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]

it’s funny seeing people dismiss the issues with “that stuffs always been in the 5E” and somehow miss that the issue is that “there is far more of it”.

Reeks of “I don’t DM, so not my problem.” Might be your problem if less people want to DM. Which from what I understand is already a rare commodity.

again, there is so much less than 4e it is a non-issue IMO.

 

[mellored]

it’s funny seeing people dismiss the issues with “that stuffs always been in the 5E” and somehow miss that the issue is that “there is far more of it”.

Where is there more of it?

Contest test rules are gone.
Group checks are gone.
Encumbrance is gone
Forced March rules are gone.
Squeezing rules are simplified to difficult terrain.
Surprised is simplified.
Exhaustion is simplified.
Moving though allies is no longer difficult terrain.

And wording is cleaned up all over.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

it’s funny seeing people dismiss the issues with “that stuffs always been in the 5E” and somehow miss that the issue is that “there is far more of it”.

Reeks of “I don’t DM, so not my problem.” Might be your problem if less people want to DM. Which from what I understand is already a rare commodity.

I am exclusively a DM and I don’t see the problems you are speaking of. This version at at glance seems clearer and easier for me.

 

[DarkCrisis]

again, there is so much less than 4e it is a non-issue IMO.

And? No one is talking about 4E.

The current Gen of players mostly started with 5th.

 

[dave2008]

And? No one is talking about 4E.

The current Gen of players mostly started with 5th.

I haven't dug into the new rules yet, but people that have (@mellored and @MonsterEnvy ) seem to disagree with you and @ECMO3 that there are more reactions a DM has to deal with. I guess I trust them more than you until I actually get the books myself.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

IM GOING TO SAY IT, WOTC PLAYED IT SAFE

Of course they did. That was...pretty much the entire point. As Ruin Explorer has put it, 5e is the apology edition. "We're sorry for 4e. We won't ever do anything like that to you again. Here's 3e with minor changes so casters are only immensely powerful, not completely over-the-top crazy."

Of course, 5e has done more than 4e ever did to make every character class a spellcaster, to make classes actually work by the same rules no matter what your thematics are, and to remove meaningful mechanical differentiation between playstyles. But because it looks and feels familiar, because it apologized for 4e, it's obviously the best thing ever.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, it is still a lot less options then levelUp isn't it? And you love levelUp, so I guess it is good for you?

Not an issue for me, no. Compared to 2o14 though, I understand why as a DM you might be irritated. Nothing in 5.5 has anything to do with me. I'm just a D&D enthusiast.

 

[Micah Sweet]

again, there is so much less than 4e it is a non-issue IMO.

A lot of people seemed to think 4e had way too much of that stuff, so to each their own.

 

[dave2008]

Not an issue for me, no. Compared to 2o14 though, I understand why as a DM you might be irritated. Nothing in 5.5 has anything to do with me. I'm just a D&D enthusiast.

I guess, it seems like much ado about nothing to me. The changes, IMO, are so minor I didn't really notice them when I DM'd the playtest options with my group. I know we are adopting weapon masteries (mostly martials in my group) and most of the general rules revisions, not sure what else.

 

[dave2008]

Of course they did. That was...pretty much the entire point. As Ruin Explorer has put it, 5e is the apology edition. "We're sorry for 4e. We won't ever do anything like that to you again. Here's 3e with minor changes so casters are only immensely powerful, not completely over-the-top crazy."

Of course, 5e has done more than 4e ever did to make every character class a spellcaster, to make classes actually work by the same rules no matter what your thematics are, and to remove meaningful mechanical differentiation between playstyles. But because it looks and feels familiar, because it apologized for 4e, it's obviously the best thing ever.

That, IME, is not even close to the truth. I love both 4e and 5e for their similarities and differences. They are simply not that far apart IME.