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!

---

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]

---

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.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Could you dial back on the histrionics and just plainly tell us the problem you had with the video?

Sir, you're just trying to make me watch it a second time, aren't you.

How about you go read any of the video's comments, that should get you along nicely.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Sir, you're just trying to make me watch it a second time, aren't you.

How about you go read any of the video's comments, that should get you along nicely.

I come to these boards for information. Posts like the one you made are just noise, frankly. I was just asking you to reduce the noise pollution by posting your concerns in a way that conveys information, rather than venting in a way that I'm sure feels cathartic to you, but leaves those reading your posts wondering what the specific problem is.

 

[Mistwell]

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?

Come on now, nothing Fluffybunbun said is on the level of histrionics. They did explain that they think sometimes Dungeon Dudes do not read the rules they're talking about in detail but just give a surface level opinion based on how they assume it works. That seems like a brief but clear objection to me.

 

[Zardnaar]

Come on now, nothing Fluffybunbun said is on the level of histrionics. They did explain that they think sometimes Dungeon Dudes do not read the rules they're talking about in detail but just give a surface level opinion based on how they assume it works. That seems like a brief but clear objection to me.

Shrugs. I find they're really good at things like power tier lists. Better than ENworld anyway.

Sometimes disagree but not by much. Eg they rate sonething an A I might lean towards a B.

 

[AK_Ambrian]

Had my first session using the 2024 rules at an actual table today. Was a player, not the DM. Adventure was an official WotC release I think? Maybe a new Adventurer's League quest? We had to find a Unicorn's stolen horn. Fought a bunch of bullywugs, bugbears and worgs in some kind of fey realm. Stopped an evil wizard from performing a ritual. Some references to the old D&D cartoon. Venger showed up in the final scene though we didn't have to fight him. We used pre-generated characters that came with the adventure, all 4th Level. Our characters seemed more powerful than old 5E, to the point where success felt a little unsatisfying? But overall everybody had an okay time.

 

[Distracted DM]

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.

One of my more enthusiastic players made a warlock recently and was utterly disappointed with the fact that their patron is built up as this presence trading power to the warlock for service, but there are no mechanics behind what the patron might require of the warlock. i informed them that if we wanted to do anything with the patron, it'd be up to us.. largely up to him, to get going narratively. He was kind of let down that there's zero support for the promised narrative.

I did tell him we could adapt DCC's patron mechanics, since that actually has a good amount of guidance, requirements, benefits and complications... But he ended up sort of doing what your player did.

 

[Corinnguard]

One of my more enthusiastic players made a warlock recently and was utterly disappointed with the fact that their patron is built up as this presence trading power to the warlock for service, but there are no mechanics behind what the patron might require of the warlock.

There has to be point within a given adventure where the patron is going to ask the warlock to do something which may or may not turn into a side quest for the character. The patron might be direct in what it wants, or it might couch what wants enigmatically (thus forcing the poor warlock to guess what it wants). The success of this side effect might be a temporary boon being given to the warlock. Failing the patron could result in a temporary minor curse that the warlock has to do with for displeasing their patron. The boons and minor curses could be mechanical in nature.

All in all, role-playing the warlock/patron relationship this way could amount to some good role-playing by whoever decides to be a warlock.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

One of my more enthusiastic players made a warlock recently and was utterly disappointed with the fact that their patron is built up as this presence trading power to the warlock for service, but there are no mechanics behind what the patron might require of the warlock. i informed them that if we wanted to do anything with the patron, it'd be up to us.. largely up to him, to get going narratively. He was kind of let down that there's zero support for the promised narrative.

I did tell him we could adapt DCC's patron mechanics, since that actually has a good amount of guidance, requirements, benefits and complications... But he ended up sort of doing what your player did.

Warlock is weird. The patron is supposed to be a big deal, and more present than probably quite distant gods of the clerics. But there is basically zero rules or guidance for what this actually means. What sort of leverage does the patron actually have?
Can they turn off warlock's powers, can they prevent them from gaining further warlock levels? Who knows!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

One of my more enthusiastic players made a warlock recently and was utterly disappointed with the fact that their patron is built up as this presence trading power to the warlock for service, but there are no mechanics behind what the patron might require of the warlock. i informed them that if we wanted to do anything with the patron, it'd be up to us.. largely up to him, to get going narratively. He was kind of let down that there's zero support for the promised narrative.

I did tell him we could adapt DCC's patron mechanics, since that actually has a good amount of guidance, requirements, benefits and complications... But he ended up sort of doing what your player did.

A way to do this is to suggest that the player creates the patron as a secondary character, with the distinction that they can’t actually do anything apart from talk to the primary character.

I mentioned my sorcerer with the evil symbiont. Occasionally the symbiont would take over my character, just long enough to say or suggest something evil.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Warlock is weird. The patron is supposed to be a big deal, and more present than probably quite distant gods of the clerics. But there is basically zero rules or guidance for what this actually means. What sort of leverage does the patron actually have?

Only what the player decides to give them.

Can they turn off warlock's powers, can they prevent them from gaining further warlock levels?

RAW, no.

But many of the suggested patrons are beings like Cthulhu, so have even less interest in their minions than the gods do.