Should you buy the 2024 Player's Handbook for D&D?
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Wizards of the Coast have released new information on the 2024 Player's Handbook. In this video, I'm covering the latest news on this release: what's in the book, and is it worth buying?
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It's been a while since I stopped by, glad to see you're still going strong, and even at 43K. Big leap from those 700 days.
Good stuff as always man. Keep it up
Thank you mate! Climbing away, bit by bit.
“Babe, wake up. New Tales Arcane just dropped!”
"Babe, wake up, we gotta smash that like button and ring the bell"
My group is too invested in the 2014 books. Plus, we like it. We'd have to have a serious conversation about switching to a new system, and to be honest, we'd still probably stick with 5e 2014.
I get that. For a lot of people, it's about playing a game with friends, telling stories, having collaborative adventures - you don't really need a specific new or improved system, just one that everyone knows well enough to make work. Plus, 2014 5E is very easily homebrewed, so you can add any specific elements or systems you feel are missing.
I stopped giving WotC/Hasbro my money before the OGL fiasco, and nothing they've done since has given me cause to change that stance.
Our table just got familiarised and comfortable with 5e.. to be honest I think it will take us a while to go to 5.5. However we already start to talk about it, and just being excited and discussing it, but nothing too serious. I will be buying the new books nevertheless, because I'm just a sucker for nice illustrations, and I'd love to add them to my collection. But for the whole table to move on, I guess it will take a sweet while!
Indeed.
The new books are really for the hard core fans who are bored after playing for 10 years with 5e.
Thanks for sharing
I honestly love everyone of your videos, and have probably watched them all several times. Such a huge help and ressource for a first time DM homebrowing a campaign.
Thank you so much for your content. Its really great
It really sounds to me like DND 5.5 is taking all its "new" ideas from Pathfinder 2e
-Weapon traits
-Low level feats + increase of the number of feats one gets (those low level feats are heavily reminiscent of Ancestry feats) so that lvl1 to 3 doesnt feel like a slog
-Heroic Inspiration which is basically hero points
-More impactful background (that is part of character creation in PF2)
Why not go for the original then ?
The only thing to me that sounds interesting is the crafting bit that is weirdly absent from 5e base books; but then we have your crafting guide so it's a useless addition IMO.
If you do use this spare money to get PF2 books (id recomend the Player Core before the DM Core), I'd love to see you delve more into PF2E and maybe have some of your adventures / Patreon supplements based on this rule system.
I want to be where the players are. I'll probably just get the PHB because I'm not expecting much from the DMG- unless players want bastion - and I don't expect the Monsters to have changed much. Here's a test for you. Take all your monster books out. I'm sure you have at least three, MM, Tome of Beasts, maybe Monsters of the Multiverse, maybe "Flee, Mortals!", maybe the ToV Monster Vault... Lay them all out on the floor and open them all to a classic monster. Pegasus, Kraken, but for this case, for this example I choose Medusa.
They all claim she is CR 6. They mostly give here the same stats except for some outliers like one gave her a really high Chrisma score. Most importantly, they all have a different way to handle the classic, "Turn To Stone" ability. Make sure you remember which one you like most.
I’ll definitely be getting the players handbook on day 1. I’m not so sure about the other 2 yet. I don’t really reference the dm guide much, and I’m so used to home brewing my monster stats anyway. But, the new core rules seem like a big upgrade.
That's good to hear! What would you say is the main thing that makes you want to buy the book? The convenience of having a physical book to page through, the collector's instinct, the new artwork, etc?
Good question.
First,, I’m more of a board gamer, so I am used to knowing all the rules in and out. So, when I get it, I’ll read through it once, cover to cover just to be familiar with all the changes. Plus, I find enjoyment in analyzing the layout, art, and decision making that goes into making and explaining the rules.
Second, I’m an old school gamer. I prefer playing with pencil and paper - so I don’t use devices or dnd beyond or roll 20 to track stuff. That said, it’s nice to have the book to reference when creating characters and playing.
