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.

 

[PHATsakk43]

There is a saying that if you let a bad person stay at a bar then the bar becomes filled with bad people.

The same will be true of D&D tables with selfish/disruptive players.

I was coming to the same analogy, but didn't want to use the term.

I think bad is probably sufficient.

 

[Scribe]

Did they remove any mechanical impact on Small, other than taking space on a grid?

 

[Neonchameleon]

There ain’t no rules that can cure the world of horrible people.

There ain't no rules that can cure horrible people. But my experience is that there are rules that can make DMs acting in good faith into behaving like horrible people.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'd characterize it as the downside of reinforcing the message that having fun is the be-all end-all of playing (e.g. "yes and" GMing). While the optimal idea is that everyone is looking out for everyone else's enjoyment, the reality is that there are people (not necessarily just a few outliers, from what I can tell) who invert this idea, turning it into an issue of "if you're not going along with what I find fun, you're the problem."

As I have said repeatedly I have seen about as many terrible DMs as terrible players. And, like most people, I've played with roughly an order of magnitude more players than I have DMs. And the reality is that the terrible DMs are attracted by and cling onto with both hands the idea that the DM should be all powerful.

I'd therefore characterise it as detoxifying the DM base. And the people who genuinely say "if you're not going along with what I find fun, you're the problem" tend to be DMs while I can not think of a single great DM I have played with who wanted to use the full measure of the DM's power. Instead in different ways the great DMs I have played with have all built on what the players gave them as much as happened the other way round.

 

[Alzrius]

As I have said repeatedly I have seen about as many terrible DMs as terrible players. And, like most people, I've played with roughly an order of magnitude more players than I have DMs. And the reality is that the terrible DMs are attracted by and cling onto with both hands the idea that the DM should be all powerful.

You've somehow managed to completely overlook that what you're talking about is a separate issue entirely. No one is denying that there are bad DMs out there, but that's not what was being discussed. What was being discussed is that "tyranny of fun" players are also a problem. Whether or not they're more of a problem than bad DMs is a separate consideration.

I'd therefore characterise it as detoxifying the DM base. And the people who genuinely say "if you're not going along with what I find fun, you're the problem" tend to be DMs while I can not think of a single great DM I have played with who wanted to use the full measure of the DM's power. Instead in different ways the great DMs I have played with have all built on what the players gave them as much as happened the other way round.

Detoxifying DMs does nothing about "tyranny of fun" players. Again, you're bringing up a separate issue and conflating it with what's being discussed. In that regard, GMs are only a factor insofar as certain styles of running a game (e.g. the aforementioned "yes and" GMing) tend to be poor fits as far as reining in players who expect to be catered to are concerned.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

And the people who genuinely say "if you're not going along with what I find fun, you're the problem" tend to be DMs

Nope, it's just as often the other players. The DM often acts as spokesperson for that, but they are doing so representing the collective.

"I demand to have what I want" is a player being toxic, because they are putting their wishes ahead of the other players. Don't blame the DM as the person who generally has to clear up the mess.

 

[Neonchameleon]

You've somehow managed to completely overlook that what you're talking about is a separate issue entirely. No one is denying that there are bad DMs out there, but that's not what was being discussed. What was being discussed is that "tyranny of fun" players are also a problem. Whether or not they're more of a problem than bad DMs is a separate consideration.

Detoxifying DMs does nothing about "tyranny of fun" players. Again, you're bringing up a separate issue and conflating it with what's being discussed. In that regard, GMs are only a factor insofar as certain styles of running a game (e.g. the aforementioned "yes and" GMing) tend to be poor fits insofar as reining in players who expect to be catered to are concerned.

Nope. I am saying first that what you are proposing in terms of DM power makes toxic DMs more toxic so they are emphatically not a separate consideration. Encouraging DMs to be more toxic makes the overall ecosystem worse and is not a separate problem.

And the only "tyrrany of fun" players I've seen in real life have fitted into three groups.

1. Young teenagers
2. An overreaction to toxic DMs, feeling they needed to fight their corner for everything
3. The invention of a toxic DM who couldn't cope with an instigator with agency

I've seen self centred jerks who thought it was their game. But that's another story.

The term "tyrrany of fun", so far as I am aware was invented as the most inane piece of anti-4e edition warring.

 

[Alzrius]

Nope. I am saying first that what you are proposing in terms of DM power makes toxic DMs more toxic so they are emphatically not a separate consideration. Encouraging DMs to be more toxic makes the overall ecosystem worse and is not a separate problem.

And what exactly do you think I'm "proposing" in terms of "DM power"? Because as near as I can tell, I haven't proposed anything beyond an acknowledgment that "tyranny of fun" players are a problem. I'm quite curious to find out what you misread as "encouraging DMs to be more toxic," if only to clear up your misunderstanding.

And the only "tyrrany of fun" players I've seen in real life have fitted into three groups.

And I'm honestly envious that you've managed to just find good players in your local area. But the rest of us aren't so privileged, and so having someone come in and say "I haven't seen this be a problem (very much), so therefore it's not a problem (very much)" isn't helpful.

The term "tyrrany of fun", so far as I am aware was invented as the most inane piece of anti-4e edition warring.

I'll point out that you're the only person here who's brought this up as an edition-specific issue. Maybe you should take some time to think about that.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Nope, it's just as often the other players. The DM often acts as spokesperson for that, but they are doing so representing the collective.

Believe it or not as an experienced DM who has regularly run open tables and occasionally thrown out players I can tell the difference between the DM cleaning up a mess and the DM making the mess.

Both happen. But supercharging DM authority beyond first among equals does a lot to encourage the DM to make messes and almost nothing to help them clean them up.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Believe it or not as an experienced DM who has regularly run open tables and occasionally thrown out players I can tell the difference between the DM cleaning up a mess and the DM making the mess.

Sure.

Both happen. But supercharging DM authority beyond first among equals does a lot to encourage the DM to make messes and almost nothing to help them clean them up.

Nope, toxic players will be toxic no matter what the rules say. And the DM is in a natural position of leadership, no matter what the rules say. In addition, the relative scarcity of DMs competed to players gives them more leverage, no matter what the rules say.

Rules never made anyone a nicer person.