Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition has long been criticized for having bland or poor monster design, and people have had high hopes that D&D 2024 would resolve that. The Challenge Rating system has been unhelpful in building encounters, or creating challenging encounters, particularly at high level. The lack of variety in monster abilities and tactics has led to a bland and repetitive feeling in combat. Additionally, monsters lack a dynamic and interactive feeling that evokes a sense of adventure. Nothing demonstrates this so much as the success of the “Flee Mortals” supplement from MCDM, that reworked or added monsters in the game in a way that builds very exciting adventures.
So when people started posting monster stat blocks from the upcoming D&D 2024 Players Handbook, I was naturally curious to see where things are headed.
A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing
The Dire Wolf stat block started making the rounds on social media yesterday to significant criticism. I will not show it here as WotC has gotten over-enthusiastic with takedown notices, but overall I felt like the stat block was watered down compared to the 5e version, a bit more streamlined but in no meaningful way. The 2024 Dire Wolf has only about half the hit points of the original 5e version, and does 20% less damage. The only significant improvement is knocking a foe prone is automatic on a bite now, reducing the number of rolls needed to resolve an attack. However, many have pointed out that prone isn’t as valuable a condition since pack tactics already grants them advantage when an ally is near.
In my opinion, this change feels more bland and less exciting than the original 5e version. One data point isn’t a trend, and I have no idea how much of an indicator this is toward the redesign of monsters across the entire 2024 edition, but it doesn’t make me hopeful.
I thought this indicates a big missed opportunity. With just a few small tweaks, I think this could have been at least a bit more exciting. In my past 5e games, I’ve used the community optional rule that all monsters double their damage and half their hit points. In my groups this has led to much faster and much more exciting combats. However, I’m not going to get that extreme in my design suggestions here and stick to more simple changes in alignment with the direction the design seems to be going. So you understand my bias though, my group did enjoy the above change quite a bit and I may continue to use it in D&D 2024 with the right players.
Adding a bit of Bite
If I were to suggest some simple change to wolves overall, it would be to lean into fast encounters that showcase the dangers of the pack. So taking the Dire Wolf stat block as an example, it’s reasonable to guess that all wolves will automatically apply the Prone condition to a target on a successful bite. This is one of those effects that reads well in a book, but doesn’t result in a lot of difference in an encounter. The big advantage of Prone is that it grants advantage to an attacker, and disadvantage to the prone target on attacks. However, wolves already receive advantage if an ally is within 5 feet of the target, and the target is likely to stand up before the wolves’ next attack, meaning Prone doesn’t really add much to the encounter.
So I suggest adding the following ability to all wolves:
Nimble Predator. The wolf doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from prone creatures when it moves out of their reach.
This is a simple change and lets wolves, or a pack, dart in, make an attack and dart away. Interaction with packs become interesting now, because the next attacker gets the advantage without needing their ally to stay in attack range. However, for targets the wolves can’t bring down, they have to surround and engage. This creates a bit of dynamic play to wolves in combat. Not earth-shattering but a bit of an improvement for sure.
Adding a bit of Spice
What is a wolf pack without an Alpha to lead it? To spice things up, I designed this Dire Wolf Alpha you can add to any pack of Dire Wolves to create a real challenge for your group. Not only does the Nimble Predator ability apply to all wolves, but it adds a Howl ability to grant the pack temporary hit points, and let the pack coordinate their attacks better while they have those temporary hit points.
Mix this creature in as the head of a regular pack of wolves to add some bite, or put them at the head of a pack of Dire Wolves for that extra thrill.
Dire Wolf Alpha
Large beast, unaligned
- AC 15 (natural armor)
- Initiative +3
- HP 38 (5d10 + 10)
- Speed 60 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 16 15 4 14 8 MOD +4 +3 +2 -3 +2 -1 SAVE +4 +3 +2 -3 +2 -1
- Skills Perception +6, Stealth +5
- Senses darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 16
- Languages None
- Challenge 4 (1,100 XP, PB+2)
Traits
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the wolf’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
Relentless (Recharges after a Short or Long Rest). If the wolf takes damage that would reduce it to 0 hit points, it is reduced to 1 hit point instead.
Nimble Predator. The wolf doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks from prone creatures when it moves out of their reach.
Leader of the Hunt. When the Dire Wolf Alpha knocks a target prone with a bite attack, any allies within 5 feet of the prone creature, who have temporary hit points, may make a single attack as a reaction.
Actions
Multiattack. The wolf makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its claws.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) piercing damage, and the target has the Prone condition if it is Huge or smaller.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) slashing damage.
Howl of the Pack (1/Day). The wolf lets out a chilling howl. Each allied wolf within 60 feet of this wolf that can hear it gains 10 temporary hit points and advantage on attack rolls until the start of the Dire Wolf Alpha’s next turn.
Packing it Together
These changes add significantly more options and a dynamic flavor to wolf encounters. Under the old design, wolves basically rush in and bite, then stand in place to ensure they get the ally bonus. With Nimble Predator, however, their tactics become more fluid and interesting:
- Wolves can dash in and bite.
- If the target is knocked prone, they can dart out of danger, leaving advantage to their ally on the prone target.
- If the target doesn’t get knocked prone, they stay in place to give the bonus instead.
The Alpha’s “Leader of the Pack” ability adds an even broader dimension and tactical consideration to the fight. It increases the mobility and overall dynamic nature of a wolf encounter in an enjoyable way.
These modifications transform wolf encounters from static, predictable affairs into dynamic, tactical challenges. Players will need to think more carefully about their positioning and actions, while DMs can create more engaging and memorable combat scenarios. The pack now feels more like a coordinated unit, reflecting the true nature of wolves in the wild.
Conclusion
Finding ways to make combat exciting is one of the biggest challenges a DM has when putting a D&D game together. If the Dire Wolf stat block is any indication, we may have more work cut out for us in the 2024 edition of the game. With a bit of thought and some tweaking though, I think we can bring some excitement to the game and create engaging encounters for our parties.