After all the back and forth of the public play tests and listening to the Wizards of the Coast team talk about their plans for the 2024 revised core rulebooks, I’ve been eager to jump into the new Player’s Handbook. Originally, I even planned to go through the 2014 and 2024 books to explain all the changes in detail (something I did when Tyranny of Dragons combined Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat).
It turns out that’s not necessary; the changes in the 2024 PHB are very easy to pick up for anyone who has used the 2014 PHB. While there are changes I’ll explain overall, it really is a reorganization and refinement rather than a new edition (though if you put six people in a room discussing that point, you could end up with seven different opinions).
But at its core, it’s still 5E with the same mechanics, including Advantage/Disadvantage. A lot of material is rearranged and given extra support to make things easy to find, understand, and learn. Classes are tweaked, but are largely the same ,,, except for the Ranger, which got a new build. The biggest change is to characters’ backgrounds and species, and how those changes affect ability scores (more on that later). But much of the changes are largely a reorganization that I think will be better received as more gaming groups get familiar with the book.
Before I dive in, here are a few caveats.
- I can’t comment on everything. If I did, the review would be bigger than the actual book
- No PHB is perfect, especially its first printing. Tweaks always happen and I’ve already noticed that D&D Beyond has begun posting errata to correct poor phrasing and glitches.
- For most RPGs, the whole game can be evaluated by one core book, even if it has a separate bestiary. With D&D, we get the PHB first, then the Dungeon Master’s Guide and then the Monster Manual, which makes them challenging to review because content from all three interrelate.
So reviewing the new PHB is different from reviewing a standard adventure book or expansion. With that in mind, let’s dive in.
Getting Started
Let’s start with some basics. At 384 pages, this PHB is about 70 pages larger than the 2014 book. It has 12 classes (of course), 48 subclasses (so each class gets two subclasses), 16 backgrounds, 10 species, 75 feats, 391 spells, and 211 mundane items (because Magic Items remain in the DMG).
One of the additions to the 2024 PHB is an important but obvious miss from the previous version: how to play the game BEFORE teaching them how to create characters. Sure, the 2014 PHB has a “How to Play” section in the Introduction section but it’s just a couple of pages. The new one has more than 20 pages explaining dice rolls, skills, combat, ability checks, etc. as well as the role of imagination and collaborative storytelling.
As someone who has taught countless people how to play D&D through the D&D Adventurers League and private games, I highly endorse this change. They kept the explanation of how to play reasonably tight, yet clear. It really helps if new players understand how things work before they actually start creating that character. I also like this addition because it puts the rules upfront and easy to find instead of in the middle of the book. That’s going to save time when playing.
In every discussion about the development of the 2024 book, Jeremy Crawford mentioned trying to make the onboarding process for new players easier. This simple change of putting the how to play information upfront, which also makes life easier for established players who need to check a rule, is a great start toward that goal.
Another thing I like is that it puts a key piece of game advice early in the book, on page 4, specifically:
“There’s no winning and losing in D&D, at least not the way those terms are usually understood. Together you and friends create an exciting story of adventurers who confront perils. Sometimes an adventurer might come to a tragic end. Even so, the other adventurers can search for powerful magic to revive their fallen comrade, or the character’s player might create a new character to carry on. No matter what happens, if everyone has a good time and creates a memorable story, they all win.”
That’s advice new players absolutely need. It doesn’t hurt to remind some established players of that, too.
The book also contains homages and Easter eggs to beloved characters from D&D’s past. Most are characters from past D&D modules, like Raistlin, Kitiara, and Caramon from Dragonlance as well as the characters from the 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon.
Character Creation
The character creation section begins by suggesting that the player talk to the DM about the type of campaign they’re running. That’s smart, because if a player’s first idea is a dark and broody character with a violent past, it might not fit into into a light adventure that’s somewhat comedic and vice versa. A sidebar explains and recommends a Session Zero, too.
A short table reminds me a bit of the “Play a [whatever] if you like…” sections in the Young Adventurers Guides, though much more simplified. Still, it gives a player new to certain classes useful information to get started, such as listing the primary ability for that class and its complexity to play. Seeing “Clerics like gods” and “Barbarians like battle” made me smile.
That chart is part of the general overview of character creation that lays out the process step-by-step. Then it presents all of the options and choices for each step. It even lists “choose a character sheet” during the prep step, along with talking to your GM. It explains that a character sheet can be anything from a blank piece of paper to a digital character sheet like those in D&D Beyond. A two-page sheet that can be photocopied follows.
The new PHB’s character creation section differs from the older version by deciding on your class first, whereas the 2014 began with choosing your race. This reversal makes sense, as deciding what your character does in a campaign is a crucial step.
