Hey by the way I would disagree that new players aren't willing to read a long book. As part of a school group who I convinced to play D&D with me it was natural for them to read the long book, because we have all read books twice as long just to write 1 essay on it for school. So no I think players are willing to take the time to pick and choose what they would like to play from the whole selection not just a few.
Didnt DnD5e already have free rules which had all classes with one subclass, a few ancestries and only a few backgrounds for free? So Dnd 5.5 is just as free as 5e?
Yeah 2014 5e has a bunch of free material in the Basic Rules and the 5.1 SRD, and now 2024 5e (aka 5.5.e) has a similar amount of free stuff in terms of basic rules and character options. However, 2024 5e is still missing its monsters, so until then and the new SRD, the free material would have to be used with the 300+ free monsters from 5e 2014. Not a big deal since they're compatible, just not in the same place yet.
Not quite. the 5e basic rules came in form of a handy pdf that you could use everywhere. the 5r rules come as stuff on DnD Beyond, that you can only use when you have internet access.
@@elana1463 That's actually huge point. I used to use the 5e PDF version whenever working on homebrew while commuting on a train because the internet access was really spotty. Plus D&DBeyond seems to be really slow sometimes.
I think probably the biggest change is it actually includes more than one background, though tbf from what I could tell the 2014 srd only has the acolyte background as a reference for you to create your own custom one
@@finderski I remember the old ways, yes. I still have a comically large scanner so I can lay rpg books down flat in a 2 page spread. I'd be surprised if it turns on.
The free version basically gives you everything you need to play the game besides the entire list of all gazillion player options and spells. I guess i doesn't include any lore of the universe, but the handbooks don't either. So all that's "missing" are things that you can either home brew or look up on the internet for free anyways. D&D STAYS FREE!
Pretty sure the list of PHB2024 spells, are the spells in the PHB but which aren't in the free rules, so that is the difference. Spells that appear in both the PHB and Free Rules are listed under free rules 2024 source instead. So technically to get all the PHB2024 spells, you just add both sources to the filter. The difference would be 59 spells, if I have counted correctly.
I just posted on this but there's identical spells with names, like hideous laughter and Tasha's hideous laughter. Free rules are probably srd, which means removing the named versions. Not sure if that counts one way or the other. Legacy rules also have separate entries. Although 350 seems like a lot, a simple side by side list could make for an easy comparison.
This is the first video I have seen talking about the free version of the rules. I haven't bought the new PHB, and this is a good way to look at the differences and make an informed decision about whether, and/or when, I want to make the change from 2014. Thank you!
They could've given out a PDF, couldn't they? Just like they did with the previous edition? So that we could read that offline? That would've been nice. Still, this is... good.
Yeah 2014 5e has a great PDF of free Basic Rules. I doubt they'll do that for this edition, but the SRD will likely be PDF with similar material (and way more monsters and magic items than this free material)
Cool. Thanks for highlighting this. I'll check it out, but I'm fully aboard the OSR train now. Full steam ahead for ShadowDark, mork borg pirate borg and Cairn!
Playing the "Character Creation Game" in a TTRPG is the equivalent of spending an hour designing your Skyrim character just to play in first-person the whole time. Both are entertaining although strange to look at from the outside.
I find it amusing that Grappler was the only feat given to use in the SRD, but it's not given to us for free in 2024, but we got Acolyte both times. Also, Circle of the Land druid was what we had for the SRD too, so I feel it makes sense it was the same subclass given to us in 2024. As you said, people want the Moon druid, so more of an incentive to buy the book.
I agree with you that it's easy to forget how intimidating all those choices are for new player! I'm teaching a new table to play DND right now, and big lists of choices are always a hard sell. I can see their eyes glaze over every time a character creation choice amounts to "read a giant list of a dozen spells/feats/subclasses/Invocations". A small fear I have for the new 2024 system is that they have added 2 new "big list" choices right at lvl 1; Origin feats as a background, and Weapon Masteries for martial's. The veteran player in me loves these new additions, but I also know it's going to be hell to get my gf to read all that and pick right away. Side note: this is another reason I can respect the "no subclasses at lvl 1" thing. I still don't like it, but I at least understand it.
Yeah, just yesterday I was reading the fighter and some backgrounds, and it was annoying that fighting styles and all the origin feats have you flip to "chapter 5" --like at least give me a page number!
@@BobWorldBuilder That is the consequence of dnd beyond holding e-books that are not page-numbered and do not follow the physical books page-numbering scheme. Yes, it’s frustrating.
I always find the best thing to do for *brand new* players is to give a very quick overview of the high level concept of each class, and some of the races that they're more likely to be somewhat familiar with (like dwarf, elf, human, etc) then just ask in non-game terms "What kind of character do you want to play?" and essentially pick most of the stuff for them to fit that image. So for example, I had a player that wanted to be "An elf inventor with a railgun" so I rolled up an Artillerist Artificer so they get an eldritch cannon, and gave them the Catapult spell and returning weapon infusion so they could launch a sword through an enemy then call it right back to launch again the next turn. Then once they actually get to get a feel for the game they'll be more invested and more willing to look through spells/subclasses when they either: make a new character or play their current one long enough to level up.
Something nice the book does do is have every section say "hey, if you don't wanna go over everything, just pick this, you'll be fine". They do it for spell choices, weapon masteries and such. It's definitely good to have for brand new players just wanting to start playing.
Oh, that's cool! Also - interesting to see that the open-license sub-classes are what they are. Not always the most interesting or popular options for PCs, but for major _NPCs_ they are all fantastic. Land druid, fiendish warlock, and draconic sorceror give you three very classic flavours of fantasy mage to build as adversaries, hazards, or reluctant allies to the players. (Evoker wizard does, too, but people also really like to play the fireball mage.) I like this a lot.
(To be clear: I do not recommmend building an entire NPC by giving them class levels and actually progressing them like a PC, unless you're building them for a convention module you intend to run for the next decade or something. They're not going to show up often enough for any of that to matter, otherwise, which is disappointing. What _is_ nice is having a list of class features that you can stick onto an NPC to create a character that has a similar feel and set of abilities to PCs that might interact with them, which lets your players be clever about figuring out what kinds of tricks they might have up their sleeve before they show their hand.)
