[Talk] PHB2024

[gimmepie]

Okay fellow TTRPG geeks, the 2024 update for D&D has arrived!

For those who don't know, this year a rules and mechanics update was released for the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. This isn't an entirely new edition (like going from 4e to 5e), it's more like a patch being released for a video game. The basics of the rules and mechanics are more or less the same as they are from the base 5e version of the game. However, some classes, spells, rules and mechanics of the game have been updated or removed to improve the playability and accessibility of the game.

So, this represents a good starting point for getting into D&D as a format for RP/tabletop gaming if you've had a curiosity and an interesting time for those of us who have already been playing the game for a while. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I have... well many. but I thought I'd open the floor to others first.

 

[ChrysalisM]

I'll admit that the most exposure I've had to the new 2024 PHB was seeing a copy on display at the Alexandrian RPG Library booth at PAX west this year (This was my first time going to a convention, but that's a separate story). I'll need to pick up a copy at some point.

 

[CoffeePaladin]

I was pretty skeptical at first. I didn't like many of the new changes, especially as someone who runs three different campaigns simultaneously, mostly for new players. I knew I'd have to explain a lot of DND nonsense to people who just want to know if things are changing and how so.

I was mostly skeptical about changes to races. Now, under the name 'species', Wizards has basically axed most of the lore and flavor of races. I do think the mechanical changes are brilliant, it feels like every race (or, erm, species) is streamlined now and each has significant benefits that make playing the race more fun. 2014 5E's races were pretty lackluster and since they came from many different sources, some were just significantly better than others.

Even though I run my games in my own homebrew world, which has its own assumptions, history, lore, and details about all the races, I do think such default lore (and the hated alignments) existing in the source material is good. It gives people an idea of what the race is supposed to be like in DND, which is helpful to everyone, new and veteran. You don't have to use it, but it's nice that it's there. Now, all the races, in my opinion, feel kind of flavorless. Just humans with different colors that are infinitely customizable.

I think Wizards is afraid to commit and kind of just folding under the pressure of a lot of the more progressive demands of its new player base. And this isn't getting political or having anything against progressive people (after all, I am one), I just think it was a decision made to cheaply please people rather than any actual creative impulse. This isn't a big issue for people who are good at coming up with something on their own, but the simple reality is that most players aren't like that. As someone who has run for a couple dozen brand-new players in multiple campaigns, the majority of players, in my experience, don't feel comfortable just building something ground up without rails. But, as I said, mechanically, I think they hit a home run.

Similarly, I approve of the fact that the mechanics of the game, from species to abilities to spells to items, all feel nice and streamlined rather than having been built by different teams in different books at different times. Overall, I'd say the new PHB is good but I do resent some of its aforementioned changes and the removal of Half Elves and Half Orcs. I'll take what I like and ignore the rest.

 

[gimmepie]

Snip

While I completely agree that the decision to change races/species was done more for business reasons than creative - or even ethical - I don't know if I think it's necessarily a bad change. The various races will have different lore depending on the setting - even within various official settings. Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Athas and Eberron all have different lore for their humans/elves/orcs/whatever, even if only slightly in some cases. So it makes sense to include that information in the various setting guides and adventure modules built around those specific worlds rather than in the generic DMG/PHB. I'm fine with saying goodbye to alignments too. I get that they could theoretically be a useful starting point for someone to figure a character out but they're simultaneously too restrictive and too vague. I'm certainly glad that entirely good or evil races have been axed - even before 2024 really - though. That sort of thing is dull and lacks creative nuance.

I will say though, I also appreciate how the new content is presented in a much more streamlined manner compared to the previous edition and I like a lot of the mechanical changes. Admittedly, I'm playing a patchwork of 2014/2024 that is essentially 2024 but is holding onto a couple of things we preferred from the 2014 version. While most of the mechanical changes were good, some decisions do feel questionable.