The D&D 2024 Monster Manual brings the Colossus all the way back from 1st Edition D&D
Designer Jeremy Crawford reached all the way back to his childhood—to Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition—when he resurrected the Colossus in the D&D 2024 Monster Manual.
As Wizards of the Coast was going over each creature type (e.g. Monstrosities, Aberrations, Elementals) it noticed that the Constructs category was missing its Big Bad, so to speak. The toughest Construct in the old 2014 5e Monster Manual is the Iron Golem. At a Challenge Rating 16, it's no slouch.
But the Colossus is a CR 25, putting it above Ancient Red and Gold Dragons, and putting it below only one other creature in the Monster Manual—the CR 30 Tarrasque.
So you can see that the Colossus isn't playing around. But a lot of familiar faces (and a few new ones) return to the Construct category:
| CREATURE | NEW? | BUT WHY? |
|
Animated Armor Animated Flying Sword Animated Rug of Smothering |
No |
|
| Animated Broom | New in the 2024 Monster Manual | |
| Gorgon | New to Constructs (used to be a Monstrosity) | |
| Brazen Gorgon | New in the 2024 Monster Manual | "So you can have someone sizzling inside one of these creatures." |
|
Clay Golem Flesh Golem Iron Golem Stone Golem |
No | |
| Helmed Horror | No | "But doesn't have to be as evil as it sounds." The horror is relative. |
| Homunculus | No | |
| Modron Duodrone, Monodrone, Pentadrone, Quadrone, Tridrone | No | "But why the lips? So much lip filler!" "Modrons are the polyhedral dice you only use on the most special occasions." |
| Scarecrow | No | |
| Shield Guardian | No |
Regarding Modrons, by the way, when commissioning artists for the 2024 Monster Manual, the designers did ask themselves: Do we keep the lips? Crawford is just as mystified by the lips as interviewer Todd Kenreck. "But...those are our modrons."
Along with Constructs, this grand finale video also talks about the Plants category. Plants sound innocent enough. Until there's a tree growing out of your throat, as at least one piece of artwork depicts. The designers also wish to acknowledge that this is not a scientific category: it is a game category. They do realize fungi are not plants. But a fungus will indeed find itself in the Plant section of D&D. None of D&D's categories are meant to be a scientific taxonomy system.
Some Plants are returning, but none have migrated from other categories (not like Humanoids and Monstrosities have, for example).
| CREATURE | NEW? | BUT WHY |
| Awakened Shrub | No | |
| Awakened Tree | No | |
|
Gas Spore Fungus Shreiker Fungus Violet Fungus |
No | |
| Violet Fungus Necrohulk | New to 2024 Monster Manual | Needed a more powerful version (CR 7) of the Violet Fungus (CR 1/4). "Use this as a trash monster. The town dump comes alive." |
| Gulthias Blight | New to 2024 Monster Manual | Brought in from 3e adventures like Sunless Citadel. |
|
Needle Blight Twig Blight Vine Blight |
No | Also originated in Sunless Citadel like Gulthias Blight above. |
| Tree Blight | New to 2024 Monster Manual | |
| Shambling Mound | No | |
| Treant | No |
D&D 2024 Monster Manuals are sprinkled out in the wild. Especially digital versions if you've preordered the book on D&D Beyond. But it's finally out for everybody else on February 18. You can also read our reviews of the other 2024 Core Rulebooks, the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.
