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.

 

[Corinnguard]

If a new player was given a chance to look at a 3e Warlock and a 5e Warlock and was then asked as to which version looked easier to play and understand, what would be their answer? IMO, it would be the 5e version because it's less RAW and more RAI.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I disagree with this assessment. The player is gaining a PC with a very different style of play than any other character has. That difference in style and roleplay is very much something that the player is getting in return.

If you don't want that kind of style of play and roleplay, play the wizard instead. If I choose warlock, I am choosing it in large part BECAUSE of the nature of the patron and the PC.

So, you want your DM to tell you what to do? You think that is a benefit? Is this so you don’t have to bother thinking for yourself?

And I remind you again, Cthulhu is on the patron list. A patron who tells your character what to do is NOT integral to the class.

 

[Imaro]

So, you want your DM to tell you what to do? You think that is a benefit? Is this so you don’t have to bother thinking for yourself?

And I remind you again, Cthulhu is on the patron list. A patron who tells your character what to do is NOT integral to the class.

Yeah its hard for me to understand the audience that would want a class whose stickt boils down to... do whatever the DM tells you to do or loose your class powers.

 

[Corinnguard]

So, you want your DM to tell you what to do? You think that is a benefit? Is this so you don’t have to bother thinking for yourself?

During an adventure the DM role-plays the NPCs, some of whom tell the party what they need to do as a way to further the plot in a certain direction. It's then up to the players to decide on whether or not they are going to do the bidding of that NPC. A warlock's Patron in this respect is another NPC.

 

[abirdcall]

If a new player was given a chance to look at a 3e Warlock and a 5e Warlock and was then asked as to which version looked easier to play and understand, what would be their answer? IMO, it would be the 5e version because it's less RAW and more RAI.

Me too.

Also most options do what they thematically imply they should do. This is a big improvement for a lot of the classes.

Half of the invocations in 2014 were awful. That is big for me teaching someone how to create their character.

 

[Maxperson]

No i haven't... my point has been before selecting a feature that bu RAW cannot be changed you should as a player have some experience playing the game and using the basic mechanics of your class.

Which is unnecessary if you are of average intelligence or better, since you can just look and see what is going to happen later. This is especially true since you won't have gained any real greater understanding in the few sessions it takes to go from level 1 to 3.

I've also stated reading something in a book and actually doing it are not the same.

Then you should be advocating waiting until level 6 or 7, because it will be that long before a new player gains any real master over the system and can make the informed decision you are talking about.

Otherwise one could just read a book about surviving in the wilderness and be a survivalist with no problem.

Apples and oranges. Understanding basic rules that have been simplified to the point that a smart bird could understand them is not the same as surviving in harsh, real life conditions in the wilderness.

 

[Maxperson]

So, you want your DM to tell you what to do? You think that is a benefit? Is this so you don’t have to bother thinking for yourself?

The histrionics here are quite high.

The DM can't tell me what to do as a warlock. The patron can try, and I can choose whether or not to obey and potentially break the pact along with consequences, follow the instructions half-heartedly, follow them enthusiastically, to the letter, loosely, delay them until later, hire someone else to accomplish it, etc.

At no point, though, are your histrionics true and the DM is playing my character so that I don't have to bother thinking for myself.

And yes, it is a benefit for the patron/warlock interaction to be present.

And I remind you again, Cthulhu is on the patron list. A patron who tells your character what to do is NOT integral to the class.

The vast majority of patrons are not Cthulhu.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

During an adventure the DM role-plays the NPCs, some of whom tell the party what they need to do as a way to further the plot in a certain direction. It's then up to the players to decide on whether or not they are going to do the bidding of that NPC. A warlock's Patron in this respect is another NPC.

Which is fine - but we are talking about patrons who can FORCE the character to do what they are told.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The vast majority of patrons are not Cthulhu.

No, they are also Zargon, the Queen of Air and Darkness, and a bunch of other beings who are far too important to pay much attention to a PC warlock.

Exactly none of the named patrons are beings likely to get personally involved.

The default warlock patron isn’t going to have a significant role in the game.

 

[Corinnguard]

Which is fine - but we are talking about patrons who can FORCE the character to do what they are told.

True. The patron can directly threaten the warlock into doing their bidding by telling them that they will lose their powers if they don't. However, there is the possibility that not all patrons operate this way towards their servants.