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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Sad that Nentir Vale has been left by the wayside. 5e doesn't seem to have any of these more barren and survival based settings anymore.

Well, hopefully this new approach would cause them to make each of the settings more distinct, with the core rules being more generic.

 

[Parmandur]

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."

I picked this one to read, I read for about 5 mins, as soon I read that the text in book refers to the glossary, I was done. This is a joke, WotC congratulations you've done it again. I'm not dealing with yet another edition of page flipping. If one of their goals was to better organize the book, why they didn't put the explanation in the text where it belongs?

...?

What? The 18 page Rules Glossary is where are the rules are located.

 

[DarkCrisis]

"Conjuring" 8 creatures slowed the game down too much, so yea. They all got replaced, mostly with zones of some kind.

"Summon" spells will give you 1 creature to move around. Including summon elemental.

Oh alright.

 

[darjr]

D&D (2024) - Jorphdan flips through the 2024 PHB live.

2024 PHB Flip through | D&D 2024 PHB Flip through | D&D #dnd2024 #dnd #phb #ttrpg #phb2024 he didn’t sine an nda for this video.

www.enworld.org

 

[dave2008]

I don't feel like it would. the dragon only gets bloodied once.

The math says otherwise. I know, I have checked.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Well, hopefully this new approach would cause them to make each of the settings more distinct, with the core rules being more generic.

I suspect that the exclusion of more dark and barren worlds is intentional. By their very nature, these less explored and developed (in game that is) settings tend to be grittier and more morally questionable in places, which goes heavily against the theme of modern DnD.

 

[dave2008]

Hopefully D&D Beyond will still allow you to use the old ones.

I heard they just completely stripped the PHB if flavour leaving it super bland except for gorgeous art.

Sounds perfect to me, good to know!

 

[Zaukrie]

I suspect that the exclusion of more dark and barren worlds is intentional. By their very nature, these less explored and developed (in game that is) settings tend to be grittier and more morally questionable in places, which goes heavily against the theme of modern DnD.

Nentir Vale is none of that....IMO, of course.

 

[Iosue]

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."

I picked this one to read, I read for about 5 mins, as soon I read that the text in book refers to the glossary, I was done. This is a joke, WotC congratulations you've done it again. I'm not dealing with yet another edition of page flipping. If one of their goals was to better organize the book, why they didn't put the explanation in the text where it belongs?

Because if I, say, need to remind myself what the save DC to maintain a Concentration spell is, I need to flip to the Magic section of the 2014 PHB, then skim it until I find the rule. While with the 2024 rules, I just go to the C section of the Rules Glossary.

The PHB, as the primary book of the game, is obligated to explain the rules and how to play. But its primary use over the course of its life is as a reference book. Typically during games, when there is a bit of time pressure.

In the 2024 PHB, they front loaded the explanation on how to play the game, and designed the rest of it to be a reference book. Note that this isn’t some 2-3 page deal; the glossary is 18 pages! And I anticipate it to get heavy use during play. I think it’s an excellent structure for the PHB.

 

[Reynard]

The math says otherwise. I know, I have checked.

If ytou say so. I don't know how you can rely on "the math" though when the probability of breath recharge is so wild. I have had dragons recharge every round for 4 rounds in a row, and also never recharge once in a 10 round fight.

Also, if you dragon fight is only lasting 3 rounds and the dragon is bloodied in round 2, you probably should have picked a bigger dragon.