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.

 

[mellored]

I haven't seen the new rules, but my understanding is heroic inspiration can be given to any player who rolls a d20.

Per the playtest.

• You can use it on your own d20 test.
• If you get a second one without using the first, you could give it to another player.
• Heroic Warrior only gives you one if you don't already have it.

So no real way to use it off turn.


Thus the only thing that really seems to be significantly boosting the number of reactions is the Battlemaster 15, which is once per turn, and gives access to a few reactions. And I mostly expect that to have changed to once on your turn.

I do still agree that there is a minor increase to the number of reactions.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I see them not doing that because they won't always miss on their turn. It recharges at the begining of every turn but they will not miss with an attack every turn. So they will have to use it for something else or it will go to waste.

Which include things like damage re-rolls, re-rolls on second wind, ect.

Obviously not you. But I think some people do care about the rules being relatively easy for new players to learn.

By levels 6 to 10, you really aren't "learning the rules" anymore. Heck, statistically, you are finishing the game.

I think it will be by far the most common use of the ebility once they get it and I do think that is what the subclass is about.

Well, I think you are wrong about it being common, and it has been stated to not be the entire point of the subclass to reaction teleport. It is teleportation in general. Maybe we could... see it in pay, before we start declaring it is part of a massive problem that will slow down play to a grinding halt?

Well the rule book is not out yet, and I dont have one of the advanced compies so I won't pretend to be an expert. But the people who do have it and reviewed it have said there are a lot more bonus actions and reactions (in addition to describing them) so I am confident combat will take longer.

They have also said "combat doesn't take longer", so why are you confident in their reviews if you don't believe them?

I think Silvery Barbs is fine balance wise and have said so on many of the threads about. I do also think it slows down play in most games. Maybe that does not matter to you but it does matter to many others.

I think the new rules will slow down combat further and by any reasonable evaluation, combat will take more time, even at your table. Maybe that does not matter to you, but don't pretend it won't happen nor that it will matter to many people.

I keep telling you it doesn't slow down combat, and your response is "maybe you don't care that it slows down combat". Do you have reason to believe I'm a liar?

Their Race, their origin feat, Tactical Shift, Tactical Mind and the mechanics of Protection.

Nope human race isn't new, nor is getting inspiration. Getting it daily is new, but not having it in general.
Their origin feat is a new option, but the majority of those feats are not new and do not give new reactions.
Tactical Shift is not a reaction, it is part of a bonus action and it is a move that they choose. Won't slow down play anymore than any other bonus action dash.
Tactical mind is non-combat
Protection's only new mechanic is that it lasts longer. Doesn't slow down play anymore than anything else that gives disadvatnage on attacks.

Yes there is new.

Moreover even one more thing in combat on a your cherry picked example class and level is going to translate to taking longer in play.

If you start measuring micro-seconds perhaps.

Maybe or maybe not. If you purposely try to build a character with only a little more, you will only have a little more, but on the other hand with a human Shadow monk with Musician and Magic Initiate you are going to have a ton more to do.

Also small point - they have more uses of their second wind than they did previously, so it is factually NOT "the exact same bonus actions" it is more bonus actions and again that is before we consider species or origin feat.

What actual gameplay difference do you expect to see from spending Second Wind twice in the same combat, instead of once in one combat and again after a short rest in a different combat? That is the same number of times per day. You are getting to the point of just measuring every single possible action in the entire game and just declaring "since Monks can make one additional attack, and 5 is more than 4, this will slow down combat and we should be concerned!!"

That isn't how this actually works in practice. And again, you keep pointing to things like musician. Sure, it will give everyone inspiration... have you never had a party who has full inspiration? It isn't that uncommon in my experience, and since it will be more common, it might be hoarded less, and the decision to use it will be faster. Indecision on "do I spend this resource" is far more likely to slow things down than re-rolling, and a daily resource will be spent far more often than one player's see once a month.

Yes it is. If he uses cutting words he uses a use of BI and can't use it again in the future. If he uses countercharm now he can use that same cutting words reaction in the future, where under the old rules he would have burned that BI and would not be able to use it later.

The ONLY time this is not true if his reactions are saturated. If he has a reaction to use every single turn and resources to use one every single turn then it is not an increase. But in this case your party of 6 IS using 6 reactions a round.

Yes, 6 is more than 5, but that doesn't mean combat is going to be noticeably slower because someone has 6 of something instead of 5.

And I am telling you I play the game and it does happen. I play 4 regular games a week, I play a lot of D&D both as a DM and as a player and both on the tabletop and on VTTs with players worldwide.

I do know Treantmonk said players have a lot more reactions to use and he is the best expert opinion I have to reference.

And Treantmonk said, directly to the question of "is combat slower" that he did not notice a significant change in the speed of combat. He, your best expert opinion, DISAGREES with your assessment. He says you are wrong. So why should I take the opinion of an expert that says you are wrong, and think you are right?

 

[DrJawaPhD]

So why should I take the opinion of an expert that says you are wrong, and think you are right?

They can pretty easily both be correct. Pace of play depends almost entirely on the particular players and DM at the table, so one table may say that X speeds things up while another table that same thing could slow the game to a crawl.

