D&D's 2025 Monster Manual Changes Alignment In Two Simple But Significant Ways

Alignment has been a subject of much controversy in modern Dungeons & Dragons, and the 2025 Monster Manual is making a couple of potentially smart tweaks. As a way to categorize the moral inclinations of an individual or species, alignment can be a helpful tool for players and dungeon masters to determine how characters and creatures behave. At the same time, broad applications of alignment present a simplified worldview, and recent books have made changes like placing the qualifier "typically" in front of creature alignments.

In a D&D press briefing, game director Jeremy Crawford confirmed that the "typically" qualifier is being dropped in the 2025 Monster Manual. The book will instead opt to explain the complexities of alignment early on and then leave the understanding of its flexibility to the DM's discretion. The other big change is an increased emphasis on Neutral characters to return to the old-school idea of Neutral as a "whatever" category, encouraging DMs to push anyone marked as Neutral in any direction.

D&D's Alignment Tweaks Are Minor But Interesting

Same Philosophy, Different Approach

D&D 2025 Monster Manual art of a character walking the plank

Leaving "typically" in the past doesn't indicate an overall shift in philosophy or have a huge effect on the Monster Manual, but it does show that the new books aren't dead set on keeping changes if they don't prove to be worthwhile. Although the inclusion was theoretically a nice way to signal to DMs that species don't have to be monolithic in nature, it also became a repetitive appendage.

Applying Neutral more liberally is likewise a relatively minor change, but it might be a better way to encourage a flexible approach to characterization. It remains to be seen just how often the alignment will show up throughout the 2025 Monster Manual, but it should be significantly more frequent than in the 2014 books, particularly when it comes to human characters.

Our Take: The 2025 Monster Manual Is Making The Right Call

Some Things Just Make Sense

Monster Manual Cover with a Mind Flayer and Vampire

I'm not one for sticking strictly to alignment, but I still think the shift in the 2025 Monster Manual's approach makes a lot of sense. I've never needed a "typically" qualifier to guide my willingness to experiment, and if the book's introductory material does a good job of explaining alignment and what to do with it, that could ultimately be a much better source of inspiration.

I'm also hopeful for the renewed emphasis on Neutral as an option. The alignment is perhaps too frequently painted as a categorization for those without any strong inclinations, but the most interesting characters often have tendencies toward good and evil in equal measures, and Neutral is a good invitation to explore those possibilities. Tweaks to alignment may not be the most important aspect of the Dungeons & Dragons 2025 Monster Manual, but it's nonetheless interesting to get a glimpse into the ideas behind the book's approach.