Player's Handbook

Dungeons & Dragons

by Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins, Ben Petrisor

UNLEASH NEW POSSIBILITIES—Introducing the 2024 Player’s Handbook, the new and improved guide for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Redesigned with 10 years of feedback from the D&D community, the essential Dungeons & Dragons rulebook is bigger and better than ever before!
NEW CHARACTER OPTIONS YOU’LL LOVE—Create unforgettable characters with 12 core classes, 48 intriguing subclasses, and 10 distinctive species. Buff up your character’s backstory with 16 compelling backgrounds and 75 fantastic feats.
STUNNING ARTWORK—With vibrant new illustrations of every single character class, subclass, background, species, weapon, and armor, our thrilling artwork also features new and familiar spells, brought to life for the first time ever.
FRESH & ENGAGING GAMEPLAY—Change up your combat style with fascinating new Weapon Masteries for your character class. Our new Tools and Crafting system lets you use your tools to craft items and impact travel and exploration.
DESIGNED JUST FOR YOU—We’ve thoughtfully redesigned this book with an improved layout, better organization, and an alphabetized Rules Glossary. Find whatever you’re looking for with ease!
PART OF THE 2024 CORE COLLECTION—1 of 3 revised core rulebooks, the 2024 Player’s Handbook is designed for use with the fifth edition 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide and 2024 Monster Manual

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Games, Gaming, Fiction, Reference

384 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2024

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an improvement over the 2014 version of the Player's Handbook. The rules section now comes at the front of the book, and it has been edited to be easier to read, so I think new players will appreciate this. Also, the character creation rules have been reworked in a way that allows for more flexibility. The biggest part of this comes from shifting attribute modifiers from species (formerly race) to background. This makes a lot more sense as attributes are more likely to be improved through life choices (Did you spend your formative years training for battle or studying in the library?) than genetics. This means that you can play any class with any species without having to worry about playing a suboptimal build. This will create more diversity in the stories that are told at the table.

Regarding the art, various styles are represented, so there is more diversity in what you see. Some pieces will be in styles that you like and other pieces will be in styles that you don't like. However, in the end, I think this is a positive. Not everyone will like the styles that you like, so having variety in the art means that those who don't like the styles that you like might find something that they like or that inspires them.

My final verdict is that if you play 5th edition D&D, it is worth getting the new Player's Handbook.

[Andy Hoover · Rating 4 out of 5]

(GenCon 2024 Copy)

I did not rate this as a rule-set. I did not rate this in the larger story of Dungeons & Dragons.

Taken as a book, standing alone, a TTRPG Core Book, without the baggage of edition wars or legacy, without the grognards yelling, AI generated rage-bait, and all the other burdens of extreme popularity, but just a thing in a field...this is a very very solid book.

The organization and presentation is outstanding. Absolutely fantastic change in rule presentation, starting with rules and how-to-play and then moving into character by order of creation is fantastic. It really helps, probably new players more than anyone, understand what the rules are doing and why, helps frame your choices in a smooth flow rather than the normal herky-jerky style of character creation and then rules. You never see this in a core rulebook - they are seemingly universally "make a character, now understand what that means" and in hindsight, that is silly.

The art is stellar, although I do not always like the style and heavy anachronisms, it is really quite good. Vibrant. Bright. Dynamic. I think it lacks for a central cohesive element however, the art feels a little too "anything goes" and does not have a central theme.

It is also a fantastic reference book, with the end sections being so fast for lookup, as needed, and a functional index! A FUNCTION INDEX! The book works without a virtual copy or search engine, it works exactly as it should - a rulebook for players playing a game and is written and organized for just that - sparking the players and helping the players first and foremost.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest iteration of Fifth Edition for 2024. Being someone who started with the Basic Rules before First Edition existed, I find this version to be so much more complicated but still very enjoyable. It feels a lot more like a video game in terms of powers and options as opposed to earlier versions which were less forgiving and more lethal in nature. Things are so different from the times when a first level wizard could cast a single spell per day and had only 1 to 4 hit points, but the growth in popularity of the game proves that change can be a good thing.

[Jonathan Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written far better than the 2014 one, with a simplified and streamlined approach in the main part which is supplemented with a rules glossary with all neceserry detailed definitions of specific words and rules.

[BookEd · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest edition of the game is improved by these updated rules.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5.5 rule set is a great update to the already great 5th Edition.

