D&D (2024) Players Handbook 2024 Art and Design video from WotC

[Parmandur]

They're certainly more "civilized" than they've ever been depicted before.

Personally, I've always (like, since the mid-eighties) portrayed them as generally from a society that has a certain sense of honor, but reveres the strong, and has a tolerance for violence that your average human society struggles to understand. I've always felt that calling anyone "inherently evil" is primarily propaganda. That's how I've played it, anyhow. These orcs won't be all that different to mine, really.

The description of Gruumsh in that Orc flavor text makes it feel like they are moving him into more "Chaotic Neutral" territory: so in AD&D terms you could logically have CE, CG, CN, or even True Neutral Gruumsh religious groups. Which goes a long way to refine Orcs cosmically.

 

[Argyle King]

Any pictures of an index?

One of my biggest hopes for the new books is that they adequately function as actual physical books.

 

[Parmandur]

Any pictures of an index?

One of my biggest hopes for the new books is that they adequately function as actual physical books.

No, no sign yet, and I am not sure they will have an index: the Rules Glossary format seems to make that a bit redundant, in terms of reference tools.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I love that they did this, just so we can hear from the artists.

I also love the little things on the sides people might not have noticed, that are going to make HUGE changes. For example.

How many people caught that the don and doff rules got written into the armor table, with the armor types. I have rarely had to look up that rule, but BOOM here it is, trivially easy to find. I also like how they have been placing the pricing next to all of the armor and weapon art. Again, minor thing, but great quality of life improvement.

Another quick thing people might have missed:

Background equipment is an A/B choice. A is a set of items and gold, B is that 50 gold standard. And looking across the few backgrounds they had shown, it seems like all of them will have the same value. Which is pretty cool, and makes me think they will do an A/B/C for character equipment.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Eye-crab familiar as being a thing that you can have sitting on your shoulder...

I was unhappy to see the teeth.

Then even MORE unhappy when they pointed them out and zoomed in on them.

Yuck

 

[TerraDave]

I was very down on the 2024 aesthetic just before watching this….not anymore! Best of these videos yet.

 

[Argyle King]

No, no sign yet, and I am not sure they will have an index: the Rules Glossary format seems to make that a bit redundant, in terms of reference tools.

I can understand the thinking from that point of view. However, given that 5e14's books weren't always intuitive for finding things, I would appreciate a (better) index.

 

[Parmandur]

I can understand the thinking from that point of view. However, given that 5e14's books weren't always intuitive for finding things, I would appreciate a (better) index.

But that's the thing: the all-inclusive Glossary (and it has been made clear thebRule Gloasary will contain literally all the rules) would mean it is easy to find things without an Index.

 

[Azzy]

The players in those table scenes are not in the same positions relative to each other in the different pictures. And I can't deal with that!

 

[Argyle King]

But that's the thing: the all-inclusive Glossary (and it has been made clear thebRule Gloasary will contain literally all the rules) would mean it is easy to find things without an Index.

Not necessarily. An index isn't just rules. It also is a reference for key topics, terms, and etc.

If the book is able to provide the function of an index, cool; but the '14 versions struggled with that, so I'm not exactly enthusiastic about the idea of completely removing an index.