All of the usual 12 classes are detailed and standardized. Unfortunately, there are a few places where logic failed to serve the standardization. For example, every class gets a subclass at level 3. That’s fine. However, combining that with the description of Pact Magic, which Warlocks get at level 1 could easily be interpreted as or even strongly implied that Warlocks have no clue as to whom their patron is even in broad strokes until level 3. Look, not knowing the patron’s name even at level 3 is fine, especially if the player and DM agree that they want to emphasize the mystery but writing that “…you have formed a pact with a mysterious entity to gain magical powers. The entity is a voice in the shadows—its identity unclear. …” means that the player doesn’t even know the type of patron. Again, if the player and DM wants to go that route, fine, but it would be equally valid for a level 1 warlock to realize their patron is an archfey, celestial, fiend or Great Old One without having any clue as to which one it is.
One thing I definitely like is that there are a lot of choices that allow a player to nudge their character class to fit its concept, especially for the hybrid classes, by leaning toward fighting or magic as suits them.
The Troublesome Ranger, Again
Jeremy Crawford said the 2024 ranger “is basically a brand new class.” This doesn’t surprise me because it got the most complaints in the 2014 PHB. What does surprise me is the changes they have made.
In 2014 the first thing the Ranger entry says is that the Ranger has two primary expressions – the Beast Master and the Hunter. The 2024 Ranger emphasizes that its name comes from the fact that it roams or ranges all over in the wild and is superior in tracking quarry.
- At 1st level, the Ranger now gets spellcasting at first level, along with Weapon Mastery. Favored Enemy was reworked so that the Hunter’s Mark spell is prepped all the time and a player can cast it two times a day for free so it doesn’t take up spell slots. Expended uses of the free Hunters Mark slots are refreshed with a Long Rest. Deft Explorer as a new feature (reworked from Tasha’s). You also get expertise in a skill of your choice and two more languages. This is cool because rangers aren’t just fighters from the wilderness. They travel, so picking up extra languages makes sense.
- At 2nd level, Rangers get a fighting style, and instead of taking a feat, they can choose Druidic Warrior. This allows a Ranger to take two Druid cantrips and treat them as Ranger cantrips with Wisdom as their spellcasting ability. Level two also grants the Deft Explorer class feature and was reworked from the version in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Due to their travels, the Ranger gets two extra languages and can get Expertise for any skill proficiency that doesn’t currently have Expertise.
- At 3rd level, Rangers get a subclass like all the other classes, with the choices being Beast Master, Fey Wanderer, Gloom Stalker, and Hunter.
- At 4th level, you can improve an ability score and again every four levels after that. At 5th level, they get an extra attack.
- Roving at 6th level boosts speed by 10 feet so long as they aren’t wearing heavy armor. They get a climb speed and swim speed equal to their regular speed.
- At 10th level they get the feature Tireless, which can give them temporary hit points as many times a day as their Wisdom modifier. They also get the always-on ability to decrease any exhaustion they may be carrying by one level after a Short Rest.
- At 13th level the class feature Relentless Hunter means that taking damage doesn’t break concentration on the Hunter’s Mark spell. I don’t love that, but at least it only happens at a high level so it’s not common.
There’s more to the new Ranger, but that blend of long-established class features and new ones, plus being able to cast spells right away, provides a lot of flexibility in my opinion. Unfortunately, Rangers lose Innate Sense of Direction, which is silly in my opinion. It fits well with however a player’s Ranger is envisioned, but could have been included as an option, too. Only time will tell if players like it (or like it better than abandoned play test options), but I think it’s an improvement over the 2014 version.
Backgrounds and Species
“Races” are now called “Species,” and ability modifiers are longer be tied to the character’s Species. Instead, ability modifiers are tied to Backgrounds. Each Background lists three ability scores. The player gets to increase one by 2 points and a second ability by 1 point or increase all three by one point, but no ability score can exceed 20. I like this a lot. Want to play a bookish orc? You can. Want to play brawny or stronger-than-they-look elf, you can do it. You also get a Feat, two Skill Proficiencies, Tool Proficiencies, and a package of equipment, or 50 GP to buy on your own.
Species determines creature type. The ones listed in the 2024 PHB are all type Humanoid but playable non-Humanoid species have been allowed in other D&D books. Species also determine size, speed, and any special traits.
The 2014 PHB only had 13 Backgrounds. The version has 16, which is great, but no info on related bonds, flaws, and ideals. That might be a casualty of word count since they’ve talked about having to cut things in both the PHB and DMG despite the increased page counts, but I hate the impact on role-playing. Then again, you can always use the ones in the PHB or make your own.
The new PHB has 10 Species – Aasimar, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Goliath, Halfling, Human, Orc, and Tiefling. Want a background or Species from the 2014 book. A sidebar provides instructions on how to adapt them to fit with the 2024 guidelines.
