D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal #1: "Everything You Need To Know!"

Each day this week, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing a new live-streamed preview video based on the upcoming Player's Handbook. The first is entitled Everything You Need To Know and you can watch it live below (or, if you missed it, you should be able to watch it from the start afterwards). The video focuses on weapon mastery and character origins.

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There will be new videos on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, focusing on the Fighter, the Paladin, and the Barbarian, with (presumably) more in the coming weeks.

 

[Chaosmancer]

If I'm to switch in middle of my campaign, it seems I need a swashbuckler, other chracters seem to be covered. What UA had the latest iteration of that?

UA #6 had the last Swashbuckler

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yep, and I'll bounce off this. Sometimes, the pact doesn't fit neatly into a category.

I have a Fey Warlock, his pact turned out to have a lot of hidden downsides, but they were actually not part of the deal. His deal was a marriage proposal to a Fey Lady, in exchange for giving the Fey a foothold in the new world. All the downsides came from politics, because he was marrying Fey Nobility.

I once made a Fiend Warlock whose pact was very, brutally simple. Demon filled her with power, sent her to recover a number of artifacts to increase his power, if she failed to do so? He'd slaughter her entire village. The entire "pact" was basically her being given the option of "I can kill you and everyone you love, or give you what you need to steal for me. Which is it?"

Both of these had consequences, but they aren't the types of things that could be covered in, say, a paladin oath, because they are so specific to the situation.

My point is that if a player just wants kewl powers from their pact with no downsides at all, the game as written supports that mechanically where it does not not support any other way of looking at the relationship. I see this, personally, as a problem stemming from designing for simplicity and a player base that refuses to accept penalties or negatives in their power fantasy.

 

[Stalker0]

Well, there was very little revealed in the video yesterday that we didn't already know from the playtest. I think the only thing that was really "new" was the Bonus Action Potion rule.

Though, I have heard this video is about a new spell. Just haven't had time to watch it yet.

Cure Wounds, same as the playtest (which is a GOOD change btw!)

Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron: 6th level
Creates up to ability mod (basically 5 for all of us!), potions of either common or uncommon type. Potions last until used or the duration of the spell (10 minutes).

I think that's a cool spell, gives a lot of "mass options" to the group. Can have a bunch of reserve healing potiosn for the next fight, mass climbing potions, a bevy of resistance potions is great, etc.


That's the kind of spell I like. NO CONCENTRATION! Good duration, creative and flexible, but doesn't seem to be a bulldozer of power kind of spell.

 

[Baumi]

UA #6 had the last Swashbuckler

You also should be able to use the original Swashbuckler.

 

[MNblockhead]

Yep. I'm with you - much prefer it this way.

It was even better when just a digital purchase gave you early access, but that went away some time ago.

(And I'm presuming I can then share the books with my campaigns early as well - can't see why not, as it's worked that way with other early access titles!)

Cheers,
Merric

I have no issues with this. I would have appreciated early access, but I'm not going to be playing D&D for a while so it doesn't matter. It makes sense that very active fans with subscriptions get early access, over someone like me who bought the books, but isn't an active subscriber.

 

[MNblockhead]

They've been doing that for awhile (since Dragonlance, I believe?) Yeah, they're trying to find yet another way to cut us out, which is a shame, but it's also understandable. As a consolation (and it really is a very good consolation) they're back to giving us the books two weeks early (though they have their digital books available early as well, for their subscribers) and they've recommitted to giving us those exclusive covers. Overall? I'm not overjoyed, but I am satisfied that they still consider us to be important, even if they'd like to make as much on their own as they can. It's more of a shrug than a rage, if that makes sense.

Overall, as long as they make products that are good enough to buy, I'll be able to keep selling them (for as long as they keep making print versions). If they were really smart, they'd sell us cards with digital codes that our customers could use to unlock Digital products. On the one hand, they'd be using us to teach our customers the joys (mixed as they can be) of digital, while also allowing those of our customers who want digital to be able to buy them from us.

I'm curious about your views, as a brick-and-mortar store owner, about the alt covers. Do they make much of a difference? How profitable are the alt covers to B&M stores compared to early access? I'm assuming early access would be better.

For what it is worth, as a customer, I find the alt covers and store perks are what are most likely to get me to drive to a FLGS versus buying on Amazon. Well...actually, the most effective way to get me to buy a book in a store versus online is to get me in the store. I seem preternaturally compelled to buy something when I'm in a game store, even if I won't go out of my way to go to a game store to buy something, if that makes sense. In the past decade, I think I've only bought books in a B&M store that has play space and events.

 

[Charlaquin]

If I'm to switch in middle of my campaign, it seems I need a swashbuckler, other chracters seem to be covered. What UA had the latest iteration of that?

UA6

 

[Charlaquin]

I run 5E without the optional feats. I provided feedback during the play-test for optional feats in 5E Revised (5ER) but could see that’s not where the revision was going. It looks like the feats at baked-in throughout 5ER. The rest of the changes are great so I’m hopeful I’ll be able to find some way to get rid of the feats in 5ER. What are your thoughts of feats in 5ER from these previews?

Ability score increase is a feat, so you can just say that’s the only feat allowed in your campaign.

 

[mamba]

I simply can not fathom a game where the characters aren’t the main driver of what’s happening.

I am not sure that is what character-concept focused means…

 

[MNblockhead]

so they say them, but that does not make it actually true.

I can see them having to learn a lot of new stuff so picking something premade over rolling your own is just one less mental hurdle they have to deal with and they gladly run with that, delaying a custom background to when they have less mental overload and a better idea of what backgrounds are.

That does not mean that creating one is not dead simple and they easily could do so if they didn’t have 20 more important things to figure out at the same time…

asking people with no experience while they are under stress about how complex something is that they have no idea about sounds like a great way to get accurate answers

Isn't this really more of a DM issue than a player issue? Whatever game I'm running, of whatever complexity, I'll step players through the character creation process. When I'm guiding someone through the process, a complex system is not more of a problem to players than a simple system. The only difference is how long the process to create a character takes. With most players I play with, whether new or long-term players, we'll make our characters together in the first session (or "session zero" as the kids like to say). That is part of the game and part of the fun.

But even if a new player is making a new character on their own, if they are using D&D Beyond, it does a good job walking new players through the process.

Talk about custom backgrounds seems overblown. I'm fine with people just selecting from a menu of background, but I would hate to take away the option of a custom background for players who have specific character concepts they are interested in.