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.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Firbolg aren't in the PHB?

That's basically my argument. Half elves conflict too much on the elf design space so they're best left for other books. Just like Firbolgs are in another book, that's where Half Elves should be


Angels and giants aren't playable. Elves are. Aasimar adiditonally function as anti-tieflings which, y'know. Kinda popular

That's the long and short of it. As long as elves and humans are playable (which, they both are), half elves feel incredibly unnecessary as a base race. They're not as bad as like, Aquatic Elf That Turns Into Otters As Distinct from Dolphins, but they're a variant on elves at their heart, and as long as elves are playable? They're going to seem "Why is this a distinct option?", especially when the other options are as varied as dwarves, orcs and dragonborn



Githyanki are more popular than ever due to BG3, yet they're not in the PHB and I don't see anyone arguing for it



They did, but the layout they have means you get +2, +1, +1, which is a dang useful spread. In addition their overall abilities tend to function well with everything

They're the second most powerful base race in 5E, only behind Variant Human due to the feat. This isn't just me saying it, this is a widespread thing among the community who do character builds.


The only edition they haven't been watere down elves in is 4E, where they got the diplomacy thing.

AD&D has the 30% charm resist (down from 90% charm) and the concealed door thing that elves had, with looser class restrictions (though not as loose as human)
3E's are so close the SRD includes Half Elf under Elf. They have the immune to Sleep spells, +2 bonus against enchantments, a weakened version of the Listen/Search/Spot bonus (that doesn't let them see secret doors this time around), Low Light vision, and the "For effects related to race, a half elf is considered an elf" part

Half-elves have been in the PH for a long time. Your blanket statement of objective truth regarding their place in D&D doesn't seem to take that into account, unless you're saying we've all been toiling in ignorance all these years until 5.5 came along and ripped the scales from our eyes.

 

[Mecheon]

Half-elves have been in the PH for a long time. Your blanket statement of objective truth regarding their place in D&D doesn't seem to take that into account, unless you're saying we've all been toiling in ignorance all these years until 5.5 came along and ripped the scales from our eyes.

My blanket statement is "They're fine in D&D but they are a variant on an existing race, not a stand-alone thing. They should be relegated to similar status as the Wood/High/Dark elf mix or put in a future book dealing with more ingrained stuff, not the PHB"

I'm hardly the first one to say it was weird half the original PHB stuff was basically Human, Elf, Human plus Orc, Human Plus Elf, Dwarf, Short Human and Gnome (who for all intents and purposes is Short Elf). There's a reason Half Elf got completely redesigned in 4E after all.

The current options are a lot more widespread, give different niches, and are overall more interesting. I get there's half elf fans and am cool with it coming back in some other book, but its hardly something so important it needs to be put in the PHB

 

[Imaro]

I think making a pact with something, with the quid pro quo that implies, is what makes a Warlock a Warlock, and you should do that at level 1 (when you take the warlock class).

Yes but that's not what I asked...

I asked if the warlock aligns with the narrative A5e presents for what a level 1and level 2 character represents in the default world?

 

[Maxperson]

So just to be clear, you've changed your mind on this issue?

Yep. As long as they can lose their level 1-2 abilities by breaking their oath, it doesn't matter to me if they've hit 3rd level. I have no problem with successive oaths granting increased power.

 

[Maxperson]

Half-elves have been in the PH for a long time. Your blanket statement of objective truth regarding their place in D&D doesn't seem to take that into account, unless you're saying we've all been toiling in ignorance all these years until 5.5 came along and ripped the scales from our eyes.

Yep. A whole lot of us have been playing half-elves since 1e and haven't ever played a watered down elf. Not once.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes but that's not what I asked...

I asked if the warlock aligns with the narrative A5e presents for what a level 1and level 2 character represents in the default world?

Making a deal with a powerful entity doesn't require that you be powerful or particularly knowledgeable. Those things tend to work against the idea, actually.

 

[Corinnguard]

At tier 0 (levels 1st–2nd) your characters are entirely new to adventuring, just beginning to learn how dangerous the world around them can really be.

asked if the warlock aligns with the narrative A5e presents for what a level 1and level 2 character represents in the default world?

This is probably where the A5e Warlock character's Background and Destiny come into play.

Backgrounds | Level Up

a5e.tools

Destinies | Level Up

a5e.tools

Both origin features can be used by the player to create a backstory for their character that lends well to the character becoming a warlock and choosing a particular patron at 1st level.

As for narrative, there is the one that @Micah Sweet mentioned, and then there is the character's own narrative.

 

[Corinnguard]

Making a deal with a powerful entity doesn't require that you be powerful or particularly knowledgeable. Those things tend to work against the idea, actually.

Depending on the patron in question, they might prefer their would-be servant to be weak, naive, and thirsting for a way to gain power for a particular reason.

 

[Imaro]

Making a deal with a powerful entity doesn't require that you be powerful or particularly knowledgeable. Those things tend to work against the idea, actually.

Huh?? Sealing the deal with an entity is exactly what makes a warlock powerful... now before the deal is made is a different story... not being particularly powerful or knowledgeable is exactly why you might make the deal.

 

[Imaro]

This is probably where the A5e Warlock character's Background and Destiny come into play.

Backgrounds | Level Up

a5e.tools

Destinies | Level Up

a5e.tools

Both origin features can be used by the player to create a backstory for their character that lends well to the character becoming a warlock and choosing a particular patron at 1st level.

As for narrative, there is the one that @Micah Sweet mentioned, and then there is the character's own narrative.

Yes but I am speaking to the default narrative for tiersof play/levels in the game... which you haven't addressed.

Edit: Which is to say how does someone who has made a deal with a powerful entity learned spells, learned invocations as well as Arcane secrets mesh with the narrative of someone just starting out adventuring... did all these things fall into your lap at home?