D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal: "New Wizard"

"The paramount collector of spells."

Open your spellbooks, everybody. Today we get a Wizard video.


The last version of the class was in the UA Playtest 7 package (PT7). It's not clear how much they'll say here. Of the base class, I am hoping that they have recanted the level 5 ability, Memorize Spell (or perhaps shifted it to needing a short rest). They've said that the PHB will get clearer rules for how illusions work -- maybe they'll talk about that? Other than that, I think the most they can do is show us some revised spells: Will the revised version of Counterspell be kept? Any surprise Necromancy reveals? Let's find out.

OVERVIEW
  • "the paramount collector of spells": "many" of new spells are for the wizard.
  • As in PT7: cantrip change after long rest (level 1); scholar -- expertise in an academic field (at 2)
  • NO MENTION OF ARCANE RECOVERY
  • NEW: Ritual Adept broken out as a new class feature. They can cast spells in their spellbook, as before, but here ID'd as a new feature.
  • NEW: Memorize Spell at 5: you can swap a spell after short rest.
  • Each subclass gets a new version of Savant: free spells in spellbook of preferred school. 2 free spells of favored class, and a new spell for each spell level (so every 2 levels, as in the playtest. This isn't what is said in the video, but has been corrected elsewhere.
SUBCLASSES
Abjurer
  • new abjuration spells feeds back onto how subclass functions.
  • NEW: Arcane Ward at 3: resistance, immunity applied before the Arcane Ward.
  • NEW: Projected Ward a 6: your friend's resistance is applied before the ward for them.
  • NEW: Spell breaker at level 10: Counterspell and Dispell Magic are both prepared (PT7 did not include Counterspell). Dispell Magic is a bonus action.
Diviner
  • NEW: Third Eye at 10. As in PT7, bonus action to activate; 120' darkvision, see invisibility. NO MENTION of Greater Comprehension ("read any language")
Evoker -- "all about bringing the boom"
  • As in PT7: Potent Cantrip at 3 applies to cantrips both with a saving throw or an attack roll.
Illusionist -- "we felt that the subclass needed more" (YAY)
  • NEW: Improved Illusions at level 3:
    • cast illusion spells with no verbal components. (FUN)
    • illusions with range with at least 10' is increased to 60' (no-- by 60' to 70').
    • you get minor illusion cantrip, with both visual and audible
    • you cast minor illusion as a bonus action.
  • NEW: Phantasmal Creatures
    • summon beast and summon fey spells always prepared. These MAY BE changed from conjuration to Illusion, and the illusory version can be cast without expending a spell slot, but the summoned version, only with half the hit points. ONCE PER DAY.
    • illusions can step on a trap to set it off (?!)
    • (replacing Malleable Illusions, which I complained about here. This is so exciting.)
  • NEW: Illusory Self triggered by you being hit by an attack (not when you are targeted). As in PT7, you can get more uses by giving up a spell slot of level 2+.
SPECIFIC SPELLS
  • NEW: school shift to Abjuration: no examples
  • Counterspell as in PT7.
  • GUIDANCE ON ILLUSIONS in Rules Glossary. E.g. How are they affected by environment?
    • spell descriptions also clarified. Rules Glossary to be discussed in future video (also conditions, areas of effects, guidance on teleportation, telepathy, "
  • "being dead" to be discussed in Cleric Video. Tease...
So this gave much more than I was expecting, and it looks amazing. Playing an illusionist will now be much more clearly not a "mother may I?" situation, which (I feel) has long been the case. I think I got most of what I'd asked for in the PT feedback.
 

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No, they were picked for being opposites. Illusions (lies) vs Diviners (truth) and Evokers (offense) vs Abjurers (defence). This is a themes in most if not all subclass choices in 2024 PHB.
It's the same four reasons the cleric domains were: light (truth), trickery (lies), life (defense) and war (offense).

Wish they had been a little more original with one of those classes...
 

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It's the same four reasons the cleric domains were: light (truth), trickery (lies), life (defense) and war (offense).

