Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Player's Handbook Review

Dungeons & Dragons 5^th Edition Player’s Handbook Review

Come one, come all! Gather and hear! We have a review of the recently released Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Player’s Handbook right here!

Since this game has been in existence for nearly a full decade prior to my birth, I do not even remotely claim to be an expert for two reasons; 1. where there are those whom have been playing since the game’s inception from TSR and the legendary late Gary Gygax first printings were released in 1974, and C. while I have played, I’ve not yet ever completed a single game. Ever since I was introduced to the game and the genre of tabletop RPG I have been enthralled. To my dismay, nary a single chronicle, campaign, or adventure have ever fully been seen through from beginning to end however. From lack-luster, disorganized and unimaginative (reads: boring) DM’s, to poorly timed IRL happenstance, for one reason or another I have still yet to play a full game of any tabletop RPG to completion. One can only hope that I may soon find some willing companions in the mood to guest for honor, treasure, and glory! But I digress...

Despite the lack of a full campaign and the wealth of XP that typically accompanies it under my belt, what I do know of D&D is that the current iterations of D&D are more re-tooling of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that have been packaged and worked into such a manner that literally anyone can get a hold of the materials necessary for a campaign and dive right in after some familiarity. On the advent of 3^rd edition, AD&D ceased to exist in a “new format” under its original name but continues on in a more widely approachable and accessible series. A few short years later, we received arguably the best set of comprehensive rules and resources with v3.5, which were then replaced by Fourth Edition in 2008. Most gamers and fans of the game abhor this edition as over-simplified and too stripped-down, so it’s no surprise that 4e is hailed by most as an utter failure. Now, six-years later we see the release of Fifth Edition (originally called D&D: NEXT while in-development) products hitting the shelves. A new format, with upgraded and shiny-new styling, plus an all-new story.

Just check out that ampersand! Ain't she a beaut?!

Of course, when I heard that Wizards was offering the Basic Rules for free via pdf from their website, I was on that download faster than a dragon to its treasure hoard just to see what we would be dealing with. Inside we find that three of the 110 pages are a blank character sheet, the rest are exactly what you would expect, the basic rules and information needed to get any D&D neophyte started in the game. Come to find out, week’s later they released the 5e Starter Kit; complete with everything you need to start a campaign including ready-made pre-generated characters, as well as the newly-designed blank character sheets, a 64-page booklet for the DM which includes a sample adventure ("The Lost Mine of Phandelver") and all the info you’d need to play in that adventure, a 32-page booklet for playing levels 1-5, and a shiny set of blue dice. The differences between the free pdf and the Starter Set are significant but here’s the catch; if you’re looking to get into D&D for the first time or are playing with new people who have no experience playing the game - and have decided to start with 5e - I’d recommend getting your hands on both for the amount of included info that’s especially geared toward beginners; contrarily if you are quite familiar with D&D already, just pass right by them and head onto the books. Which brings us right back to our topic at hand!

It comes of no surprise to my friends that I was quite eager to get my hands on this new tome in the hopes of creating a new game for us to at least try out, but while the ultimate plans have since been squashed I am still excited to at least receive the new books of fifth edition moving forward. I kind of event went all out at this release, in addition to the Player's Handbook I also picked up the Horde of the Dragon Queen (the first supplement to the Tyranny of Dragons storyline for 5e) as well as a set of Moleskine graph notebooks for mapping and not one, but TWO new sets of dice to celebrate. (I’ll dive deeper on RPG essentials in a later article.) I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed with some of the updates WOTC has done with this latest edition. They said “streamlined” ad nauseam in the press leading up to the release, and they meant it every time. With a whopping 25/300 pages devoted to the most important, hard-set rules, the rest of the Player's Handbook is geared toward getting an adventurer ready to play the game as it’s namesake intends; roleplaying. While roleplaying and getting into character really ultimately depends on how your group plays, building a solid backstory on your character in 5e is integral to how the game is played. Case in point, if you build a good backstory for your new character, the game rewards you for it; offering skill proficiencies, related equipment, and other bonuses right out of the gate.

In Soviet Dungeons, Dagrons Roleplay YOU!

Lastly, I want to touch on what's really brought me into the life of a card-carrying geek; the artwork. Imagination printed and bound for all to see and admire, the stuff of legends made just that much more tangible. Rangers and wizards, elves, dwarves, and men who battle skeletons, orcs and goblins, and of course, DRAGONS! Well, 5e does not disappoint. From the cover design, which is less of an archaic grimoire and almost more of a graphic novel in style, and two-toned both in high gloss and flat textured printing, to the interior illustrations provided by 60+ artists and ranging from small line and shade vignettes to full-page, full-color illustrations, the Player's Handbook and Horde of the Dragon Queen do not disappoint artistically. I am really looking forward to the future releases of the Fifth Edition, and hopefully getting some play in with the new ruleset! For those yet unaware, the remaining schedule for 5^th Ed. releases are as follows, all are available for preorder from Barnes & Noble, amazon.com, or your Wizards Play Network supported LGS;

September 30 – Monster Manual, that’s TODAY?!?

October 21 – The Rise of Tiamat 

December 9 – Dungeon Master’s Guide (originally Nov. 18)

January 20, 2015 – Dungeon Master’s Screen (expected, originally Jan. 6 '15)

And I'll be here at NGP to review and share my opinions of each release with the masses! So come on back this Thursday, where I’ll have a break down and review of the 5e Monster Manual with how it stands up agains previous editions. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I hear the sound of dice rolling and weapons clashing in the distance!

=Opaque=