For one thing, the book is reorganized, in that it is more new player friendly, while staying easy to navigate for veteran players. The classes have been rebalanced but retain the same 5th Edition flavor (and while each only has 4 subclasses, you can still use any 5th Edition subclass as well as the Artificer from Tasha's).

Much has been said about the substitution of Species for Race, suffice it to say the game is not now "woke" (according to the Right's definition), this is a small change to the basic rules that really doesn't change anything but the language used.

Now, the loss of Half-Elves and Half-Orcs is a thing, but again it's not really. You can of course play an Elf just like always, but now you can play an Orc (because now they are not all evil, same for Drow, Goblins, etc. Gone is the Tolkien view that such-and-such are evil, now Orcs and their kin are more nuanced, like they are in Warcraft or as we Humans are IRL). Back to the point, you CAN still play a Half-Elf or Half-Orc, it's just there's not a special stat block for these characters. Instead, at character creation you choose which parent you take more after, and use those stats.

Racial stats are perhaps the biggest change. Now, when you roll and Elf, Orc, or Human, you get a few special abilities (think Darkvision), but no bonuses to your ability scores. That comes from your background now. So now in effect an Orc, Human, and Elf are the same, meaning that one is not superior to another. I do kinda miss that, where Elves are always more agile and lithe than Humans, and Orcs are far stronger. But when you create your character, there's nothing stopping you from dropping all your points into Dex if you're an Elf, or Strength and Con if you're an Orc.

(Ever notice how in all our fantasies, be it Tolkien or Trek, alien races are always smarter/stronger/faster than humans? Even in our modern comic books or our ancient mythology, the Mutants or the Aesir are always greater than us common Humans.)

Overall the rule book is better organized, easier to navigate, and fun. It's full of neat little bits of information as well as really cool artwork (tho the art does seem to be all of the same vein, gone are the days of variety from the likes of Elmore, Tramp, Brom, and Erol Otus).

[Lydia B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This update PHB is a big improvement on the 2014 edition. 5E is the only editing of D&D I've played, and at this point, I know many of the rules through ten years of confusion and mistakes. When I started reading this new edition, I immediately wished I had had this ten years ago when I was learning to play.
For new players, this comprehensive rulebook includes everything you need to know to have a successful first campaign (even if your character dies). For experienced players, this offers some new rules, some adjustments, and an easy-to-reference rules glossary. It's well organized and the rules are described clearly.

[Ross Richey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worst art of any edition. But the crunch was great.

[Beth Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm counting this as reading because it's chonky and I've definitely read most pages except the spell sections for non-me races as I immerse myself in long suspected nerdery. Love the illustrations - really helps with visualising the world. - 1 star because I think the character creation is a little confusing - the initial chapter could use clearer signposting to where to flick forward to to find the info or a v condensed flow process that says 'read this chapter first in full, then start actually creating. Coulda saved an hour.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Player's Handbook is an overview of all the rules you need as a player to play Dungeons and Dragons.

Pretty solid, that's about all I've got for this. I think the rules are great, consistent and made to make the game fun. But the consistency in the rules' formatting also means that rule texts often get clunky and hard to understand. That's not a huge deal, it is what it is. The biggest reason for this not getting a higher rating is the formatting of the rules (though I doubt it could have been done better, to be fair), but another thing is that I feel many subclasses aren't really anything special and many of them are not really thematic. I feel like an elementalist/shaman class could have worked well as its own thing, instead of every class getting access to that archetype. Maybe I'm nitpicking.
3 stars regardless.

[Eliana Lazzara · Rating 2 out of 5]

were there changes i liked? yes! but there were not enough *necessary* changes to warrant a whole new edition of dnd. fuck tasha’s i guess. and do not think that i will EVER forgive wotc for the way they have done my beloved ranger so incredibly dirty.

[Iain]

1. Better Organized

The first thing you have to say about the 2024 PH is that it feels way better organized than its predecessor. First come the game rules, followed by character creations rules, starting with class, which makes sense as that’s the biggest decision a player makes, followed by “Character Origins” (background and species). Feats are next, and thankfully not separated from the rest of the character mechanics by the Equipment chapter… I never seem to be able to find them in the 2014 edition. The book’s Table of Contents itself is more complete than the 2014 edition’s, with page references for subclasses as well as classes, for example.

