The 2024 Player's Handbook for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons brings some exciting changes and updates to the game’s core mechanics, making it a must-have for both new and veteran players. With revisions to classes, spells, a♏nd character creation, this new edition aims to streamline gameplay while offering more customization options.

Related
21 Best Species-Class Com𒁏binations In Dungeons & 🐭Dragons

Cert༒ain Dungeons & Dragons class💃es are perfectly suited for specific races!

Whether you're curious about changes to your favorite class, new featꦇures for spellcasters, or updates to core rules, this arꦅticle will answer the most common questions. Dive in to explore what’s new and how it will affect your adventures in the world’s greatest role-playing game.

Is The 2024 Player's Handbook A New Edition, Or Still Part Of Fifth Edition?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing four adventurers.
World-traveling explorers by Dmitry Burmak.

The 2024 Player's Handbook isn’t a completely new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but rather an evolution of the current rules, so you can think about it as D&D 5.5. It builds upon the rules established in fifth edition while introducing refinements to gameplay, character creation, and class mechanics.

Think of it as an update that improves balance, streamlines certain features, and offers more customization options. The core essence of the game remains intact, so players familiar with the current rules will find the 2024 changes easy to adapt to, whꦇile enjoying the new content and improvements.

Are The 2014 5th Edition Rules Compatible With The 2024 Ones?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing A human Druid casting Lesser Restoration to an ally.
Credit: Martin Mottet.

Yes and no. Basically, if there is something different in the 2024 Player's Handbook from how it worked in 2014, then the 2024 rules override the 2014 ones.

If, instead, there is something missing from the 2024 rules that the 2014 ones cover, then you’d use the 2014 ones.

For example, the 2024 Player's Handbook doesn’t include the Artificer class, so you’d need to get it from somewhere else, like the Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron. All other rules to play the game, however, will still apply from the 2024 book, even if you play a class outside of it.

How Has Character Creation Changed In The 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a wizard reading his book.
The Wizard Leomund by Michele Giorgi.

The process of creating a character remains largely the same, although the way the information is delivered has been simplified and streamlined. This is a book meant🍌 for newcomers to use with ease, so making a new character from sc♛ratch is faster than ever.

The most significant change to character creation has to do with species and backgrounds. Species still give traits, size and speed, among other things, but they no longer give bonuses to Ability Scores; these are now given by the different backgrounds, which also include a special feat each.

Which Classes Are Included In The 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a Warlock.
An Occultist by Nestor Ossandon Leal.

The original 12 classes are all back in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, each with their own changes to their flavor and balance. Now all classes gain their subclass at level three, and the book includes four subclasses for each class, focusing on equality when it com♚es to build diversity.

Class

Subclasses

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Barbarian

  • Path of the Berserker
  • Path of the Wild Heart
  • Path of the World Tree
  • Path of the Zealot

Bard

  • College of Dance
  • College of Glamour
  • College of Lore
  • College of Valor

Cleric

  • Life Domain
  • Light Domain
  • Trickery Domain
  • War Domain

Druid

  • Circle of the Land
  • Circle of the Moon
  • Circle of the Sea
  • Circle of the Stars

Fighter

  • Battle Master
  • Champion
  • Eldritch Knight
  • Psi Warrior

Monk

  • Warrior of Mercy
  • Warrior of Shadow
  • Warrior of the Elements
  • Warrior of the Open Hand

Paladin

  • Oath of Devotion
  • Oath of Glory
  • Oath of the Ancients
  • Oath of Vengeance

Ranger

  • Beast Master
  • Fey Wanderer
  • Gloom Stalker
  • Hunter

Rogue

  • Arcane Trickster
  • Assassin
  • Soulknife
  • Thief

Sorcerer

  • Aberrant Sorcery
  • Clockwork Sorcery
  • Draconic Sorcery
  • Wild Magic Sorcery

Warlock

  • Archfey Patron
  • Celestial Patron
  • Fiend Patron
  • Great Old One Patron

Wizard

  • Abjurer
  • Diviner
  • Evoker
  • Illusionist

Which Species Are Included In The 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing several tiefling playing cards.
Tieflings playing cards by Clint Cearley

There are ten species included in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, including all the old favorites, like elves, dwarves and humans. Some more recent but no less popular options are also included, like the dragonborn and aasimar species.