Not having the subclasses for free is a big encouragement to buy lol. My main reasons for buying the book were the art (alt cover is beautiful) and the glossary. The glossary is good to have in the physical version, in the table. For anything else, digital version works a lot better for me
Thank you for this! I was low-key panicking, because I just joined a beginner's virtual DND group. We're supposed to meet for the first time tonight, and the group organizer sent out a friendly reminder email letting us know what we needed to have on-hand, and APPARENTLY I completely missed the fact we needed a copy of the handbook. (In my defense, we were mostly communicating through multiple threads on Discord, and I'm unfamiliar with Discord, so that was a learning curve in itself. I probably missed a notification somewhere.) It's such a relief to learn the bulk of the handbook is available online. Based on what you said in the video, it looks like it should be plenty sufficient for what I need.
A level 12 *Moon Druid* can barely hit anything if they turn into a CR 4 beast with a *+2 Proficiency Bonus* while the other PCs have *+10 to hit* _(more likely _*_+11, +12,_*_ or _*_+13_*_ due to magic items or the concentration-free _*_Magic Weapon_*_ spell)._ At least, the *CR 4 Elephant* has *+6 Strength **_(+8 to hit),_* but it's the _only_ beast above CR 1 in the free rules, so it would make no sense to make *Moon Druid* the default. 2024 *Land Druid* is arguably the most exciting and flexible spellcaster. At level 7, your first turn in combat could be to cast the improved *Grasping Vine* spell with your _Bonus Action_ to deal _4d8_ Bludgeoning damage, _Grapple_ and _pull_ an enemy 30 feet to line up as many foes as possible for *Fireball,* which you can cast on the same turn without expending a spell slot thanks to *Natural Recovery.* To switch it up after a _Long Rest,_ you can change from *Arid Land* to *Tropical Land,* so the _Grappled_ enemy is pulled into *Web* instead where they're stuck unless they succeed on two *Dex saves* before they can spend their turn trying to escape from _either_ *Web* _or_ *Grasping Vine* _(choosing between pest and cholera)._ At level 9, you can switch to *Polar Land* and let circumstances decide whether you combine *Grasping Vine* with a free casting of *Cone of Cold, Ice Storm, Sleet Storm,* or *Hold Person.*
Great Video. I picked up the 2024 PHB as a collector, but the free rules are great for getting players going, especially the few I know who are hesitant to move from 2014. I hope they do a pdf like the last edition.
Great Video Bob. I agree with you that keeping this free is great for new players. With my new group who are all new to D&D, I started them with Shadowdark just because it is so much simpler and they are having a blast.
I agree with you Bob: For casual or beginner players, what is up free is MORE than enough. Compared to the ODD from the late 70s/early 80s, it is MUCH more. If you want more than the 2024 free stuff, just buy the book - which, I must say, is worth it: The structure is better than 2014, the art is great, the typeset is larger and easier to read and the rules are (mostly) pretty clean. In our "2014" 5e campaign, we have decided to take several of the "2024" rules, such as exhaustion and several spell modifications, because they just made sense to us. I know WotC has messed up alot in the past (Re: 2023 OGL Fiasco), but they did a very good job this time: For the free and paid version. I am very curious about the new SRD due in 2025.
The new book clearly aims to keep things with a more cohesive structure for new players, and i am all here for it. I think the Free Rules having only one subclass is actually very good, i agree with you. And i am one of those lunatics who loves games with 3 billions playable races and a new power every level chosen from a big list. But they really did the right thing with the free rules (and the whole book having 4 subclasses each also, imo). The disagree comes in regards to the the Moon Druid. You said it youserlf: it is the most liked subclass within the community... and the decision about leaving just one subclass was not really about the already stabilished D&D community, but the newcomers. And for a new player, having a Moon Druid (or a Beastmaster Ranger, in another example) can be too much too handle, with the extra stat blocks. If they left 2 subclasses, probably Moon would be there. But for new players, it can be a little too much, i think. So i understand their reasoning.
There are plenty of places on the Internet where you can get all the information you need on the 2024 version absolutely free and in a more convenient form
I plan on getting the physical book closer to the end of the year. I'm hoping by then they'll have a few new batches printed that fix the incorrect info, like Goliath's interaction with grapples. People are assuming they'll have a pdf errata, but I would hope that newer prints of the book would just fix those details directly. I'm not worried about errata that explains the intent of a given rule, just the ones that correct text that was wrong in the first printing. I don't want to have to print out corrections to wedge into each page with typos. But other than that, I hope they put out a pdf version of the free rules, like they did for 2014 after the OGL issue (where it was more than what the SRD pdf had). That way I can have a quick reference of rules digitally, while the full thing is properly in my possession (instead of only on a website that could go away).
If I have learned anything over the last year and a half or so, it's that Bob likes when rules are a little lighter, and don't overwhelm new players. Bob can build the world himself, after all. Lol
If I remember correctly, the condensed rule book of "The Dragon of icespire Peak" had a similar composition. Perfectly fine to get you started, wotc made good on their promise!
I love Bob World Builder videos! Thanks for educating and sharing so we can all learn and think about our games. What page does the examples of play start on? Page 9 yes? @6:02 Analysis paralysis is bad and yes beginners are prone to it. I mean, who in their right mind wants to make the wrong decision about the class and subclass they play? They will have FOMO and it will not be fun to game with them and they will not be having fun. Ask me how I know ... Yes! Starter set for the win! (of starting to play 2024. But why do we have to wait a year before the starter set?) Because they laid everyone off so the CEO could make more money? They will add the "options" it will just be behind a pay wall. Bob, you are crazy. (you asked for it. I don't mean it btw.) @9:04
I've noticed a minor add on in spells. The free version of hellish rebuke mentions oath breaker paladin can learn it and mentions the dmg as source. The paid version only mentions warlocks.
they kinda needed to make free rules to support how DnDBeyond functions and move the bare bones framework forward. but this is good news for those of us that just use physical books as we can print to pdf and then print a tangible copy. i am sticking with 5e, but good to know that i can see what 5r has to offer, or even what the changes are without costing me. same with the free SRD whenever it is updated beyond v5.1
Yeah... have a friend who own the 2024 PHB and she said that the Free Class Options are basically those they changed the least, so all the Classes that they made ridiculously more powerful are actually only in the paid PHB XD
Very helpful! Thank you for doing this so we don't have to. I was already disinclined to buy the new PH, this has convinced me to wait until I can get it used or free.