Third, as much hate as wotc gets, I am the kind of person that wants to reward ppl / pay for what I use. I’m sure I’ll get hundreds of hours of play with the new rules, so, I do feel happy to purchase a product from them that I really want.
There are several other reasons - I generally do think the revision is bringing a lot of fun additions and tweaks to the game, it’s nice to have a physical manifestation on my shelf that represents the hours I spend in my hobby, flipping through the pages, looking at the art can inspire creativity for my own designs or other projects, but ultimately it’s something I’ll use for years to come. And because of that I have no hesitation to buy it.
I will certainly be buying the PBH asap but probably not the MM & DMG because I practically never use the DMG and make my own monsters and if I needed rules I can always reference my 2014 DMG or MM, or I can just google the book using online anyflip which I already do. I’m excited to see what the new character sheets look like even though I use dnd beyond for all my characters 😅. Congrats on the success with the channel recently ❤!!!
Won't be buying them. My group is quickly moving away from D&D to other systems.
Same! I'll be using a lot of the rules, but I'd much rather spend the cash on other systems.
@@TalesArcane one I'm really excited to play is called Fabula Ultima. It's a TTJRPG. It tries to model after JRPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
@@Andrew.DowningI'll look it up, thank you!
Personally i have gotten soo much more exitment and fun out of DC20 than any other ttrpg the i have been playing the free rules from the Kickstarter and my table has been loving it we occasionally still play 5e but the new phb dosnt really Scratch the itch for us. For anyone that is intrested in the new books dont pre order them wotc dosnt add any extra things for pre orders ots bot any cheeper nor do you get antyextra goodies wait untill your favorite youtuber makes a review and then. Buy your books if you want too at your local game store happy gaming ebryone 💜
same sentiment, sure i can pick a few of the upgraded rules here and there but i do not have the kind of money to buy the full books i rather use that money for some fun third party supplement or other system.
I made a pathfinder 2e pc as a test, looks like wotc has been copying their competitors
Another great video!
Interesting!
My group is pretty strongly 5e based so I’ll buy the book. We’ll give the PHB a fair shake with Vecna Eve of Ruin, then probably sculpt everything into the homebrew version of the game that works best for us.
I'm really interested in the DC20 system Dungeon Coach is kickstarting right now. I love 5E but I'm kinda done with WOTC and their money grubbing ways, I want to support a company that cares about the game and treats me like a customer not a consumer.
Great video!
DC20 looks interesting, I have some players that didn't want to move to Pathfinder or C&C and don't really want to learn a new system (DC20), So I ended up getting them to try Level up Advanced 5e, it's close enough to 5e (Same way Tales of the Valiant is super close to 5e) so they don't have to re-learn the system, I can use all my 5e adventures, but they added so much into combat, Character creation/progression, exploration and monsters it feels like a well homebrewed better 5e and you don't have to give WOTC any more money.
Im just getting started as a 5e DM here. I’ll likely buy the new stuff, but definitely won’t be preordering it.
I enjoy all of Tales Arcane videos
My table will probably stay with 5e. We've adjusted and homebrewed so much that it's basically a new system. We might try Pathfinder 2e or DC20, but I am done trusting WotC, both in design and integrity.
Makes sense! I think a lot of people will lift a few rules from the new system and just roll them into 5E, without splurging on all new books.
I’m quickly talking myself into NOT buying them. First and foremost, these books fundamentally are a “centralized errata” and NOT a new edition; but you’ll now be paying for “fixes” that have been absolutely rushed.
For instance, previous slides by WoTC shown 9 total player “play tests” and one DMG/MM “play test”.
But how do you play test ANYTHING without having a more robust/comprehensive attempt at play testing? Not a single monster stat block has been presented.
