D&D (2024) 2024 PHB - A much too early review

[Arilyn]

pushed it over what line?
game barely got a nudge.

Background feats? House rule with almost every group I played.

Mastery? Wow, martials actually getting something. Not much, should have been 3x as that.

That's why I said it pushed me over the line. It's the pile up of the small changes. I never liked the excess of magic in 2014, for example, now there's even more. And sure, most of it can be house ruled but I have too many other games that inspire me. 2024 does not appeal to me, and that's fine. Many players will love it.

D&D has never been my favourite game. If it was, I'd agree with you that the changes aren't big enough to worry about. But for me, there's enough change I dislike to push me over the line.

 

[Oofta]

Question for everyone who is upset about the lack of a custom background option in the PHB:

How many PCs are you (and/or your players) going to make and play between now and the end of October?

I feel strongly that this is a molehill being mistaken for a mountain. In a years’ time, this will all be forgotten.

It only looks like a problem right now because we don’t have the full rule set.

Remember that Jeremy said he approached the core books this time as if they were three volumes of one book instead of three different books.

As annoying as it is that they couldn’t print all three books at once, I really think we all ought to reserve our judgment till we have the full set.

It's just annoying, and a design choice I happen to disagree with. Doesn't help that it's a PITA with DDB.

Give me time, I'm sure I'll find something else. Like ... dwarves seem to have really gotten the short end of the stick in comparison to other species.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It's not an issue if your using it with True Stike or even 2 attacks in Wild Shape.

But a bard
Foresight (9th)
Conjure Minor Elemental (8th) +10d8
Scorching Ray (7th) 8 rays @ 2d6 +10d8
= 776 damage. With advantage to hit.

That is more than any monster in the game, and you can change damage types.

Even just taking Eldritch Blast.
4 rays * (1d10+10d8)
= 382 per round for 10 minutes.


For maximum crazy, go Valor Bard dip sorcerer for quicken, and have someone cast haste on you.
8 Scorching rays
4 Eldritch blast (haste)
4 Eldritch Blast (quicken)
And Conjure Minor Elemental will add +160d8 damage.

Basically it's powerful on things other than the intended classes.

 

[Weiley31]

um, don't you mean "Species"?

Races.

 

[pukunui]

It's just annoying, and a design choice I happen to disagree with. Doesn't help that it's a PITA with DDB.

Give me time, I'm sure I'll find something else. Like ... dwarves seem to have really gotten the short end of the stick in comparison to other species.

To be fair, one of the things that I am finding annoying is how virtually non-existent the 2024 PHB rules for personality and appearance are. I like the random height and weight tables and the ideals/flaws/bonds.

Each species does have a typical height range listed in its size entry, which is helpful, but there's no mention of typical weight or coloring whatsoever (except for the goliaths, which are said to resemble their giant ancestors).

It looks like just about any species can be any color they like now - pink, purple, green, charcoal, chocolate, whatever. The drow entry doesn't indicate their specific coloring.

I get that WotC wants to be more inclusive but cutting it all out is annoying too. "Your character can look however you want them to look" works fine for some people, but other people need a bit of guidance. And unlike custom backgrounds, I highly doubt we will be getting any guidance on this stuff in the DMG!

 

[Oofta]

To be fair, one of the things that I am finding annoying is how virtually non-existent the 2024 PHB rules for personality and appearance are. I like the random height and weight tables and the ideals/flaws/bonds.

Each species does have a typical height range listed in its size entry, which is helpful, but there's no mention of typical weight or coloring whatsoever (except for the goliaths, which are said to resemble their giant ancestors).

It looks like just about any species can be any color they like now - pink, purple, green, charcoal, chocolate, whatever. The drow entry doesn't indicate their specific coloring.

I get that WotC wants to be more inclusive but cutting it all out is annoying too. "Your character can look however you want them to look" works fine for some people, but other people need a bit of guidance. And unlike custom backgrounds, I highly doubt we will be getting any guidance on this stuff in the DMG!

Yeah, I agree. I mean, if I want to play a 4 foot tall human, cool. I always could and the averages chart didn't stop me. The random height and weight charts just gave me the general average and the standard variation for the majority of the population, it's a starting point not the limit.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah, I agree. I mean, if I want to play a 4 foot tall human, cool. I always could and the averages chart didn't stop me. The random height and weight charts just gave me the general average and the standard variation for the majority of the population, it's a starting point not the limit.

It's also handy for when you're feeling uncertain or can't be bothered to think of those elements yourself. Oh, I can just roll randomly for that!

 

[FrogReaver]

Basically it's powerful on things other than the intended classes.

A wizard with just scorching ray and conjure minor elemental upcast to a high level slot may not be the best but is still capable of killing most monsters in 1 turn after the buff is up.

 

[mellored]

Basically it's powerful on things other than the intended classes.

You can still do an excessive amount with a straight wizard who has Scorching Ray.

But if you don't combo it with multiple attacks, it's fine.

 

[Horwath]

A wizard with just scorching ray and conjure minor elemental upcast to a high level slot may not be the best but is still capable of killing most monsters in 1 turn after the buff is up.

Elven sorcerer with Elven accuracy, and elemental adept.