I’m thrilled to finally have Aasimar as a standard option. In my opinion, they should have been added at the same time as Tieflings for a blend of game balance and narrative coherency since their origins are tied to opposite planes.
What I don’t like is that each Species description is light on details about their cultures, but I have a preference for lore and world-building information. I suspect we might get expanded descriptions in the 2025 Forgotten Realms’ Player’s Guide along with the already announced additional subclasses and backgrounds.
I continue to be disappointed that Dragonborn don’t have gem dragon options in a PHB. After all, Goliaths get to pick from all of the giant types. What’s wrong with adding a few more options for Dragonborn?
Gearing Up
I very much like that each equipment item has a brief description that includes how it can be useful or provide some sort of boost or bonus to a certain type of skill or action. For example, the entry for a Bedroll says that while in one, you automatically succeed on saves against extreme cold. I like that a lot … except the entry for perfume.
The perfume entry says that for one hour after putting it on, the wearer has advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks. Maybe I’ve just seen too much abuse of Charm spells and Persuasion checks, but at least it’s just Advantage so it’s not a guaranteed success. That said, I’m surprised they didn’t include a note that within 1 hour of donning perfume a character who is trying to hide could be easier to find. They could get Disadvantage on their Stealth checks. Could be an interesting house rule.
They kept the trinket table, which will make many players I know happy. It’s an easy way to inject some quirkiness into a character’s background or habits. The table itself is the same as before, though some entries are reworded slightly for clarity.
Other Miscellanoues Observations
I could easily do a deep dive into the changes to feats, spells, etc. but as I mentioned earlier that would make this review longer than the actual book. Here’s a few things that caught my attention:
- I miss the section on deities, though if you have the 2014 PHB, you’re covered. Maybe another version of it will be in the 2024 DMG? It has its own cosmology section.
- Spiritual weapon now requires concentration. Yet some Ranger spells no longer have concentration.
- The D&D Beyond version of the book doesn’t have an index, which is annoying. While a lot of terms are cross indexed, it would be nice to be able to find something by skipping to the back, find its index entry, and go straight to the right section, especially since search can be a bit wonky.
- I kind of like Weapon Mastery and really like that great swords get the Graze feature, allowing them to draw blood even on a miss. Still, one of the play test versions of Weapon Mastery was much better so I’m disappointed we didn’t get that version.
But the biggest question is – does this version of the PHB have the backwards-compatibility Wizards promised?
Is it Compatible?
Yes. Sidebars explain how to adapt information from earlier books to work with the backward-compatibility books. In testing some short scenarios with a mixed group of characters made with the 2014 and 2024 PHBs, with the 2014 differences adapted accordingly, it worked just fine. Now, I can’t promise that every possible permutation of crossing the two sets of material will be hiccup-free because my test was just a sampling, but it still seems very promising.
The sidebars, combined with the fact that most of the changes are just moving things around (Wizards had already introduced the option of placing ability modifiers where you wanted instead of tying them to Species) is why I would not call the 2024 books a “5.5 edition.” The changes have far less of a mechanical impact than the change from 3.0 to 3.5 did. For the last two years I’ve been saying it would be closer to a 5.25 but now I wouldn’t even call it that. Maybe a 5.1? “Advanced 5E” doesn’t work because it’s not really advanced; just reorganized, optimized, and given more options.
And a lot of the reorganization is geared to make D&D easier to learn, which is definitely a plus. The 2024 PHB also gives readers many examples of play as well as saying that it’s perfectly fine to learn while watching other play. It similarly says not to compare yourself to those players. Just relax and have fun.
Should You Buy It?
I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book. At the same time, I was worried they’d change what I like about 5E because that’s a normal concern. My fears were unfounded. This is still 5E in every way that’s important, and I feel confident that I can still use the 2024 PHB with all of my 5E adventures and sourcebooks.
I also really like the Species change and rearranging where and how ability modifiers are added. Anything that provides more options to create more interesting characters is an improvement in my opinion. I’ve sucked it up in the past when the Species ability modifiers were counter to my character concept, but I’m glad it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.
I love the Rules Glossary, but am disappointed the digital version doesn’t have the index the physical book does. I love that it moved what people need to know to play to the front of the book, before character creation.
All in all, it’s clear that Wizards put a lot of thought into how to make the PHB better. They also listened to the playtest feedback, though some of my favorite options didn’t get a strong enough response to make the cut.
Overall, I’d give the 2024 PHB a solid B. There are just enough quibbles to keep it from being an A, but it’s a good evolution in D&D Player’s Handbooks. I suspect some of the changes, like teaching the game before character creation, will stick because they’re just plain logical.
Still, if you’re in the “I refuse to buy another PHB” camp, you don’t have to. And the non-lore material in the new PHB is going to be added to the SRD, though we don’t have a date for that yet. So wherever you fall on the need for a new PHB, you should be covered.
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