With the dndbeyond spells list, don't forget that it lists named spells both as the named variety and the generic variety. I.e. tasha's hideous laughter and Hideous laughter, leonormands tiny hut and tiny hut... Andl, the legacy spells might account for that as the pegacy versions get a seperate listing when things have changed
Hey by the way I would disagree that new players aren't willing to read a long book. As part of a school group who I convinced to play D&D with me it was natural for them to read the long book, because we have all read books twice as long just to write 1 essay on it for school. So no I think players are willing to take the time to pick and choose what they would like to play from the whole selection not just a few.
Great video as always! While I don't begrudge the more limited free character creation options on the D&D Beyond (D&D is a product for making money, after all), I would like to speak up for fans of the "character-creation mini-game"! There is a virtue in rolling a character quickly and getting on with play, but I would say if there's anywhere you want extra flexibility at the cost of complexity, it's in character creation---a lot of which can be done away from the table. I'd much rather see them limit all spell or feature description texts to one paragraph that can fit on a playing card than get rid of feats. Again, not complaining that they left these out in the free version. I just think there's something to be said for adding options in a way that doesn't complicate actual gameplay.
If you're playing a spellcasting class using the free rules you can see which spells they don't allow you to access on a computer by just scrolling your mouse down the list. Anything with an informational pop-up is a spell you have. Anything that has a pop-up saying it's "part of the Player's Handbook (2024) digital content pack" then they want to sell you access to it. Might be awkward on a touchscreen though.
Kudos to you Bob for being fair (as you really always are) on the free rules. I think we can thank you and others who spoke out over the whole OpenGL nonsense that they are with us at all and that they include so much. It would have been easy for you to not give them the free marketing once it released but I think your video has done a lot for the community. Keep it up.
Yeah there are hundreds of monsters from 2014 in the free rules, and really the only noteworthy difference is it seems that resistance non magical weapons is going away, though there are other changes too
Wizards have done plenty wrong, but providing a free set of rules is going to encourage a lot more new players to try the hobby, especially as the most popular name in TTRPGs. I'm all for providing fewer hurdles for new joiners
@@jasonhawkins6888 Look, I'm as fed up with 5e and its clones as you are, but 80% of Bob's audience plays them exclusively and it just makes good business sense to keep talking about them. Bob always platforms smaller games by indie creators who are not only better at their job than WOTC, but who clearly put a lot of love and care into what they make, which is why I support him even when he talks about 5e. If we keep talking about how cool smaller indie games are (instead of focusing on how much 5e sucks), we stand a better chance of persuading folks to give them a chance :)
Personally, this is the only D&D 5e content I'm concerned with, in case my friends decide they want to continue to play 5e and "transition" to the new rules. Thank blank character sheet observation was hilarious, as someone who started playing D&D with the Red Box in 88'. I just can't bring myself to give this company any more money than I already have. This will allow me to meet in the middle with them, until I can transition to 3rd party content (Rytoko's Guide will be out soon...) or hopefully move to a new system all together so I we can Draw Steel ; )
I've had a personal hypothesis for the 5e era that Wizards is aiming with their ultimate modular ruleset to have the free version be an approximation of 1e.
I already bought the book because I am such a big fan. However I do appreciate that Bob made a whole video showing how the essential rules are for free on the website. This stuff is very solid. It is enough for beginners to get started. Think of it as a free demo. Ghe new handbook is chonky. I have Pathfinder Player Handbooks that are even more chonky. This is not a problem for beginners, because most of that is reference material. Only a few pages is necessary for reading in order to get started. I do disagree with Bob on this. I do see where he is coming from though. Maybe there should be an explanation in the first page of the introduction. It should be in a sidebar or something. That would help with the intimidation factor. The subclasses is the part I looked forward to the most. It is a good thing I bought the book, because it was worth it. I see they only use the most basic and vanilla subclass for every class in the website. I want to expand further. The gorgeous artwort is worth it too. My favorite picture is the orc ranger with the fey wanderer subclass. I saw this in RUclips videos before release. Then I got the book and flipped through it. I saw a full body picture of that. I was over the moon. For me the book was bery worth it. However it is nice to have the website too. I don't look stuff up on the website because I use books for that. The website is still nice.
Can you download it!?!? Thank you for this! I had no idea although it makes sense since they were distributing a 2014 "basic". As a B/X, BECMI, 1e, 2e player, then pausing for 25 years, and then jumping into 5e, yes, it was intimidating, and after playing 5e for about 5 years, I still don't know all the classes, subclasses, feats, etc., etc.
I just can't believe your computer is touch screen. It had always been a background prop with Matt Mercer's face. My world is unbuilt. (Can you cover some Free League games? Maybe some content on Year Zero systems?)
A better comparison would have been dnd beyond 2024 rules vs dnd beyond free rules (2024) The example from chapter 1 is identical in both digital versions.
Today I learned that you used to be able to buy new sub-classes on DnD Beyond, but now you can't. That's such a good idea! I'd be happy to pay a little for that, but certainly don't want to buy a $50 book just so I can play an artificer. It's a bummer that buying whole books is the only way to move beyond the free rules.
Boy it sure would be nice to have a physical copy of the Player's Handbook that I preordered, and then got cancelled due to a gargantuan printing fault that WOTC have barely talked about...
A Grim Hollow physical book is absolutely in my future. Playing a Vampire transformation character right now, and it is bonkers fun! As far as the 2024 official content, my thoughts are thus: The Monk has been overhauled to greatness, but Rangers are left in the dust once again :/ Come on, WOTC, why the hate? Edit: From my experience in Baldur's Gate 3, Moon Druid is indeed based.