2014 vs 2024 TOCs side by side…
2. Handy Rules Glossary

Related to better organisation of information, it’s great to see a dedicated rules glossary covering basically everything you need in an a-z of mechanics at the back of the book, including Exhaustion, conditions like Paralyzed and Grappled, Cover, Difficult Terrain, Rests etc. It needs road testing before I can definitely say whether its a great resource, but it certainly feels like a winner.
3. Improved Exhaustion Rules

Speaking of Exhaustion, they settled for almost the exact system I proposed on this very here blog, so that’s something I am pretty happy about. (Check out my post though, because I also created a rule for “Powering Through” exhaustion by spending hit dice… making Exhaustion easier to use in your game without it becoming tedious).
4. More Versatile Character Creation

Races/species no longer give you predetermined ability modifiers. In 2024, players can choose to augment three scores related to their background. For example, a Guide can choose to increase their Dexterity, Constitution or Wisdom (+1 to all three, or +1 to one, and +2 to another). It’s similar to how everyone has been playing since Tasha’s anyway. The upshot is that when choosing a species you’re not automatically also pushed into playing a certain class, or vice versa. This is great for variety and versatility, and it means that D&D tables won’t see the same stereotypical characters again and again. Another change I noticed is that it seems that pretty much all the classes can change their spells, or similar features, after a long rest, meaning players don’t get stuck with a bad decision for sessions on end, offering them more adaptability and versatility.
5. Some OP’ed Abilities Dealt With

I pretty much hated Divine Smite more than any other 2014 mechanic, so the fact that it’s officially now a spell (as I proposed it should be back in 2017ish!) which requires some tax on the action economy is great. Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master are no longer throwing out that awful -5 +10 mechanic, while action has been taken to clean up the Sentinel and Polearm Master combo that has driven many a DM insane (unfortunately PAM itself is stronger than ever and looks like an almost required choice for a fighter, which is not ideal). The Lucky feat is much more reasonable now (offering advantage, not a reroll), and Wild Shape has been reworked (…players maintain their own hit points, which is probably fairer, although it will lead to some incredibly tough rats, fleas and spiders).
6. More Balanced Class Mechanics

With the caveat that I haven’t done a deep dive into everything presented in 2024, my initial research suggests that overall the various class mechanics are smoother and more satisfying, particularly with regards to some problem classes like rangers and monks, which both look way more playable now. The latter for example can do a basic Patient Defense or Step of the Wind for free (spending Focus Points for an improved version of the same ability), and they also get an opportunity to regain Focus Points without taking a rest with the new Uncanny Metabolism ability. Stunning Strike is now limited to once a turn, but still creates a kind of mini-stunned ability even on a save.
7. Spell Mechanics Also Look Better

While quite a few annoying spells haven’t changed significantly (see Missed Opportunities below!), there are what look like better versions of a good many frequently-cast incantations. The wording of guidance means it should now run smoothly, sleep feels less awkward, barkskin no longer requires concentration, meaning it is no longer pointless, you can now move cloud of daggers around, making it a more fun and powerful option. Those are just a few random examples that I’ve noticed so far. Overall, whenever I look up a spell that I was not too fond of in the 2014 PH I’m finding what looks like a better version in the 2024 PH about 50% of the time.
8. Capitalising Game Mechanics In The Text

It really is a crime that the 2014 Player’s Handbook left DMs to work out if certain words were just being used in their normal sense or if they referred to some mechanic in the game. Thankfully that mistake wasn’t repeated in 2024.
The (In)different

Here are some things that I could take or leave about the new edition…
1. More Codification

A fairly significant change in the core rules are the clear codification of non-combat actions within combat. Players can now take the Influence action, for example, to try to deceive, intimidate or persuade NPCs or monsters. The new rules on this are pretty good, I must say, and give DMs a good framework of what might be possible in combat. But I am not really sure I like this kind of rigid structure for adjudicating social interactions, even in combat. Also, I’ve always allowed players to shout a command at an ally, or a quick attempt at negotiation with an enemy as a free action. No player is going to give up their significant action to offer a truce, or demand an enemy lay down their weapon. Meanwhile the codification of Stealth in combat looks like a hot mess.
2. Cleaner Mechanics

There’s clearly been a conscious effort made for the 2024 edition of Player’s Handbook to clean up some unnecessary bloat / repetition, and to replace some disruptive mechanics. Two cases in point. Forest gnomes no longer have a bespoke ability to speak to small mammals, instead they can cast speak with animals a number of times a day, meanings folks only have to learn one mechanic. Meanwhile, conjure animals is now a tidy damaging dealing spell with a bit of an animal theme that isn’t going to tie the DM in knots or bog down the game. On the surface these are two improvements, but hey, I kind of like the little charms of finding weird little unique powers in a rarely-played race’s list of traits, while conjuring specific animals with a specific stat block plays up to our fantasies of being a primal conjurer in a way that the rather dry 2024 version of conjure animals just doesn’t. Would Dylan Sprouse think to summon an army of beavers with Italian mobster accents, to attack a shambling mound, using the 2024 version of the spell? I doubt it somehow…

