Today's The Day: D&D 2024 Has Launched

The 2024 Player's Handbook for D&D has made its way into the world, officially, and I have thoughts after using it for a month

I was lucky enough to have been given a copy of the 2024 D&D Player’s Handbook by Wizards while I was at Gen Con. And over the past month, I’ve been reading it, and even using it in my weekly D&D game.

And now, if you’re a D&D Beyond subscriber, it’s out in the world today and you can start using it immediately. There’s a lot of noise out there about it, and I wanted to let y’all know what I think about it after using it at the table for a month now.

It’s Not D&D 6e

It’s not Dungeons & Dragons 6e, despite what a lot of rage-baiters say. It really does feel like a half-edition like 3.5 did back in the day. It’s 5.5, even if they just call it 5e or 5e 2024 or whatever.

They change a lot, and it really shouldn’t be called 5e anymore, but it’s marketing and trying not to alienate potential buyers and casual players who might feel their previous purchases are outdated.

There’s definite power creep in the 2024 PHB, and the options here are better than most of the options in the old books, but that’s inevitable with this sort of update.

That said, and despite my (major) reservations through the UA releases and playtesting process, the final product is actually really good.

There’s Good, There’s Bad, but There’s Not A Lot of Ugly

Like any TTRPG book, there are good things and bad things, but the majority of the changes I’ve seen are very good.

My favorite is that Bloodied came back officially, and while that doesn’t do a whole lot right now, it opens up that being a trigger for some cool abilities in the future.

Most important is the Rules Glossary, which just makes it easier to look stuff up. Both as a DM and a player, being able to flip to the back of the book and get a succinct definition is pretty great. We don’t have to scan walls of text anymore just to check what a particular term means. That’s worth its weight in gp.

And then there are the class changes, which are going to be a bit more contentious, regardless of their quality. Personally, I like all the ones we’ve used at the table.

My sorcerer has a lot more versatility now, more spells to choose from, more spells to use at any given time, and better metamagic costs. Our group’s Rogue Soul Knife has been refined since the version in Tasha’s, and it’s finally a true contender for a subclass option.

Multiclassing into Warlock now also gives invocations at level 1, which is pretty sweet depending on the build you’re going for.

Honestly, weapon masteries haven’t come into play that much so far, but I like where they stand, and I know that my harengon barbarian, Smegmar, is going to have a field day with them whenever he gets a chance to smash things again.

It’s not JUST a cash-grab (but it is that, too, obviously)

Anyway, I know this is a brief and quick overview, but I wanted to at least let you know that, yes, the new Player’s Handbook is worth picking up and not just a cash-grab. It most certainly is a cash-grab, don’t get me wrong, but it’s at least filled with good content that will have a place at most people’s table.

Let me know what you think about the new edition of D&D!