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.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Could you remind me what they get in BG3?

BG3 Wildheart
It has some useless traits on it (hello, lv6 bear) and some too-obvious combos, but it has a selection of things to offer. If you combined that with 'pick your features when you rage', oh man.

lv3
Bear: same resistance
Eagle: dash as bonus action, OAs against you have disadv, special attack by jumping from elevation
Elk: movement speed, special stampede move that may knock people down in a line
Tiger: jump distance increases by 15ft, special bleeding swipe attack against 3 enemies
Wolf: melee advantage to allies (oh, 5e24 Wolf advantage isn't limited to melee)

lv6
Bear: double carrying capacity, adv on Str checks
Chimpanzee: resist fall dmg, throw camp supplies at people as special blinding move
Crocodile: +10ft movement on wet surfaces, adv to resist being knocked prone
Eagle: darkvision, adv to Perception
Elk: you and your allies have +5ft movement speed
Honey Badger: if you're poisoned/frightened/charmed, Rage for free
Stallion: dashing gives you tempHP
Tiger: bonus to attack bleeding/poisoned targets
Wolf: bonus to Stealth checks for whole party
Wolverine: if you attack bleeding/poisoned target, debuff them

lv8
Land's Stride

lv10
extra lv6 feature

 

[mellored]

I thought they decoupled the bonus action attack from the attack action. So that you only have to have a light weapon in both hands to use the bonus action attack regardless of what you did with your action. IE, you could cast a spell and then make a bonus action attack with a light weapon (that doesn't receive the skill bouns to damage). Or am I mixing that up with the Monk bonus unarmed strike.

Just for the monk.

TWF didn't change.
Nick just needs to be a little more clear on what "this attack" means.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Boo! Totem of the Bear was not overpowered. So they made it weaker? Why?

I guess they really hated people picking it as the default option. People picked it because everything after the early levels does some form of non-physical damage...

Judging from this selection, they wanted to make sure it's weak against psychics (makes sense), force damage means casters (uhh Will save and being mostly melee made sure of that already) but I guess this falls into 'nothing can resist force damage' camp, and necrotic means undead that aren't zombie hordes (this is the weird one for me, that the ones full of life aren't any better at resisting lifeforce sucking or radiation).

On a positive note, Wildheart Barb is the case where (Fizban) dragonborn being able to pick from niche resistances actually could come in useful! Or just be Aasimar, because 2024 Dragonborn are listed with only regular elemental resistances, but that's not as excit-- wait, can aasimar be non-humans?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Except what if they are in a situation where a long rest isn’t possible? Sometimes the story benefits from a scenario where the party just has to keep soldiering on.

Sure, that's a given. But every other time? While others are prepared to go further? I just think that there is a better sweet spot, is all.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Boo! Totem of the Bear was not overpowered. So they made it weaker? Why?

Mildly weaker, but not resisting four of the least common damage types.

But also, you can choose which option to use when you Rage, so if you are fighting something you know will be blasting with radiant, you can instead use Wolf or Eagle (advantage for allies and free disengage/dash bonus action if I remember correctly)

 

[Chaosmancer]

For exhaustion, I am currently leaning towards

• -2 per level from all d20 Tests [potentially excepting Death Saves]
• -5 ft of movement per level
• -1 to all save DCs per level

I think a -2 to the saves stacks into being too harsh too quickly. I don't think I've ever seen a save DC of 9, and only two levels of exhaustion would cause that to happen at low levels, so the -1 feels like a better curve for those.

Just need to bill it as being because you should be worse at grappling and shoving (which are martial save DCs) so that it would actually go through

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

Light property says 'when you take the attack action, you can make one extra attack as a bonus action later in the turn'.

Nick property says 'when you make the extra attack of the Light property, you can make it as part of the attack action. You can make this extra attack only once per turn'.

So, a new Attack action (Action Surge, Haste) should enable you to take a new Light property bonus action attack, because Nick's limit of once per turn only applies to the Nick effect itself.

But doesn't the limitation of the Light property (the root of the combo) limit it to one extra attack?

"When you take the attack action, you can make one extra attack as a bonus action later in the turn."

Doesn't that limitation still apply with Nick, even if Nick repeats it in its description?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I thought they decoupled the bonus action attack from the attack action. So that you only have to have a light weapon in both hands to use the bonus action attack regardless of what you did with your action. IE, you could cast a spell and then make a bonus action attack with a light weapon (that doesn't receive the skill bouns to damage). Or am I mixing that up with the Monk bonus unarmed strike.

My understanding is that 2 weapon fighting with weapons with the light property grants a bonus action attack. An Attack with a light weapon with the nick property allows that bonus action attack to be replaced with a single extra attack as part of the attack action, freeing up the bonus action for some non weapon activity.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

But doesn't the limitation of the Light property (the root of the combo) limit it to one extra attack?
"When you take the attack action, you can make one extra attack as a bonus action later in the turn."
Doesn't that limitation still apply with Nick, even if Nick repeats it in its description?

Yes. But if you take another Attack action... then you can argue that the bolded bit triggers again.

They could have future-proofed it by phrasing it differently, but I guess they wouldn't go back and revise text based on later feature additions, who does that. And now I expect we'll have to wait for a clarification for a while.

It's not too relevant, anyway, because I'd expect anyone TWFing seriously to be picking up Dual-Wielder (rather than trusting temporary buffs) and get their bonus action attack that way.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

You know how Tasha Beastmaster replacing the 2014 Beastmaster features left you with a lv7 Exceptional Training feature that didn't do anything? (it let the beast take Dash/Disengage/Help actions, which Tasha Beast could already do from lv3)

2024 actually makes it amazing! It looks the same, but when you order your beast companion to take an action with your bonus action, the beast can use its own bonus action to Dash/Disengage/Dodge/Help as well!

Of course, Beastmaster is the subclass who cannot actually use Hunter's Mark for much, because it's never worth giving up a beast attack for (especially when it doesn't benefit your beast)... And funnily enough, this lv7 feature only works with your bonus action, so replacing an attack to get the beast to attack doesn't get you anything.