3. Species Reshuffle

In 2024, we wave goodbye to half-orcs and half-elves, while hill dwarves are no longer a thing, and we say hello to aasimar, goliaths and orcs. I always liked half-orcs and half-elves because they come with some gritty background baked in to a character’s back story. But I can understand why WOTC got rid of them… too many awkward questions, starting with: “half-orc and half what?”, going on to “what about quarter elves?”, and finishing with “can I play a half-dwarf?” In my mind, you can still play a character of mixed ancestry in 2024, you just choose one set of species’ traits and that’s your dominant lineage. Or, if you want to play a half-tiefling, half-goliath, you can just mix and match their traits a bit in consultation with your GM. So for me, nothing much has changed… want to play a half-orc? Just use the orc traits.
4. Weird/Rigid Subclass Selection

The 2024 rules offers each class the same amount of subclasses… four each. The problem with this rigid approach is that now you get a random selection of Wizard schools, instead of all eight, and what feels like a fairly limited range of Cleric domains (goodbye Tempest), while a few more of the “supplement subclasses” like the Rogue’s Soulknife and the fighter’s Psi Warrior have been promoted to make up the numbers. I quite liked the fact that the classes behave a bit differently in the 2014 PH, while I also feel that the Player’s Handbook is for all your classic fantasy archetypes (Thief, Assassin, Arcane Trickster) and then you can add the more weird and wonderful ones, like Soul Knife, in the supplements. I’m also not sure we need four Druids, nor four different Bards, and I still don’t like any of the Sorcerer subclasses. For a while there I thought my beloved Path of the Totem Warrior Barbarian had disappeared to be replaced by some tree nonsense, but on closer inspection it is has morphed into the more catch-all “animal-themed” Path of the Wild Heart. It’s another trade off where we get smoother mechanics, but the end result feels a bit more generic.
The Bad

So plenty of good and inoffensively different, but what about the bad?
1. Missed Opportunities

I was pretty disappointed to find that the OP’ed hypnotic pattern is unchanged, while the extremely annoying banishment is more or less the same (I guess the reduced range forces a spellcaster to get closer to the danger zone at least…). I am not too convinced that the new version of counterspell is any less annoying than its predecessor. It just makes the War Caster feat even more of a must-take, and probably means counterspell is only going to happen to NPCs and monsters, and rarely players. Meanwhile, zone of truth is still a zone of tedium.
2. Dual Wielding Anomaly

Minor point, but the rules for dual wielding are hidden in various sections of the book, mostly in the section on Weapon Properties. Twice I’ve wasted half an hour looking for them, and even then I misunderstood the rules and a bit of online research was required to clarify the picture. Would it really hurt to have something about this in the Combat section?
3. Stripped Back Backgrounds

Backgrounds no longer come with tables of Personality Traits, Ideals, Bonds and Flaws. That’s a shame, I thought these were one of the coolest features in 2014, and I also have a theory that they helped push 5th edition players into a more RP style of play, which has been great for the evolution of the game (although possibly they not needed any more).
4. Weapon Mastery Looks OP

I have been vocal about the fact that weapons in the 2014 Player’s Handbook are really boring. And I even made a product on the DMs Guild to try and fix that. So I definitely wanted some more crunch from 2024, but when I read the Weapon Mastery section I was absolutely incredulous that this made the cut (was it even in the playtest material?). Admittedly, I’m going on instinct here, not on experience, but it looks wildly intrusive and overpowered. Every martial class now gets something akin to a battlemaster manoeuvre that they can use on every turn, one of which (Cleave) includes an extra attack and another (Push) enables one to move an opponent back 10 feet with no save. Possibly the worst thing about these properties though is that they don’t really make sense. Is it really possible to cleave through two opponents with one attack? You’re more likely to get your axe stuck in their guts and lose your weapon, I reckon. And do any of the properties really match the unique characteristics of that weapon? A few perhaps, albeit rather tenuously, but most of Sap, Graze, Push, Topple, Vex could conceivably apply to any weapon attack, so the whole system feels arbitrary and just a bit of a random bone thrown to martial classes without fulfilling the fantasy of being a master of that particular weapon. As I learnt with my own weapon rules, these types of rules should really apply to monsters and NPCs too. Using the 2024 rules, I can imagine a ludicrous scenario where players are scared to fight NPCs on a cliff specifically because they are armed with warhammers and/or heavy crossbows (both of which arbitrarily have the Push property).

