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.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I can understand it as class is the most important, defining feature of a character in D&D. It doesn't really matter very much if your character is an Elf, Halfling, Goliath, or Human as the game won't be significantly different for you no matter which species you choose. i.e. An Elf Monk will play pretty much the same as a Halfling or Dwarf Monk.

I grew up under the old paradigm where each race had bonuses or penalties applied to their attributes. If I wanted to play a Fighter then picking a Halfling might not make a lot of sense. If I'm coming into the game as a new player, picking class first makes sense because whatever species I select isn't going to have any impact on my character's class.

Yeah, its a very game-first approach, but that's fine if that's your preference.

 

[pemerton]

Yeah, its a very game-first approach, but that's fine if that's your preference.

How is choosing my PC's race not also "game first"?

 

[Corinnguard]

I can understand it as class is the most important, defining feature of a character in D&D. It doesn't really matter very much if your character is an Elf, Halfling, Goliath, or Human as the game won't be significantly different for you no matter which species you choose. i.e. An Elf Monk will play pretty much the same as a Halfling or Dwarf Monk.

I grew up under the old paradigm where each race had bonuses or penalties applied to their attributes. If I wanted to play a Fighter then picking a Halfling might not make a lot of sense. If I'm coming into the game as a new player, picking class first makes sense because whatever species I select isn't going to have any impact on my character's class.

Class is the most important defining feature of a character in 2024 D&D. But in 2014 D&D, species certainly had something of an impact on your character class. Playing a Dwarven Wizard, for instance, was certainly different from playing an Elven Wizard. As the former meant you had a wizard who had advantage on saving throws against poison, poison resistance, and proficiency with a small selection of weapons wizards weren't normally proficient in. And if you were a Mountain Dwarf Wizard, you were proficient in light and medium armor. You didn't need to sacrifice an ASI to in order to grant you a feat that would bestow an armor proficiency on your character at 4th level.

2024 D&D got rid of those proficiency bonuses on armor and weapons for the Dwarf. As a result, a Dwarven Wizard experienced a bit of a nerf IMO. However, a Dwarf still has something of an impact on the class you choose. Just not a big one as it had in 2014 D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

How is choosing my PC's race not also "game first"?

Class was moved to first in the PH because it's more mechanically important. Making the more important character building choice first is a game first design choice. Logically, one acquires their species in real life before one chooses their adventuring career.

Now, ideally you shouldn't choose your species at all IMO, but that's not really practical for a lot of people I suspect.

 

[Corinnguard]

Now, ideally you shouldn't choose your species at all IMO, but that's not really practical for a lot of people I suspect

Because you would already have something of a favorite by the time of character creation?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Because you would already have something of a favorite by the time of character creation?

Well, many people come in with at least that much of an idea.

One of the things I like about systems that have stat qualifiers for race/species/heritage/whatever is that, when you roll your stats in order as I often like to do, you might not qualify for every choice, which feels more naturalistic to me. Of course, that's not going to work if you have an idea in mind before you start and don't want to risk compromising it, but it's fun for me.

 

[Corinnguard]

Well, many people come in with at least that much of an idea.

Agreed. When I started playing 5e with my friends, my choice right from the start was the Dragonborn. I didn't bother looking at what was available species-wise.

 

[Arilyn]

Well, many people come in with at least that much of an idea.

One of the things I like about systems that have stat qualifiers for race/species/heritage/whatever is that, when you roll your stats in order as I often like to do, you might not qualify for every choice, which feels more naturalistic to me. Of course, that's not going to work if you have an idea in mind before you start and don't want to risk compromising it, but it's fun for me.

What we've been doing sometimes when rolling stats is assign the number to stat of choice after each roll. This way, you can lean into your preferred class, without necessarily matching the highest roll to class's favoured stat. I'm making a fighter, I just rolled a 15 right off the bat. Do I put in Str.? Gamble on a even higher roll?

 

[Azzy]

Yeah I don’t understand the “job description before species” thing either. I guess they have newbies that are looking for a sense of purpose / a “role” to fulfill in mind.

In the games I've run or played in since the 80s, most people choose their class first and then choose their species. So, for me, this is just codifying that experience.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In the games I've run or played in since the 80s, most people choose their class first and then choose their species. So, for me, this is just codifying that experience.

5.5 has chosen to codify a lot of experiences and playstyle choices, certainly. I would give them credit for picking a side (well, more than before), at least.