Dungeons and Dragons' Core Rulebook Changes Make One System The Best It's Ever Been

Summary

Dungeons and Dragons' revised 2024 rulebooks are only a few months away from being in the hands of players, with the updatedPlayer’s Handbookset to hit shelves in September. Among small and sweeping changes to classes and character creation,Dungeons and Dragons' newPHBwill also revamp one underserved system.

The 2024 revision ofD&Disn’t set to be a whole new edition, but rather a minor updateto 2014’sD&D 5e—the edition that has won more hearts to the game than any other. The broader structure of the fifth edition, including its core d20-test mechanic, has been left mostly intact; quality-of-life changes and sprinklings of extra content are the name of the game forD&D 2024. That’s not to say these changes are meaningless, though, as this revision has left character creation being significantly tweaked and important complaints somewhat addressed.

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Dungeons And Dragons 2024 Is Updating Crafting, And It’s About Time

On the topic of complaints surrounding the fifth edition,D&D 5e’s crafting is a significant bugbear among the community. 2014’sPHBand the sourcebooks that followed in the decade after have been lackluster and fragmented in their approach to crafting, a system that many fans want to see take on a more prominent role. Fortunately,D&D 2024’sPlayer’s Handbookis finally addressing this concern, bringing crafting more into the limelight. Fantasies of combining monster parts into powerful items or producing adventuring supplies from stuff found on the road can finally be answered, so long as WOTC pulls off the system it’s now promoting.

D&D’s 2014 Handbooks Didn’t Give Crafting Enough Love

Crafting is a popular fantasy amongD&Dfans, something that has been spurred on tenfold by the proliferation of survival games in recent years. Players enjoy having the purpose and agency given by a solid crafting system; if items that players want have defined recipes, they may go looking for them of their own volition. This helps both DMs and players, allowing for the two parties to craft adventures together with ease. Moreover, it’s a great reward for high investigation checks, as finding out that an odd plant or rock can create a strong item can be hugely satisfying. This is a big reason as towhyD&D 5e’s artificerhas become so popular, despite its late inclusion.

Unfortunately, it’s mostly on DMs orthird-partyD&Dresourcesto make this work, as officialD&D 5ematerial doesn’t really support crafting. For starters, while some monsters may have lore around what their parts can be used for, there’s little in the way of a consistent system to extract and craft items from monster carcasses. Fragmentation is also an issue; the 2014Player’s Handbookpresents a vague and uninspired system that expects a lot from the DM,Xanathar’s Guide to Everythinggoes a little more in-depth with unique crafting tool descriptions, andVolo’s Guide to Monstersgives the lizardfolk race their own unique crafting ability.

D&D 2024 Will Allow For More From Crafting

It’s now been revealed thatD&D 2024will introduce a new way to craft, one that combines the oldPHBway with someaspects ofXanathar’s Guide to Everything. This will include descriptions of tools in thePHB, as well as options to craft healing potions and spell scrolls. These big strokes are important changes, allowing players to create a reliable source of healing on their own terms, regardless of whether they have a healing spellcaster. The new rules will also include the necessary checks involved with crafting, further codifying the system.

While this all sounds great, crafting could still be amongD&D 2024’s more lacking features. The video that unveiled the new system is loose on details, and it’s still unknown what role monster parts and other unique components will play. In this sense, the crafting rules for magic items set for 2024’sDungeon Master’s Guidemay be the real answer fans have been looking for.