House Rule Prediction: I suspect that DMs will quickly house rule that you can use Weapon Mastery properties a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, between short rests, which would probably soften these enough to make them inoffensive.
5. Artwork’s Overall Vibe is Off (For My Tastes)

The art has been one of the strong points of the 2014-2023 run of books. It seemed to strike a great balance of capturing how we play the game, with a lot of really original character depictions, all done in a semi-realistic style, not only in the Player’s Handbook, but in Xanathar’s and Tasha’s. In fact, for almost every book release, D&D championed an art style that was realistic but not too glossy or photographic. Unfortunately, I feel like the 2024 PH has tampered with that identity a fair bit. While all of the character art is technically impeccable, and no single piece is problematic by itself, the overall impression the art makes is giving off the wrong vibe for me. After analysis, I realised that a lot of the art feels clichéd, featuring stereotypes that I’ve seen before. There’s also lots of video-game-style weapons and armour, a stupid amount of glowing eyes (D&D isn’t a superhero game!), and just way too many whimsical depictions of tieflings, and other pointy-eared species that people on DeviantArt seem to love drawing, but which contribute in giving the handbook a cheesy anime-comic look in many places. Additionally, the character art is so glossy, colourful and “fabulous darling” that it just feels removed from the game I want to play. In my games, I imagine characters wielding vaguely historical medieval weapons and armour, as they traipse through forests and back allies killing monsters and criminals, getting battered and bloodied in the process. At least half of the characters depicted in the Player’s Handbook look like they are on their way to trade fair to cosplay at D&D, rather than actual adventurers who might be found in a dungeon battling a gelatinous cube, or fending off an attack of harpies in a dank swamp. Anyway, that’s my rather grognardian take on things. I prefer some grit and real world credibility to ground my fantasy in, but the 2024 edition of the Player’s Handbook is very much “all in” on the high fantasy aesthetic.

Some artwork compared. I love this 2014 piece on the right, featuring a realistic-looking fighter wielding real weapons, but still with a look I’ve not seen before. We might expect a typical medieval knight here, but instead we have this pretty cool mash-up of human cultures that feels like an original depiction. The dwarf fighter on the left, however, is a totally generic depiction of a fantasy dwarf, down to the colour of his beard. It’s a visual cliché. It’s also an aesthetic that comes from Warhammer and feels out of place in a D&D handbook. While the shield and sword, again, look like they come from a computer game and nothing someone would credibly wield. Technically it’s a brilliant piece, and the action is dynamic, but the branding and vibe is off for me.

Comparing the barbarian art we have a kind of superhero version of a barbarian on the left (who is miraculously unscarred for a 50-year-old battlerager!), who again feels video-game-inspired, and not at all like the realistic gent on the right, who doesn’t have a gym membership but does hold his axe properly at least. Aside from the basic “credibility” of the character depictions, I also have a personal preference for the flatter, muted tones of the art that characterised 5e from 2014 to 2023. I like my art to look like art, not a glossy hyperreal photo. I also think the picture frames of the new handbook aren’t helping, somehow creating a more cheesy vibe.

Looking at some rogue art, and again we have a straight-up video game character on the left, and a clichéd one at that. I feel like I’ve seen this dude a thousand times. And the lightning bolts and glowing eyes (argh!!!) are the finishing touch of cheese.

Ok, mini-rant over. I think the majority of people will probably be pretty happy with the 2024 art, and there’s certainly lots of it. I’ve showcased some of the stuff I don’t like, but there are plenty of original character depictions too, in between the many cheesy tieflings with luminescent eyeballs. Here’s a couple of cool characters for balance…

[Carlos Gutiérrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me parece que algunos de los cambios han sido acertados, otros no tanto. Pero a la larga tampoco hay tantísima diferencia con respecto a 5ed. Probaré a hacer un personaje con las nuevas reglas, por ver cómo quedan.
Necesita una vuelta de tuerca más.

[Tamrun Yamaha · Rating 1 out of 5]

A step backward - art is atrocious and not at all "D&D".

Why did they change races to "species"? A solution in search of a problem.

They got rid of half-races and racial differences - a huge step backwards.

This leaves the game feel bland and boring, a flat sameness encompasses everything.

[Akiho4 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk om een keer door te lezen met name de regels, classes en origins. Voor de spells kun je dit beter als naslagwerk gebruiken.