The most notable ones missing from older editions are half-elves and half-orcs. The book has done away with the idea of double heritages, but you can still use them as their old incarnations, as long as you ignore their Ability Score improvements.

Remember that, due to the changes to species, Ability Scores are now given by your background. So, if you’re looking for the most optimal choice for your build, you should start there, then choose the species with the traits most suited to your play🐈 style.

Species

Most Notable Change

Aasimar

You can now swap your Celestial Revelation when you long rest.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dragonborn

You can now replace one of your attacks to use your Breath Weapon instead of using your entire action.

Dwarf

Stonecunning now gives you Tremorsense.

Elf

You now choose the Ability Score with which you cast your Elven Lineage spelღls, c🌠hoosing between Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.

Gnome

You now choose the Ability Score with which you cast your Gnomish Lineage spells, choos🦄ing between ♈Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma.

Goliath

Entirely new traits that revolve around their Giant Ancestry.

Halfling

Only one variant of the species is present, although the Naturally Stealthy trait from the Lightfoot variant is now a core trait.

Human

You gain Heroic Inspiration when you take a long rest.

Orc

Y𝓡ou can dash as a bonus action, gaining temporary hit points and recharging its uses when you rest.

Tiefling

You now choose the Ability Score with which you cast your Fiendish Legacy✱ spells, choosing between Intelligen🌃ce, Wisdom or Charisma.

When noting the changes to orcs, we are comp✱aring them to half-orcs, since they share several traits and are treated as a similꦚar if not the same species.

What Is New In The 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing a Warlock casting a storm.
Jallarzi’s Storm of Radiance by Joseph Weston.

The 2024 rules don’t just modify existing things from 2014, they also add several new ones. Popular spells 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:like Counterspell and Wish have been slightly tweaked, while 168澳洲幸运𝄹5开奖网:new ones like Shining Smite and Sorcerous Burst will open up new build options for players.

Feats are now divided into several categories, with the most common being the general ones, and all of them give an Ability Score increase of some kind. All the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:fighting styles are now feats as we🉐ll, streamlining the character creation process further and avoiding the need to repeat information in several classes.

Several creature stat blocks have been changed as well, particularly common animals and familiars. Warlocks now have way more options✨ other than imps, quasits and pseudodr🃏agons, while those three have been buffed to match the power of the new options.

Dungeons & Dragons image showing many dwarves crafting.
Dwarves species image by Mike Pape.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Crafting is now heavily expanded, letting players make their own weapons and armor as long as they can find the raw materials, but there is no ruling for making magical items; that is reserved for the Dungeon Master’s Guide. There are, however, details for how to make your own spell scrolls and basic health potions.

Finally, all weapons now have a mastery property, something that several martial classes like fighters and rangers have access to. With them, choosing a weapon is a🍃 more involved step, with some weapons giving﷽ you advantage on your next attack while others deal damage even when they miss.

Have Any Main Rules Changed In The 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Dungeons & Dragons image showing A Wizard and her familiar.
A Wizard and her familiar by Katerina Ladon.

Among all the changes the 2024 book brings, the main ones to keep in mind as general rules are the rules for surprise, exhaustion and inspiration. These all still do what they are supposed to, although in very different ways, keepingꦿ the flavor but not the exact mechanic.

Heroic Inspiration

Inspiration is now called heroic inspiration, and instead of giving you advantage in an attack or ability check, it just lets you reroll any D20 test. Not only that, but there are a few ways to gain this new inspiration without the Dungeon Master’s input, like being a human or having the musician feat.

Surprise

The surprise round is no longer a thing: now, when a creature is surprised, it simply has disadvantage on its initiative roll, meaning that it can still potentially act before its attackers. With such a difference, elements of the game like the alert feat no longer give you immunity to being surprised, and instead just rely on advantage to initiative to mitigate🦋 the ef✤fect.

Exhaustion

Exhaustion was always meant to be punishing, but the effects were always a bit of a chore to calculate. You still die if your exhaustion level is 6, but at all other levels, you simply have your speed reduced and your D20 rolls affected.

You just have to multiply your exhaustion level with the negative effect. The D20 tests are reduced by two times your exhaustion level, while your speed is reduced by five times your exhaustion level (since all species now hav🐈e a speed of 30 ft, you always have some speed 🍃left).

Next
Dungജeons 🧔& Dragons: The Influence Action, Explained

Twist an NPC's arm 🐓a bit with an 🎉influence roll in D&D.