Let’s ignore the fact that the “play tests” completely stopped at #6. Meaning we’ve only got almost 60% of the concepts; if we completely ignore that many popular changes from previous play tests were absolutely SCRAPPED (ie exhaustion and others).
Now let’s consider these martial masteries. At first glance… cool flavor. Look a little deeper and they have major problems. Each weapon “group” can do additional things like topple, cleave, vex, etc. . This means that Martials are now carrying about multiple weapons.
But how can you weave in multiple mastery effects on various attacks when you face monsters who have resistance against non magical weapons? Just gonna give the fighter 3-4 magic weapons??
And for non-meta gamey players, it’s gonna be quite punishing when they swap weapons, swing and hit, only to find out that their damage is halved because of resistance; and oh by the way, the monster is immune to the prone condition.
I get wanting to spice it up a bit, and honestly it would have been better to just demolish the battle master subclass and provide their abilities to all melee; but it all seems half baked.
Again, how can you play test something without actually knowing the rules/monsters they must work within? Answer: you can’t.
Any of us can hop in a jaguar and go for a quick spin and think “yeah that’s a great car”. But when we show up for the race and find out that we have to drive the vehicle up a steep rock filled incline, the fastest/furthest wins… is the jaguar still gonna provide a similar experience? I bet not.
Most likely going to be switching to DC20 anyway.
Yeah, I know it's been said a lot, but I feel like DC 20 is the real 6E.
@@TalesArcane For real
Interesting.
I'll look into this.
Agreed!
Between what they published in UA and what they will publish in the SRD later, i doubt there'll be much i cant already get for free.
Which is good because while I do like almost all the changes they've made, I refuse to give WotC my money now.
Undecided. All my official D&D content is digital. Maybe getting something in book format would be good. But all my games are digital, and I find myself reading from the screen for other products, even when I have the books.
You said you wouldn't buy the books because it would be expensive but then mention that it would be available on dndbeyond....you still have to pay them for access to the digital version of the books unless i missed an announcement for these three
While you can buy the books on DndBeyond, I'm just talking about the core information and updated rules needed to run this version of the game. DndBeyond hosts all the core rules for playing D&D, along with a large selection of monster stats, items, and so on, for free - if you Google "Half-orc 5e", for example, one of the top results will be a DndBeyond page with all the essential info for building a Half-orc character - and all of this info will gradually be updated to reflect the new rulebooks, as the old ones are phased out.
If it hadn't been for the OGL scandal and WotC/Hasbro laying off all those people around Christmas, I'd probably be more excited. But even without all that, I'm not a fan of some of the design choices, specifically the shoving of Heroic Inspiration into class features (I always disliked the original Inspiration and would have rather they just got rid of it and try something more interesting). Honestly I'm more interested in DC20 and Tales of the Valiant at this point. But if people like it, more power to them.
Edit: Also the removal of interesting capstones in favour of Epic Boon's is a point of disinterest to me. Most of the Weapon Mastery's still seem underwhelming. And WotC getting their hands caught in the AI Art trap more than once.
DC 20 looks far more interesting than 5.5 D&D, to be honest. While I like a lot of the changes here, I'd much rather support something genuinely new and exciting, rather than a retread.
@@TalesArcane Same. I really like most of the additions and changes made for 5.5E, but we were doing that at the table anyway? And DC20 genuinely looks really fun, interesting and fresh. I'd rather get that
@@planespottermerijn The timing of these announcements coming right after DC 20 made waves in the community and raised the bar really sets up a striking contrast, doesn't it?
@@TalesArcane It's just lackluster to be honest? We've just gotten a glimpse of how you can definitely capture the spirit of 5E (heroic fantasy, ease of use, relatively rules light) in a great refreshing way and now we get... A moderately fine update? It's like going to a Michelin star restaurant today and tomorrow to your local diner. Sure it's good, but it could've been better
I won't be paying 180$ for what should have been an errata. WotC can get bent.
yes, they should invest millions of dollars in playstesting and man hours to give free shit, thats how a busienss stays in busaienss... its TEN YEARS of experienece and playtest ing to make a BETTER GAME! not only am i buyying it, if they do it agian in 10 years, ILL DO IT AGAIN! that money is a drop in the bucket for 10 yearsa of game play.
