warlock, a figure worshiped by a party’s Druid, or just a figure encountered in a deep trek into the wilderness. No matter how you use an Animal Lord, their influence alone is enough reason to put them into your next game.
9
Psychic Gray Ooze
Challenge Low-Level Characters
One of the best new monsters in the 2025 Monster Manual for low-level combat is the Psychic Gray Ooze, a predatory and corrosive slime that searches to consume its next victims. This monster is perfect for your next dungeon, as its psychic abilities go against what a “traditional” monster fight looks like. While this creature does have physical attacks, it has an unorthodox way of dismantling characters.
Psychic Gray Oozes can enforce an Intelligence saving throw on a character, forcing them to take Psychic damage if they fail. Since Intelligence is oftentimes a low stat for many characters no matter what level, this can be a terrifying challenge right away. This type of Ooze also can automatically inflict damage on enemies who target it with spells, making this new monster a menace to parties just learning the ropes.
8
Multiple Types Of Performers
“Monsters” With The Charm To Win Over Crowds
Performers are not “monsters” in the traditional sense, but they are new stat blocks in the 2025 Monster Manual that give you new tools to play with. Have you ever wanted a highly decorated acrobat or playwright to be your next villain? Well then, the three different types of Performers you can choose from allow you to pick from an entire troop of options, creating Charisma-oriented characters to fit your setting.
Among the three types of Performers, there are:
- Performers (CR 1/2)
- Performer Maestro (CR 6)
- Performer Legend (CR 10)
The more powerful a Performer is, the more tricks they have up their sleeve to beguile, charm, and even frighten their adversaries. Performers typically have illusion spells and a magical song to inflict damage or impose various effects on their enemies. A Performer in your next game could be a stunning ally, a Bard’s beloved mentor, or even the mastermind behind a scheme that wasn’t just an act.
7
Sphinx Variants
Guardians Of The Multiverse’s Secrets
Sphinx monsters are classic entities to the game, but this particular creature has undergone perhaps the most D&D monster reworks, making them completely new in the 2025 Monster Manual. The previous Androsphinx and Gynosphinx have been removed, being replaced with four new types of Sphinxes who defend the secrets of the multiverse through riddles, strength, or whimsical magic unique to them.
While considered Lawful Neutral, a great idea for a campaign could be the idea of one of each type of Sphinx at war for each other to claim one magical secret.
Similar to the Performers, Sphinxes now come in different shapes and sizes, including some represented by this table:
|
Sphinx Type |
Description |
Unique Traits |
|---|---|---|
|
Sphinx of Wonder |
Younger Sphinx who guards ideas that fascinate it that pop up around the multiverse. |
|
|
Sphinx of Lore |
Much older Sphinx who closely observes and protects one great secret, usually far from civilization. |
|
|
Sphinx of Secrets |
“Traditional” Sphinx that fiercely protects magical studies through ancient riddles that are hard to decipher. |
|
|
Sphinx of Valor |
Fierce warrior Sphinxes who guard sensitive secrets that could negatively impact the world. |
|
New types of Sphinx make completely new monsters, with each worth exploring to some degree. Sphinxes could act as adversaries in your next game or as mystical entities who test your players before they can learn something crucial related to the overall story.
6
Arch-Hag
Give Covens A Terrifying Leader
One of the most horrifying new monsters in the 2025 Monster Manual is the Arch-Hag, the final form of the fey creatures who cause mischief and mayhem for players. Hags are notorious creatures already, using trickery and powerful magic to manipulate parties. Arch-Hags are the apex of hag-kind, spitefully cursing their enemies and using malicious spells to meddle with the affairs of all mortals on the Material Plane.
An Arch-Hag could be an amazing final boss for a campaign, serving as an antagonist for a character or a catalyst that made them an adventurer in the first place. The schemes of hags are vast, with Arch-hags having widespread plans and much grander dealings with the people they interact with. Alternatively, an Arch-Hag could lead to an imposing roleplay encounter where players need something and are willing to make a deal with such a powerful entity.
5
Vampire Umbral Lord
Take Classic Undead Monsters To A New Level
The Vampire Umbral Lord is a new variant of the classic Vampire, a creature players may remember fondly if they’ve ever played the Curse of Strahd adventure in D&D 5th Edition. Umbral Lords are fresh spellcasting versions of Vampires, using magic instead of raw might and shapeshifting to pursue their goals. This emphasis on magic creates a Vampire more focused on schemes and dark dealings rather than tyranny.
