D&D’s new Player’s Handbook unlocks smart options for thick-headed tanks
Playing 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons feels very different depending on whether your character is a spellcaster or a tanky fighter. That’s because martial classes, like the Fighter and the Ranger, typically offer fewer choices when it comes to how to use their actions in combat. The Player’s Handbook (2024) adds something called Weapon Mastery to the game for the first time. The change should help bring those once disparate classes a little closer together, while still offering low-complexity options for anyone who wants them.
D&D lead designer Jeremy Crawford told Polygon that unlocking more choices was one of the primary design goals for the new book, especially for weapon-focused characters who the designers wanted to give more tactical options in battle. Early on, they considered giving all martial classes a version of the maneuvers used by the Battle Master Fighter subclass, which allow them to distract, disarm, or trip enemies. However, playtesting found that while some welcomed the extra options, others were daunted by the new level of complexity when playing a Barbarian, Fighter, or Rogue.
When thinking about what could be done to make weapon-focused characters more compelling, it dawned on Crawford that he needed to focus more on the weapons themselves. That led to the development of the Weapon Mastery system, which was well received in both internal playtesting and the Unearthed Arcana playtest materials. The new class feature available to Barbarians, Fighters, Rogues, Paladins, and Rangers allows them to train to unlock special properties of melee weapons beyond the base damage dice and type used by all characters.
For instance, a Barbarian who chooses battleaxe Weapon Mastery can knock a creature they hit prone while a Rogue can vex an enemy with their rapier, granting them advantage on their next attack roll. Fighters get mastery of three weapons at level 1, so they can alternate between numerous tactics, potentially opening a fight by slowing enemies with their longbow before pulling out a halt they can use to attack and then cleave into a second creature in range. Characters can swap some of their choices out after a long rest and unlock more options as they level, encouraging them to carry around a small arsenal so they have options based on whether it would be useful to push foes around with a warhammer or try to throw them off balance with a morning star.
Other minor shifts give martial characters more decisions to make. In the 2014 book, Barbarians with the Path of the Totem Warrior subclass aligned themselves with a specific animal to gain special abilities when raging, with a bear totem granting them resistance to most forms of damage while an eagle allowed them to dash around the battlefield without worrying as much about opportunity attacks. Rather than making a one-time decision when they select the subclass, the revised version, dubbed Wild Heart, lets players pick what animal to channel whenever they rage so they can decide what powers best suit the situation.
Fighters also get additional uses of the healing ability Second Wind before resting and can use it to add to an ability check they’re failing rather than recovering hit points. After fifth level, the ability commonly used during particularly difficult encounters can be used to both move and heal. Rogues can similarly trade in their sneak attack dice for effects like poisoning or tripping enemies.
The focus on choice also shaped the decisions of which subclasses would be included in the book. Most of the ones originally published in 2014 are still there, but more unusual options, like the Psi Warrior and Fey Wanderer initially published in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everythinghave also been added.
“What we were looking for was basically ice cream flavors: a vanilla choice that’s very straightforward and really speaks to the identity of the class, a chocolate class that is more complex, and unusual flavors like cookies and cream or pistachio that let you really explore the class,” Crawford said.
The Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook (2024) is available now.