D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Document: 77 Pages, 7 Classes, & More!

There's a brand new playtest document for the new (version/edition/update) of Dungeons of Dragons available for download! This one is an enormous 77 pages and includes classes, spells, feats, and weapons.

Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Unearthed Arcana Playtest Materials Get Unearthed Arcana playtest content, try it out in your game, and provide feedback! Check back regularly for ...

www.dndbeyond.com

In this new Unearthed Arcana document for the 2024 Core Rulebooks, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents updated rules on seven classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. This document also presents multiple subclasses for each of those classes, new Spells, revisions to existing Spells and Spell Lists, and several revised Feats. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest document.

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[rooneg]

I'll say it then. They didn't need to update the game at all. Their glacially slow crunch release rate means that they haven't yet explored a tenth of what they could make for 5e that would be fun and cool. They don't need to be changing things up.

They're doing it so that they can be doing something big for the anniversary and to grab more money.

Heaven forbid a for-profit business attempt to make money.

Also, while yes, they are clearly trying to do something big for the anniversary they’re also taking advantage of the fact that something big is happening to make changes they normally couldn’t do. There are absolutely things worth fixing in the 2014 books, even if they limit the scope to very minor changes there’s still a lot of good they can do there. Heck, just rewriting the DMG so it’s not such a hot mess would be an enormous improvement, and they can do a lot better than that.

 

[Parmandur]

When I bring up that the older generations have the most disposable income, a lot of people keep telling just how much money young people have to toss at D&D books, so they do have enough money to afford a host of books. Since I can and they have I'm told as much or more than me, they can do it to!

I am an outlier in many ways, I am sure: Im pver 24 and still playing, after all. WotC making a manageable number of releases that don't require anything beyond the orig8nal rules, however, are good for kids juat starting who may only be interested I a handful of those products. And there's more.manynthere than in the Splat rush.

 

[Parmandur]

I'll say it then. They didn't need to update the game at all. Their glacially slow crunch release rate means that they haven't yet explored a tenth of what they could make for 5e that would be fun and cool. They don't need to be changing things up.

They're doing it so that they can be doing something big for the anniversary and to grab more money.

Well, duh, why else would they do anything...?

The new rules revamp, however, means they can continue to build 5E moving forwards, and older books remain relevant and useful.

 

[Maxperson]

If the question us "what will the majority of people enjoy in their game?" then obviously the majority cannot be wrong by definition.

This is the argument that basically says that minorities don't matter, and this argument extends in a far broader reach that I think people would disagree with if they thought about where it ends.

"What does the majority want? Because if a majority wants it, it can't be wrong." has been proven to be wrong throughout history.

 

[Maxperson]

And to be specific, I'm interested in novel solutions I can implement at my table, not changes you think WotC should put in their next book. I'd much rather see your homebrew bard than a list of things WotC did wrong with the bard in the latest playtest, because I can actually use your homebrew bard.

I think maybe you are underestimating the bandwidth of a lot of people here. We are fully capable of showing our homebrew AND making lists of things WotC is doing wrong.

 

[Parmandur]

This is the argument that basically says that minorities don't matter, and this argument extends in a far broader reach that I think people would disagree with if they thought about where it ends.

"What does the majority want? Because if a majority wants it, it can't be wrong." has been proven to be wrong throughout history.

When it comes to discretionary luxury products, the majority of customers cannot be wrong: a smaller niche company can benefit from appealing to minority groups, but a given company cannot please everyone. Appealing to as many people as possible, however, maximizes profit.

 

[tetrasodium]

Simple. I don't see 3E, 4E or 5E as all that different. They are all pretty much the same game foundation. Nothing really new under the sun for any of these games. Now a lot of bells, whistles and coats of paint have gotten splayed over all of them to make them appear to be radically different... but at the end of the game the foundations of Dungeons & Dragons have been the same for the last 50 years.

Every edition for 50 years has been roll a 20-sided die, add a number to it, and aim for a target number. Then rolling a smaller die and adding a number to it to cause "damage" that reduces another number a character has that we call "hit points" and when that number reaches in and around 0 the character is "dead"? And even when new things get added, like having non-weapon proficiencies or skills... its pretty much the same-- roll a 20-sided die and roll over/under a target number. Basically the entire foundation of how D&D has worked has never really changed. And spray painting the game with different colors to make them seem different has never really affected me. And which is why I always am so amused when people get so up in arms about arguing about which shade of spray paint color is being used. Hey! D&D is adding some blue! Let's now spending years on end talking about how WotC seems to think that Navy Blue is what to use, when OBVIOUSLY Navy Blue sucks and is the easy choice, when a REAL critic knows that Midnight Blue is what it should be colored.

Now... had D&D ever changed their rules to use systems found in like Vampire? Like Paranoia? Like Shadowrun? Like Cypher System? THEN we might have a discussion. D&D doing a complete 180 and going full-on dice pool mechanic based and NOW we have something possibly meaningful to discuss about the changes in Dungeons & Dragons. But arguing about whether Rangers should have their special Ranger abilities just appear in their Class Features List OR be distributed in a Spell Slot Chart? That's arguing over the color blue and not worth my time. Because WHATEVER shade of blue WotC ends up coloring parts of D&D in... I'll just re-paint it myself if I don't like it.

I think that people who actually played those editions after reading or consulting the books will tell you that there very much was significant differences between them. Of course you might hear differently if you limit the sample size of the questioning to only asking people who merely read the books. One group very much cares about the rules differences and needs the various subsystems to mechanically support the way people actually play. The other group doesn't really need those rules to work so much in actual play.

 

[Hussar]

I have to admit @decon 1 makes a good point. There are far more similarities between WotC editions than differences.

 

[Maxperson]

When it comes to discretionary luxury products, the majority of customers cannot be wrong: a smaller niche company can benefit from appealing to minority groups, but a given company cannot please everyone. Appealing to as many people as possible, however, maximizes profit.

Nope. That is wrong. Customers can be wrong. People will often be shortsighted and really want a product that is extremely limited. They will only buy one. The company is better off selling repeat products to 30% than one only to 70%, especially since the many/most of the 70% will also the repeat product.

 

[Parmandur]

Nope. That is wrong. Customers can be wrong. People will often be shortsighted and really want a product that is extremely limited. They will only buy one. The company is better off selling repeat products to 30% than one only to 70%, especially since the many/most of the 70% will also the repeat product.

Sure, customers can be wrong about all sorts of things. But figuring out how to please the majority and make as many sales as possible is the nature if the beast.