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.

 

[ECMO3]

While I agree that the custom option is preferable, and that I don't like it in the DMG.... are you not aware of the backwards compatibility text that does that exact same thing in the PHB? Literally, the exact same thing as the custom option.

Only if you are playing with 2014 rules ..... and even if you are they are STILL DIFFERENT FROM THE PLAYTEST!

 

[Chaosmancer]

That is what I am talking about, and it IS different from the playtest when it still used the 2014 feat.

Then shouldn't you say that the feat from the playtest changed, instead of trying to make it sound like everything about dual-wielding changed?

For the most part the classes are similar to latest versions as presented in the playtest.

There are a lot of spell changes though, and that is my point. People claiming "the playtest is just like 2024" are wrong. The playtest was a lot different, the many spell changes, including some that were changed in the playtest and then changed again are different than what we were playing with during the playtest.

And do any of those spell changes make a big difference? As in, more of a difference than when Tasha's added entirely new spells? Again "spells changed" is too vague and broad to be useful. And we saw quite a few spell changes IN the playtest that carried through.

This is just not true. The new rules are quite different and grappling movement has been all over the place.

First in the 2014 rules your speed was halved when the creature was less than 2 sizes smaller. This is not covered in the grappled condition, it is in the combat section, but it is relatively simple.

Second the grappled condition as presented in playtest 1 caused the slowed condition on the grappler. This meant grapplers were attacked with advantage during the playtest and had disadvantage on dexterity saves (at least the early playtest) in addition to having their speed halved. Key in the playtest - your speed is halved.

In the new grappled condition there is no change to speed when grappling. Your speed stays the same but one foot of movement requires 2 feet movement for the grappler (and ironically means the 2024 grappler feat does not really do anything regarding movement unless there is another section in the PHB that says your speed is changed as well). Finally, there is no penalty for moving tiny creatures regardless of size of the grappler.

Yes, I will readily admit if you are still playing with 2014 or choose to ignore the new rules then the new rules are not new for you.

So, in the playtest the grappler had the slowed condition and had half speed. Now the grappler takes double the movement to move... which is effectively half speed. That's not a change. Additionally, the slowed condition applying to the grappler was dropped in PLaytest packet 4, so a little under half way through the process. Meaning that... no the rules didn't change. IF you were following the playtest the version we have now is basically identical to the version in document #4.

Now yes, I will admit that if you stopped paying attention to the playtest, you might see these as new, but they really aren't for those of us who followed the documents.

No but using it did because Quicken spell, used during the playtest was subcject to the 2014 bonus action rule and now it isn't.

But it is under an even stricter limitation that does essentially the same thing.

Yes it did. The final version allows you to ignore the ammunition property, which is in play actually a bigger deal than ignoring the loading porperty.

Arguably a clean up of the language, and a stretch for the argument that we can't understand anything about the 2024 rules from the playtest by saying that dual handcrossbows, a thing done in 2014, was made explicitly possible by altering the ammo rules slightly.

Debated by who?

People. I don't track the names of every single person I talk to or see on the internet.

Yes they have. They are completely different. Not a single one is the same.

1. Every single background that was in Playtest 1 and that is also in the PHB is different in the PHB
2. Some didn't make it to the PHB at all.
3. There were no feats at all (to my knowlege) as part of the playtest backgrounds
4. The "Build your own background" is not included in the PHB

They had minor alterations in specific details, but not in function. True not all of them made it, but neither did Ardlings and that doesn't make 2024 an unknown to us just because the playtest had ardlings and the book doesn't.

To point #3, yes, they had feats.

To point #4, it is in the PHB under the backwards compatibility rules, but otherwise moving it to the DMG does not alter the rule.

It may be an error but right now it is a change. Also that is not the only change to the condition, the new version of stun does not alter your ability to speak either. I mean they could have kept it the same and didn't, which to me implies it is intentional.

Ah yes, because clearly whether or not a stunned person can speak makes for radical differences. 2024 is truly a black box mystery to us now.

