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When the 2024 Players Handbook released, I gave my thoughts on it. From a game rules standpoint, it's a decent offering. It has great art. I have concerns that a Hill Goliath can knock a Pit Fiend prone with a standard blowgun dart, no save, but every system has its holes (which will be found quickly by gamers).
And while I love the diversity in the art, I had to come to terms with my disappointment in the corporate decision not to include disability representation in the rules. I understand why: different people want to be represented in different ways. But erasure isn't better. That's why we included the different methods in Free5e to respect those at any given table, the first time in history that a D&D variant has included disabilities in its core rules. And the cover of the GM book includes a silver dragonborn using a forearm crutch as a spell focus, another historic first. (I point that out not to brag, but in disappointment that it hadn't happened yet.)
The 2024 edition is also the first D&D edition since OD&D not to include half-elves or half-orcs (Although OD&D Supplement I introduced half-elves), as Jeremy Crawford said, "Frankly, we are not comfortable, and haven't been for years, with any of the options that start with 'half,'" yet they kept half-dragons and removed any reference to characters of mixed ancestries.
But with rising hostility in the real world toward people of diverse ancestries, we believe that this diversity makes both imaginary and fantasy worlds more fantastic. So we not only included mixed ancestry as a playable option, but also featured a mixed dwarf/orc on our monster book cover. And it looks fantastic. |
