Will D&D 5.5E Get Rid of Legendary and Lair Actions? Monster Manual Preview Swap Them
The 5.5E Monster Manual won’t be out until February 2025, but a look at some of the heavy hitters within might indicate a big change.
Here’s one last bit of Gen Con previewery for those of you who didn’t make it out. Courtesy of both EN World and Comicbook.com, who collectively showed off three different new monster stat blocks from the upcoming 5.5E Monster Manual. WotC showed off a Green Dragon, the new Kuo-Toa, and many Skeletons who will be sure to suit your low-level needs.
But from these new stat blocks and the monsters seen in the latest D&D books, like Quest from the Infinite Staircase, you can infer a lot about the design direction. For one, spellcasting has been simplified in much the same way it had been, starting with Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. But two, these monster stat blocks seem to be streamlined – though Legendary/Lair Actions seem to be absent.
Sort of.
5.5E Monster Manual Previews – Legendary and Lair… Reactions?
Let’s start with the 5E Ancient Green Dragon stat block, courtesy of EN World. Here, we have a powerful dragon, CR 22. This was shown off at Gen Con 2024. Right away, we can see some big changes from the previous stat block. It’s much, much cleaner in terms of design, for sure. And you can see the serpentine new look of the Green Dragon in the art. But, we also get a look at how Lairs might feature in 5.5E.
We don’t necessarily see any Lair Actions, though those were always included as part of the Monster Manual info, not necessarily in the stat blocks. But, instead, we do see that the Green Dragon is much more dangerous in its lair. It gets an extra use of Legendary Resistance (and a grand total of 5, with base of 4 instead of the usual 3). Plus, an extra Reaction when fighting on its home turf.
Compare that to the 5E Ancient Green Dragon. It had a pool of Legendary Actions, including a Tail and Wing Attack (2 Actions), as well as making a Perception check. This Dragon seems a lot more combat-ready. There are some other big changes as well:
- The Claw, Bite, and Tail attacks have all been folded into a generic “Rend” attack. This could represent any of the attack forms.
- The Green Dragon now has Spellcasting and can replace a Rend Attack with an At-Will Spell like Charm Monster or Dissonant Whispers instead, which is beefy.
- The Reactions are a lot more flexible. Though the Lair Actions, again, are gone.
- Hit points are up from 385 to 402.
- Charisma is now 22, fitting for the manipulator dragon.
The Lair Actions that aren’t present in the 5.5E preview. Bit they are present in 5E include restraining roots, walls of thorns, and lashing roots that can also create zombies. It’ll be interesting to see what shape Lair Actions might be in the final version of the Monster Manual. Though to be fair, this new version does seem much more user-friendly. And some of the new art shows a Green Dragon and some root-encrusted zombies, so perhaps they’re not gone entirely after all. Time alone can tell.
Kuo-Toa and Skeleton Showcase
Meanwhile, Comicbook.com had a preview of the new Kuo-Toa above and a selection of Skeletons below.
The Kuo-Toa is much more like its last appearance. Though it now does 1d8+1 all the time, and, as you can see its abilities are much more rules-forward. The wording is clearer; you know what your keywords are at a glance.
As for the Skeletons, they’ve all been adjusted, and not every change is a buff. The Minotaur Skeleton is down to 45 HP from 67, originally,. It has lost the use of its greataxe from 5E, meaning it does less damage (2d8 + 4 instead of 2d12 + 4). Its Gore attack has been lightly nerfed, but has had the extra damage folded into the ability itself. It is much cleaner.
Warhorse Skeletons can knock creatures prone with attacks, now, regular Skeletons have slightly higher Dex, for slightly more damage, and there’s the reveal of a new variant, the Flaming Skeleton, a favorite from the 3rd/4th Edition Days.
What do you think of the changes to these Monsters? What do you hope to see from the new Monster Manual?
