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.

​

 

[TwoSix]

I think it's worse than that. D&D eats up too much of the market for certain kinds of game to exist at all if they aren't D&D. Not by subject matter, but the slow expanding Multiverse of rules for everything kind of game we had during the late 3e and PF1 eras (taking PF as a fluke scenario that basically started D&D's unique position for a while) can't happen if D&D isn't doing it. Certainly not as a new game, though you see some classic examples from earlier periods in the basket holding on.

"Play other TTRPGs" is a nice thought, but there's stuff there that can only happen if D&D does it, simply because no other game has the resources or mind share to pull it off.

Of course, but that's precisely the problem that puts D&D into the constant expectation tug-of-war between "evolve D&D" and "preserve D&D's identity". Having other games pick up the "evolution" path seems an obvious answer, but almost 50 years of market results shows that won't happen (outside of a few periods like the mid-late 90s and the early 10s).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Even then, have you tried asking your players if they'd be willing to chip in a few dollars every once in a while, considering the probably hundreds of unpaid man-hours you put into their campaign?

We used a "gamer Kitty" box by donation. Some players just have more means than others, but there's no reason that the DM should have to buy 95% of what's used at the table (as is often the case). It actually adds up decently.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I do enjoy the use of the loaded term 'live service' as opposed to 'how it's worked fairly well for fifty years'

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I have bought all the 5E books: during 3.5, analysis paralysis prevented making any purchases, because there were too many books that were kind of interesting each year, as opposed to a few books that are very interesting to me each year now.

You're not some kind of outlier there. The smaller number of books published each year is one of the reasons for 5e's massive success. (IMO second only to "zeitgeist" changes that lead to Stranger Things and Critical Role).

3.5 fans bought a lot of 3.5 books, sure. But 5e books outsell 3.5 books by a large factor.

 

[Incenjucar]

For me it comes down to enjoying a lot about D&D's general gameplay and large audience, but not wanting to pay for a worse-to-me product than I already have. I have over 130 D&D rule books, but none of them are 5E, so I'm a bit attached to franchise, but I vote with my wallet.

I've been giving D&D2024 a chance to win my wallet back, because I do miss the game, but I can't get excited about "now with 20% more spellcasting!"

 

[Stalker0]

And yet everyone flipped out in 4e when Martial classes had Encounters and Dailies citing limited-use martial abilities were "unrealistic".

I think most people were generally on board with the notion of encounter powers for martials, as long as the power itself made sense. The idea of a character straining themselves to do a thing and therefore can't immediately do the thign for a bit has some real world analogs.

Dailies are harder to swallow. You can use the notion of "an extremely exhausting ability", but then you have the disconnect of why the fighter isn't exhausted in general the rest of the day?

 

[Parmandur]

You're not some kind of outlier there. The smaller number of books published each year is one of the reasons for 5e's massive success. (IMO second only to "zeitgeist" changes that lead to Stranger Things and Critical Role).

3.5 fans bought a lot of 3.5 books, sure. But 5e books outsell 3.5 books by a large factor.

That matches everything that I've observed and experienced, though I'm sure you have much more evidence on hand.

It's a serious discovery of marketing that offering too much product depresses people's willingness to buy anything: too many chip flavors? People eyes glaze over and they mive on.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Basically people refused to accept those as narrative constructs instead of literal in-universe limits.

 

[Incenjucar]

Basically people refused to accept those as narrative constructs instead of literal in-universe limits.

Which is ironic given some folks are not comfortable with the narrative of a fighter being able to prone a target every round.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think most people were generally on board with the notion of encounter powers for martials, as long as the power itself made sense. The idea of a character straining themselves to do a thing and therefore can't immediately do the thign for a bit has some real world analogs.

Dailies are harder to swallow. You can use the notion of "an extremely exhausting ability", but then you have the disconnect of why the fighter isn't exhausted in general the rest of the day?

Yeah, I do remember being surprised at first that martials had dailies when I first read the books. Eventually I chalked it up to more along the lines of, "The opportunity to best use this trained-technique does not come up all the time". After all, a daily is not actually used every day. Some days you'll rest having not used it, and some days you won't even get into combat - ultimately it'll be pretty random. Twice a week? Essentially "now and then".