8:59 They took the lazy way with coding and made all the spells included in free rules only tagged for that, and then only used the PHB 2024 for spells only appearing in the paid book. There’s more they could’ve done to prevent duplicate search results but it would’ve taken time they didn’t have.
I'm not sure what to do with this information, or if it has any legal consequences, but the 2024 Free Rules on D&DBeyond used to include ALL of the new subclasses for Wizards, Clerics, Fighters, and Rogues, but then they changed it to just being one subclass of every class.
Bob, there is nothing wrong with the dnd beyond source tags. the ones listed under "free rules" are in both the free rules and player's handbook, while the ones listed under "phb 2024" are only in the player's handbook.
Character creation is all I wanted so I guess It's fork the cash cus 1 subclass is insulting, especially giving Cleric life subclass. At least make it interesting and give us war or Trickery, and Hunter for the Ranger is another telltale that they still have no idea what they want Ranger to do for the group
I'm not happy with WoTc atm. I bought the bundle, got the players guide a few weeks ago, and it arrived damaged (not packaged well at all), Im TRYING to get in touch with WoTc, but so far im just being ignored I feel. THe artwork and the layout is great btw, the books content is exactly what I expected, I just wish it arrived un-damaged :'(
I’m calling bull. I’ve NEVER had the DND Beyond website run that quickly or cleanly. It is always so laggy and unresponsive. But seriously. Great vid, mate. Thanks for the work you do!
Circle of the land is a slap in my damn face. Luckily I bought Circle of the Moon when you could actually buy individual subclasses. It's mine until they take it away from me. Then I'll have to just quit D&D Beyond altogether.
Sorry Bob - the Character Building chapter, free version, only has one Subclass/Class while the book has (I'm assuming as I haven't purchased it) more than one... The Free version is still a great reference though.
Crap - sorry again Bob, I should've waited a few minutes before commenting as you just went through the missing subclasses... I'll go stand in the corner now.
I have a question for you my good sir I don’t know what dnd character I want to I use dnd beyond or or I don’t know if I should use paper and pencil anyway back to the topic the species that I have are 2024 basic rules and 2014 basic rules from species from the 2024 basic ones are dwarf elf HALFLING HUMAN form the 2014 edition it’s DRAGONBORN DWARF ELF HALF-ELF HALF-ORC HALFLING HUMAN ROCK GNOME TIEFLING so which one is better for new players and beginners and which one is the best 2024 basic rules or 2014 rules mechanically I have no idea what to do I also have Elemental Evil Player's Companion races AARAKOCRA DEEP GNOME GENASI GOLIATH i need help your help please
So you still need to be on D&D beyond to play or refer to the rules? I seem to remember the free version of the 5e rules being available as a downloadable pdf.
You don't need an account, but yeah, there is no PDF like there was for the 2014 basic rules. However, the new SRD coming next year will likely be a PDF with more content (monsters, magic items, etc.)
@@BobWorldBuilder when so many other RPG publishers sell their books as PDFs, or give PDFs away with physical purchases of the books, I am continually baffled by the way WotC do this. I know they just want to draw you into the D&D Beyond storefront though.
@@AngryPict WotC is a big corporation (or part of one, anyway) with a responsibility to make money for their shareholders. Not surprising to me, when viewed from that light. Do I like it? Not necessarily. But if any of the indie games out there make it big and end up going public, they'll have to consider the same sorts of things, because it is a real responsibility they are obligated to try and do (make money).
Is there an SRD tho? I'm guessing there's no OGL either. And another thing: how do I get my phone to print? I can't even figure out where to insert the paper... 🦗🦗🦗 That's a joke, kids. Does anybody remember laughter? 🦗🦗🦗 That's a reference. Look it up if you don't get it. 🦗🦗🦗 Those are crickets... oh, nevermind.
💥 Grim Hollow Transformed: ghostfiregaming.com/BOWB_GHRF_2024_8_005
Hey by the way I would disagree that new players aren't willing to read a long book. As part of a school group who I convinced to play D&D with me it was natural for them to read the long book, because we have all read books twice as long just to write 1 essay on it for school. So no I think players are willing to take the time to pick and choose what they would like to play from the whole selection not just a few.
I would also say not a lot of new players feel confident in their ability to create homebrew monsters
@@LukeFrancis-k8y Sounds like a generalization based on a specific scenario that would be more likely to produce said kind of player.
Didnt DnD5e already have free rules which had all classes with one subclass, a few ancestries and only a few backgrounds for free? So Dnd 5.5 is just as free as 5e?
Yeah 2014 5e has a bunch of free material in the Basic Rules and the 5.1 SRD, and now 2024 5e (aka 5.5.e) has a similar amount of free stuff in terms of basic rules and character options. However, 2024 5e is still missing its monsters, so until then and the new SRD, the free material would have to be used with the 300+ free monsters from 5e 2014. Not a big deal since they're compatible, just not in the same place yet.
Not quite. the 5e basic rules came in form of a handy pdf that you could use everywhere. the 5r rules come as stuff on DnD Beyond, that you can only use when you have internet access.
@@elana1463 That's actually huge point. I used to use the 5e PDF version whenever working on homebrew while commuting on a train because the internet access was really spotty. Plus D&DBeyond seems to be really slow sometimes.
@@elana1463 good point
I think probably the biggest change is it actually includes more than one background, though tbf from what I could tell the 2014 srd only has the acolyte background as a reference for you to create your own custom one
Okay but the blank character sheet in the free rules is clutch
Right??
Have you ever actually tried to copy a character sheet from the back of a book? Not fun.I much prefer the PDF...waaaaay easier to work with.
@@finderski I remember the old ways, yes. I still have a comically large scanner so I can lay rpg books down flat in a 2 page spread. I'd be surprised if it turns on.
The free version basically gives you everything you need to play the game besides the entire list of all gazillion player options and spells.
I guess i doesn't include any lore of the universe, but the handbooks don't either.
So all that's "missing" are things that you can either home brew or look up on the internet for free anyways.
D&D STAYS FREE!