Makes it pretty pointless to debate about really, other than looking for tips on how to speed things up from tables that aren't seeing the issue

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

I appreciate it! OK so it sounds like a combo of y'all being incredibly efficient and no one takes any time on their turn deliberating what to do.

Yep, we don't have the time for that!

Are you a player or the GM in that group? I'm curious if the GM is doing anything behind the scenes like lower hp/higher damage etc.How many rounds of combat would you say the 10 minute encounters go for?

I'm a player, so I am not sure if the DM is doing things behind the scenes. I would say our 5-10 minute combats last 2-3 rounds.

You say that 1-2 encounters per session go for 45 minutes, the more complex ones- that sounds more in-tune with what I could imagine. I guess we don't know what simple vs complex means in this context.

How many encounters are y'all getting into per session? And when you say encounter, do you mean combat exclusively or do you count "sneaking around the guards at the gate" an encounter?

We get 2-3 combats in a session. Sometimes less, sometimes more. For this discussion I was specifically talking about combat encounters, not ones that involve roleplay, investigation, or exploration, when it comes to amount of time spent.

Thanks for the answers!

Your welcome!

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

So you have 30 seconds to decide where to move, count the feet, declare your action, roll your dice, use a bonus action if needed (which might also include movement and/or rolling more dice, roll damage, and add it all up?

Correct.

I commend you and the people at your table. To this day, I have never played with a table (I don't even think a single player) that can pull that off. Especially past level four, let alone 15. Bravo.

It was crazy when we first tried. We had a lot of turns that were often wasted (to some extent). However, it was such a hectic, and exhilarating frenzy we kept with it. It really added a level excitement to RPG combat that I had never experienced before. When you are crunched for time like that, it really felt more like battle then taking my time to plan out my move, and everyone else's move, etc. It was just so much fun really.

What was an interesting side effect was that we grew into this style of combat similar to how our PCs advanced in level. For the first time to me it became clear that I, as a player, was improving like my PC was improving. As we caught up to the fast pace we went from barely being able to declare the simplest of actions, to getting a full planned turn in, to coordinating our teamwork. Now we have a synergy has players forged from real tests and understanding of combat styles and not just a 5 minute discussion on we are doing and should / could do.

It has been a real eye opener for me. I don't know that I would want to play in a game that doesn't run combats this way.

 

[Scott Christian]

I keep telling you it doesn't slow down combat, and your response is "maybe you don't care that it slows down combat". Do you have reason to believe I'm a liar?

Can you agree that your quote probably shouldn't be so absolute? It may not slow combat for your table, but anytime you add something to combat, be it a reaction, ability, etc. it slows it down for many tables. Maybe not yours, but for others, probably.

 

[Scott Christian]

Correct.

It was crazy when we first tried. We had a lot of turns that were often wasted (to some extent). However, it was such a hectic, and exhilarating frenzy we kept with it. It really added a level excitement to RPG combat that I had never experienced before. When you are crunched for time like that, it really felt more like battle then taking my time to plan out my move, and everyone else's move, etc. It was just so much fun really.

What was an interesting side effect was that we grew into this style of combat similar to how our PCs advanced in level. For the first time to me it became clear that I, as a player, was improving like my PC was improving. As we caught up to the fast pace we went from barely being able to declare the simplest of actions, to getting a full planned turn in, to coordinating our teamwork. Now we have a synergy has players forged from real tests and understanding of combat styles and not just a 5 minute discussion on we are doing and should / could do.

It has been a real eye opener for me. I don't know that I would want to play in a game that doesn't run combats this way.

That second part seems a definite truth. I know for me, that each level I increase, I re-write my entire character on a blank character sheet. Handwritten. No typing. No program. And because of that, I can definitely say I have it memorized, even at higher levels. That one little thing has sped up my play considerably compared to other players that I have had the privilege to be in campaigns with. I can only imagine a time crunch - that must really kick your brain into high gear.

No offense, but it is a shame you and your table haven't filmed one session yet. There are a lot of people that would want to see that type of encounter speed, me included.

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of this. It is appreciated.

 

[mellored]

They can pretty easily both be correct. Pace of play depends almost entirely on the particular players and DM at the table, so one table may say that X speeds things up while another table that same thing could slow the game to a crawl.

This.

When I swapped 2014 characters for 2024 characters combat slowed down for a session or 2 while they memorized the new rules and devised new tactics.

It then went back to normal once they got use to the new class.

Admittedly I have a tactically minded group, lighter on roleplay, so they where having fun evaluating the new rules and coming up with new plans as much as anything else.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Playing 5E and B/X (OSE) with the same group and seeing how much faster combat is when you don’t have 4X the HP (on both sides) and 10 super powers per character, it’s night and day.

I’m looking forward to giving 5.5 a spin but not looking forward to drawn out combats again.

Oh and even a fight with like 5 goblins doesn’t feel pointless like it does in 5E. I’ve skipped whole combats in 5E simply because “you guys would easily overpower them and easily heal any damage so you win”.

In OSE, the attrition is real. Even if I only carve off a few HP, healing isn’t so easy and plentiful it doesn’t feel like wasted time.

 

[Vaalingrade]

'Super powers' like 'attack twice' or 'attack but gooder'.