Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Player's Handbook Is Basically A Whole New Edition

The lead-up to the for has been an odd one. It's not quite 5e, it's not quite a new edition. It's no longer called One D&D. Despite all that, the may be the best rulebook has ever released. The new ruleset will launch globally on September 17, but early access begins on September 3. And, thanks to selling 3000 copies at GenCon, a lot of copies are already in the hands of players.

An advanced copy of the was sent to, and during the last month, I've gotten to use it quite often. In fact, my group and I have been using it in our latest campaign. And, yes, it's true — the new ruleset can work pretty well alongside 5e adventure books and content that already exists. In fact, we've rarely had any hiccups at all during the sessions we've played this month in which we combined 5e content with the 2024 updates.

The newly updated 2024 Player's Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons is being released soon, and it will bring some exciting changes to the game.

Comparatively, the is to 5e what 3.5 was to 3e, but that's underselling it a bit. Rules have been streamlined, some rules have returned (big fan of Bloodied being officially back), and some rules have been abandoned entirely. The most noticeable differences are probably in the way characters are created now — species, classes, subclasses, and backgrounds have all gotten some pretty big overhauls — but it's in the way all this new information is presented that works so successfully for the new book.

The for makes it easier than ever to look up rules and go through the process of character creation. Something as small as the Index in the back of the book has been a godsend, and rules are far easier to check in this edition than they ever were in 5e's rulebooks. They're easier to spot, and are given better explanations. If there's one complaint I've regularly had with the 2014 books, it's how difficult it can be to find a solid explanation on some rules.

The 2024 Player's Handbook features 10 species for players to build