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.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Anecdotally, when things slow down our games it is because people don't know the rule/effect and have to look it up. This gets easier and speeds up over time as the players get used to their attacks, tactics, and options.

At-Will actions have trained my table, and as the party learns their commonly-used actions, we adapt. If a player's Weapon Mastery is going to attempt to topple enemies people every round, the players often describe which weapon they are using, telegraph their intent with their action description, and I am prepared for my monster saves (because I have to roll them often, heh).

If DMs or players get stumped and slowed down due to a tactic, perhaps it is a rarely-used tactic that they don't actually remember off the top of their head? Are they calculating DCs every time? Are they asking the other person for clarification on how it works?

Yes, some players freeze up with more complexity, or math, or lack of confidence or understanding. Work with the table to make it more comfortable!

Sure, but with this, you're adding an extra d20-based check after basically every attack from that character, which, even if you're prepared (and I would say it sounds like you're a little more prepared than the majority of DMs I've played with), is still an extra check. And then you have to determine that they're prone, which means that the PCs may change plans, or the monsters may and so on.

I'm not saying this is a huge disaster for the human race or something, but's clearly a slowdown point - and I rather suspect that this plus a lot of other minor changes, pretty much all of which except summon spells are in the "slower" or "more choices" (and thus more chance for analysis paralysis) direction will add up to overall somewhat slower play.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I have no doubt TWF/Nick is going to cause problems and see a ton of house rules and weird "interpretations" before WotC erratas it.

DO you mean because of the Dual-Wielder feat, or something else?

 

[Shardstone]

Sure, but with this, you're adding an extra d20-based check after basically every attack from that character, which, even if you're prepared (and I would say it sounds like you're a little more prepared than the majority of DMs I've played with), is still an extra check. And then you have to determine that they're prone, which means that the PCs may change plans, or the monsters may and so on.

I'm not saying this is a huge disaster for the human race or something, but's clearly a slowdown point - and I rather suspect that this plus a lot of other minor changes, pretty much all of which except summon spells are in the "slower" or "more choices" (and thus more chance for analysis paralysis) direction will add up to overall somewhat slower play.

Itd be better if on a 20+ you just knock them prone automatically imo.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Itd be better if on a 20+ you just knock them prone automatically imo.

Yeah, that would be good. "On an attack that beats an AC of 20 (and hits), you knock a large or smaller target prone" (because "give the target the prone condition" is stupid wording, IMO!)

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

Itd be better if on a 20+ you just knock them prone automatically imo.

Oh, nice. I had been considering automating it based on the attack roll being odd/even, but that's much smoother (as you always know the total anyways, so there's no new thing added).

 

[Shardstone]

Yeah, that would be good. "On an attack that beats an AC of 20 (and hits), you knock a large or smaller target prone" (because "give the target the prone condition" is stupid wording, IMO!)

Probably something like "You knock a creature your size or smaller prone when you successfully hit them with this weapon and the final attack roll is 20 or higher." I made it "hit them" instead of "damage them" too for the aesthetic of "I can't cut the dang thing but I can still knock it around!"

Wording is finnicky though and I think a few people would have different opinions on wording for any given option.

 

[Daztur]

Yeah, that would be good. "On an attack that beats an AC of 20 (and hits), you knock a large or smaller target prone" (because "give the target the prone condition" is stupid wording, IMO!)

Yeah as a general thing for rider effects I'd like to see them trigger if you beat the DC by X instead of requiring a saving throw, just fewer numbers to juggle and less dice to roll. Probably my favorite things from PF 2e, just like healing surges were my favorite things from D&D 4e, and advantage (despite being overused) is the best thing about 5e (3.5e stacking modifiers hurt my brain).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yeah as a general thing for rider effects I'd like to see them trigger if you beat the DC by X instead of requiring a saving throw, just fewer numbers to juggle and less dice to roll. Probably my favorite things from PF 2e, just like healing surges were my favorite things from D&D 4e, and advantage (despite being overused) is the best thing about 5e (3.5e stacking modifiers hurt my brain).

Yeah, weapon masteries effects that occur on a PF2-style "crit" (beat the AC by 10) would still have the awesome effects that they do, but they wouldn't happen quite so often. (Maybe not quite often enough, IDK) The main drawback I think we'd see here is the question of if it happened or not: "Did I beat the AC by 10? Did I? Then he's prone!" It might be rare enough that it winds up forgotten and then remembered too late, and then there'd be the trouble of the desire to backtrack...

 

[GothmogIV]

I am a shameful game harlot who just bought the three core books and the digital version on D&D Beyond. Even though I told myself I wouldn't. Even though I told my friends I wouldn't. Even though I think Hasboro sucks. Even though WotC can be horrid. Even though 5e feels like a superhero game after level 4. Even though... I AM A WEAK MAN

 

[GothmogIV]

I am a shameful game harlot who just bought the three core books and the digital version on D&D Beyond. Even though I told myself I wouldn't. Even though I told my friends I wouldn't. Even though I think Hasboro sucks. Even though WotC can be horrid. Even though 5e feels like a superhero game after level 4. Even though... I AM A WEAK MAN

And...I changed my mind and cancelled it all!