If you don't use the new rules, then yes there are not many changes. But if you do use the new rules, then yes there are a lot of changes

Somehow I think that whether or not they are allowed to talk while stunned or that a feat was minorly altered in a way we completely know about and was arguably intended from the start is going to blow people away and make them feel like they are playing a completely different game.

You are grasping at straws.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Only if you are playing with 2014 rules ..... and even if you are they are STILL DIFFERENT FROM THE PLAYTEST!

Not in function, only in detail. Sure, now gladiator doesn't exist and merchant doesn't get dwarvish as a language, but the end result is still basically the exact same.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Also, I want to remind you as you are screaming into the void that THE BACKGROUNDS ARE DIFFERENT!!! The entire argument is how the playtest can't be used to show the change in the length of combat.

Last I checked, whether or not you can speak goblin, or if you you got a +1 wisdom at character creation instead of a +1 charisma.... doesn't affect the overall flow of combat for the party. So the majority of these "changes" you are insisting on acknowledging don't even apply to your argument.

 

[FrogReaver]

Also, I want to remind you as you are screaming into the void that THE BACKGROUNDS ARE DIFFERENT!!! The entire argument is how the playtest can't be used to show the change in the length of combat.

Last I checked, whether or not you can speak goblin, or if you you got a +1 wisdom at character creation instead of a +1 charisma.... doesn't affect the overall flow of combat for the party. So the majority of these "changes" you are insisting on acknowledging don't even apply to your argument.

That was never my argument. I think quite a few eyebrows got raised when people were trying to minimize the amount of things that have changed. That’s where I jumped into the convo and I think others as well.

 

[Mistwell]

In the 2024 grappled condition there is no change to speed when grappling. Your speed stays the same but one foot of movement requires 2 feet movement for the grappler (and ironically means the 2024 grappler feat does not really do anything regarding movement if the reported feat wording is accurate). There is no penalty for moving tiny creatures regardless of size of the grappler.

In this context, 1 foot of movement costs 1 extra foot is identical to half speed. It's just another way of saying half-speed.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

That was never my argument. I think quite a few eyebrows got raised when people were trying to minimize the amount of things that have changed. That’s where I jumped into the convo and I think others as well.

It's amazing how often we ENWorlders lose track of what we are even arguing about.

The context of any claims regarding things not changing much was referring to, first of all, the end of the playtest (not the beginning) and second of all, to the subject of whether the 2024 rules will slow down combat, and the question of if playtesting would grant you any insight there

Point being: Combat during playtesting wasn't significantly slower than 2014 combat, and the 2024 rules don't appear to be significantly different enough from the playtest to make that change.

Are there differences? Sure. Just not differences that are significant to that area of discussion. If you want to discuss something else, I'm sure that's fine, but if it's under a different context, expect to be misunderstood.

 

[FrogReaver]

It's amazing how often we ENWorlders lose track of what we are even arguing about.

Indeed.

The context of any claims regarding things not changing much was referring to, first of all, the end of the playtest (not the beginning) and second of all, to the subject of whether the 2024 rules will slow down combat, and the question of if playtesting would grant you any insight there

I actually assumed 'the playtest' was some weird amalgamation of all the playtests where literally someone could point to a change being in one of them and proclaim the change was in 'the playtest'. I was glad that wasn't the case.

Point being: Combat during playtesting wasn't significantly slower than 2014 combat, and the 2024 rules don't appear to be significantly different enough from the playtest to make that change.

It baffles my mind that we know they've added alot of fiddly bits compared to 2014. Lots of attacks using different mods for example. Lots of spell nuances to relearn for casters. We know there will be a learning curve compared to where people are today with 2014 today. I'm confident saying that on average 2024 out the gate will be slower than 2014 now (but maybe not for every table and maybe not enough to notice for many others, but on average it will be slower than current 2014 now). I'm confident that 2024 will require a bit more mental load even after the rules are committed to memory, there's just more turn by turn options for more classes, especially for martials. Will things still be slower? Probably not most the time at most tables once the ins and outs have been learned, but it certainly won't speed things up compared to 2014 now, and there will be situations where where the player will really want to carefully consider his expanded list of options. There will be times when the player rolls the wrong damage dice when changing weapons or adds the wrong mod, etc, and those mistakes will occur more often, and will require some time to fix.

