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The consideration of Orcs and other fantasy species as people (autonomous characters as opposed to rampaging monsters), has been a long fought-over concept. Opinions on whether Orcs in particular should be wholly considered evil-aligned monsters in D&D have been split since the game's inception, and it's still an increasingly sore point among community discussions. Especially when Wizards of the Coast actually decides to change anything. In the new 2025 Monster Manual, Orcs and Drow have been removed altogether with their stat blocks replaced by a range of more generic NPC templates. The decision has left some in the community feeling cheated.
With Dungeons & Dragons sitting on our best tabletop RPGs list, it's hard to ignore the thrashing around of fans whose worldviews are threatened by recent changes in the 2025 Monster Manual. What we're looking at is a complete removal of Orc and Drow from the book – they're not listed in the contents page. Instead, Dungeon Masters are encouraged to apply NPC stat blocks with the Monster Conversion table when introducing Orc and Drow non-player characters, to which the manual clearly states they are welcome to apply any alignment.
Conversions also affect species such as Arakocra, Merfolk, Goblin, and Gnoll which are now more specific portrayals likely to cause problems for player characters.
One question on the matter, posted on both EN World forums and the r/onednd subreddit, wonders whether the fact that "Orc and Drow entries were removed from the book and replaced with generic NPC templates" was a "Good idea". Many commenters echo the sentiment that "This doesn't add options, it only takes them away", and that if WotC were going to take away Orc and Drow, "They should have also removed the goblins, lizardfolk, gith, centaurs, bugbears, hobgoblins, kenku, and kobolds."
The counterpoints that surface include the fact that "The changes were made because DND is working to excise the bigoted aspects that have persisted since its creation," with this being a big step to humanizing popularly played species that have a long history of being restricted to evil alignments.
With the argument continuing to rage on all sides, I thought I'd take a look at the stat blocks myself and the differences one might encounter. With the previous Orc monster stat block as an example, we see an alignment of Chaotic Evil, skills in intimidation and the Aggressive trait, along with two simple Actions with a Greataxe and a Javelin. Great. It's bland but it does the job if you want an evil Orc to kill.
The NPC stat blocks in the new Monster Manual, on the other hand, are far more varied and comprehensive than these. They include options for things like Berserkers and their Commanders; Toughs and their Boss units; Infantry, Commander, and Veteran Warriors, and loads more. No stone left unturned, it would seem, for the breadth of occupations and specialities that encountered NPCs might have. That doesn't stop D&D fans from feeling like something has been taken away from them, though.
Another commenter hones in on the real issue, in that "Because you don't have a statblock with the SPECIFIC NAME, it's been taken away, your game is RUINED!"
The changes are here to stay for a while, whether or not people feel cheated out of the basic stat blocks that once were. Whether the changes will eventually be streamlined, or extended to other D&D species, is unclear, though I imagine the arguing will continue regardless.
For more recommendations, why not check out a tabletop RPG that does moral alignment really well, or take a deep dive into some of the Unearthed Arcana classes for D&D.
