D&D 5.5E – Bloodied Is Back As The First ‘Player’s Handbook’ Reviews Start Pouring In
The review embargo date has lifted, and your favorite D&D YouTubers have opinions about the new 5.5E Player’s Handbook.
As of August 1st, Wizards of the Coast embargo on reviews and spoilers for the upcoming D&D 5.5E Player’s Handbook has lifted. And that means YouTubers and Podcasters and other “influencer” types (my editor won’t let me spend the next 1500 words telling you why it’s actually bad for society that we use an advertising term to talk about people who share their thoughts and opinions to an audience because it inextricably ties their identity to the functionality of selling you a thing, monetizing not just their art/creation, but their very existence) will be out there sharing reviews, thoughts, and spoilers from the new Player’s Handbook.
Here’s one example. The rule for Bloodied is back. Definitively. Now, in D&D, when a creature gets down below half-hit points, it gains the Bloodied condition, which, by itself, does nothing but has effects based on other mechanics in the game. It was one of 4th Edition’s more lasting ideas, to the point where many DMs kept it around as a house rule.
Now, it’s back in a big way. But that’s just one small drop in the tidal wave of new videos coming out today. So brace yourself as we dive in.
Early 5.5E Reviews, Spoilers, and More as Embargo Lifts
The last time nerds were this excited for an embargo to lift, Obi-Wan Kenobi just finished bisecting Darth Maul in the Naboo Palace reactor core room. But here we are, folks. Sure, seeing Nerd Immersion reveal the 5.5E Player’s Handbook Table of Contents isn’t the same as Boss Nass holding aloft a shining Gungan Orb, but this is real life, not just some fantasy.
So prepare to be caught in a landslide of reviews as a sort of escape from reality today.
First of all, if you open your eyes, you’ll see the table of contents. This should give you an idea of everything in the book.
In a video discussing the specific kinds of coverage possible, we get a look at the table of contents pictured above. Over on the rest of his channel, Nerd Immersion goes chapter by chapter through the book, so if you want to get an idea of what each chapter holds, this is where to look.
Wait – There’s More!
Meanwhile, Treantmonk, a name conjured up from the glory days of character optimization forums, whose work extolling the efficacy of “the god wizard” changed the way many players approached spellcasters in 3.X Edition D&D, is going through the rules, comparing and contrasting the 2024 and 2014 versions to show you exactly what’s different between the two.
In his video, for instance, you’ll learn that Bloodied is back in D&D or that Rogues can no longer use a healer’s kit as a Bonus Action because administering first aid with a healer’s kit is now part of the Help Action.
Or that the “one weird magic missile trick,” which relied on an interpretation of the wording of Magic Missile to let Evokers optimize the heck out of the damage dealt by a surprisingly powerful first-level spell, is no longer in effect. The rules have changed.
Now, all spells that damage multiple targets AND require saving throws (like Fireball) only rely on a single damage roll. This might sound like a small trick, but it means that, in the new edition, you might have to work harder to figure out how to get Magic Missile to deal hundreds of points of damage to a single target by combining a bunch of weird effects that stack on each other. And that, ultimately, is a good thing. But it is an example of how thoroughly some of the rules seem to have changed. And all while maintaining some degree of backward compatibility.
Meanwhile, YouTuber DND Shorts has a review/charity drive video in which he provides a fairly exhaustive “smash or pass” on each section of the book. True to his channel name, this is the shortest of the “comprehensive review” videos.
Contras that with the nearly hour-long “first-look review” from the Dungeons Dudes, whom you might know from Dungeons of Drakkenheim. They do an in-depth review and talk at length about the new Rules Index.
The Rules Index is the Player’s Handbook’s one-stop shop for all things rules-related throughout D&D. If you want to know where to find a rule, you can go here. No more hunting and pecking through the various rulebooks to find out how, for instance, you can get through other places.
But they also point out that the Player’s Handbook is a little bit lighter on rules like exploration and social interaction. Players aren’t given a lot of information about what to expect when they’re rolling an Athletics Check or a Constitution saving throw, which is something of a bummer for players. But the Dungeon Dudes have a strong hope that the Dungeon Master’s Guide is going to pick up the slack, so to speak, and that exploration and interacting rules are in there. Personally I feel that “how your skills work” is information that players need to have to know how it is to “kick down a door” or how to ask the DM to make an Insight Check.
It’ll be interesting to see what awaits in the DMG, but as the Dungeon Dudes say, it’s a disappointment to see some of this information removed from the Player’s Handbook.
And Even More!
Or the nearly four-hour video from d4 Deep Dive that goes through each change to every class and subclass in the 2024 PHB. If you want to know exactly how different the 2024 Champion is from the 2014 Champion, this is the video for you. Every change is coalesced into one long video. So you know, you might want to bring some snacks and look carefully at timestamped sections to find what you want to see first.
It’s a thorough video, yes, but it’s no four-hour meditation on the failure of the Star Wars hotel because people demand that art be profitable and how, compared to the days of wealthy patrons commissioning operas to show off their fortune, now we see every corner is cut to get away with as little opera as possible. But I digress.
That said, there’s a lot to talk about in the coming days. And this is only the beginning of a tidal wave—a slurry of rules reveals, coverage, reviews, and spoilers. Mind you, this is all alongside whatever you might hear from Gen Con. So we’ll try to keep the highlights here for you in the coming days.
In the meantime, buckle up and keep an eye out for your favorite YouTuber, Podcaster, or Website to have their thoughts on the new book.
And if you’re out at Gen Con, enjoy the crowds and good luck getting one of the new Player’s Handbooks for yourself!