Bingo!
Pretty sure the list of PHB2024 spells, are the spells in the PHB but which aren't in the free rules, so that is the difference. Spells that appear in both the PHB and Free Rules are listed under free rules 2024 source instead. So technically to get all the PHB2024 spells, you just add both sources to the filter.
The difference would be 59 spells, if I have counted correctly.
You, sir, are a true TTRPG Man.
I just posted on this but there's identical spells with names, like hideous laughter and Tasha's hideous laughter. Free rules are probably srd, which means removing the named versions. Not sure if that counts one way or the other. Legacy rules also have separate entries. Although 350 seems like a lot, a simple side by side list could make for an easy comparison.
This is the first video I have seen talking about the free version of the rules. I haven't bought the new PHB, and this is a good way to look at the differences and make an informed decision about whether, and/or when, I want to make the change from 2014. Thank you!
Thank you! That was my goal :)
Thanks for taking the time to do a side-by-side comparison. This is super useful!
They could've given out a PDF, couldn't they? Just like they did with the previous edition? So that we could read that offline? That would've been nice.
Still, this is... good.
Yeah 2014 5e has a great PDF of free Basic Rules. I doubt they'll do that for this edition, but the SRD will likely be PDF with similar material (and way more monsters and magic items than this free material)
Cool. Thanks for highlighting this. I'll check it out, but I'm fully aboard the OSR train now. Full steam ahead for ShadowDark, mork borg pirate borg and Cairn!
Playing the "Character Creation Game" in a TTRPG is the equivalent of spending an hour designing your Skyrim character just to play in first-person the whole time. Both are entertaining although strange to look at from the outside.
Uncommon City Bob spotted
I forgot how easy it is to record indoors
Which, as others have noted, shows that is not as handy as the 5E pdf he could have printed to take out to the woods
I find it amusing that Grappler was the only feat given to use in the SRD, but it's not given to us for free in 2024, but we got Acolyte both times.
Also, Circle of the Land druid was what we had for the SRD too, so I feel it makes sense it was the same subclass given to us in 2024. As you said, people want the Moon druid, so more of an incentive to buy the book.
I agree with you that it's easy to forget how intimidating all those choices are for new player!
I'm teaching a new table to play DND right now, and big lists of choices are always a hard sell. I can see their eyes glaze over every time a character creation choice amounts to "read a giant list of a dozen spells/feats/subclasses/Invocations".
A small fear I have for the new 2024 system is that they have added 2 new "big list" choices right at lvl 1; Origin feats as a background, and Weapon Masteries for martial's. The veteran player in me loves these new additions, but I also know it's going to be hell to get my gf to read all that and pick right away.
Side note: this is another reason I can respect the "no subclasses at lvl 1" thing. I still don't like it, but I at least understand it.
Yeah, just yesterday I was reading the fighter and some backgrounds, and it was annoying that fighting styles and all the origin feats have you flip to "chapter 5" --like at least give me a page number!
@@BobWorldBuilder That is the consequence of dnd beyond holding e-books that are not page-numbered and do not follow the physical books page-numbering scheme. Yes, it’s frustrating.
I always find the best thing to do for *brand new* players is to give a very quick overview of the high level concept of each class, and some of the races that they're more likely to be somewhat familiar with (like dwarf, elf, human, etc) then just ask in non-game terms "What kind of character do you want to play?" and essentially pick most of the stuff for them to fit that image. So for example, I had a player that wanted to be "An elf inventor with a railgun" so I rolled up an Artillerist Artificer so they get an eldritch cannon, and gave them the Catapult spell and returning weapon infusion so they could launch a sword through an enemy then call it right back to launch again the next turn. Then once they actually get to get a feel for the game they'll be more invested and more willing to look through spells/subclasses when they either: make a new character or play their current one long enough to level up.
Something nice the book does do is have every section say "hey, if you don't wanna go over everything, just pick this, you'll be fine". They do it for spell choices, weapon masteries and such. It's definitely good to have for brand new players just wanting to start playing.
That's neat
All Pathfinder 2e options are available online for free on Archives of Nethys
Don't forget Pathbuilder, a free character builder that both simplifies character creation and can be used as a digital character sheet during play.
Imagine a game being free and still nobody wants to play it.
@@jspsj0 In my experience it's more have the problem of too many players and not enough GM's but that's an issue common across TTRPGs
Oh, that's cool!
Also - interesting to see that the open-license sub-classes are what they are. Not always the most interesting or popular options for PCs, but for major _NPCs_ they are all fantastic. Land druid, fiendish warlock, and draconic sorceror give you three very classic flavours of fantasy mage to build as adversaries, hazards, or reluctant allies to the players. (Evoker wizard does, too, but people also really like to play the fireball mage.) I like this a lot.
(To be clear: I do not recommmend building an entire NPC by giving them class levels and actually progressing them like a PC, unless you're building them for a convention module you intend to run for the next decade or something. They're not going to show up often enough for any of that to matter, otherwise, which is disappointing. What _is_ nice is having a list of class features that you can stick onto an NPC to create a character that has a similar feel and set of abilities to PCs that might interact with them, which lets your players be clever about figuring out what kinds of tricks they might have up their sleeve before they show their hand.)
Not having the subclasses for free is a big encouragement to buy lol.
My main reasons for buying the book were the art (alt cover is beautiful) and the glossary. The glossary is good to have in the physical version, in the table. For anything else, digital version works a lot better for me
Thank you for this! I was low-key panicking, because I just joined a beginner's virtual DND group. We're supposed to meet for the first time tonight, and the group organizer sent out a friendly reminder email letting us know what we needed to have on-hand, and APPARENTLY I completely missed the fact we needed a copy of the handbook. (In my defense, we were mostly communicating through multiple threads on Discord, and I'm unfamiliar with Discord, so that was a learning curve in itself. I probably missed a notification somewhere.) It's such a relief to learn the bulk of the handbook is available online. Based on what you said in the video, it looks like it should be plenty sufficient for what I need.
