D&D (2024) WotC Fireside Chat: Revised 2024 Player’s Handbook

In this video about the upcoming revised Player’s Handnook, WotC’s Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins reveal a few new tidbits.

• The books are near final and almost ready to go to print
• Psionic subclasses such as the Soulknife and Psi Warrior will appear in the core books
• Named spells have art depicting their creators.
• There are new species in the PHB.

​

 

[TwoSix]

I really like the 3.5 and Dreamscarred Press versions. It's one reason why I am so amenable to making the Psion as a more thematically-focused spellcaster in 5e that uses spells. I just think that WotC has excluded a lot of middle ground between what they presented to playtesters and what we ultimately got.

I think the Laserllama Psion is pretty close to perfect for a "spell-using, thematically focused" psion for 5e.

But I'm also in the pretty hardcore camp of not giving much of a fig about WotC's presentations of concepts these days.

 

[mamba]

Psionic magic is the magic of ones own soul − the influence of intention and visualization, will and interconnectedness of minds.

it is the interconnectedness that I am not seeing as a given for psionics, that is why I went with cleric / druid / warlock as my proposals for that, otherwise it would have been sorcerer (own magic)

Importantly, reallife shamans dont depend on nature beings for magic. Rather each shaman is understood to be personally a mindful presence with various powers. At the same time, each nature being is likewise a mindful presence. They are neighbors. The job of a shaman is to keep the peace, and to mediate and to negotiate any conflicts that arise within the shared community that includes humans and nonhumans.

that sounds rather druid-y to me

What does a psion give you that e.g. a reflavored druid does not? Different ‘spells’?

 

[Queer Venger]

I will admit that I buy stuff on Beyond myself, in spite of owning a comic and game store. AFAIK you'll get your FLGS print-book 11 days before your digital copy. (Barring time-zones. I live on the West Coast of Canada and I've been known to read my digital copy the day before I get my print ones, unless I happen to get my print ones in before I can sell them!)

Ah my friend you are living my dream! Ive always wanted to run a small comic book & gaming store, maybe when I retire. I too am on Pacific time zone (Los Angeles, CA).
My hope is that they'll offer a similar early release for the digital, my players will definitely be wanting to peruse this.

 

[Neonchameleon]

You're getting pushback because saying you "like psionics" but don't like the 3.5 implementation puts you into a really niche position.

Only on this board. People who even looked at 3.5 psionics are niche in today's D&D landscape. Possibly it's putting me in a niche of a niche - but those thinking that 5e doesn't have psionic support are in a smaller niche than I'm in.

I mean, the warblade was also just a D&D wizard with the serial numbers filed off and dozens of pages of martial spells, but that was pretty awesome too.

The warblade wasn't a "hang at the back and cast spells referencing literal wizard spells while having spell points based on a wizard that recovered at the same pace and hit dice and armour proficiencies (and possibly weapon proficiencies) of a wizard" class. And although some of their powers might come under the heading of 5e spells they didn't so much 3e outside the Desert Wind school.

 

[Yaarel]

it is the interconnectedness that I am not seeing as a given for psionics, that is why I went with cleric / druid / warlock as my proposals for that, otherwise it would have been sorcerer (own magic)

Telepathy and interconnectedness are fundamental to the concept of being "psychic". One "senses" things via interconnectedness. One influences things (such as telekinetically) because ones own mind is in some way also present at the remote location.

 

[Alzrius]

Telepathy and interconnectedness are fundamental to the concept of being "psychic". One "senses" things via interconnectedness. One influences things (such as telekinetically) because ones own mind is in some way also present at the remote location.

I suspect this was part of the reason that Dreamscarred Press's "society mind" class, and the tactician and vitalist, which were its Pathfinder successors, resonated with so many psionics fans. The entire point of that class was forming a psychic network with your adventuring party, and various ways of utilizing that.

 

[Oofta]

Gygax intended D&D to be a game of superheroes. A famous quote attributed to him is as follows:

"A 20th-level Fighter is Achilles, but a 20th-level Magic-User is Zeus."

Well, characters who have magic are supposed to become superheroes − as powerful as Greek deities.

But Fighters who lack magic are supposed to suck.

This is the inequality that Fighter players are clinging to out of habit, when they refuse to allow the Fighter to be magical.

In my games the fighter contributes just as much to winning encounters as anyone most of the time. Occasionally a caster pulls a vorpal rabbit out of their hat, but over a session? Plenty of times the wizard didn't feel like they were keeping up, even at the highest levels.

The only thing I do is make sure the fighter can attack at range by making bows finesse or at highest levels cool weapons. We also don't have 5 minute workdays, enemies don't always approach in fireball formation and so on. At the same time they get about the same amount of magical items as everyone else.

But this is an old argument. Do we really need to do it again?

 

[Yaarel]

that sounds rather druid-y to me

What does a psion give you that e.g. a reflavored druid does not? Different ‘spells’?

The spell list is extremely important. Each psionic concept requires a selection thematic spells. Occasionally there needs to be new spells to fill in missing gaps.

I am comfortable with merging Primal and Psionic. But it is Psionic that gets the feel right.

The Bard is already now a fantastic Psionic class that emphasizes Telepathy (Enchantment) and Psychometabolism (Healing and Shapeshifting), plus Prescience (Divination and Teleportation).

The D&D Druid is mainly Psychometabolism and Elementalism. The Elementals are mainly sky beings for weather and land beings, but fiery sunlight and forest fires and even watery themes are possible.

Essentially, both Bard and Druid should use Psionic mechanics, such as lacking spell components and using spell points, to represent the personal innate magical influence of ones own soul.

The D&D "soul" includes mind consciousness, ghostly personal influence, and ki bodily aura.

 

[tetrasodium]

Someone lamented how there was no way for a fighter to cross a 30ft gap without magic and specifically called out the draconic sorcerer's level FOURTEEN feature... I present this inexpensive selection from the adventuring gear table

Spoiler: starting gear

 

[Yaarel]

In my games the fighter contributes just as much to winning encounters as anyone most of the time. Occasionally a caster pulls a vorpal rabbit out of their hat, but over a session? Plenty of times the wizard didn't feel like they were keeping up, even at the highest levels.

The only thing I do is make sure the fighter can attack at range by making bows finesse or at highest levels cool weapons. We also don't have 5 minute workdays, enemies don't always approach in fireball formation and so on. At the same time they get about the same amount of magical items as everyone else.

But this is an old argument. Do we really need to do it again?

5e 2014 significantly narrowed the gap between Fighter and casters ... in combat. The Fighter is even better at combat than the casters are.

What the Fighter is still missing is the means of narrative control that happens ... out of combat.

Sometimes, this also includes the narrative power to force a combat or escape a combat.