D&D (2024) D&D 2024 Player's Handbook Reviews

On Thursday August 1st, the review embargo is lifted for those who were sent an early copy of the new Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook. In this post I intend to compile a handy list of those reviews as they arrive. If you know of a review, please let me know in the comments so that I can add it! I'll be updating this list as new reviews arrive, so do check back later to see what's been added!

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Review List

• The official EN World review -- "Make no mistake, this is a new edition."
• ComicBook.com -- "Dungeons & Dragons has improved upon its current ruleset, but the ruleset still feels very familiar to 5E veterans."
• Comic Book Resources -- "From magic upgrades to easier character building, D&D's 2024 Player's Handbook is the upgrade players and DMs didn't know they needed."
• Wargamer.com -- "The 2024 Player’s Handbook is bigger and more beginner-friendly than ever before. It still feels and plays like D&D fifth edition, but numerous quality-of-life tweaks have made the game more approachable and its player options more powerful. Its execution disappoints in a handful of places, and it’s too early to tell how the new rules will impact encounter balance, but this is an optimistic start to the new Dungeons and Dragons era."
• RPGBOT -- "A lot has changed in the 2024 DnD 5e rules. In this horrendously long article, we’ve dug into everything that has changed in excruciating detail. There’s a lot here."

Video Reviews
Note, a couple of these videos have been redacted or taken down following copyright claims by WotC.

• 2024 PHB Rules Changes D&D 5.24 (Treantmonk's Temple)
• Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook 2024 Preview & Review | Key Takeaways and Comparisons with 2014 (Awesome Black)
• 10 Unexpected Changes in the D&D 5E 2024 Player's Handbook (This Effin' GM Games)
• Every Class and Subclass Change for 2024 (d4: Deep Dive)
• D&D Player's Handbook 2024 Winners & Losers! (The Character Sheet on ComicBook.com)
• 2024 Player's Handbook First Look Review (Dungeon Dudes)
• The 2024 Player's Handbook: Full Spoilers Review (DnD Shorts)
• Full Early Review! D&D 2024 Player's Handbook (JoeFudge)
• First Look at the 2024 Player's Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons (GameMasters)
• 2024 PHB Flip through (Jorphdan) [taken down]
• D&D New Player's Handbook, DM's Guide, Monster Manual, and Project Sigil Info (maturemindedgamers)
• 2024 Player's Handbook: Questions Answered! (Alphastream)
• D&D 2024 Player's Handbook Walkthrough (Sly Flourish) [redacted]

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Release timeline (i.e. when you can get it!)

• August 1st: Reviewers. Some reviewers have copies already, with their embargo lifting August 1st.
• August 1st-4th: Gen Con. There will be 3,000 copies for sale at Gen Con.
• September 3rd: US/Canada Hobby Stores. US/Canada hobby stores get it September 3rd.
• September 3rd: DDB 'Master' Pre-orders. Also on this date, D&D Beyond 'Master Subscribers' get the digital version.
• September 10th: DDB 'Hero' Pre-orders. On this date, D&D Beyond 'Hero Subscribers' get the digital version.
• September 17th: General Release. For the rest of us, the street date is September 17th.

 

[KYRON45]

I purposely make it a point to build powerful characters with things contrary to TM's advice. The reason is I think it is so boring seeing the same optimized builds every time.

Sometimes this is difficult and requires some out of the box tactics and thinking but I am usually successful at building successful characters, even in games with max optimizers.

It's been my experience that we tell stories about the times we miss just as often as the stories of our great successes.

 

[Nightfly]

Treantmonk reports that gobs of more technical stuff is gone from the new PHB, either because it's been moved to the DMG or is gone completely. Rules for encumberance are gone, except for a blurb that your DM might limit what you can carry. Rules for squeezing, forced march, and ability contests are absent.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Treantmonk reports that gobs of more technical stuff is gone from the new PHB, either because it's been moved to the DMG or is gone completely. Rules for encumberance are gone, except for a blurb that your DM might limit what you can carry. Rules for squeezing, forced march, and ability contests are absent.

WotC has realized that most people use 5e for Fantasy Blorbo Simulator and their cutting off vestigial stuff meant to appeal to the OSR crowd.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Why do you make such uninformed statements then about a specific person then?

Again, I wa speaking in general and not about anyone in specific.

 

[Seramus]

Good review by Treant.

 

[Nightfly]

Supposedly ALL the changes listed here. EDIT: not quite all. Info on a lot of spells still missing.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Supposedly ALL the changes listed here.

Not all, changes to the Summon X Spells are not listed there.

 

[Parmandur]

10 Unexpected Changes in D&D 5E 2024 Player's Handbook

Biggest surprise here, there are no named deities mentioned in the new PHB at all.

 

[Riley]

Supposedly ALL the changes listed here. EDIT: not quite all. Info on a lot of spells still missing.

: “Bloodied: The term “Bloodied” has been reintroduced; originally used in 4e, “Bloodied” indicates that a creature is at or below half hit points”!

 

[Belen]

• Hide: There is now a base DC of 15 to successfully hide.
  
  • This is stupid and I hate it. A level 1 character with a +3 Dex modifier and proficiency in Stealth has a +5 modifier, giving them a 50% chance to hide successfully even if they’re hiding from a blind creature. Low-level Rogues are going to absolutely suffer when trying to hide in combat.

Does this mean passive perception starts a min of14?