Wish they had been a little more original with one of those classes...

I wanted Divine Soul instead of Clockwork Sorcerer, but DS's opposites are uts subsubclasses Evil, Good, Chaos, Law, and Neutral. Instead they went Wild (Chaos), Clockwork (Law), Dragons vs Aberrations.
 


Fairness to who?
In fairness to Wizards. One of the first UAs they did, back in 2015 IIRC, had a School of Artifice wizard subclass. I, for one, hated it because it basically only shared the name with classic Artificers.
Let's be honest: you could easily split the game into two (Lv 1-10 and Lv 11-20).
I think the main issue with that is that if you split the game up horizontally like that, it becomes hard to also expand it vertically. Now, Wizards doesn't seem to keen on doing a lot of vertical expansion, but still.
 


As mathematically obvious as that is, I think it actually splits 1-12 and 13-20. Either way, you're right. It's got a natural, and IMO shamefully overlooked split near the middle.

Don't threaten me with a good time. They really should. Mark one as 'heroic' and the other as 'epic'.

But we all know the book that went to lv 20 wouldn't sell as much...
 

But we all know the book that went to lv 20 wouldn't sell as much...
That and there would be plenty of people going apoplectic over this, claiming it was a some cynical ploy by WotC to make people have to buy more books. Probably with lots of quips about DLCs and late-stage capitalism. While I would welcome the core PHB going from 1-10 and taking the saved pages to add in some additional sub-classes or interesting new downtime systems, etc., I just don't think it would fly with much of the fandom.

Also, I do worry that if they did do this, the 11-20 "epic" play book would get very little support in terms of adventures, setting material, and monsters. Probably best that they keep all 20 levels in the PHB if they are going to mostly ignore the last 5-10 levels.
 

That and there would be plenty of people going apoplectic over this, claiming it was a some cynical ploy by WotC to make people have to buy more books. Probably with lots of quips about DLCs and late-stage capitalism. While I would welcome the core PHB going from 1-10 and taking the saved pages to add in some additional sub-classes or interesting new downtime systems, etc., I just don't think it would fly with much of the fandom.

Also, I do worry that if they did do this, the 11-20 "epic" play book would get very little support in terms of adventures, setting material, and monsters. Probably best that they keep all 20 levels in the PHB if they are going to mostly ignore the last 5-10 levels.
It depends on the fandom. But dividing between a book for levels 1 thru 8, and a book for levels 9 thru 20 plus Epic, makes sense. Most of the content, such as spells, is for the lowest tiers, 1 thru 4 and 5 thru 8. The content for higher tiers is less but important to balance well. The first half also serves as the "low magic" genre, while the 9+ serves as the "superhero" genre. A dedicated book can lean into the high tier flavors.
 
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That and there would be plenty of people going apoplectic over this, claiming it was a some cynical ploy by WotC to make people have to buy more books. Probably with lots of quips about DLCs and late-stage capitalism. While I would welcome the core PHB going from 1-10 and taking the saved pages to add in some additional sub-classes or interesting new downtime systems, etc., I just don't think it would fly with much of the fandom.

Also, I do worry that if they did do this, the 11-20 "epic" play book would get very little support in terms of adventures, setting material, and monsters. Probably best that they keep all 20 levels in the PHB if they are going to mostly ignore the last 5-10 levels.
We spent the last decade with an entire edition dedicated to providing epic play as soon as tier 1&2 while being told "just homebrew it" if there is any desire to dial it back from the super hero end of the scale. There are definitely people who do and don't want epic play as the starting point and people who would benefit from a quick realignment of PCs down to the baseline spec to resume growth from as the level threshold.
 
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Id like the PHB only covered 1-10 heroic stage if the archetypes got ALL of their features within those 10 level.

For the epic book, you could even let the class pick a prestige/paragon class aka a new, smaller archtype to cover the 1-2 features archetypes usually gain above 10th level.

Like Fighter/ Battlemaster at 3rd, 7, 10/ Dread Reaver at 13th and 18th.
 

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