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.

 

[OB1]

I may be in the minority here, but I quite like that the rules for the Exploration and Social pillars of the game are even more vague for PCs. I want to keep those sections as rule-lite and story based as possible for my players, only getting into real crunch when combat happens. I feel it allows the story to develop and move smoothly as a conversation between me and my players, occasionally interrupted by an ability check when the outcome is uncertain.

 

[Hatmatter]

Sorry it wasn't better news: I like that stuff, too!

I don't feel that the 5E revision is more combat focused than before, though I think theybput effort into patching up weird corners of the combat system and making everything more clear.

That’s great to hear.

 

[darjr]

D&D 2024 Player's Handbook Walkthrough #dnd #dnd2024 #phb #slyflourish

 

[SteveC]

Since the topic of the pillars of the game has come up, we're at a new(ish) edition, so I'm going to suggest again that books on the other two pillars would be an excellent idea.

That idea combined with abilities for different classes that are specific to those pillars, so a rogue or a fighter or a wizard would each have something specific to do when in those types of encounters. It's a great opportunity.

From what I'm seeing, the Players Handbook is largely the combat pillar. Although, can anyone confirm we still have that equipment page with prices for a mirror or a 10-foot pole in the book?

 

[Corinnguard]

I can't even imagine how wound up @Micah Sweet and @Corinnguard are by this post! A potential recruit!

I like it when I see someone mention Level Up or an interest in Level Up on the forums. Like @Micah Sweet, I am something of a Level Up enthusiast. I was one of several thousand backers when it was launched in 2021. @R_J_K75 simply expressed an interest, and I was happy to point him toward Level Up.

Seems like I can throw out what I dont want use while keeping custimation? Not to sum up your post in a sentence but is that somewhat, right?

You can mix and match stuff from both 5e and Level Up as you see fit.

At least 50%* of their posts reference Level Up. I did have a look at the system. I did like what I saw, a lot. It did seem to address some of the gaps/shortcomings of 5E IMO. Cost to ship to Canada, though... no thanks.

* Might be some hyperbole on my part... but not much!

I haven't really counted the number of times I've brought up Level Up on these forums. I've been actively participating on the EN World forums for almost 3 years now. Yeah, it's cheaper to get Level Up info from A5e Tools or the A5e SRD. I have the Adventurer's Guide, the first Monstrous Menagerie, both GPG annuals, and two Level Up related 3pp's (Paranormal Power by @Steampunkette and Purple Martin Games' Manual of Adventurous Resources: Complete) in my collection.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

In @SlyFlourish's video above - this is the first I've heard that "you get a Feat AND an ability bump" at level four. Care to elaborate? Is it just BOTH the 2014 options of ASI and a Feat or is it the "half-feats" of the playtest? (Where you can just take the ASI feat if you want to ignore feats).

 

[Stalker0]

In @SlyFlourish's video above - this is the first I've heard that "you get a Feat AND an ability bump" at level four. Care to elaborate? Is it just BOTH the 2014 options of ASI and a Feat or is it the "half-feats" of the playtest? (Where you can just take the ASI feat if you want to ignore feats).

I think they mean that all general feats give a +1 to a stat

 

[Parmandur]

I may be in the minority here, but I quite like that the rules for the Exploration and Social pillars of the game are even more vague for PCs. I want to keep those sections as rule-lite and story based as possible for my players, only getting into real crunch when combat happens. I feel it allows the story to develop and move smoothly as a conversation between me and my players, occasionally interrupted by an ability check when the outcome is uncertain.

Yeah, and there is probably going to be more detail in the DMG.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Be interesting to see if this new crop of gamers who have only ever known 5E and say they won’t change to 5.5 will stick to their guns and not upgrade or will history repeat itself again and everyone eventually use the new version.

I'm expecting it to be slightly more successful than the attempt to boycott Modern Warfare 2. But that's only because you don't need to buy the books to use the rules.

 

[Steampunkette]

I got summoned!

Yeah, not super interested in buying the 2024 PHB. I'll wait 'til the SRD comes out and review it, but I can't give WotC any more of my money after everything that's happened.

But who knows? Maybe they'll have some good ideas I can adapt for Level Up?