My gaming group actually started the swap over during the playtest mid campaign. I was DM’ing the Legendary Planet AP from levels 1-20. I think we started the playtest material around levels 15-17 and went to 20. Party consisted of Oath of Ancients Paladin, Way of Astral Self Monk, Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, and a Soul Knife Rogue/Echo Knight Fighter.
Reaction to playtest changes: they were pretty close to the final version in the PHB for all the classes. The Rogue chose not to playtest because she was playing another Rogue in the new campaign and wanted to see how they played differently. The Paladin wasn’t upset with the changes (mostly about not being able to smite multiple times or off turn) but did like the rest of the balance ( Lay on Hands as a BA) and felt it more balanced overall. The Sorcerer really like the changes and felt it improved the class overall and would have loved to see some of the lower level features at those lower levels. The Monk player… oh boy what a difference! Night and day. It wasn’t a terrible class/subclass but with the playtest changes it was like someone put 2 bottles of Nitrous on their back and pumped it straight to their bloodstream!
After that campaign ended we started up Odyssey of the Dragonlords with the playtest material until the new PHB came out. Fully swapped to new rules around level 4 I think but allowing 2014 subclasses/species if they didn’t update in 2024 ruleset. They are level 6 now. Party there is Forge Cleric, Oath of Devotion Paladin (recently swapped from Vengeance for RP/story purposes), Warlock of the Fates (custom subclass from the AP), and Odyssian Rogue (also from the AP).
Reactions so far: We started with the playtest versions and changed over officially as soon as the new PHB was in our hands and that hasn’t been too far in. Everyone likes the changes so far. Comments are that the classes feel more balanced against each other. The Cleric likes the feel overall but especially Turn Undead and meaningful healing when it matters. The Paladin (different player from last campaign) is really enjoying the changes even with the loss of multiple smites per round. Weapon Mastery is a welcome addition and they frequently swap out weapons based on circumstances. The Warlock player loves the changes to Invocations and the 1/day take 1 minute and get some spell slots back is really nice in a pinch. The Rogue (who played a Rogue in the last campaign) is liking what they see so far. Recently got the Cunning Strikes ability that adds tactical options plus the Weapon Mastery and they are enjoying the differences.
I am playing in another campaign that started with the 2014 ruleset and swapped to the 2024 ruleset when the PHB came out. It is Call of the Netherdeep and there are 5 players in this one and we just hit level 10. The swap took place probably 3-4 levels ago. Circle of Stars Druid, Arcane Trickster Rogue, Swarmkeeper Ranger (me), Wild Magic Barbarian, and Armorer Artificer.
Reactions so far: obviously Artificer character has no changes as they are not adopting the playtest that came out. Barbarian changes are greatly appreciated and makes them feel like they have a lot more options to play with other than Rage + Smash. Rogue is playing customized AT using Wisdom instead of Int and pulling from Cleric Spell list for RP/story reasons but base class upgrades are all good with the new options. Druid is 100% on board with changes. Not seeing the Wildshape changes so much as they use it pretty exclusively for Star Forms. Then there’s me and my Harengon Swarmkeeper Ranger with a hoard of Pixies by my side. I’m playing a throwing build with Nick and Vex and I consistently do really good damage and don’t really see where the Rangers suck at DPS comes from. I’m even using d4 damage weapons. I like the Ranger upgrades overall but didn’t feel underpowered even before the switch.