[Austin Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the unfortunate fact that there is not enough variation from the 2014 system, IMO, to justify a revision. Unfortunately, I do feel it was a money grab by Wizards of the Hasbro, (…shocker).

It was not all bad though. Some mechanics changes are positive (even those that PF didn’t get credit for). Rule balance is not something I am inherently good at proactively determining and usually broken rules are discovered during playthrough with my groups. Without the money grab aspect, and without personal playtest, I would give a four star for the content provided. For reference, I would stick the 5E PHB at 4 stars as well!

Additionally, I am a fan of the traditional stylings of art within DnD and this book, mostly, did not scratch the itch. If art wasn’t subjective, I might do what many have done and pegged it down a star on that behalf. I am surprised so much of the community ratings are throwing the art praise… but Hey, Enjoy what they made, cause I guess they know their audiences!

[Loftus Perriwinkle · Rating 1 out of 5]

An otherwise decent book marred by horrendous art direction. For me, the art really does nearly ruin the book, changing the "feel" from D&D to...something else entirely.

They also got rid of racial differences and seem to be attempting to meticulously balance the game. This leaves the 2024 update feeling bland and samey, with the illusion of choice. Choice has no meaning other than superficially.

Changing "race" to "species" - a solution in search of a problem.

As well, shoehorning in 4 sub-classes for each class was a poor choice. Some are completely silly and unnecessary.

Play any prior edition of D&D (save for perhaps 4e) for a superior experience.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

New updated rules for D&D. Lots of pretty pictures. Just need to plow through it now.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The organization of the book is better, the art work is okay. I still prefer earlier editions of the game but this does look like it could be fun to use for heroic storytelling.

[Corey Trowbridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Well-Ordered Machine for a Less Meaningful World

The 2024 Player's Handbook arrives not merely as an update but as a thesis statement on the future of Dungeons & Dragons. It presents a system that is undeniably more streamlined, accessible, and logically organized than its 2014 predecessor. The layout is cleaner, the rules for character creation are more intuitive, and additions like weapon masteries introduce a welcome layer of tactical depth for martial characters. In its mechanical execution, the book is a success. It builds a better engine. The critical question, however, is what world that engine is now meant to explore.

On that front, the new handbook reveals a profound philosophical shift that sands away the very texture that made the game’s classic settings compelling. The most significant changes are not mechanical, but moral and metaphysical. The concept of alignment, long a lodestar for character morality, has been relegated to a near-vestigial status. The notion of entire peoples possessing inherent cultural and moral tendencies—the grim avarice of the Duergar or the chaotic evil of Orcs—has been systematically excised in favor of a universalizing neutrality. Every culture is now a blank slate upon which the individual player projects a purely subjective identity.

This approach mistakes moral nuance for moral relativism. A world where evil is not a palpable, objective force, but merely a label for disagreeable choices, is a world where heroism is rendered hollow. The valiant knight is no longer a bulwark against a consuming darkness, but simply a person with a different opinion than the necromancer. By removing the stark realities of good and evil that are woven into the fabric of a fantasy world, the stakes are lowered from a civilizational struggle to a personal disagreement. The game’s cosmology has been flattened into a landscape of subjective truths, stripping away the grand, transcendent conflicts that have long been the heart of epic fantasy.

This philosophy of radical individualism extends to character identity. The replacement of "race" with "species" is a semantic change, but it signals a deeper departure. The rich tapestry of cultural heritage, with its attendant virtues, flaws, and obligations, has been replaced by a kind of biological essentialism on the one hand and a buffet of customizable traits on the other. A dwarf is no longer born into a tradition of stoicism, craftsmanship, and ancient grudges that he must either honor or defy; he is simply a collection of statistics and a background of his own invention.

The new design philosophy champions a form of absolute freedom, but it is the freedom of license, not of liberty. True liberty is exercised within a framework of order and known truths. A character who must contend with the strictures of their faith, the duties of their people, and the innate goodness or evil of the world is a character facing meaningful choices. A character who is a free-floating amalgam of personally selected traits, existing in a world with no objective moral compass, has fewer meaningful choices, not more. Their identity is not earned through struggle but is simply declared. The result is not a more liberated character, but a more generic one, unmoored from the very history and tradition that would give their decisions weight.

