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.

 

[Horacio]

Because, demonstrably, before gunpowder, it was?

It seems quite reasonable that fighting in a way that was more lethal would be, wel more lethal.

Battle of Agincourt's French heavily armored, melee based calvary and English longbow archers beg to disagree...

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because, demonstrably, before gunpowder, it was?

It seems quite reasonable that fighting in a way that was more lethal would be, wel more lethal.

I don't know...bows and crossbows were a thing for a reason.

 

[trappedslider]

yes you're all right players and DMs are too dumb to think on their own and need to be told explicitly what is and what isn't allowed instead of trying something.

 

[Argyle King]

Sure, but its a factor in what kind of fiction you want to see.

Do you want to see the heroics of Gimli and Aragorn holding the gate from a tide of Orcs, or do you want to see them fall because its simply not realistic for 2 beings to beat 20?

That example does offer some psuedo-plausible-ish bread crumbs though.

First, they are both highly trained combatants going against what are presented as rank-and-file conscripts. (Strong conscripts, but still not named or otherwise noteworthy foes)

Second, they take advantage of the chaos of a large battle to outflank and surprise their targets.

Third, they are holding a gate -which is by definition something of a bottleneck.

That's off the top of my head.

Even though there are clearly exaggerations, there's nothing that's so outlandish that it defies some semblance of logic. A few small touches of believability can (and often do) add to fantasy rather than detracting from it.

 

[Scribe]

That example does offer some psuedo-plausible-ish bread crumbs though.

First, they are both highly trained combatants going against what are presented as rank-and-file conscripts. (Strong conscripts, but still not named or otherwise noteworthy foes)

Second, they take advantage of the chaos of a large battle to outflank and surprise their targets.

Third, they are holding a gate -which is by definition something of a bottleneck.

That's off the top of my head.

Even though there are clearly exaggerations, there's nothing that's so outlandish that it defies some semblance of logic. A few small touches of believability can (and often do) add to fantasy rather than detracting from it.

Hah!

Those are all the arguments I gave my wife, but she wouldn't have it. "This couldn't happen!"

I laughed and told her that's why it's Fantasy.

 

[pemerton]

Battle of Agincourt's French heavily armored, melee based calvary and English longbow archers beg to disagree...

I think there is a difference between massed archery, and a single shooter. Perhaps also between modes of archery - crossbows and the massed charge of knights overlapped as military techniques for some centuries, and crossbows did not uniformly dominate.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

In a setting where someone can get hit by a greataxe and remain 100% functional after... a little thin stick flying through the air can fairly be assumed to be even less impactful. You gotta really get in there and saw through all that meat!

 

[Chaosmancer]

D&D is a game and a reality simulator. It always has been, to varying degrees and with different levels of priority. You and I have very different opinions on those levels, and we're not going to agree.

People can attempt to use it as a reality simulator if they want, but then it seems kind of silly to say, "Hey, why are you talking about this game in gamist terms?" Because... well... it is a game. Therefore gamist terms are rather appropriate.

 

[Incenjucar]

D&D is not simulating our reality.

 

[Daztur]

Battle of Agincourt's French heavily armored, melee based calvary and English longbow archers beg to disagree...

I like D&D to balance realism and game logic but this is one case where game logic has to trump realism. A LOT of people want to play melee characters and if melee is clearly weaker than ranged a lot of people will have less fun playing D&D. Doesn't matter if that's realistic or not, balance matters more.