Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons 2024 Player's Handbook (D&D Core Rulebook)

Lengthy read ahead. I'll include a tl;dr at the bottom for those who can't be bothered.1. Physical Properties of the BookI think that the book is lovely. I found the artwork to be nice, it's a solid and hefty book, and the print makes everything perfectly legible. I am not including damage in this section, not because mine showed up in near mint condition (which it did - there are about five pages with extremely slight wrinkling that I didn't even notice at first), but because a lot of the damage I've seen in the photos in other reviews are due to Amazon's careless handling of items rather than any fault of WotC/Hasbro.2. ApproachableA lot of care went into ensuring that new players can find their way into D&D. The writers crafted the book to be extremely approachable, to explain things clearly and in detail, without it seeming overwhelming. There are great breakdowns included, the examples are great and really easy to follow, and the simplified explanations of what things mean help entry into the game to be less daunting for newbies. This also provides easier clarification for more seasoned players who may have stumbled onto questions in the minutia of the game.3. ContentEverything feels nicely fleshed out. The classes and sub-classes offer a nice variety, even without having tons of new things added here. There are plenty of backgrounds to choose from and having your backgrounds modify your ability scores, provide origin feats, etc. is a nice touch that makes a lot of sense. I wasn't quite as sure about this, honestly, when I first heard about it. But as I've thought on it more and looked at how it's implemented, I feel like it's logical to say, "The scores I rolled are from genetics. This is how my character developed as he grew. The adjustments that I received from my background reflect the specialized training that my character underwent. My rogue's criminal background made him train to be nimble and dexterous (+2 to dex) and he had to learn to be mindful and clever (+1 to int). On that same line of thought, coming with the Alert feat makes sense, since he had to be constantly aware of his surrounding, watching for marks, for guards, rivals, etc." There are also enough races (referred to as species in this series) to get you going. Other reviews are correct in saying that there are no half-races anymore. What they seem to fail to realize is that, as race no longer affects stats in a meaningful way, you can simply say, "My character is a half-elf." You can easily modify the traits you DO get from race. Your half-elf's eyes are not quite as good as a full-blooded elf, so your dark vision is only 30 feet, but you also gain the human's Heroic Inspiration after a long rest (just as a potential example). After all, the book is just a guide, not an absolute. We are encouraged to tweak things to fit our tables. The addition of weapon mastery is a lot of fun, as it allows you to further craft your own play style in the game. There is also great information included to make it easy to figure out costs of services of all sorts to help bring your cities, towns, and settlements to life, as well as enough basic stat blocks for simple critters to get you started populating your world. For people, just roll them up if you have to fight them and create your own basic templates for villagers' stats and the like. Easy peasy.4. The Rules GlossaryAppendix C, the Rules Glossary, starts on page 360. It offers you a handy, alphabetical list of rules, stretching on until page 377. Fantastic.5. New Edition?I mean, not really. At least, not right now. Sure, there's new stuff. There are changes. There's also information on how to modify older edition stuff to fit these changes. You can absolutely take an adventure module from a previous edition and use this book to tweak things. If the DM's Guide is constructed similarly to the PHB, then there should be no problems at all with making a basically seamless change. That said, there promises to be more changes coming with the DMG. That may make things feel like it's a new edition, depending on the scope of changes that come. We will have to see.6. Gatekeepers and WhinersClaims that it's being "dumbed down," that it's "no longer D&D," that "ThEy TeRk Er HaLf-RaCeS!" and all the rest are just people gatekeeping, whining, or forgetting that the core rulebooks aren't absolutes. The beauty of D&D is that *you get to use the core rulebooks as guides to change things to fit the needs of your game.* If you're too lazy or too unimaginative to create your own half-races, then play an older edition. Railing on about how it's stupid and broken and not worth the money because you're incapable of dealing with it is asinine. Don't like that it's "dumbed down?" Cool. That doesn't mean it's broken, though. It's written to invite new players of all skill levels. Getting more people into D&D is a *GOOD* thing. "It's no longer D&D!" Well, that's just stupid. You don't get to decide what is or isn't Dungeons & Dragons. If you don't like this edition, don't play it. But just because it doesn't fit your narrow view doesn't mean that it's not D&D.Basically, just remember that the game you play at your table is *yours.* Don't let people who are crying over a game that is notoriously complicated for new players being made more friendly to new players scare you away from buying this book. If you're worried, I suggest you check out a copy at a local gaming store. In fact, if possible, purchase it from there, as well. Support your local game shops. If that's NOT possible and you buy it here, only to find out it's not for you, you can always return it.7. TL;DRIt's pretty, it's a solid entry into the game system, and I personally like the changes. If you are scared by the people's reviews about how it's too dumbed down, how it's no longer D&D, etc., at least read point 6 above, since it directly addresses the gatekeepers and whiners. I personally feel it's worth the investment, especially if you are brand new or planning to bring brand new players into the game. I would not necessarily buy it to put into an existing campaign, but it's potentially great for a new campaign or if you only play one-shots. If possible, support your local game store and buy it there instead of here. The end.

