D&D (2024) New One D&D Playtest Document: 77 Pages, 7 Classes, & More!

There's a brand new playtest document for the new (version/edition/update) of Dungeons of Dragons available for download! This one is an enormous 77 pages and includes classes, spells, feats, and weapons.

Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Unearthed Arcana Playtest Materials Get Unearthed Arcana playtest content, try it out in your game, and provide feedback! Check back regularly for ...

www.dndbeyond.com

In this new Unearthed Arcana document for the 2024 Core Rulebooks, we explore material designed for the next version of the Player’s Handbook. This playtest document presents updated rules on seven classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. This document also presents multiple subclasses for each of those classes, new Spells, revisions to existing Spells and Spell Lists, and several revised Feats. You will also find an updated rules glossary that supercedes the glossary of any previous playtest document.

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[Hatmatter]

Innovation itself is not always desirable either. Sometimes you get the iPhone, sometimes you get the Titan submersible. There is still lots of room for tried and tested and incremental change in the market.

Well said.

Also, the whole question of what one wants out of the roleplaying game experience is relevant. Some people experience it as a game and desire innovation in game mechanics and find that fun. Others relish the roleplaying experience (characterization, story arc, depth of relationships, immersive experience in a fictional world, etc.). Some delight in both.

I am not sure contemporary game mechanics assist with the experience of playing a role any more than roleplaying games systems from the 1980s or 1990s. Perhaps there is sometimes streamlined mechanics that can help with roleplaying by simply getting out of the way, but my experience has been that there are many ways (mechanics) to facilitate the roleplaying experience.

Emphasis on constant game innovation is more for those who are game designers and who think like designers, of which there are many clever ones on Enworld.

 

[Hussar]

Innovation itself is not always desirable either. Sometimes you get the iPhone, sometimes you get the Titan submersible. There is still lots of room for tried and tested and incremental change in the market.

Oh totally agree. I wasn’t judging DnD for staying with tried and true. Why wouldn’t you? Let other companies take the risk of innovation and then Hoover up the ideas that fit best after the dust settles.

It’s not a bad business model.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Oh totally agree. I wasn’t judging DnD for staying with tried and true. Why wouldn’t you? Let other companies take the risk of innovation and then Hoover up the ideas that fit best after the dust settles.

It’s not a bad business model.

It’s also probably good for gamers and for the games industry to have a big company doing that, IMO.

 

[Hussar]

It’s also probably good for gamers and for the games industry to have a big company doing that, IMO.

Again, it's sort of the nature of hte beast. The bigger you are, the less able you are to really experiment with your product. Or, at least, the more difficult it gets to experiment. Often that's why big companies spawn off small companies to handle that sort of thing.

In any case, I think we're all agreeing with each other here.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Again, it's sort of the nature of hte beast. The bigger you are, the less able you are to really experiment with your product. Or, at least, the more difficult it gets to experiment. Often that's why big companies spawn off small companies to handle that sort of thing.

In any case, I think we're all agreeing with each other here.

There’s a fun thought. I’d love to see a side projects studio with wotc’s backing and permission to go nuts.

 

[Hussar]

There’s a fun thought. I’d love to see a side projects studio with wotc’s backing and permission to go nuts.

i think that's called DMs Guild.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

i think that's called DMs Guild.

DMsGuild is the opposite. We benefit from the talent fostering nature of that, but what I’d like to also see is an actual funded studio made up of experienced and proven talents (including D&D ‘s current designers) under wotc’s wing.

 

[Hussar]

DMsGuild is the opposite. We benefit from the talent fostering nature of that, but what I’d like to also see is an actual funded studio made up of experienced and proven talents (including D&D ‘s current designers) under wotc’s wing.

No, I get that. And, largely I agree. It would be nice to see something like that. A sort of "D&D Pressure Cooker" setup.

Only potential roadblock I would see is the growth of another Paizo. WotC fostering its own competition. It's all fantastic when everyone's walking in step, but, what happens a few years down the road if WotC wants to go a new direction and the fandom pulls another walkout? Not that that would necessarily happen, but, I do wonder if perhaps that might be the conversation at Hasbro if someone suggest it.

I mean, really, what you are describing is exactly what Paizo was in the Dungeon and Dragon days. A studio of experienced and proven talents under WotC's wing. And it didn't exactly end well the last time.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Oh please, for that to happen again, WotC would have to get dollar signs in their eye bigger than their brains and then be willing to completely screw over...

Oh.

Right.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No, I get that. And, largely I agree. It would be nice to see something like that. A sort of "D&D Pressure Cooker" setup.

Only potential roadblock I would see is the growth of another Paizo. WotC fostering its own competition. It's all fantastic when everyone's walking in step, but, what happens a few years down the road if WotC wants to go a new direction and the fandom pulls another walkout? Not that that would necessarily happen, but, I do wonder if perhaps that might be the conversation at Hasbro if someone suggest it.

I mean, really, what you are describing is exactly what Paizo was in the Dungeon and Dragon days. A studio of experienced and proven talents under WotC's wing. And it didn't exactly end well the last time.

Paizo wasnt…owned by Hasbro under the auspices of Wizards. That’s a rather significant difference.