Ultimately, the 2024 Player's Handbook is a paradox. It is a masterfully constructed rulebook that provides the tools to play a less interesting game. It perfects the "what" of the system while fundamentally weakening the "why." For groups who desire a simple, frictionless tactical simulator, this book will be a welcome improvement. But for those who come to the table seeking to explore a world of profound truths, to battle palpable evil, and to forge a hero against the backdrop of an ordered and meaningful cosmos, this new foundation feels like it is built upon sand.

[Benjamin]

How? Library had it, I flip through it. I don't make the rules.

What? Here's a case where the book is kind of less interesting (to me) than all the folderol around the book. That is: Hasbro/WotC put out the 5th edition Players Handbook in 2014; in 2024, they announced new versions of the main books (PHB, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual) that would be revisions, not new editions per se. But like the change from 3 to 3.5, there would be some significant changes that would make some of the older stuff not work anymore.

And, of course, Hasbro stepped on all sorts of rakes on the way here: firing so many of their creatives, putting out quotes about the future importance of all sorts of non-useful technology, barely preparing for the 50th anniversary, then having to push back the release of these core books, and finally, refusing to really say whether this was a new edition or what.

So now that the book is here, what it is? It's a streamlined and cleaned up version of the PHB, with some bigger tweaks that I don't really notice because I don't play 5e.

Yeah, so? As for me, just flipping through it: so much of the PHB is magic and stuff that's not very interesting to read; and the fact that this ends with a little bestiary also feels like a trace of some failure.

But thinking about this from a user's POV, if they had just (a) cleaned up some of the layout (so much material is nicely concentrated on one page per topic, but then they go and mess up that flow) and (b) not been involved in so much corporate fuckery, this would probably be heralded as one of the most user-friendly D&D books. (Oh, and to note: yes, in the old days, the first AD&D PHB came out first, but there's lots of mistakes that you could learn from what TSR did.)

[Antony Kuzmicich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The GM for a D&D campaign I'm currently playing wanted to move to the new ruleset, so I picked up the new 2024 Player's handbook and transitioned my character. The new ruleset is backwards compatible with 5e modules, and technically you are supposed to be able to mix 5e and 24 characters together in the same party, but I can understand why the GM would want everyone using the same PHB.

It's a fairly hefty book at around 400 pages. The artwork is really colourful and diverse. It also has a new dedicated chapter on step by step character creation which I found helpful.

Is the ruleset better than 5e? Not dramatically, it's mostly just different... some of the key changes i've noticed so far are:
- Races are now species, and there are a couple of new ones... Goliath and Ardling.
- Ability score bonuses are no longer dependent on races/species, they're triggered by backgrounds.
- Feats are now a core rule and everyone gets one with their background.
- All classes get their subclass at level 3.
- There is a new weapon mastery system, adding some extra dimensions to martial classes.

Each class also has its own changes. Some have small refinements others have larger ones. Most classes seem to be slightly buffed at low levels.

Although the new ruleset does allow for more flexibility and customisation, the constraint around backwards compatibility means its restricted to smoothing out surface-level pain points with 5e, but it doesn't do much to address deeper systematic issues that has caused many to move to other systems.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this new Player's Handbook (PHB) is an improvement over the 2014 version. While I can't make a good judgment as an experienced D&D player, I feel like the book book is much better at introducing new players to the game. You get an introduction into RPGs and examples of how different things work. I wish I had that when I started playing. The wording and rules are clearer, and there is a useful rules glossary at the end of the book. The only downside here is that it's sorted alphabetically and not grouped by theme (e.g. conditions, speeds, etc.).

The PHB addresses many complaints that people had with the 2014 version, e.g. the martial/caster divide and how some (sub-)classes were fatally over- or underpowered. In terms of power level, this new edition is much more even. Many pain points were addressed (e.g. healing not being able to keep up with damage). Some of my favourite spells were nerfed, more were buffed. Overall, the new edition is a buff for player characters.

I want to mention the drop-dead gorgeous artwork! Every class, subclass, background and species gets at least one dedicated piece of art. And the art is beautiful! This is by far the most visually stunning D&D book I own.

Overall, in terms of rules, this book is not a huge change from 2014, but it's a significant improvement. You could say that WotC kept (almost) all the good parts and addressed the issues. Well done!

