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.

The book is amazing! Tons of helpful information beautiful artwork and easy to understand. Only issue i have is when I opened the package to view this beautiful book it was damaged, nothing serious enough to return it but when you finally get that "package delivered" notification and you rip open the packaging like it's christmas to admire a beautiful book you've been waiting on just to look down and see thats it's been mushed and slightly bent is disappointing. Good thing I got it while it was on sale and not the usual 50 dollars this book is worth but It's not the books fault it wasn't handled with care so I still give the BOOK 5 stars.

Great changes from the 2014 version. The art is fantastic and I like the default player choices this time around. The layout makes it a lot easier to find what you need to compared to the 2014 version. The print materials used also seem a lot sturdier and higher quality than the previous version.

An amazing purchase, for only $40 it comes with everything you need to play dnd! The thing with mine is that it came with a bit of damage on the back, but other than that, it is an amazing addition for people who are new to dnd!

Just what I needed... It's great

If you are a player or a GM it is a must have

I honestly have very mixed feelings about this new book.Don't get me wrong, there was some really good content in it. I think they did a great job with the class features. They improved some things that really needed improving (such as the damage output of barbarians) and nerfed some things that needed nerfing (such as paladins' divine smite). I also like how they made it so that you start out with a feat.However, a common theme with this new book is that they did a great job with gameplay features, but neglected the story. They removed virtually all of the cultural information of the various playable species, probably because some people these days get offended way too easily. For the same reason, they removed the half-elf and half-orc species options, although they made up for it by adding the aasimar and goliath species options. They also added orcs as a species option for characters, which doesn't work at all for me as a dungeon master because you feel a lot guiltier about fighting orcs when they aren't all innately evil.Another way they changed things is that ability score improvement is based off of background instead of species. This doesn't work for me for two reasons. First, I believe that it is important that you have a lot of versatility in choosing your background, which isn't an option when your primary ability scores rely on you choosing a good background. Secondly, as a DM I allow my players to choose from about 15 extra species options (including several unique to my homemade world), and there's just way too many to choose from if the players don't have ability score increases to help them narrow it down. This isn't to say that everything about the species in the new Player's Handbook is bad (they improved dragonborns and tieflings, both of which really needed improving), but the new approach to ability scores just doesn't work for me.All in all, I'd say that the new Player's Handbook generally follows this theme: they did a really good job with a lot of gameplay features, but they neglected a lot of the story elements of making a character.

I recently picked up the Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Player’s Handbook and it has become an essential part of my gaming toolkit. Whether I’m new to the game or already have some experience, I feel it’s helping me learn the rules faster and grow in skill more quickly than I anticipated.One of the biggest benefits is how clearly it explains the core mechanics—character creation, combat, spellcasting, skills—everything feels laid out in a way that’s approachable but still deep. I’ve used it during sessions to reference rules and it has saved time compared to hunting through older texts or disparate sources. The updated layout and organized chapters make it easy to find what I need when I need it.Above and beyond that, I’ve noticed that having this handbook actually helps my overall experience improve: I’m making better decisions in game, understanding what my character can do more confidently, and even contributing more smoothly to group play because I’m less stuck “looking things up” and more just “playing.” It’s accelerated my growth as a player in a way I didn’t expect when I first bought it.If there’s a caveat, it’s only that if you’re already a long-time player with every rule memorized, you may not get a huge leap in new knowledge. But even then, the handbook serves as a very reliable reference and addition to your shelf.All told, I’d say this handbook is more than just “nice to have”—it’s essential for both new players and those who want to level up their gameplay. Highly recommended.

Zgodne z opisem. Super!

This is an essential read for DnD players and aspiring DMs.It's a comprehensive resource, detailed, well-structured and easy to read.

Chegou em 2 dias. Quase em perfeito estado. Um pequeno amassado na ponta da capa, que se eu estivesse comprando na livraria levaria sem pestanejar.A qualidade das folhas é muito boa e as imagens são lindas. Vai ser ótimo para criar meus personagens. Recomendo

Push your DnD-ing to the max worth the investment

I may not like the corporate practices so much, but this is still a very good PHB.