Just like the rest of the 5E handbooks this is easy to learn, fun for the whole family, it's well made, and worth the cost. The design is easy to follow, and it fits right in with the rest of the books I have.

The information and rules are much better laid out in this version than the 2014 one, and this one is much more aesthetically pleasing, with almost every page having an amazing piece of art to inspire your imagination. The printing quality leaves something to be desired, sometimes if you hold it with your fingers on the same spot for too long the ink comes off, and it leaves these awful stains, and I feel the pages should have been thicker, given this is a book that'll be handled constantly. Other than that, it is very good purchase for those who already liked the system.

This rewrite can be called, without hyperbole, a once in a lifetime event.The art is astounding while still being descriptive of the items presented.The rules are streamlined and better balanced.Special shout out to the Monk class and the Circle of the Land Druid. Astounding work.Martials have many, many cool new toys, while casters are still reality altering at the highest levels.This new book’s layout is phenomenal. Finally laid out logically and with usability at the forefront.If you love D&D, you’ll love this book. If you don’t, give it a try anyway. You will NOT be disappointed.

This new Player's Handbook is better written and organized than I expected, and does make it easy to find what you need during play. Unfortunately, as first printing, it looks like they went with a cheap printer because I've only had it a month and the binding is cracked. I have previous editions that are 10, 20, 30 years old, and their bindings are just fine. This one looks like I'm going to start losing pages in another month or so. I guess I should stick to my digital copy from now on.

First off, whoever formatted this book deserves a pay raise. One of the most intuitive guides for not just making a player character ter but guiding new players on tips and rules for playing. A literal players handbook.While I will be eventually testing character conversions, I will admit I had doubts at first. After some review and comparing my experiences I can safely say I could make the transition from 5e to 5.5. How all this shakes up with new content, 3rd Party material will be discovered in time. After all, 5E had a decade of play testing and thousands upon thousands of content.So far I am focusing on Paladin and these are my thoughts.THOUGHTSWith some consideration, I actually like what they did with Paladin.a) The Divine smite is actually fine. 5E allows me to burn spell slots. 2024, however, allow me to use one for free and the rest is still being used with spell slots. I get one free. Yes, long rest recovery seems to sting still.b) I get Find Steed for free onceday spell which I do not have to expend a slot for. A win.c) Weapon mastery. A paladin would focus on a few arms.d) Divine sense has more utility for me to sniff out fiends, undead and celestials.e) Takes Tasha's Cauldron of Everything idea of a Paladin focusing from strictly marshal to casting. Gives me options to see what direction I wish to go.As of this writing, I am Still reading the handbook and learning more. I am sure cracks will show snd till I get the Oathbreaker stats, interested to see where it goes.Players owe it to themselves to read the PHB cover to cover. Advice I am taking to heart.Stay cool my fellow dungeon crawlers and may you roll NAT 20.