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.

 

[dave2008]

You totally missed my point. 4E was such an outlier that it was sure to be controversial. It just didn't play like traditional D&D, it seemed more like a video game, which I think they were trying to chaptalize on the WoW craze of the time. So, I wasn't lambasting it as you say, I meant it was such an outlier that it didn't have relevance in this conversation. Even WotC knows that that's why we have 5E, which is based off 3.x.

Again, this is funny. It seems you don't even realize what you're saying.

4e was not such an outlier. It was exactly what you said you wanted WotC do. 4e is D&D and a great version of it. It played like D&D to me. So much so, it is the game that brought me back to D&D after leaving when 2e came out and skipping 3e.

 

[dave2008]

Intrinsically, sure, mechanically no. The game has evolved since its inception. You can still have AC, HP etc. but they don't have to work the same mechanically now as it did 40-50 years ago. Alignment as you said has a very different meaning now than it did in 1E or 2E.

But they do work the same (or mostly so) mechanically. That was my point. Alignment being the biggest RAW, but we played it the same in 1e as we do now. It is just RAW now.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Honestly that's one of my biggest reservations, how long until they punt, cry foul, get a whole new regime and then we get 6E? My moneys on within 5 years, because I think this evergreen revision mantra is going to tank, and quick. Yesterday I looked at a poll someone did here on EN World. are you going to adopt the new revision, and 47% (and I may be wrong) but I believe that was the number said no. I want something new, not more of the same.

ENW is the vast majority of players.

As we see with normal sales, people love upgrade books. Tasha's and Xanathars etc etc. Heck some buy the adventures just to have them. "Gotta catch 'em all!"

5.5 will sale fine. Those who resist will buy it eventually just so they can find new games easier. Finding a "base 5E group" will get harder and harder as time goes on. Eventually finding anything that's not "Current Version" gets harder and harder.

Though online games may be the saving grace here for them. Easier to find an online 2E group than it is to find a table running one.

What's funny to me is, are all those people who don't want to give up their favorite edition ever give crap to those who still play the older older editions? "The future is now, old man." etc

 

[DarkCrisis]

Again, this is funny. It seems you don't even realize what your saying.

4e was not such an outlier. It was exactly what you said you wanted WotC do. 4e is D&D and a great version of it. It played like D&D to me. So much so, it is the game that brought me back to D&D after leaving when 2e came out and skipping 3e.

Played like WoW to me. shrugs

 

[Arilyn]

5e to me feels like a streamlined 3e to me. Feats, rolling stat plus skill, very similar multi-classing, skill list, etc.

 

[dave2008]

Played like WoW to me. shrugs

First I will have to say I have never played WoW and I don't play video games really, so the comparison is lost on me. It played like D&D to me, so that is what was important to me and my group. shrugs

 

[Valetudo]

Just some quick points.I like the 5.5 ranger. It is the best version of 5th edition.its alot like Tasha's version, just a little bit more streamlined. It still puts out good dps, gets to be a pretty good skill monkey. They fixed atleast most of the combat spells to not use concentration(mostly). I like that HM is their bread and butter damage option. Yes there is a couple points like hm as a spell. Oh yeah I ran 4th edition just like every other edition out of combat and it worked fine. There where actually alot of background options and utility abilities to flesh out pcs that way. Skill challenges where pretty fun when used also.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is quite funny. You seem to be bashing WotC for playing it "safe" right after lambasting them about 4e - when they didn't play it safe!

I can see it. I respected WotC for trying something new and different, even risky, with 4e. But I didn't actually like the choices they made, and I don't like 4e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because the ability for a martial character to impose disadvantage or push an enemy allows for more dynamic tactical play, and will prevent battlefields from becoming static slogs where everyone is getting bored because nothing is moving and changing and we are just waiting for hp to hit zero.

Again. I've run for entire parties with nothing but full casters. The fighter having topple isn't going to suddenly break me and leave me a sobbing mess on the floor as a DM. I dealt with three characters overlapping AOE spells, each with an at-will forced movement ability, which triggered all three spells every turn on the enemy. I'll be fine.

Your hyperbole is unwarranted. One martial with neat tricks doesn't make a fight that would otherwise be a slog into not a slog, but it does (to some degree) increase the DMs workload. WotC literally admitted this more than once and played it off as a joke. It seems to me what you're saying is, it might be a little more complex, but not enough for you to care.

 

[Micah Sweet]

We as humans often perceive new information through our lenses of personal bias, whether positive or negative. For me, the new books are welcome, and the parts I don't like are drowned out by the parts I do like. Simple. For others, any parts they don't like might drown out the parts they do like.

If a person didn't want this slight update in the rules (whether they are happy with 5E as-is, or wanted something far more different, or they are just sick and tired of WotC fumbling the ball), they may not feel the need to buy new books, or even want to discuss them. But that is where the conversation is! If all the the community wants to talk about is the new big thing, that is where detractors have to go to engage the larger community. And if they have to engage people about stuff they didn't like or want, they can come off as negative.

I just hope that we stay constructive and not split the party. Let's be kind to each other in our criticisms of the product, and of each others' opinions, whether positive or negative. No more edition wars. All D&D is D&D.

I have said this many times. I'm not looking forward to 5.5, but that's all anyone wants to talk about with any frequency. Also, many subjects of discussion can reference any version of the game, and therefore would be nice to engage in, but WotC's new offering is going to drown out those conversations too. You have to talk about 5.5 if you want to engage with the community.