What’s New in the 2024 Player’s Handbook?

Tags author-michael-galvis Player's Handbook

The 2024 Player’s Handbook has arrived at game tables! Packed with 384 pages of new and improved player options, equipment, spells, and more, the revised fifth edition core rulebook is the largest Player’s Handbook in Dungeons & Dragons history.

Below, we give a high-level overview between the covers of this rulebook:

The 2024 Player’s Handbook is Now Available!

Buy the 2024 Player’s Handbook today and dive into revised rules, enhanced character options, and exciting gameplay innovations.

Get your copy on the D&D Beyond marketplace and seamlessly integrate your new content with D&D Beyond's library of digital tools built to make D&D easier, so you can focus on the fun!

Exciting Updates to the Classes You Love

The 12 base classes return in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, each with four subclasses and new or refined features to expand, improve, or streamline gameplay. Among the 48 subclasses are three entirely new options:

But you’ll find certain other subclasses have seen extensive updates. For example, the Warrior of the Elements Monk (formerly Way of the Four Elements) is practically a new subclass, whereas the Wild Magic Sorcery Sorcerer comes to you with a more reliable way to delight in chaos and with an updated Wild Magic Surge table.

We've created a series of guides that outline the key changes to each class and showcase subclasses that have seen the most extensive updates. You can find them under the Player's Handbook tag.

Build Your 2024 Characters on D&D Beyond!

On top of implementing the revised and new character options from the 2024 Player's Handbook, D&D Beyond's Character Builder has been updated to reflect the new process for building characters. You'll also find that your digital sheet has received some substantial updates to make playing D&D even easier!

Reworked Backgrounds, Species, and Feats

Artist: KENNY VOA moss-covered farm and windmill overlook rice paddies at sunset.

The 2024 Player’s Handbook includes 16 backgrounds, from the Farmer to the Wayfarer, 10 species, and 75 feats. The new species offered are the Aasimar, Goliath, and Orc, but you’ll also see changes to classics such as the Human.

Backgrounds have two notable changes in the revised core rulebook:

  1. Ability score adjustments are now tied to the background you select, rather than the species you choose.
  2. Each background comes with a specific feat. Feats that can come with a background are now categorized as Origin feats.

Feats have seen big changes. For example, Epic Boon feats are new and exclusively available to high-level characters. These incredibly powerful and unique feats reflect your character reaching the pinnacle of their power. Whether you choose to gain proficiency in all skills, master the art of short-range teleportation, or something else, Epic Boon feats are another way to customize your play experience.

Weapon Mastery Adds to Your Arsenal of Combat Tricks

You’ll find each weapon in the 2024 Player’s Handbook now contains a mastery property. Certain martial classes gain the Weapon Mastery feature, which expands their repertoire of combat tricks—and ways to bring the pain to their enemies. It also rewards tactically-minded players who may swap between weapons to better suit their needs in combat.

If you’re surrounded by droves of minions, for example, you might use your trusty Greataxe to cull the weak using the Cleave mastery property. If you want to set up a Sneak Attack for your friendly Rogue, you might sweep your enemy’s legs out from under them with your Maul’s Topple mastery property.

You can learn more about this new feature in our Weapon Mastery guide. And, not to spoil anything, but I also recommend checking out the Fighter guide, which also showcases the Weapon Mastery feature.

Go Window Shopping with the Equipment Chapter

Speaking of weapons, you’ll find the Equipment chapter in the 2024 Player’s Handbook includes several pages of beautifully illustrated weapons and armor along with their suggested sale prices.

Similarly, tools are listed out with their prices, suggested ability score modifiers, practical uses, and what kinds of items could be produced using them.

100+ Pages of Spells

Artist: LINDA LITHENTasha inspects a potion as a vile cauldron bubbles before her.

The 2024 Player’s Handbook contains nearly 400 spells. Among these, you’ll find many older spells have been revised or reimagined from the 2014 Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

There are a number of brand-new spells, as well, including my favorite, Tasha’s Bubbling Cauldron.

Expanded Guide to Playing the Game

The 2024 Player’s Handbook lowers the barrier to entry for new and returning D&D players with an expansive play guide. In its early chapters, you’ll learn key terms of the game, like what a D20 Test and Magic action are, and find examples of play, such as in combat, with sidebars that break down the game mechanics as you see them in action.

You’ll also receive step-by-step instructions on creating your first character. These include recommended ability scores based on your class; backgrounds based on your primary ability scores; and rollable tables to randomize your character’s attributes. New players may appreciate the annotated character sheet that explains the various aspects of your character.

Creating Characters with the 2024 Player's Handbook and Older Player Options

For returning players, the 2024 Player’s Handbook includes guidelines for building characters using backgrounds and species from older books, in case you want to mix and match the player options you’ve long enjoyed with the revised rules presented in the new core rulebook.

Artwork Abound

Artist: KATERINA LADONA wizard in a large hat walks through a bustling town with her white cat familiar.

The 2024 Player’s Handbook is brimming with new artwork. Each class and subclass gets its own illustration depicting the power fantasy of that particular player option, for example.

And if you’re like me, who obsesses over the minutiae of character backstory, you’ll be delighted to see that each of the backgrounds and species have art that help you envision what life was like before your character picked up a sword, or wand, or lute.

And More…

The 2024 Player’s Handbook is not only jam-packed with new and revamped fifth edition player options, but we’ve even revisited how and where we present information to players.

One of the included appendices summarizes all of the main rules terminology, for example, and the extensive index makes it easy to quickly look up rules, such as when you’ve forgotten the weight limit of a Backpack.

There’s even a short introduction to the D&D multiverse, which is handy for players who want to understand the in-game universe where their characters adventure.

Buy Your Copy of the 2024 Player’s Handbook Today

The 2024 Player’s Handbook is now available on the D&D Beyond marketplace, which means it's time to set out on new adventures with fresh or familiar characters!

The new options and revisions presented in this book are a result of a decade of lessons learned and adventures had. With updated rules and streamlined gameplay, it's never been easier to bring your stories to life.

We’re delighted to share with you the changes to fifth edition D&D that appear in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Make sure to keep an eye out on D&D Beyond for more useful guides on using the wealth of new options, rules, and mechanics found in the 2024 Player's Handbook!

Your Guide to Weapon Mastery in the 2024 Player's Handbook
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A smug mage looks away as an explosion goes off behind them. Text reads, Adventurers wanted! Join the D&D Discord today!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing Helldivers 2 and Magic: The Gathering with his partners. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dogs, Quentin and Eliot.

This article was updated on August 12, 2024, to issue corrections or expand coverage for the following features:

  • Reworked Backgrounds, Species, and Feats: Clarified that Origin feats aren't all new and that they can be taken whenever you're allowed to, not just at background selection.

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