While 2024’sPlayer’s Handbookrevision forDungeons & Dragonswas a disappointment to me, theDungeon Master’s Guideis a distinct improvement over its 2014 predecessor;it is just a shame the book insists on contradicting itself and taking half measures. When I compared my 2014DMGto the 2024 version, I noted the numerous areas where 2014 had major gaps in its rules and guidance, and 2024’s version offers answers. There are still a few things the 2014DMGhandled better, and even when 2024 excels, it never reaches its potential, sabotaging itself with contradictory language and half-finished ideas.
The biggest area where 2014 outdid the 2024DMGwas in its clear guidance on multiple combat encounters each adventuring day.2024DnDditches multiple encounter daysas a recommendation, andthat is a major misstep. The system remains balanced around classes that are challenged through resource attrition, with some Long Rest focused classes, and others centered on Short Rests. Now, theDMGoffers guidance on building single encounters, but it does not include the same recommendation of six to eight combats per adventuring day. In fairness, the 2014 version did a poor job illustrating how to facilitate those days.
5e Ignored Most Design Advancements From 3e & 4e Dungeons & Dragons
For any longtime fan ofDnD, like myself, it was evident that5e was a peculiar throwback to archaic tabletop RPG design, foregoing nearly two decades worth of advancement from 3e and 4eDnD. ThebestDnDUncommon tier magic itemsare still the Gauntlets of Ogre Power and the Headband of Intellect, since they fully replace a statistic, allowing players to focus their Point Buy elsewhere. Statistic-replacing items had not been a part of the game sinceAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons2e, a system that was retired before the turn of the millennium. Seeing them return was baffling.
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In 3e, magic items added to a character’s base statistics, and 4e removed items that alter base scores altogether, rolling all statistics increases into the leveling up process, along with Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies.Both games realized that items that wholly replace a statistic are unbalanced and reward unintuitive character buildsthat “dump” one or more of a hero’s primary stats. Somehow, the 2014 5eDMGsaw them return, as if the designers learned nothing from the editions since 2e. Magic item availability, in a broader sense, was handled in a throwback manner as well, in 2014 5e’sDMG.
These changes all felt like they were intentionally ignoring decades of progress inDnD’s design to mimicOld School Revival genre tabletop RPGs. In 3e and 4e, magic items were assumed to be mass-produced commodities available at set prices in mostDnDfantasy worlds, and the game provided specific wealth-by-level guidelines I could use as a DM to ensure my parties were able to properly gear themselves up, relative to their character level.2014’s rules returned to the outmoded idea that purchasing magic items is not a mandatory part of the game, but solely by DM discretion.
2024 D&D Magic Items Are Improved, But Inconsistent
Magic Items Have Set Prices And Better Guidelines, But Contradictory Sidebars
There are someimportant 2024DnDmagic item changes, some of which provide better balance. Items like Broom of Flying and Cloak of the Manta Ray now require Attunement, when they did not under 2014’s rules. Stat-replacing items remain, but since the 2024 rules are closer to a 5.5 edition than a 6eDnD, it would be difficult to remove them. One major improvement is that the ridiculously broad ranges for magic item prices are removed, andnow magic items have set prices by tier, a house rule I and many other experienced DMs already instituted in our campaigns.
This is an example of the “half measures” of the 2024DMG,exhibiting the right instinct, but the wrong execution.
There are someinteresting newDnD2024 magic items, but the entire paradigm surrounding magic items has changed, more importantly.The new DMG suggests magic items up to a certain rarity are simply sold as commodities in larger cities, another change I and most veteran DMs had already implemented, instead of treating their creation as a lost art. There is now a chart that clearly outlines exactly how many magic items of each rarity a party should receive as they level up. This is an example of the “half measures” of the 2024DMG,exhibiting the right instinct, but the wrong execution.
In 3eDnD,wealth by level was straightforward, and buying magic items was expected, as evidenced by the sample NPCs for each class which bore level-appropriate magic items. 4e codified this further by including magic item prices in thePlayer’s Handbook, rather than theDungeon Master’s Guide.
The chart provides magic items gained by an entire adventuring party,not magic items gained by a specific player character, which is how 3e and 4e addressed such matters. This clearly fails to take into account larger and smaller party sizes, as some groups might have only three players, and another might have eight. A small sidebar directly contradicts these positive changes, wherein it asserts that “characters and monsters are built to face each other without the help of magic items,” and that magic items are “prizes,” not necessities. This statement could reflect a lack of understanding of the designers' own game.
D&D Cannot Be Everything To Everyone
Trying To Appeal To OSR Fans Holds 2024 D&D Back
I do not believe these contradictions come from a place of ignorance, but willful duplicity.DnD’s popularity grew the RPG hobby, certainly, but it also has the unfortunate effect of monopolizing far too many gaming groups that would be better served by a different system that suits their style.Dungeons & Dragonsis a specific type of RPG: a heroic fantasy game, primarily centered on combat, that has embraced a “gamist” design approach, witha focus on balanced, tactical challenges, for nearly 25 years. There are many systems likeApocalypse WorldandFATEthat would better serve “narrativist” gaming groups.
The goal was not to make the bestDnDedition possible, clearly, but to make one that would not offend any specific target audience too badly.
Still, many groups use theDnDrules as a loose outline and run narrativist-style campaigns, ignoring large swaths of the rules that get in the way instead of using a rule system that would help, not hinder, their favored approach. Other tabletop RPGs pursue a “simulationist” design, where realistic and immersive gameplay is prioritized over narrative or a fair tactical challenge. With 4eDnD, the game leaned into what it already did best – and almost exclusively – by focusing on making the best combat engine it has ever had.5e was a montage of obsolete design conceptsfromAD&D.
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Its rules also included nods to the advancements of 3e and 4e, of course, with Short Rests, spells likehealing word, and the Battle Master fighter subclass. The goal was not to make the bestDnDedition possible, clearly, but to make one that would not offend any specific target audience too badly. The 2024Dungeons & DragonsDMGwants to be all things to all people, and that holds it back from greatness; it comes much closer to the coherent design I miss from 3e and 4e, but includes misguided, contradictory sidebars to lure the OSR crowd back in.
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Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