But here's the thing, unless combat length consistently doubles or nearly so, then no one is going to notice. So yea, I think objectively it will be longer. Some tables will experience the doubling in the learning curve period, most probably won't. But after that's out of the way it might be 5% or maybe 10% slower on average, and most tables won't notice that at all.

Are there differences? Sure. Just not differences that are significant to that area of discussion. If you want to discuss something else, I'm sure that's fine, but if it's under a different context, expect to be misunderstood.

Maybe this will clear it up - i didn't really care for that area of discussion. I gave my 2 cents earlier about how number of rounds won't be significantly decreased and moved on. But I was interested in discussing the magnitude of 2024 changes on it's own merits. When the posts I was responding to were about 2024 changes with no mention of combat speed, and my replies were about those with no mention of combat speed, I don't really think the 'context of combat length' mattered anymore. I assumed it was a new tangential conversation. I think anyone still thinking it was about combat length at that point was the one misunderstanding.

Anyways, now you have my thoughts on combat length.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Indeed.

I actually assumed 'the playtest' was some weird amalgamation of all the playtests where literally someone could point to a change being in one of them and proclaim the change was in 'the playtest'. I was glad that wasn't the case.

It baffles my mind that we know they've added alot of fiddly bits compared to 2014. Lots of attacks using different mods for example. Lots of spell nuances to relearn for casters. We know there will be a learning curve compared to where people are today with 2014 today. I'm confident saying that on average 2024 out the gate will be slower than 2014 now (but maybe not for every table and maybe not enough to notice for many others, but on average it will be slower than current 2014 now). I'm confident that 2024 will require a bit more mental load even after the rules are committed to memory, there's just more turn by turn options for more classes, especially for martials. Will things still be slower? Probably not most the time at most tables once the ins and outs have been learned, but it certainly won't speed things up compared to 2014 now, and there will be situations where where the player will really want to carefully consider his expanded list of options. There will be times when the player rolls the wrong damage dice when changing weapons or adds the wrong mod, etc, and those mistakes will occur more often, and will require some time to fix.

But here's the thing, unless combat length consistently doubles or nearly so, then no one is going to notice. So yea, I think objectively it will be longer. Some tables will experience the doubling in the learning curve period, most probably won't. But after that's out of the way it might be 5% or maybe 10% slower on average, and most tables won't notice that at all.


Maybe this will clear it up - i didn't really care for that area of discussion. I gave my 2 cents earlier about how number of rounds won't be significantly decreased and moved on. But I was interested in discussing the magnitude of 2024 changes on it's own merits. When the posts I was responding to were about 2024 changes with no mention of combat speed, and my replies were about those with no mention of combat speed, I don't really think the 'context of combat length' mattered anymore. I assumed it was a new tangential conversation. I think anyone still thinking it was about combat length at that point was the one misunderstanding.

Anyways, now you have my thoughts on combat length.

Oh, I'd LOVE to be done with the subject of combat length - like you, I was done with it a million posts back. It's just where the context started for the discussion on the significance or insignificance of the changes.

We CAN move on (I hope) to talk about the changes themselves, but I think that we'll just find that one person's "close enough to exactly the same" will meet another person's "wildly different" over the same rule. We can see that already above!

 

[FrogReaver]

Oh, I'd LOVE to be done with the subject of combat length - like you, I was done with it a million posts back. It's just where the context started for the discussion on the significance or insignificance of the changes.

We CAN move on (I hope) to talk about the changes themselves, but I think that we'll just find that one person's "close enough to exactly the same" will meet another person's "wildly different" over the same rule. We can see that already above!

We can talk about them from different perspectives.

From the perspective of character build changes and changing decision trees in combat I think those things will be quite a bit different.

I think the game will clearly feel very similar to 2014 d&d otherwise.