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.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I see almost no characters at all in 5E that just hit things any more. Aside from subclass abilities, almost all of them have magic of some kind, and over half have them have spells, to include many of the people playing "non-caster" classes.

The mythical non-magic PC that just hits it with a stick is nearly extinct at most tables.

I think you haven't sat at "most tables". The nature of your post history suggest you play at an optimiser table, where system mastery and RAW matter. Most of my players, they usually just want to hit things, and make their characters accordingly. They don't care about optimisation, they just want to pretend to be a hero who solves problems by hitting things with a big sword. I don't think weapon masteries will go down well with them.

 

[mellored]

The mythical non-magic PC that just hits it with a stick is nearly extinct in modern D&D.

Champion is still in the game. But I have yet to see anyone play one.

I do play with a more tactical/optimizer group though.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Just face it. Rounds are going to take longer. Combat is going to take longer. I don't know why this is so hard for some people to accept.

The trouble is that you're speaking generally - which just isn't true. "Combat" is not going to take longer. Many of us have been playing with Weapon Masteries for over a year and haven't found them to noticeably change the length of combat. I've yet to see anyone who's actually been playing with them make this claim - it's always just a "concern".

Meanwhile, there are other things (like summoning spells) from 2014 that took forever that have been "fixed".

It's possible (likely even) that some combats, with some particular combinations of PCs at certain levels, might take longer, depending on how good the players and DMs are at keeping things moving. That is NOT the same thing as "Combat is going to take longer".

Combat is about the same, with some changes in either direction, depending on very specific instances.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The playtest is not the 2024 rules.

Sure, but a LOT of it is the same or similar.

I played during the playtest as well but that is not the same thing and TBH much of the things from the playtest were scrapped and many of the new things being discussed and which will impact play were not in the playtest.

Like what in particular?

Slowing down combat has nothing to do with my opinion of weapon mastery.

Wait, what? I thought that nearly everyone's complaint about "Combat Being Longer" was due to Weapon Mastery. What else is there? A few reactions?

I don't love all the changes, but overall I like the new rules.

Yeah, me too.

@Paul Farquhar said it best, though when it comes to "Combat Speed": The Rate Determining Step remains unchanged.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think you haven't sat at "most tables". The nature of your post history suggest you play at an optimiser table, where system mastery and RAW matter. Most of my players, they usually just want to hit things, and make their characters accordingly. They don't care about optimisation, they just want to pretend to be a hero who solves problems by hitting things with a big sword. I don't think weapon masteries will go down well with them.

Your players sound like mine. Mine love Weapon Masteries, but they only use them when it'll be extra cool - they don't spam the effects. You CAN apply WM effects to each attack, but that doesn't mean that you MUST.

 

[ECMO3]

I think you haven't sat at "most tables". The nature of your post history suggest you play at an optimiser table, where system mastery and RAW matter. Most of my players, they usually just want to hit things, and make their characters accordingly. They don't care about optimisation, they just want to pretend to be a hero who solves problems by hitting things with a big sword. I don't think weapon masteries will go down well with them.

I currently play on 4 different tables every week, including as both a DM and a player. Some of them are optimizers, others aren't.

Personally the PCs I play as a player are not optimized per se, although I do use the rules to optimize the otherwise weak character ideas I have. For example, I have played a pretty darn awesome Character who was mostly an Undying Warlock, something everyone complains is weak. I do use the rules extensively to make those character ideas viable or even really good on what would otherwise be a weak character. The Monks I played (2014 rules) were all pretty good and very strong at the end (level 20). So I do optimize in a way, but on the other hand choosing to play a Monk or Undying Warlock is itself not optimal. I have played Wizards, all the way to level 20, but I have never had Forcecage or Animate Objects or Polymorph ....... so were they really optimized? I played Rangers, but never one with higher than a 16 Dexterity (even at level 20). Those are the kinds of PCs I play.

The vast majority of players I see at table have magic, and many of the "non-casters" have spells. A fighter swinging a non-magic weapon every turn is not consistent with the vast majority of players I see, and if you want to suggest this about the groups I play with, I will also note it is not consistent with the streaming games online either.

 

[ECMO3]

Sure, but a LOT of it is the same or similar.

Not a lot. Some if it is similar or identical, but a lot of it was not playtested

Like what in particular?

Most of the spells that are changed, the new Feats and changes to feats, changes to the bonus action spell rule, changes to stealth.

Things that were in the playtest and scrapped include numerous changes to the Wizard and the Warlock.

That is all off the top of my head.

Wait, what? I thought that nearly everyone's complaint about "Combat Being Longer" was due to Weapon Mastery. What else is there? A few reactions?'

I can't speak for "everyone" I can only speak for myself.

 

[ECMO3]

Champion is still in the game. But I have yet to see anyone play one.

I do play with a more tactical/optimizer group though.

I see people play the Chammpion, but all of them have magic and most of them have spells.

 

[ECMO3]

The trouble is that you're speaking generally - which just isn't true. "Combat" is not going to take longer. Many of us have been playing with Weapon Masteries for over a year and haven't found them to noticeably change the length of combat. I've yet to see anyone who's actually been playing with them make this claim - it's always just a "concern".

Combat WILL take longer and I am not speaking any more generally than you when you say it won't.

Meanwhile, there are other things (like summoning spells) from 2014 that took forever that have been "fixed".

Summoning spells did at times take forever, but that was rare and specifically when the caster used one of those spells AND had no idea ahead of time of what they were going to summon.

Most combats do not include those spells at all though, so if we are talking about the time the median combat takes, this is irrelevant.

There are rounds that take an hour because of this, but in the vast majority (I would say over 95%) of combats this is a non-issue.

It's possible (likely even) that some combats, with some particular combinations of PCs at certain levels, might take longer, depending on how good the players and DMs are at keeping things moving. That is NOT the same thing as "Combat is going to take longer".

It is also possible that the median combat will take longer and I for one think it will take substantially longer. When I say "combats will take longer" that is what I am talking about - the average combat.

Combat is about the same, with some changes in either direction, depending on very specific instances.

I think it is generally longer, with the degree of change dependant on specifics, but very rarely shorter.

 

[Daztur]

Your players sound like mine. Mine love Weapon Masteries, but they only use them when it'll be extra cool - they don't spam the effects. You CAN apply WM effects to each attack, but that doesn't mean that you MUST.

Huh, that's something I honestly didn't consider. Since NOT spamming WM is kind of the equivalent of not spamming bonus attacks if you have PAM. Looking at things tactically there's literally no reason NOT to spam WM.

I think we're going to see a period of adjustment where at first people play 5.5e just the same as they played 5e and then later people see what kind of behavior 5.5e encourages tactically and either switch over to that or make gentleman's agreements with the DM to avoid certain tactics. I saw that a lot with the change-over from 2e to 3.*e.