@@badmojo0777 sure, pay for a goddamn reprint of "Tasha" & "Xanatar". Pay to a goddamn corp that wanted to mug all 3rd party content creators and create monopoly. Pay to the company that used AI art in their book. I would gladly pay for the new edition, but there's not enough changes there to be more than expansion like aforementioned "Xanatar" or "Tasha".
But yeah. Support company that doesn't give a flying fuck about their product or you. Mindless consumerism wins again. I'll prefer to support game designers and 3rd party content creators that actually care abot the game.
I have no interest in financially supporting WOTC anymore, but a lot of the changes seem interesting enough that I might convert my campaign if the rules are easy enough to find online.
Exactly, all the core info will be up online before long, along with free PDF versions if you look in the right places.
I’m coming back to dming. What is another system that is superior and more dynamic that i should try out
The obvious answer, if you're looking for something that feels very D&D-ish, is Pathfinder 2e. I think I probably prefer combat in P2E to 5e. I also really like Dragonbane, which is relatively new, is a LOT more rules-light than Pathfinder, and in my opinion is a great option for players who are new to TTRPGs. There's ALSO a new system called DC20 that's been funded through Kickstarter, created by the Dungeon Coach. It's VERY good, and is probably the best D&D alternative, aside from P2E - you can get the quickstart guide over on the Kickstarter page.
@@TalesArcane Thanks for the update! Im currently evaluating if DC20 is something I want to sink time into. So far its looking promising.
from what I've seen there is nothing in the new phb that interests me. However I might get the new DMG. Depends on whats actually in it compared to the old one
I'm curious to see how many new monsters show up in the MM as well, but tbh, I ain't splashing the cash on any of them, I don't think 😅
Ohh, I agree
I already made my own PHB
I like you was leaning towards a different book instead and chose DC20 for myself. Though some of this stuff feels like it will be improvements I am more excited about the half a dozen far reaching indie games coming out this year instead. I just hope the indie games get a enough traction to have third party stuff built for them. I love seeing what the wider community's beautiful brains come up with (yourself included).
I’ve an absolute ban on any publications from Hasbro/ WotC .
Nahhh
I think if wotc doesnt significantly change how they operate or put out something undeniably amazing, I'm not gonna be doing business with them again
You should buy this if you are brand new to D&D, or if you haven't already spent months or years perfecting 5e.
From what I've seen so far, I will pass.
I just looked at the Fighter changes.
I've already tweaked and peaked it.
For example, there are two fighters
Jacked fighters who add their strength modifiers to their intimidation skill checks. And athletic fighters who get to reroll a athletic skill checks once a short rest. Once you choose at season zero you can't change.
Additionally, you can use second wind to automatically pass a constitutional saving throw if you fail one during a chase. Also, if you are making a physical ability skill checks you can use it to automatically pass.
Champion already had big improvements at my table.
I don't need this PHB.
What I do need is more campaign material with great maps. Sadly WoTC no longer makes great campaign books anymore.
We're going to be checking out DC20 instead. Also excited by some of the other third party 5e new rule systems from the dungeon dudes and dndshorts, etc. Already use your crafting rules and theyre great.
Yep, DC20 is looming large on the horizon for me, that feels like the next step in the fantasy rpg genre. Glad you're enjoying my crafting system too!
I'm buying the books.
That's interesting to hear! What in particular is selling them to you?
@@TalesArcane I've been highly intrigued by the proposed class updates (and the videos this week have only made me more excited), and I'm REALLY looking forward to the monster statblock changes. The info given on the DMG is cool, but I'm the least excited for that book.
