Summary
Fifth editionDungeons & Dragonsmight not have quite the well of endless character creation options that can be found in the most complex TTRPGs, but it’s still easy to feel spoiled for choice. I’m not aDnDplayer as often as I am a DM, but whenever I do end up at the other end of the game table, I find coming up with my character a lot harder than inventing NPCs. There are a lot of options that I’ve still never tapped, andone that I’ve always been right on the edge of embracing is the dwarf.
If I had to name a favorite fantasy species off the top of my head, Tolkien-style dwarves would certainly be in contention. There’s something about their stalwart nature that’s just compelling, and although they might not carry a melancholy as overt as elves or a tragedy as great as tieflings, those elements are still easy to more subtly explore. It’s all too easy to use a dwarf character as a punchline — even the greatThe Lord of the Ringsfilms treat Gimli a bit cheaply compared to the book — but there’s so much more to do with them.
Every New D&D Spell In The 2024 Player’s Handbook
The 2024 Player’s Handbook introduces 10 completely new spells, all of which seem like they could be fun for the right character concept.
Dwarves Aren’t Slow In D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook
Shorter Species Finally Catch Up
The new2024Player’s Handbookbrings a lot of changestoDnD, and races, now called species, have been pretty aggressively reworked. The most obvious change is the elimination of an official rules implementation for mixed ancestries, which showed up in the 2014Player’s Handbookin the form of half-elves and half-orcs. With half-orcs on the chopping block, I did take one out for a spin in a recent one-shot, so the new book has motivated me to branch out once already.
There are a lot of changes to the species that remain as well, and dwarves are among the lucky classes to get one of the most interesting mechanical tweaks. While the base walking speed for most classes is 30 feet per round, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings all lagged behind, with 25 feet per round allotted by the 2014Player’s Handbook.The 2024Player’s Handbookbrings them up to speed, putting everyone but the uniquely fast goliaths on an even playing ground.
New Monk Capstone In D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook Proves Rangers' Biggest Weakness
Monks and Rangers both get significant reworks in D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook, but the final feature for Monks highlights a big disparity.
From a flavor perspective, it’s easy to take offense to this change, butn. I always have a lot of fun with maneuverability inDnDcombat, and although it’s possible to look at the 25 feet movement speed as an interesting restriction to consider in strategic play, it does ultimately guarantee more instances of having to give up on an exciting combat tactic because an enemy is just slightly too far away.
Outside of combat, it’s also nice to lose the sense that a single character might be slowing the party down, although most campaigns hand-wave that aspect anyway.
The 2024 Player’s Handbook Has Other Dwarf Changes
Darkvision Fans Should Be Happy
The other big boost to dwarves in particular is an expanded Darkvision range, bumping things from 60 feet to 120. Another interesting rework is Stonecunning, which gets a bit more direct utility now by granting dwarves Tremorsense as a bonus action when touching a stone surface. I still have a fondness for the old version of Stonecunning that focuses on stonework history checks, which the dwarf player in my campaign tends to use cleverly, and I’ll probably let dwarves in my campaigns use both in the future.
D&D: One Fighter Feature Can Do Way More In The 2024 Player’s Handbook
Fighters are getting some interesting changes in D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook, and one feature overhaul gives them a lot more options than before.
What specifically draws me to the dwarf reworks is that they feel like they benefit dwarves in their element. Although it obviously varies from character to character, I feel likedwarves should be at home when dungeon-delving in a way that mostDnDspecies aren’t, and the movement speed change removes the biggest obstacle in that regard. Expanded Darkvision and reworked Stonecunning sweeten the pot while making more sense than the speed change from a flavor standpoint, highlighting the idea that dwarves can navigate dark, dangerous places with intuition and skill.
D&D’s New Approach To Species Isn’t Perfect
D&D Needs To Stop Removing Flavor Text
I don’t want to over-praise the approach to species flavor inDnD’s 2024Player’s Handbook, because it makes some steps backward as well. I appreciate the transfer of ability score improvements to backgrounds instead of species, which is a smart step away from what was starting to feel like an outdated approach.I’m not in love with the vast reduction in species flavor text, however, which removes a lot of insight into the cultural aspects of each species.
I’m sure that giving shorter species a speed boost will be met with some detractors, although the 2024Player’s Handbookis really just playing catch-up to design changes that started in 2022’sMordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.I’ve also resisted homogenization in game movement before, and in a very different realm, I’m still annoyed by how muchOverwatch 2flattened a lot of character specialization from the first game. In this case, though, I’m perfectly happy to imagine that every dwarf, gnome, and halfling has simply mastered the patented Gimli hustle.
Why One Popular D&D Class Won’t Be In The 2024 Player’s Handbook Revealed By Jeremy Crawford
In a statement at Gen Con 2024, Jeremy Crawford has explained why one of D&D’s most popular classes won’t be in the newest Player Handbook.
There’s really no good reason I haven’t played a dwarf inDnDuntil now. Part of it, I suppose, is that species is never what I define characters around. I’m perfectly content to frequently play humans while exploring other ways to make them interesting, which helps explain why I’m happy with the decision to move ability score improvements to backgrounds.
When it comes down to it, though, it’s high time I play a dwarf, and the changes in the newPlayer’s Handbookcould very well spur me to do so. They might be minor, but they feel good, and I’m excited by the possibility of a dwarf that can keep pace with battlefield movement. The best changes in the 2024Dungeons & DragonsPlayer’s Handbookhighlight strengths and remove annoyances without upsetting the balance, and I think dwarves are a perfectly strong example of that.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