A level 12 *Moon Druid* can barely hit anything if they turn into a CR 4 beast with a *+2 Proficiency Bonus* while the other PCs have *+10 to hit* _(more likely _*_+11, +12,_*_ or _*_+13_*_ due to magic items or the concentration-free _*_Magic Weapon_*_ spell)._ At least, the *CR 4 Elephant* has *+6 Strength **_(+8 to hit),_* but it's the _only_ beast above CR 1 in the free rules, so it would make no sense to make *Moon Druid* the default.
2024 *Land Druid* is arguably the most exciting and flexible spellcaster. At level 7, your first turn in combat could be to cast the improved *Grasping Vine* spell with your _Bonus Action_ to deal _4d8_ Bludgeoning damage, _Grapple_ and _pull_ an enemy 30 feet to line up as many foes as possible for *Fireball,* which you can cast on the same turn without expending a spell slot thanks to *Natural Recovery.* To switch it up after a _Long Rest,_ you can change from *Arid Land* to *Tropical Land,* so the _Grappled_ enemy is pulled into *Web* instead where they're stuck unless they succeed on two *Dex saves* before they can spend their turn trying to escape from _either_ *Web* _or_ *Grasping Vine* _(choosing between pest and cholera)._ At level 9, you can switch to *Polar Land* and let circumstances decide whether you combine *Grasping Vine* with a free casting of *Cone of Cold, Ice Storm, Sleet Storm,* or *Hold Person.*
4 Backgrounds and 12 Feats is still significantly more than the ONE Background and ONE Feat that the 2014 free rules gave us.
3:49 - WOW! did you just touch the screen!
TOUCH THE ACTUAL DESK MONITOR!
TOUCH!
We are truly living in the future!
The major differences are Races, Feats, Subclasses, Spells, and Origins. They're basically giving us the same that 5.1 SRD gives us for free for 5E.
Great Video. I picked up the 2024 PHB as a collector, but the free rules are great for getting players going, especially the few I know who are hesitant to move from 2014. I hope they do a pdf like the last edition.
Great Video Bob. I agree with you that keeping this free is great for new players. With my new group who are all new to D&D, I started them with Shadowdark just because it is so much simpler and they are having a blast.
Thanks, and great move! Way faster to make SD characters than 5e characters, especially for new players.
I agree with you Bob: For casual or beginner players, what is up free is MORE than enough. Compared to the ODD from the late 70s/early 80s, it is MUCH more.
If you want more than the 2024 free stuff, just buy the book - which, I must say, is worth it: The structure is better than 2014, the art is great, the typeset is larger and easier to read and the rules are (mostly) pretty clean. In our "2014" 5e campaign, we have decided to take several of the "2024" rules, such as exhaustion and several spell modifications, because they just made sense to us.
I know WotC has messed up alot in the past (Re: 2023 OGL Fiasco), but they did a very good job this time: For the free and paid version. I am very curious about the new SRD due in 2025.
The new book clearly aims to keep things with a more cohesive structure for new players, and i am all here for it. I think the Free Rules having only one subclass is actually very good, i agree with you. And i am one of those lunatics who loves games with 3 billions playable races and a new power every level chosen from a big list. But they really did the right thing with the free rules (and the whole book having 4 subclasses each also, imo).
The disagree comes in regards to the the Moon Druid. You said it youserlf: it is the most liked subclass within the community... and the decision about leaving just one subclass was not really about the already stabilished D&D community, but the newcomers. And for a new player, having a Moon Druid (or a Beastmaster Ranger, in another example) can be too much too handle, with the extra stat blocks.
If they left 2 subclasses, probably Moon would be there. But for new players, it can be a little too much, i think. So i understand their reasoning.
Hopefully they add all the species
There are plenty of places on the Internet where you can get all the information you need on the 2024 version absolutely free and in a more convenient form
I’m totally with you on simplicity. I run 5e just using the PHB. That’s got all the options my players want.
I have actually been pumped about the Circle of The Land!
Feel free to LOVE ALL Bob World Builder videos! In 2024 and beyond.
Thanks!
I plan on getting the physical book closer to the end of the year. I'm hoping by then they'll have a few new batches printed that fix the incorrect info, like Goliath's interaction with grapples. People are assuming they'll have a pdf errata, but I would hope that newer prints of the book would just fix those details directly. I'm not worried about errata that explains the intent of a given rule, just the ones that correct text that was wrong in the first printing. I don't want to have to print out corrections to wedge into each page with typos.
But other than that, I hope they put out a pdf version of the free rules, like they did for 2014 after the OGL issue (where it was more than what the SRD pdf had). That way I can have a quick reference of rules digitally, while the full thing is properly in my possession (instead of only on a website that could go away).
If I have learned anything over the last year and a half or so, it's that Bob likes when rules are a little lighter, and don't overwhelm new players. Bob can build the world himself, after all. Lol
If I remember correctly, the condensed rule book of "The Dragon of icespire Peak" had a similar composition. Perfectly fine to get you started, wotc made good on their promise!
I love Bob World Builder videos!
Thanks for educating and sharing so we can all learn and think about our games.
What page does the examples of play start on? Page 9 yes?
@6:02 Analysis paralysis is bad and yes beginners are prone to it. I mean, who in their right mind wants to make the wrong decision about the class and subclass they play? They will have FOMO and it will not be fun to game with them and they will not be having fun. Ask me how I know ...
Yes! Starter set for the win! (of starting to play 2024. But why do we have to wait a year before the starter set?) Because they laid everyone off so the CEO could make more money?
They will add the "options" it will just be behind a pay wall.
Bob, you are crazy. (you asked for it. I don't mean it btw.) @9:04
I've noticed a minor add on in spells. The free version of hellish rebuke mentions oath breaker paladin can learn it and mentions the dmg as source. The paid version only mentions warlocks.
they kinda needed to make free rules to support how DnDBeyond functions and move the bare bones framework forward. but this is good news for those of us that just use physical books as we can print to pdf and then print a tangible copy. i am sticking with 5e, but good to know that i can see what 5r has to offer, or even what the changes are without costing me. same with the free SRD whenever it is updated beyond v5.1
Yeah... have a friend who own the 2024 PHB and she said that the Free Class Options are basically those they changed the least, so all the Classes that they made ridiculously more powerful are actually only in the paid PHB XD
Very helpful! Thank you for doing this so we don't have to. I was already disinclined to buy the new PH, this has convinced me to wait until I can get it used or free.