[Jeremy Blum · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I wrote my review of the 2014 Player's Handbook, and frankly, I don't play much D&D anymore, having moved onto other systems. But I do like this update, even if I wish they'd call it something like 6e, or 5.5, or something else besides Player's Handbook 2024 Edition. The way the rules are presented are far superior to what came before, with nice examples to make things easy for newbies and some cool emphasis on items, weapon mastery traits, and other tidbits that do feel like they were taken from Pathfinder 2e (and in some cases, D&D 4e), but nevertheless help to make what Wizards of the Coast insists on calling "still 5e" a better game. This is combined with neat art that pays homage to a lot of D&D's history for the game's 50th anniversary, and I really love the inclusion of all the classic characters throughout the book, like Strongheart on the cover and the D&D cartoon kids. The biggest flaw that stands out to me is the odd decision to change "race" to "species," when the rest of the TTRPG industry seems to have moved onto "ancestry," but it is what it is.

If you like 5e, you'll probably like this. I for one don't know when and if I'll ever participate in a D&D campaign again, but if that day occurs, it'll be with these new rules.

[Bruno Rodrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just finished reading it cover to cover, this book is an improvement from the 2014 Edition in nearly every way. The chapters/information are ordered in a way that makes sense, specially from a beginner perspective, and filled with rich examples and neat artwork, essential in a game with a steep learning curve for first time RPG players. The suggested ability scores, features and spells for level 1 characters were also a great addition, as well as the very useful index, which makes for some quick rules checking. It's still too early for me to rate it gameplay-wise, but most classes seem to be improved, mainly martials with the addition of weapon mastery features. Species (the new 'Races') are less limiting, making it possible to combine species/classes more freely. Backgrounds could benefit from a higher degree of freedom though, but that's an easy fix if you do want to change it up a bit, as the formula is openly described in it's section.

My first character is ready! It is a gnome cleric, and I can't wait to play my first session with this little guy this weekend.

[John D DeWeese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I’ve finished the entire book, I feel this is a great new addition to D&D. I love the new subclass options and the focus on character backgrounds vs racial bonuses. Backgrounds and feats also allow you to create a more well rounded character. In my case, I love being a cleric who can also war cast and dip into some wizard spells as a former sage. Crafting and new spells are also welcome changes.

So the cons. Well obviously it’s a bit of a cash grab by WOTC since there aren’t that many big changes. Non-magic users have been buffed but magic users have taken a bit of a hit. There’s more focus on the whimsical vs old school sword and sorcery or grimdark. A lot of older source books like Xanathar’s or Tasha’s don’t quite match up which can be annoying. Oh and as a DM the power curve just increased.

All that being said, I would highly recommend this book especially for new players.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a solid edition of the game. Compared to the 2014 edition there are improvements to class progression, which is more uniform. The feats are better balanced and fully integrated. Everything is more consistent which may or may not be a good thing, it’s a matter of taste. The flexibility of 2014 is a great strength that allowed for a vast echo system of 3rd party mods and supplements. 2024 feels more refined and less modular, but I think it will be much easier for new players to pick up. The organization of the book, and clarity of the rules, are top notch. The art is well done and a bit on the cozy side. I prefer a pulpier flavor myself, but I don’t have any issues with it. I bought the extra cozy collectors cover because I thought it looked good, and yes, I did drink tea while reading it.

[Itamar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not having played D&D in a while, I couldn't, off the top of my head, tell how the rules have changed from the 2014 edition. I can't say this book made a lasting impression on me.
It probably streamlined some stuff and it definitely add new class options for players, but I found the book uninspiring. It does very little explaining what D&D is about and shows only tiny glimpses of the type of worlds and adventures that can be had, possibly assuming that readers are already familiar with it from the larger cultural context. Most of the book is taken up with the spells available and unlike some previous editions, this book is definitely not enough to start running a game - there isn't even one proper monster or example adventure (or even encounter).

It is definitely a gorgeous book, though, well laid out and full of great art.

[Eran Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

From a rules perspective, there are multiple improvements, but essentially it's still the same game as the 2014 5th edition. I really like the vast majority of changes.
From writing perspective, the book is a but less oriented to get the reader excited to play than the 2014 version (which was excellent at it), but it's very very good at getting the rules clear, and at being a useful reference (which is how it's mostly used).
An interesting choice is to put classes before origin (species & background) and abilities, both in writing order and character creation. It puts more emphasis on what the characters does, and less on what it is.

[Jambean8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the revamp for the back to basics approach to starting the game from scratch. Way back when I started, the intro to the mechanics was a steep learning curve and this version baby-steps you through building characters and the D&D lingo used.

More advanced players will no doubt just want to know the new rules and changes, and that's easy to find, just skip chapters 1 and 2 and start at 3. Not sure if I'm completely down with every class getting the same number of subclasses and rearranging character building to start with class, but many of the changes seem innocuous for now. So far so good.