@@CooperAATE I AM really looking forward to having a look at the new Monster Manual, for sure! I'll be curious to see what new creatures we get, and how the lore is expanded upon.
Wont be buying. I only got into dnd a bit over a year ago and my group has only recently moved onto 5e from Adnd. And I have already spent thousands of dollars on the stuff already. If it ain't broke don't fix it
I totally get that. People aren't exactly crying out for an overhaul - at most, I imagine a lot of people will just cherry pick their favorite rules from the new books and leave it at that.
Agreement.
I don't understand why WoTC did this.
They need better content, especially with campaign modules and maps.
Also, expanding into more fantasy, like large scale battles with the d20 system would have been my decision.
They will get a slight surge in sales revenue, but then in a couple of years it will be down again.
They can make more money from BG3 than 5.24 over a 5 year period.
Just a guess.
I’ve already preordered the bundle. I never owned physical copies of the 2014 core rulebooks, just the digital on D&D Beyond, so I decided to splurge.
I won't be buying the new books. I'm fairly entrenched in the OSR scene now and also playing other genres. They look amazing, but like you there's a lot of stuff competing for my ducats.
We only have so many ducats to go round!
I don't like these changes. The weapon abilities are the only rules I'd take and even then I'd put them as properties of a magical weapon.
Running my last D&D campaign anyway, so won't be switching to this halfway through.
Hard nope. Might homebrew any of the changes my table likes. But as is, I don't think it is worth the price of admission.
I will buy them, but I don’t like what I hear. I think the weapon abilities will get old really fast, especially if they involve saving throws. An action surging fighter using these features 4 times in a turn will be annoying. The restriction on ability score distribution in backgrounds are stupid and a downgrade from Tasha’s. Humans with two feats will be the best choice again for species (and I am now forced to deal with the “skilled” feat which is often banned in my group of sometimes 6 players).
Honestly, I won’t be buying the book. Probably ever, honestly, since anymore of I want to do something in DnD I just use an unofficial site. On top of that, I’m going to reserve judgement on most of these ideas. The weapon mastery sounds great. Except, I’d the play test material and BG3 are anything to go by, they’re going to be once per rest. Which sucks. I doubt they’re going to make martials any more powerful, I’m almost certain all the casters are gonna be buffed except guidance on Cleric, and im almost positive that those high level booms are going to be useless for 90% of the player base because high level play will still be an uninteresting slog.
That's interesting, and worrying, to hear. If the mastery features are capped at once per short rest, even, that would be kinda rubbish. Partly because it would take away a chance to make martials a bit more robust in the later game, and partly because it wouldn't make any sense logically - if a crossbow hits hard once, it should hit hard every time, y'know?
@@TalesArcane Exactly. And You should be able to sacrifice hitting twice for the chance to hit multiple enemies multiple times. Even if there is an upper limit. Because you're exactly right.
WotC has shown repeatedly they are hesitant to buff martials, while being more than willing to give casters pretty much all the tools they want. As I said, I will reserve judgement until the book is properly out and I can see the features myself. But the balance team has, honestly, yet to inspire much faith in me.
@@TalesArcane I figured since we opened this dialogue, I would update you what I just found. In a post just made by WotC they state there is no limit on how many time per short or long rest a martial character can use a weapon mastery. As long as they are proficient with it, they can use it. So… yeah a good change from the play test material. Much less pessimistic about balancing.
I won't be buying these books. Even if there are significant changes, if I'm interested in any D&D, I'll stick to 2014 5E. And there are other systems I prefer.
Makes sense! I like a lot of the changes they're making, but I cannot imagine spending anything on these new ones. For the price of the 3 new core rule books ordered online, I could get the Pathfinder 2E core rules, the DC 20 core book via Kickstarter, and the GM's guide for Dragonbane.
No. You should get DC20.
No
First
Took the dash action!
Damn, video was only a minute old. Respect
I won’t buy them. I don’t like what they did to paladins and I don’t have a lot of disposable income