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.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Imagine how audiences would respond to an action move where every fight was concluded in 9-12 seconds.

And we had to stop and watch every bathroom break.

 

[DinoInDisguise]

And we had to stop and watch every bathroom break.

Some people are into some strange things. So this would be someone's favorite movie.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Imagine how audiences would respond to an action move where every fight was concluded in 9-12 seconds.

I think that was the point of the one-minute rounds: to allow room for the back and forth, parry and riposte, etc.

 

[Scribe]

Imagine how audiences would respond to an action move where every fight was concluded in 9-12 seconds.

This ones about 20 seconds.

 

[Incenjucar]

This ones about 20 seconds.

That's 6-7 rounds! That's almost a turn.

 

[GobHag]

I will admit to having an issue with gamist solutions to problems, and I apologize if I get too strident when I see them. But insisting that D&D and similar games are in no way reality simulators is straight-up denying the viability of my preference, which I have never done to yours.

I think the more reality simulator it tries to do the worse D&D-style games become. Worse that they're version of reality is such a bore

 

[GobHag]

ALso personally I just do not give a naughty word if 'historically' how things actually works. Might as well say that 'in Wheel of Time' magic works such and such--Realism is just an aesthetic anyways, One I have nothing but scorn if that's the only goal one seeks.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I think the more reality simulator it tries to do the worse D&D-style games become. Worse that they're version of reality is such a bore

It depends on what you want. IMO it looks like a lot of people want to tell an exciting narrative with their game that showcases awesome characters doing awesome things in ways that look dangerous, but often aren't, and don't much care if it sometimes doesn't make logical sense. I see this as equivalent to modern WotC's, "get to the action" philosophy. They seem to want this so much that prioritizing anything else in a TTRPG is nonsensical to them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

ALso personally I just do not give a naughty word if 'historically' how things actually works. Might as well say that 'in Wheel of Time' magic works such and such--Realism is just an aesthetic anyways, One I have nothing but scorn if that's the only goal one seeks.

I could not disagree more with everything you're saying here. See above for specific remarks.

 

[comrade raoul]

This ones about 20 seconds.

This one isn't. Which one should D&D encounters feel more like?