With the dndbeyond spells list, don't forget that it lists named spells both as the named variety and the generic variety. I.e. tasha's hideous laughter and Hideous laughter, leonormands tiny hut and tiny hut...
Andl, the legacy spells might account for that as the pegacy versions get a seperate listing when things have changed
Hey by the way I would disagree that new players aren't willing to read a long book. As part of a school group who I convinced to play D&D with me it was natural for them to read the long book, because we have all read books twice as long just to write 1 essay on it for school. So no I think players are willing to take the time to pick and choose what they would like to play from the whole selection not just a few.
I love ALL Bob World Builder videos!
Great video as always! While I don't begrudge the more limited free character creation options on the D&D Beyond (D&D is a product for making money, after all), I would like to speak up for fans of the "character-creation mini-game"! There is a virtue in rolling a character quickly and getting on with play, but I would say if there's anywhere you want extra flexibility at the cost of complexity, it's in character creation---a lot of which can be done away from the table. I'd much rather see them limit all spell or feature description texts to one paragraph that can fit on a playing card than get rid of feats.
Again, not complaining that they left these out in the free version. I just think there's something to be said for adding options in a way that doesn't complicate actual gameplay.
If you're playing a spellcasting class using the free rules you can see which spells they don't allow you to access on a computer by just scrolling your mouse down the list. Anything with an informational pop-up is a spell you have. Anything that has a pop-up saying it's "part of the Player's Handbook (2024) digital content pack" then they want to sell you access to it. Might be awkward on a touchscreen though.
If only there were some TOOLS for 5E where you could access the whole phb for free 😉
Kudos to you Bob for being fair (as you really always are) on the free rules. I think we can thank you and others who spoke out over the whole OpenGL nonsense that they are with us at all and that they include so much. It would have been easy for you to not give them the free marketing once it released but I think your video has done a lot for the community. Keep it up.
Thanks for a great breakdown!
Yeah there are hundreds of monsters from 2014 in the free rules, and really the only noteworthy difference is it seems that resistance non magical weapons is going away, though there are other changes too
Thank you. Very good information.
Glad it was helpful!
Basic edition "Red Box" and "black box with red dragon" didn't have a ton of spells or monsters. It had more than enough variance.
I feel like there was a lot of hate about the art in the '24 PHB, so I'm glad to hear some mutual love for it. I think the artists killed it.
Convincing players to sign up to their anti-competitive ecosystem to be is probably worth more to WOTC than getting players to buy a PHB copy.
Great video. Thank you for the great work.
Thanks for watching!
3:44 My first thought: thats a flex (with touch screen monitor) :d
Divine Favor has some discrepancy. One says Range: Self, but clicking it loads another Divine Favor with Range: Touch.
thank you,
and 100%! beginners find subclasses truly baffling, so 1 per class is absolutely the right option.
Wizards have done plenty wrong, but providing a free set of rules is going to encourage a lot more new players to try the hobby, especially as the most popular name in TTRPGs.
I'm all for providing fewer hurdles for new joiners
I'll remember this if I ever have anyone to play with.
I love all Bob World Builder videos!
...even the ones about mediocre, bloated ttrpg systems I don't play anymore and just watch for the algorithm 🤭
Personally I'm sick of em. Move on Bob.
@@jasonhawkins6888 Look, I'm as fed up with 5e and its clones as you are, but 80% of Bob's audience plays them exclusively and it just makes good business sense to keep talking about them.
Bob always platforms smaller games by indie creators who are not only better at their job than WOTC, but who clearly put a lot of love and care into what they make, which is why I support him even when he talks about 5e.
If we keep talking about how cool smaller indie games are (instead of focusing on how much 5e sucks), we stand a better chance of persuading folks to give them a chance :)
Truly, a really valuable video
*grumbles in circle of the stars*
Thanks Bob!
Personally, this is the only D&D 5e content I'm concerned with, in case my friends decide they want to continue to play 5e and "transition" to the new rules. Thank blank character sheet observation was hilarious, as someone who started playing D&D with the Red Box in 88'. I just can't bring myself to give this company any more money than I already have. This will allow me to meet in the middle with them, until I can transition to 3rd party content (Rytoko's Guide will be out soon...) or hopefully move to a new system all together so I we can Draw Steel ; )
I've had a personal hypothesis for the 5e era that Wizards is aiming with their ultimate modular ruleset to have the free version be an approximation of 1e.
I already bought the book because I am such a big fan. However I do appreciate that Bob made a whole video showing how the essential rules are for free on the website. This stuff is very solid. It is enough for beginners to get started. Think of it as a free demo. Ghe new handbook is chonky. I have Pathfinder Player Handbooks that are even more chonky. This is not a problem for beginners, because most of that is reference material. Only a few pages is necessary for reading in order to get started. I do disagree with Bob on this. I do see where he is coming from though. Maybe there should be an explanation in the first page of the introduction. It should be in a sidebar or something. That would help with the intimidation factor. The subclasses is the part I looked forward to the most. It is a good thing I bought the book, because it was worth it. I see they only use the most basic and vanilla subclass for every class in the website. I want to expand further. The gorgeous artwort is worth it too. My favorite picture is the orc ranger with the fey wanderer subclass. I saw this in RUclips videos before release. Then I got the book and flipped through it. I saw a full body picture of that. I was over the moon. For me the book was bery worth it. However it is nice to have the website too. I don't look stuff up on the website because I use books for that. The website is still nice.
Can you download it!?!? Thank you for this! I had no idea although it makes sense since they were distributing a 2014 "basic". As a B/X, BECMI, 1e, 2e player, then pausing for 25 years, and then jumping into 5e, yes, it was intimidating, and after playing 5e for about 5 years, I still don't know all the classes, subclasses, feats, etc., etc.
I just can't believe your computer is touch screen. It had always been a background prop with Matt Mercer's face. My world is unbuilt.
