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]

Not so much. They give it the ole college try, but the spells are just spells for the most part. If there were a special list of themed spells only for warlocks, that would be different.

This is wrong. I didn't say unique... I said themed, and each patron comes with a list of themed available spells.

I mean, you can just read the spells. 5e spells for the most part aren't complicated at all. You only have 4 spells to look at.

Again reading about and experiencing are two different thing. Spells are complicated because they all have a similar format as well as certain common mechanics.... but are also each an exception based effect. the thing is become familiar with the format and the exception based rule becomes less daunting.

At 3rd level?

Yes... what don't you understand?

 

[Zardnaar]

NZ good for Covid not so good for access to books.

Watched this guy

Don't like his content generally but when he concentrates he can do a good game mechanics video.

Prefer these guys our only regular D&D youtubers.


So for all you fancy Americans and Europeans showing off your fancy new stuff not jealous at all. Not one bit. Much.

A week or two to go find out Thursday hopefully.

 

[Chaosmancer]

NZ good for Covid not so good for access to books.

Watched this guy

Don't like his content generally but when he concentrates he can do a good game mechanics video.

Prefer these guys our only regular D&D youtubers.


So for all you fancy Americans and Europeans showing off your fancy new stuff not jealous at all. Not one bit. Much.

A week or two to go find out Thursday hopefully.

Dungeon Dudes are pretty great, content wise. Of course, I think they are Canadian, not American, but nitpicks

 

[Mistwell]

"Can I be a mute sentient slime with a pet mouse?" and ect.

I mean, at least there are rules for that one!

Plasmoid (spelljammer race) with Find Familiar. Probably sorcerer so they can use sorcery points to cast silently, though any melee class would work also. Maybe telepathic feat to communicate with the party.

 

[Mistwell]

It's odd that the 'Worlds of Adventure' section on page 5 of the new 2024 PHB specifically mentions Dark Sun, which I don't think they will ever publish anything for again but does not mention Mystara, which is in the upcoming Worlds & Realms book and also the setting that most people consider the Keep On The Borderlands to be in, which is going to be the basis for the new 2025 Starter Set.

Keep on the Borderlands was not set in any campaign setting when released. It was adopted into the Known world/mystara setting some time around 1984, and then into Greyhawk in 1999.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Prefer these guys our only regular D&D youtubers.

Only sometimes Dungeon Dudes just won't read the books, like you can see from that exact Rogue subclass video. Just really mangling their way through what they assume Thief Rogue is like, rather than just reading what they actually do.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Only sometimes Dungeon Dudes just won't read the books, like you can see from that exact Rogue subclass video. Just really mangling their way through what they assume Thief Rogue is like, rather than just reading what they actually do.

Could you dial back on the histrionics and just plainly tell us the problem you had with the video? As in, specific statements that were made, with you refuting why these were incorrect?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The second position is that the DM is facing an undue burden of not knowing who the Warlock's patron is between the levels of 1 and 3, and therefore cannot roleplay or introduce any presence from the patron

In my experience, it’s usually the player who introduces the patron (or not).

As DM, I’ve certainly never had a patron appear and start bossing an PC around. I would consider it trespassing on the player’s turf, unless invited to do so.

The current warlock in our game has no patron. The player decided to refluff.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes... what don't you understand?

Why you think that people of average or better intelligence would have a problem looking at and easily understanding four low level spells.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I mean, at least there are rules for that one!

Plasmoid (spelljammer race) with Find Familiar. Probably sorcerer so they can use sorcery points to cast silently, though any melee class would work also. Maybe telepathic feat to communicate with the party.

Sure, but the player didn't know that those were rules. That's why I find it so bizarre to argue that, upon seeing a single line that is in no way binding... players are going to be suddenly rendered incapable of making the story they really want