I was initially hopeful about the 2024 ruleset. While the 2024 PHB featured notable power creep and significant nerfing or near complete removal of several classes of spells (such as summoning) I felt that the changes overall were beneficial. Summoning was, for example, often time consuming and/or overpowered in the way it was implemented. I like how they gave some utility abilities to classes like fighter.
I was significantly less enthusiastic about the 2024 DMG - the loss of monster creation rules was damaging. And their suggestions for traps and dungeon hazards are mostly terrible - barely speed bumps for most characters to be solved brainlessly with a little healing.
Today I got the 2024 Monster Manual and... maybe I'll cool down at some point but as of this moment I think I am FINISHED with the 2024 revisions; and I'm furious that I spent any money on the new books in the first place. Whoever wrote this thing is a @#$& imbecile who clearly never understood what made 5th edition fun or interesting. To those who are interested:
* There are STILL no monster creation rules. So if I decide to give a great axe to a bandit instead of a scimitar, I have no idea how that would affect CR.
* They continued the disgusting 4e tradition of nerfing everything to oblivion. With terrible and far-reaching narrative implications:
* Basilisks / Gorgons / Medusae no longer can permanently petrify anything. Petrified victims continue to make saves and turn back to flesh when they finally and invariably succeed. Presuming I'm reading the entries correctly at least. EDIT: I am increasingly of the opinion that I was NOT reading the entries correctly. The entries are not clearly written.
* False Appearance abilities are pretty much entirely gone. Not that surprise means a heck of a lot anymore anyway.
* Venomous beasts like Giant Spiders now deal a little bit of poison damage with no other possible ill effects. At least they figured out the difference between poisonous and venomous.
* Ghouls / ghasts paralyze victims ONLY for a single round.
* Lycanthropy has issues. The wording is that victims who suffer a bite from a were-creature attack become cursed if they fail a con save. If they drop to 0 hit points while cursed they become a were-creature under the DM's control. The problem is that there is no explanation for how or when were-ness nor the curse can be removed. Does a PC who has fallen under the DM's control revert back if the curse is removed? Presumably Remove Curse could remove the curse. Since they split everything into separate entries, they had to print the effects of a were-creature bite something like five separate times (for each were-creature)...instead of describing it in a single, collective entry.
* They doubled down on reducing max HP as an "energy drain" mechanic. Which still all goes away on a long rest. Though the MM doesn't bother telling you that.
* The overwhelming majority of sentient non-pc species that one would fight at low level no longer count as humanoids. All goblinoids are fey, kobolds are dragons, gith and kuo-toa are aberrations, bullywugs are fey, gnolls are fiends. Orcs and drow don't get stat blocks... This mostly just messes up anyone foolish enough to invest in Enchantment spells that only target humanoids - like charm person, crown of madness, dominate person.
* No NPC stat block suggests that they get weapon mastery abilities, even if they're a warrior type.
* Giants have been heavily nerfed. And mostly no longer throw boulders. (They do have alternate ranged attacks). EDIT: Aside from the not using boulders bit, I double-checked the stats on this one. I was mistaken.
* Banshee howls no longer drop anything above 25 hps to 0. Anything higher takes an anemic 3d6 damage instead...if and only if they fail the save. The thing somehow remains CR 4.
* Acid and rust effects that degrade weapons and armor can be completely removed with a cantrip.
* There isn't actually any good NPC equivalent to replace basic Orc or Drow warrior stat blocks. Most low-level mooks use Dexterity-based attacks and weapons with d6 base damage. There's a thug equivalent with 30-some odd hit points. But one's CR 1/2 thuggish soldier options are extremely limited. Hobgoblin warriors and maybe ogrillons are possibly the closest...at CR 1. There are plenty of dex-based variations for drow-type characters but no way to calculate CR changes for the iconic drow poison.
* Beholders are still rendered ineffectual by an obscuring mist or darkness spell.
* Several monster entries are either non-sensical, unexplained, or run contrary to traditional lore. Generic pirates can charm people in combat...because pirates quintessentially are irresistably loveable rogues, even while murdering your friends; as opposed to being scruffy outcasts with horrible scars, rotting teeth, chronic halitosis, and peg legs or something. Knights deal some extra radiant damage because knightness is inherently magical I guess. Hobgoblins and some other foes deal extra weapon damage that isn't ever explained. Pirate Captains and Admirals deal double to quadruple base weapon damage ON EACH attack for no internally explicable reason whatsoever - other than maybe the designers just felt that NPCs of a certain CR should deal X levels of damage.
* Only a fraction of the background lore for many individual monsters remains.
None of these are remotely good changes. Yes, it sucked to be hit with petrification or level drain back in the day. But the hardships contributed to a sense of threat when fighting the foes in question and to feelings of accomplishment when they were defeated. And the need to cure such conditions drove plotlines. Fantasy needs to feel fantastic. Removing wide swathes of iconic monsters and challenges is NOT good for the game. Reducing qualitative problems to damage and hit point numbers is NOT good for the game.
