Look, it says on the top it’s “The World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game,” which is patently false (it’s not Mouse Guard). And it’s attracted it’s fair share of deserved ire with the OGL fiasco. But, it’s still the biggest game in the world in terms of market share, and what goes on in here will cause ripples through the rest of the hobby. So I got hold of it. I’ve not played, I’ve only skimmed, I know, I hate unboxing videos too. This isn’t a review.

But I’m neither in the “Never D&D!” or the “No other games exist” camps, and so I thought I’d share my impressions of the 2024 Player’ Handbook. Here goes…

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It Tells You How To Play

An actually workable section explains what RPGs are properly and gives an example of play. Now, I’ve gone on record as saying that text “Replays” of gaming sessions are obsolete tech in the Actual Play era, but I can forgive this one – it’s got callouts of the rules being used, the social contract, how it all works. It’s very well done – and the section it’s in has some clear instruction on how to actually play.

It Is Actually Backwards Compatible

Look, they have changed every class. They’ve tweaked everything. Your 2024 PCs will be different to your 2014 PCs – as far as I can see, in a good way. They’ve boosted some things and nerfed some other things – as you’d expect. But you can legit run these PCs through a 2014 adventure using your 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide and 2014 Monster Manual. That’s as close as it was ever going to be. 

Character Creation is in a Logical Order

Yes, choose class first. Having suggested arrays for each class is a good thing, too. Backgrounds have a good deal more heft with the ability scores and feats, and making feats non-optional is a good move too, since they gave a significant increase in effectiveness if you picked the right ones in 2014.

Species are Great

The changes they’ve made to the species look great to me. More options on some of them, and plenty of flavour for them all. With the right choices, your Aasimar can fly at 3rd level, your Fire Giant Goliath can deal an extra 1d10 fire damage when they hit a target, and your Orc can Dash as a bonus action, gaining temporary hit points as they go. There’s been some griping about darkvision and stuff, but honestly if you want a game where light sources matter, you need to play Torchbearer where there’s actual rules for that.

The Art is Amazing

I mean, it should be – this should be a flagship product for the whole hobby. But the range and humour in the pieces is excellent – from those controversial slice-of-life pastoral scenes for the species, to action scenes from known D&D celebrities like Raistlin, to evocative  subclass portraits that actually make you want to try and play a Clockwork Sorcerer.

Look, is this the game I’m most excited about receiving this year? No… but, I have to admit, this is a really good product. I don’t play enough D&D to get excited about trying out a new Fighter build with the new options (although Weapon Mastery Properties are right in up my street…) – but I have to admit, it’s made me look at D&D and wonder if I should get a short run out of it again. Let’s see – what are your thoughts on the new edition?