Vampires have always made for good antagonists in a D&D game, but this new Umbral Lord in the 2025 Monster Manual could take things up a notch. Personally, I have already thought about using this type of Vampire as a political figure in a powerful nation, pulling the strings to ensure a higher position. The natural charm of a Vampire Umbral Lord combined with their new magic opens up plenty of possibilities.
4
Cyclops Oracle/Sentry
Mystic Giants Of Fate
Two new Cyclops types have been added to the 2025 Monster Manual, including the Cyclops Oracle and Cyclops Sentry. While technically cheating to put both of these creatures in the same spot, I’ve found that these fresh monsters are both breaking the mold together. These types of Cyclops creatures defy the typical assumption about Hill Giants, which is usually that they are dumb, strength-based monsters who swing clubs rather than think.
Giants are broken up into different types based on the ancestral hierarchy of their creature type, known as the Ordning. Storm Giants are the most powerful, followed by Cloud Giants, then Stone Giants, Frost Giants, Fire Giants, and finally Hill Giants like the Cyclops.
Cyclops Oracles peer through history to learn hidden truths, making them protectors of secrets who parties can talk to for information. On the other hand, a Cyclops Sentry may be a warrior of a particular god, guarding ruins that players are trying to explore for loot. Using Divination abilities like Foresight and Portent, these Cyclops types are incredibly interesting and multi-faceted, unlike their Hill Giant relatives.
3
Elemental Cataclysm
The Apocalypse Made Manifest
The Elemental Cataclysm is perhaps the deadliest monster in the 2025 Monster Manual, existing as a pure storm of elemental chaos that causes devastation wherever it walks. This being brings storm, ice, fire, and earth down upon the land, creating a path of destruction that few parties can stop. As such, it is the perfect monster to add to your next game to raise the stakes of an already harrowing adventure.
Elemental Evil cultists have been expanded in the 2025 Monster Manual, so you can easily form an adventure around a group of deranged people trying to bring about the apocalypse. Some Demons and Giants sometimes wish to bring about a calamitous force like the Elemental Cataclysm, so there are plenty of ways to connect such a creature to a much larger plot.
2
Violet Fungus Necrohulk
Heaping Pile Of Pure Decay
When the new Violet Fungi monster from the 2025 Monster Manual spreads their infectious rot to an entire colony of creatures, they transform into a Violet Fungus Necrohulk. This golem of fungal death is an amazing addition to games heavily inspired by The Last Of Us or other post-apocalyptic settings. These massive assimilating plants add a level of horror to encounters that are sure to terrify players into unforgettable experiences.
Violet Fungus Necrohulks use Spore Bombs to pin players down, which would make anyone panic. The slow terror of watching a fellow party member be absorbed into the mass of one of these creatures is sure to give a party nightmares.
Plants aren’t usually very threatening in most games, especially when D&D has refined dragons and other reworked classics in the new Monster Manual. However, the Violet Fungus Necrohulk certainly makes an impact a truly unique new monster for DMs to adopt. Explorations of the Underdark or investigations of city-wide plagues could have a more terrifying outcome with the inclusion of this necrotic horror.
1
Haunting Revenant
Possessed Location For Both Plot And Setting
The Haunting Revenant is a new type of Undead enemy in the 2025 Monster Manual which refines a classic horror trope. These creatures are like most Revenants, acting as lingering spirits from beyond the grave seeking vengeance or to complete an unfulfilled purpose. However, unlike normal Revenants, Haunting Revenants possess locations, creating haunting settings for your players to visit.
Haunting Revenants give tangible stat blocks to haunted houses, cursed graveyards, or even the possession of smaller objects floating around a space similar to a Poltergeist. Malicious toward the living, these monsters beckon and invite targets into their cursed spaces, forcing some to stay within their domain forever.
These creatures are amazing to use in a game, as they create a setting, enemy, and plot point all at once. As a result, Haunting Revenants can be used easily in your next game, either as the single focus of a horror-themed one-shot for Halloween or as a powerful obstacle for players to overcome in a longer Dungeons and Dragons campaign.
Dungeons and Dragons
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Publisher
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
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2-7 Players
