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.

 

[Imaro]

I call BS on this. Beginners aren't toddlers. It's not at all complicated to choose a patron at level 1 as a beginner. It means you look at the few subclasses in the DMG and decide which one sounds best to you. Later on if you want to try a different one, you can try it with a different character.

Lol... so it's easy to pick a class feature that defines your character that you can't change for the entire campaign with no prior knowledge of the game.

But they'll never be able to understand a couple lines of fluff in the class can be modified to fit their concept...

Talk about BS

It's not beginner unfriendly to get subclass at level 1. Especially since you can and probably will reach level 3 in a few sessions, meaning that you will still be a beginner when you choose your subclass at level 3.

Oh but it is. It's a defining feature with no way to change it that if not totally defining, definitely influences strongly the type of character you'll be playing for up to 20 levels... if making someone choose that blind isn't unfriendly... I don't know what is.

 

[Imaro]

So, you don't want your name in the Guinness Book of Records for hosting an RPG session with a thousand warlocks in it? Fair enough.

No sir I'm not built for that type of DM'ing.

 

[Imaro]

I don't mind if you disagree with me, but grossly twisting what I said in order to mock me isn't cool.

Huh? I wasn't mocking you I was joking with @Corinnguard ...

Edit: I apologize if something in my post offended you I really wasn't trying to mock you.

 

[Maxperson]

Oh but it is. It's an defining feature with no way to change it that if not defining, definitely influences strongly the type of character you'll be playing for up to 20 levels... if making someone choose that blind isn't unfriendly... I don't know what is.

The only way they are picking blind is if they are really blind, in which case they will understand through brail or having it read to them. Even a beginner can read a few sentences and get an understanding of the subclasses provided. And of course, at level 3 they are still very much a beginner. You'd need to move subclasses to at least 5th or 6th level if you want a beginner to be anything other than a rank beginner when subclasses are chosen.

 

[Imaro]

The only way they are picking blind is if they are really blind, in which case they will understand through brail or having it read to them. Even a beginner can read a few sentences and get an understanding of the subclasses provided. And of course, at level 3 they are still very much a beginner. You'd need to move subclasses to at least 5th or 6th level if you want a beginner to be anything other than a rank beginner when subclasses are chosen.

If you've never played the game before you don't know how anything works in actual play. So yeah you can read it but at a practical level you don't even have a high level concept of what those choices mean or how those choices affect actual play.

Edit: The first 2 levels allow you to learn the general rules, play around with spells and invocations, introduce the concept of making a pact and so on.

 

[Corinnguard]

Oh but it is. It's an defining feature with no way to change it that if not defining, definitely influences strongly the type of character you'll be playing for up to 20 levels... if making someone choose that blind isn't unfriendly... I don't know what is.

This is true regardless of which character class you role-play as in 5e/5.5e. Picking a subclass at a certain level is mandatory.

 

[Imaro]

This is true regardless of which character class you role-play as in 5e/5.5e. Picking a subclass at a certain level is mandatory.

Yep... I'm not arguing against this statement.

 

[Maxperson]

If you've never played the game before you don't know how anything works in actual play. So yeah you can read it but at a practical level you don't even have a high level concept of what those choices mean or how those choices affect actual play.

And you won't at 3rd level, either.

Edit: The first 2 levels allow you to learn the general rules, play around with spells and invocations, introduce the concept of making a pact and so on.

No they don't. There's no way you are learning the rules to any decent degree in a few sessions.

 

[Corinnguard]

No they don't. There's no way you are learning the rules to any great degree in a few sessions.

A new player to D&D probably takes several months to learn the ins and outs of the RPG they're in. Some of it on their own thru trial and error. Some of it thru advice given to them by an understanding DM or by a more experienced member at the table.

 

[Imaro]

And you won't at 3rd level, either.

No they don't. There's no way you are learning the rules to any decent degree in a few sessions.

Ok well you can speak for yourself and those you've played with... while I on the other hand have had a different experience...