(Can you cover some Free League games? Maybe some content on Year Zero systems?)
Ironically, this video reminds me how much I wish I wasn't broke.
Too many books I wish I had. :)
A better comparison would have been dnd beyond 2024 rules vs dnd beyond free rules (2024)
The example from chapter 1 is identical in both digital versions.
Love all Robert World Buildy videos!
Today I learned that you used to be able to buy new sub-classes on DnD Beyond, but now you can't. That's such a good idea! I'd be happy to pay a little for that, but certainly don't want to buy a $50 book just so I can play an artificer. It's a bummer that buying whole books is the only way to move beyond the free rules.
Boy it sure would be nice to have a physical copy of the Player's Handbook that I preordered, and then got cancelled due to a gargantuan printing fault that WOTC have barely talked about...
A Grim Hollow physical book is absolutely in my future. Playing a Vampire transformation character right now, and it is bonkers fun!
As far as the 2024 official content, my thoughts are thus: The Monk has been overhauled to greatness, but Rangers are left in the dust once again :/ Come on, WOTC, why the hate?
Edit: From my experience in Baldur's Gate 3, Moon Druid is indeed based.
This is a good video, so many new players think they have to buy god knows what when the free rules are more than enough to just go for it.
Sir you are indeed a rascal, great video! 😁
There's no blank character sheet in the new D&D book?
OMG
Piano giving me PBS vibes.🙂
Taking that as a compliment! :)
I like QUICK character creation.
8:59 They took the lazy way with coding and made all the spells included in free rules only tagged for that, and then only used the PHB 2024 for spells only appearing in the paid book. There’s more they could’ve done to prevent duplicate search results but it would’ve taken time they didn’t have.
I'm not sure what to do with this information, or if it has any legal consequences, but the 2024 Free Rules on D&DBeyond used to include ALL of the new subclasses for Wizards, Clerics, Fighters, and Rogues, but then they changed it to just being one subclass of every class.
Bob, there is nothing wrong with the dnd beyond source tags. the ones listed under "free rules" are in both the free rules and player's handbook, while the ones listed under "phb 2024" are only in the player's handbook.
Character creation is all I wanted so I guess It's fork the cash cus 1 subclass is insulting, especially giving Cleric life subclass. At least make it interesting and give us war or Trickery, and Hunter for the Ranger is another telltale that they still have no idea what they want Ranger to do for the group
I’m wondering if they’re still going to publish the SRD as a separate PDF.
So… this is for people with a subscription to D&D Beyond, because I just try to see the glossary and I only got redirected to buy the book
Oh good, I just wanted the item charts
I'm not happy with WoTc atm.
I bought the bundle, got the players guide a few weeks ago, and it arrived damaged (not packaged well at all), Im TRYING to get in touch with WoTc, but so far im just being ignored I feel.
THe artwork and the layout is great btw, the books content is exactly what I expected, I just wish it arrived un-damaged :'(
Cost effective as usual for Bob.
Honestly they can't even pay me enough money to play D&D 5e.
I will happily pay for good OSR stuff though.
Grim Hollow sounds fun, like a Ravenloft variant or something.
Is Grim Hollow also available for (mostly) free?
I’m calling bull. I’ve NEVER had the DND Beyond website run that quickly or cleanly. It is always so laggy and unresponsive.
But seriously. Great vid, mate. Thanks for the work you do!
Not hearing any aircraft noises, how do we know this video wasn't the AI that WotC was talking about using?
Circle of the land is a slap in my damn face.
Luckily I bought Circle of the Moon when you could actually buy individual subclasses. It's mine until they take it away from me. Then I'll have to just quit D&D Beyond altogether.
Sorry Bob - the Character Building chapter, free version, only has one Subclass/Class while the book has (I'm assuming as I haven't purchased it) more than one... The Free version is still a great reference though.
Crap - sorry again Bob, I should've waited a few minutes before commenting as you just went through the missing subclasses... I'll go stand in the corner now.
I have a question for you my good sir I don’t know what dnd character I want to I use dnd beyond or or I don’t know if I should use paper and pencil anyway back to the topic the species that I have are 2024 basic rules and 2014 basic rules from species from the 2024 basic ones are dwarf elf HALFLING HUMAN form the 2014 edition it’s DRAGONBORN DWARF ELF HALF-ELF HALF-ORC HALFLING HUMAN ROCK GNOME TIEFLING so which one is better for new players and beginners and which one is the best 2024 basic rules or 2014 rules mechanically I have no idea what to do I also have Elemental Evil Player's Companion races AARAKOCRA DEEP GNOME GENASI GOLIATH i need help your help please
So you still need to be on D&D beyond to play or refer to the rules?
I seem to remember the free version of the 5e rules being available as a downloadable pdf.
You don't need an account, but yeah, there is no PDF like there was for the 2014 basic rules. However, the new SRD coming next year will likely be a PDF with more content (monsters, magic items, etc.)
@@BobWorldBuilder when so many other RPG publishers sell their books as PDFs, or give PDFs away with physical purchases of the books, I am continually baffled by the way WotC do this.
I know they just want to draw you into the D&D Beyond storefront though.
@@AngryPict WotC is a big corporation (or part of one, anyway) with a responsibility to make money for their shareholders. Not surprising to me, when viewed from that light. Do I like it? Not necessarily. But if any of the indie games out there make it big and end up going public, they'll have to consider the same sorts of things, because it is a real responsibility they are obligated to try and do (make money).
Way to go!
Good info!
Any word on free pregens other than the pcs from Uni and the Lost horn?
Is there an SRD tho? I'm guessing there's no OGL either.
And another thing: how do I get my phone to print? I can't even figure out where to insert the paper...
🦗🦗🦗
That's a joke, kids. Does anybody remember laughter?
🦗🦗🦗
That's a reference. Look it up if you don't get it.
🦗🦗🦗
Those are crickets... oh, nevermind.
Still needing that 5.5e Basic Rules PDF . . .
Has it not been offered as a pdf yet? I'd prefer to reduce my traffic on dnd beyond