D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook Reveal #1: "Everything You Need To Know!"

Each day this week, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing a new live-streamed preview video based on the upcoming Player's Handbook. The first is entitled Everything You Need To Know and you can watch it live below (or, if you missed it, you should be able to watch it from the start afterwards). The video focuses on weapon mastery and character origins.

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There will be new videos on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week, focusing on the Fighter, the Paladin, and the Barbarian, with (presumably) more in the coming weeks.

 

[Older Beholder]

But if that starts to move towards the predominant art style, I really strongly suspect that will be a key sign D&D is about to die again, because whilst that kind of art works pretty well with little kids and some younger teens, it usually utterly repulses older teenagers and early twenties types. And if you get a bunch of people quitting D&D when they're like 14 because it's uncool, that's going to cause a big player gap.

You've gotta keep some edge in there. Never go full edgelord, but never go full tweemaster either. 5E looks to be more in danger of the latter than the former right now.

The game has always had a mix of art styles, I don’t see that changing.

Are all older teens and early twenties types repulsed by exactly the same things?
Seems like a generalisation. Even then these seem more like generalisations usually associated with teenaged boys.

If people are going to quit DnD when they’re 14 because the game’s uncool, how did it survive the first 40 years? The game has never been considered cool.

 

[Scribe]

And DnD is more than moving from one combat to the next bloody combat.

 

[Scribe]

If people are going to quit DnD when they’re 14 because the game’s uncool, how did it survive the first 40 years? The game has never been considered cool.

On life support, carried through the ages by nerds who wanted a game of their own.

 

[GothmogIV]

But, surely, WotC is doing some kind of market research to determine if players like this sort of softer approach, right? I doubt they are pulling this out of thin air.

 

[Staffan]

Even badasses need to relax sometimes.

 

[Scribe]

But, surely, WotC is doing some kind of market research to determine if players like this sort of softer approach, right? I doubt they are pulling this out of thin air.

You dont have to look around social media for long to see this stuff is pushed like a drug in various segments of the fandom, while anyone who doesnt like it gets attacked, called sexist, racist, edgelord, whatever.

Happens here all time time.

 

[Demetrios1453]

It’s not an uncommon attitude. I know several people who skipped out on Mists of Pandaria, one of WoW’s best expansions, because it had “lol Kung Fu Pandas”.

Same here. The funny thing now is that WoW is currently doing a limited-time event where you level alts in a slightly modified Mists of Pandaria (mainly gear and money are different), and it's getting rave reviews.

 

[Older Beholder]

If we’re not making the game all edgy and dark, where will the next generation of gatekeepers come from?

 

[MNblockhead]

Yeah, that was my confusion. People were asking for rules, but the rules are there. They just aren't commonly used.

Yep. In my defense, over time these rules get spread out among many books. If you are not interested in running a specific setting in the near future, it easy to miss out on additional rules like this. Not a dig against D&D. Warhammer Fantasy is even worse in this regard. The 2024 revisions are a good opportunity to consolidate a lot of these ideas into the DMG. Also, with D&D Beyond, WotC has the opportunity to make the new rules easily accessible whether you are using the setting book or not. But now that they've removed the option to buy things from the books a-la cart, we'll likely need to buy an entire setting or adventure book to get rules for ships, piety, etc.

 

[Parmandur]

But, surely, WotC is doing some kind of market research to determine if players like this sort of softer approach, right? I doubt they are pulling this out of thin air.

Sure, that is why the art we have seen is on trend with current fantasy art.