D&D (2024) DMs what do you think of the new PHB?

[Micah Sweet]

Co-worker of mine had a similar response. They were fairly new to D&D and 5e (only played for a few years), and had zero interest in re-learning rules they only just became familiar with.

A real issue that I wonder if WotC thought about. All those new customers this book is designed to cater to were probably not 2014 5e adopters (as in, probably not in 2014).

 

[overgeeked]

I liked them a lot and wish they'd leaned into them more rather than getting rid of them entirely. They were an idea lifted from games like FATE, but they always felt tacked-on in 5e rather than integral to the game like in the latter system.

I tried to make them a bigger part of my games, but it frequently was a struggle. While I am sorry to see them go, I can see why they chose to drop them.

They were always in a weird liminal space for me. If D&D weren't a monster-fighting game, they'd make sense. In a monster-fighting game, they're effectively vestigial or DOA.

Having a limit of one at a time really creates a dissonance between the mechanics, the RP, and the apparent intent of the mechanic.

The players who're really interested in roleplaying don't need a reward like inspiration to roleplay, though it is nice. But the mechanic actively disincentivizes them from RPing, or burning inspiration on literally every roll.

Players who aren't that into RP but want the reward will RP only as much as is required to get the reward. Once they stop being rewarded for the RP, because you've RP'ed "enough" to get the binary reward, they stop RPing.

So you have two sets of players, one RPing constantly and only being rewarded infrequently and the other RPing only as often as it takes to get the reward. Either way, the mechanic doesn't work to push the apparent goal of rewarding RP and trying to push RP in a monster-fighting game.

A mechanical reward for RP, I guess. Inspiration and BIFTs as per 2014, no thanks.

Something like DM Scotty's luck dice or the campfire mechanic from...somewhere. Is that Daggerheart? Something like tying rests to RPing, that would greatly increase RP.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Meh. I run a game world that tries to be more on the realistic side. That was hard enough with 5e but I think 5.24 made PC even more magical. Almost every sub class has magic powers. Do I need a bunch of barbarians that can fly? No.

Hopefully they will release more non magical subclasses soon. So I can build a list of options for my PC that is more than 5 subclasses long.

I will recommend Level Up. Four nonmagical classes in the player's book (fighter, marshal, ranger, and rogue).

 

[FitzTheRuke]

It's decent. It's not earth-shattering either way when it comes to mechanics - some improvements, a few failures, some changes that are neither here nor there.

It IS, however, a BIG improvement on presentation. I hope they learn something from that going forward.

 

[Argyle King]

Not really… RE: Worldbuilding, I think it’s a bit more explicit about the whole “all D&D settings exist in a shared multiverse” thing than the 2014 rules were. But, it doesn’t get terribly deep into worldbuilding details.

I've seen a few reviews that claim commonly available magic and being a bit more like supers is more embraced by 2024.

But I take the little bit of D&D YouTube stuff that I come across as possibly having some basis in reality but likely starting from a preconceived position of bias.

 

[Zardnaar]

A real issue that I wonder if WotC thought about. All those new customers this book is designed to cater to were probably not 2014 5e adopters (as in, probably not in 2014).

Well 1E to 2E and 3.0 t 3.5 is best comparison. Think they lost around half the players (at least in total sales).

I don't think 2024 will do as well as 2014. Unsure about Beyond though and could ve wrong.

Doesn't really have to outsell 2014 just more than 2023 in it's first year.

 

[Distracted DM]

I think it will turn out to be a positive thing in the long term - we need younger players to join games to keep the hobby alive!

Generally agreed buuut the hobby's not gonna end if WotC's game isn't doing gangbusters.

I know public corporations are obsessed with growth (profit's not enough for shareholders) but D&D has seen its huge friggin' growth spurt- there are always more customers to reach, sure, but barring some mass-cultural phenomenon they're not gonna see something bigger than what they've already had. I only mention this stuff because the idea that "if D&D doesn't keep growing the hobby will die" is, to me, a very disturbing line of thought- and I think it's important to keep things in perspective if we're talking about the TTRPG hobby as a whole.

 

[overgeeked]

I've seen a few reviews that claim commonly available magic and being a bit more like supers is more embraced by 2024.

Do you remember any specific bits?

 

[pukunui]

Generally agreed buuut the hobby's not gonna end if WotC's game isn't doing gangbusters.

No, of course not. I wasn't implying that.

 

[Distracted DM]

Sure, but that stuff mostly hasn’t changed much. The most significant changes are in layout, presentation, and player-facing options.

I can't agree with you here. Changing things like stealth, surprise, flat damage, grappling, shoving, spells, equipment, conditions... I could go on, but really? Not much has changed except layout, presentation, and player-facing options? These are all things that a GM has to pay attention to and know for their own side of the table.