D&D (2024) WotC Fireside Chat: Revised 2024 Player’s Handbook

In this video about the upcoming revised Player’s Handnook, WotC’s Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins reveal a few new tidbits.

• The books are near final and almost ready to go to print
• Psionic subclasses such as the Soulknife and Psi Warrior will appear in the core books
• Named spells have art depicting their creators.
• There are new species in the PHB.

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[Steampunkette]

It's not about the reality of the story. The perspective where the mundane -> supernatural-> magic spectrum matters is the players. From that perspective, John Henry was supernatural, and so is Batman, because they both do things normal humans can't do.

Players suspend disbelief all the time. Again. Run 30ft and throw 4 effective attacks at someone else trying to defend themself and do it in the span of 6 seconds. Then do it again in the next 6 seconds, and the next 6 seconds, and the next 6 seconds.

And also make an extra attack within those 6 seconds when the guy you ran to runs away. and do it in full plate armor.

It's not humanly possible, but we treat it as the baseline of the game world because we suspend our disbelief.

Just as we do with John Henry being the greatest Steel Driving Man to ever exist. Or Pecos Bill. Or Batman.

How many John Henry's are there in a D&D world. Just one? Every fighter? Every person capable of using a sword? Can anyone be John Henry? Can everyone?

shrug It's your story. Your world. You get to write it and tell me.

But I could definitely see a world where that level of folk-heroics is commonplace. We call it D&D. Where totally normal human fighters pull ridiculous feats while wearing full armor and carrying a hundred pounds of garbage in their backpacks.

Decide where you want to draw the line. Draw the line there. Then work outward.

But the idea that that line is the only line that matters, or the only line -anyone- can draw, is self-deluding.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That’s exactly what it’s about.

Don’t worry. If 20th level fighters can cut mountains in half, nobody is going to get confused and think that’s possible in real life. What this argument is about is people who like playing nonmagical classes wanting their characters to be able to perform feats that are beyond what is possible in real life, but that aren’t considered acts of “magic” from an in-universe perspective.

Is there a reason you won't tell me what you think the difference between magic and supernatural is? This is the third time I've asked.

 

[Neonchameleon]

So we agree that the Fighter Mountain thing is just an anime trope trying to be shoehorned into D&D?

The fighter mountain thing isn't anime. It's literally Celtic Mythology. On the other hand if we're looking at the inspiration for D&D we have Hercules for the fighters who literally carried the world on his shoulders.

 

[Raiztt]

Is there a reason you won't tell me what you think the difference between magic and supernatural is? This is the third time I've asked.

In their defense, in real life I don't think "supernatural" picks out a discrete element of reality, at least as far as ontology goes. Natural vs. supernatural isn't as meaningful as exists vs. doesn't exist.

I.e.: IF magic existed, it WOULD be "natural".

Often when people say "natural" they mean physical/deterministic/scientific.

 

[Charlaquin]

So we agree that the Fighter Mountain thing is just an anime trope trying to be shoehorned into D&D?

I wouldn’t call it an anime trope, given that it’s not, to my knowledge, a thing that typically happens in anime. It could conceivably happen in an anime, but if it did I don’t think any anime fan would point to it and say, “ah, a classic example of the mountain-cleaving trope!”

Regardless, I did pick it as my example specifically because it was reminiscent of the kind of feats that might be treated as achievable by nonmagical folk in anime. To illustrate that, yes, in a fictional work, things that aren’t possible in real life can be possible without “magic” being the explanation. I am not literally asking for a “split mountain” feature on 20th level fighters, I’m using an illustrative example to make a point about how not everything beyond the mundane need necessary be magical.

 

[Steampunkette]

I think it would be great if the DMG had a section on DMs thinking about extraordinary vs. supernatural when imagining a campaign world, and thinking about power sources.

Is Batman/Hawkeye the limit to what a normal humans can train up to? Is it John Henry? Is it Anime person? Or is it just IRL olympic athlete?

Does everyone have access to Ki/Rage/Grit/Luck/whatever and is able to do cool things with it if they have enough and train? (Like strength or dex IRL and specialist athletes doing things no one else can). Or do only some people have access to that power source? Is magic like that - do you need to be born with the gift to do it at all like a sorcerer, or does everyone have it to some extent?

Are spirits being in things part of the normal part and parcel of the waking world? Is there a chaos-fey/law-boring-folk divide? Is the Feywild a separate parallel world all of its own that sometimes leaks in?

Are psionics like a sci-fi 6th sense that is just part of the world? Is it a magic corruption from realms beyond? Is it supernatural and you need to be born to it? etc...

YES.

I would love a DMG which includes questions like that. Where character capability and the world's expectations are core to the concept.

Because a fighter at 8th level with a 20 strength can do a 20ft jump over a pit, take four main hand attacks, one off-hand attack, one reaction opportunity attack, and spout off a solliloquoy lasting no less than 20 seconds...

Within 6 seconds.

 

[Raiztt]

I wouldn’t call it an anime trope, given that it’s not, to my knowledge, a thing that typically happens in anime. It could conceivably happen in an anime, but if it did I don’t think any anime fan would point to it and say, “ah, a classic example of the mountain-cleaving trope!”

Regardless, I did pick it as my example specifically because it was reminiscent of the kind of feats that might be treated as achievable by nonmagical folk in anime. To illustrate that, yes, in a fictional work, things that aren’t possible in real life can be possible without “magic” being the explanation. I am not literally asking for a “split mountain” feature on 20th level fighters, I’m using an illustrative example to make a point about how not everything beyond the mundane need necessary be magical.

I think we all get that, and the response from many people is, "Ok, now what is the implication for the rest of the world? How does this all work?"

 

[Micah Sweet]

In their defense, in real life I don't think "supernatural" picks out a discrete element of reality, at least as far as ontology goes. Natural vs. supernatural isn't as meaningful as exists vs. doesn't exist.

I.e.: IF magic existed, it WOULD be "natural".

Often when people say "natural" they mean physical/deterministic/scientific.

They are making a clear distinction between the two, but not explaining what that distinction is.

 

[tetrasodium]

The folks who regularly play fighters & barbarians in the games I've been in usually only care about being relevant in combat (usually to the tune of "I swing ..and hit - next", and often "tune out" for the other parts of the game. I have seen them get annoyed when the spellcasters take out or circumvent an enemy before they get to lay into them.

I myself generally don't play higher levels (usually 9th-11th, 15th is my absolute stopping point) as I don't like the sort of "Avengers Assemble" superheroics that start to show up.

Still, if folks are going to be playing into those upper levels I'd like to see the martials have access to abilities that are as wow-inducing as the magics the spellcasters get. Different, but relevant and "on-theme" for the heroic tales of old.

I see this from time to time, but what I see far more often is those players clpse to attack>attack>repeat till victory then completely shut down & cease participating until there is a new fightunless someone playing a notstrong PC prompts then with a comment like "hey bob can you lift/push/break that thing or whatever so we can solveforx?"

 

[Raiztt]

They are making a clear distinction between the two, but not explaining what that distinction is.

I understand that and I'm making a slightly pedantic point that there may not be a good way to differentiate them.