!THIN THIS BESTJARY, YOU WILL FIND
game statistics and lore for nearly
one hundred monsters suitable for
any D&D campaign. Many of these
monsters, such as the froghemoth
and the morkoth, have been around
since the earliest editions of the
game. Others, such as the bander-
bobb and the vargouille, came later but are equally
beloved. Some of the new creatures found herein are
variants of the monsters discussed in chapter 1.
This chapter is a continuation of the Monster Manual
and adopts a similar presentation. If you are unfamiliar
with the monster stat block format, read the introduc-
tion of the Monster Manual before proceeding further. It
explains stat block terminology and gives rules for vari-
ous monster traits-information that isn't repeated here.
As with the monsters in the Monster Manual, we've
tried to capture the essence of each creature and focus
on those traits that make it unique or that encourage
DMs to use it. You can do what you will with these mon-
sters and change their lore to suit your game. Nothing
we say here is meant to curtail your creativity.
The creatures in this bestiary are organized alphabet-
ically. A few are grouped under a banner heading; for
example, the "Orcs"section contains stat blocks for var-
ious kinds of ores, including tanarukks (demonic ores).
Immediately following this chapter are two appendices
that contain additional stat blocks. Appendix A gathers
a handful of beasts that don't warrant longer entries. Ap-
pendix B provides generic NPCs whose statistics can be
customized to serve your campaign.
This chapter and appendices A and B are meant to be
used in conjunction with the rest of this book. Appendix
C contains lists of creatures by type, challenge rating,
and environment. These lists can help you find monsters
that are appropriate for your adventure or campaign.
If you're looking for ways to use the variant beholders,
giants, gnolls, goblinoids, hags, kobolds, mind flayers,
ores, and yuan-ti described in this chapter, the lore and
maps in chapter 1 might inspire you. Similarly, the ra-
cial traits in chapter 2 can be applied to the stat blocks
in appendix B to create such memorable NPCs as goli-
ath champions, kenku master thieves, and tabaxi bards.