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.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Oh, good God - someone DID that crossbreeding! Here's Mom, Dad, and two puppies:

 

[Lidgar]

Finally had a chance to sit down with the PHB today. Just an initial scan to get a feel for the layout, usability, and changes.

Mostly I like the layout. What I really DO NOT LIKE how they stuck the spell lists with the class write ups. I mean, it’s fine to put them there, but would it have killed them to include the lists before the descriptions as well like the old PHB? It’s really irritating that when I get the magic initiate feat, I have to hunt for each appropriate class instead of seeing that info at a glance.

Grumble grumble, don’t mess with my lists…

 

[FitzTheRuke]

When they made the new rules they cut the half-elf from the game. Sure you can use the old rules for it, but there's no half-elf in the current incarnation of D&D. It HAS been cut from the game, even if they intend to bring it back later.

I mean, I don't want to open THAT can of worms, but I guess it depends on what you think is the "current" version of the game - or specifically how exclusive you think it is.

I mean, yes, they haven't updated it yet, but they haven't updated the Satyr or the Warforged yet either, and yet there are players playing both in my current (otherwise) 2024 game.

They hadn't updated the half-elf to MotM-versions either, and that didn't stop anyone from playing them after 2022, either.

Being cut from the PHB isn't cut from the game, IMO, unless you think that they will NEVER make a new one. Do you think that Warforged have been cut from the game, or Genasi?

Like I said, though, it's a nitpick since you can easily use the 2014 rules.

Right. I think that the important thing is 1) You can still play them; and 2) There will be a new version someday down the line.

We don't know 2 for sure, but I think we can bet on it.

 

[Chaosmancer]

In iconic characters, both pre-D&D and since 3e. I still don't know how, given the huge popularity of Baldur's Gate 3, they went ahead and simultaneously cut the race of one of its most prominent characters.

Half-elves are so popular in BG3 it's literally the most popular race. Something WOTC had to know at the same time they were drafting the 2.24e PHB:

I'm only partially able to catch up today, so apologies if this has been said.

Half-Elves are not cut from the game. They are in the game. They are in the game in the exact same place they were in the game before. If you want to insist that at your table you cannot use the material from 2014, that is a choice. If you want half-elves and half-orcs... they have said repeatedly, if it wasn't replaced by the 2024 PHB, then it is still rules legal to use.

So, really, there is no issue except they didn't get updated, just like the vast majority of species options.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm only partially able to catch up today, so apologies if this has been said.

Half-Elves are not cut from the game. They are in the game. They are in the game in the exact same place they were in the game before. If you want to insist that at your table you cannot use the material from 2014, that is a choice. If you want half-elves and half-orcs... they have said repeatedly, if it wasn't replaced by the 2024 PHB, then it is still rules legal to use.

So, really, there is no issue except they didn't get updated, just like the vast majority of species options.

I am sure you know the responses to this that I and the very many others who think it should have been in the 2024 PHB make to this without my even saying it.

Indeed, so does WOTC. There is surely a reason they axed the blurb they had in the final playtest of this rule about half-species. And they know it's the most popular race in BG3, and reaction to their blurb was negative.

I think they messed up. I think they knew last-minute they messed up but didn't have time for an adequate answer to this question so they simply punted and hoped to have a fix later.

Maybe I am wrong in thinking that. We shall see. But I know you know "there is no issue" isn't going to fly. Of course there is an issue. They're not expecting new players to buy the 2014 PHB (which they will stop selling when they run out) to get their favorite BG3 race. Something is likely coming on this issue.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Well, maybe not now that it's down to a tiny %, but it may have made quite a difference back when they were HALF Neanderthal!

It didn’t give them any survival advantages, or it wouldn’t have diminished to that extent. It may have had “can’t speak” but even that is unlikely, since it wouldn’t survive to pass on any genes. Most likely, just cosmetic.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not even close. Dogs are a particularly bad example, as I don't think there is anything else that is so diverse while technically being the same thing.

It really argues the opposite point as to what it seems that Paul was going for, when you consider that if you crossed a St Bernard and a Chihuahua, you'd get something that very likely couldn't be remotely modeled by the "statblock" of either of its parents.

Not at all. Dogs may appear diverse, but in terms of abilities D&D does not have the level of granularity to represent the differences since ASIs are no longer part of the game. Size? A half elf that takes after their human parent can choose to be small or medium. Half elf half Goliath can be large (ish). Smell? All dogs have a “keen sense of smell”, the game cannot model “but some are keener than others”.

The vast majority of variation is cosmetic, and D&D gives you free control over that. You could, for example, create a half dog character, who was mechanically a small human, but was covered in curly brown fur.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, I don't want to open THAT can of worms, but I guess it depends on what you think is the "current" version of the game - or specifically how exclusive you think it is.

I mean, yes, they haven't updated it yet, but they haven't updated the Satyr or the Warforged yet either, and yet there are players playing both in my current (otherwise) 2024 game.

They hadn't updated the half-elf to MotM-versions either, and that didn't stop anyone from playing them after 2022, either.

Being cut from the PHB isn't cut from the game, IMO, unless you think that they will NEVER make a new one. Do you think that Warforged have been cut from the game, or Genasi?


Right. I think that the important thing is 1) You can still play them; and 2) There will be a new version someday down the line.

We don't know 2 for sure, but I think we can bet on it.

And of course, numerous versions of all these things exist somewhere already, or you can make your own. Lots of choices.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I am sure you know the responses to this that I and the very many others who think it should have been in the 2024 PHB make to this without my even saying it.

Indeed, so does WOTC. There is surely a reason they axed the blurb they had in the final playtest of this rule about half-species. And they know it's the most popular race in BG3, and reaction to their blurb was negative.

I think they messed up. I think they knew last-minute they messed up but didn't have time for an adequate answer to this question so they simply punted and hoped to have a fix later.

Maybe I am wrong in thinking that. We shall see. But I know you know "there is no issue" isn't going to fly. Of course there is an issue. They're not expecting new players to buy the 2014 PHB (which they will stop selling when they run out) to get their favorite BG3 race. Something is likely coming on this issue.

You are probably right about the reason. I hope you are wrong, and players quickly learn that they can create a wide variety of characters of any mixture without needing mechanical superpowers. Unfortunately, WotC are not very good at listening to their gut and often kowtow to loud unrepresentative members of the community. See: Psionics.

 

[Maxperson]

You are probably right about the reason. I hope you are wrong, and players quickly learn that they can create a wide variety of characters of any mixture without needing mechanical superpowers. Unfortunately, WotC are not very good at listening to their gut and often kowtow to loud unrepresentative members of the community. See: Psionics.

Red Herrings are red. This isn't about superpowers. Hell, they aren't super powered at all. You can get the charisma bonus from literally any race, since bonuses aren't racial any longer. Even in the 2014 books you can get the charisma bonus from a variety of races. No need for half-elf to get that. And Darkvision? Very few races lack that. Proficiency in some more skills isn't even close to being broken or power gamey and neither is fey ancestry.

Enough with the distraction arguments. It's not about the strength of their racial abilities, it's that they get them at all and those racials are a large part of what makes half-elves a unique race. We want a unique race, not a human or elf with lipstick painted on it.