D&D Studio Update: 2024 Core Rule Books and Survey Results

hello everyone today we have a bit of a fireside chat with Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford and we are talking about a number of topics some of that's going to be UA but mainly we're talking about the 2024 core Rule books and how they apply to all the D and D books that have come out since 2014 and all the books are going to come out after 20 24 so tell me a little bit about how these books bring everything together and uh how things are going to be moving forward so you can think of these books as the culmination of the last decade where we have all been playing D and D dming talking about the game creating content for it and here I'm talking about not only the members of the D and team but the everyone in the entire D and Community have been engaged in this people giving feedback on unearth Arcana these Rule books represent that decade of conversation among all of us D and fans and is our chance to make the foundational books of the game The Three core Rule books reflect the best state of the game in 2024 because as we have developed the game since 2014 we've made a number of interesting uh design choices experim expent explored new directions in later books that can now feed into the core books so that they get to be state-of-the-art uh because since they are the oldest books in the line that means they don't currently get to uh benefit from some of the things we've learned over the years the 2024 books are our chance for those foundational books for the whole game to incorporate all of the those lessons yeah we want the we want the Gateway products for the fifth edition line to be among the best looking easiest to read um most uh mechanically robust that we can um so that it's a great first experience for somebody coming into the game and a part of that creating that experience we have also endeavored to make it so that these books will work with the products that fed into them so you will be able to play a fifth edition adventure you already own like curs of strad or the you know plcape that just came out uh or you know the things coming out between now and the core books all of those you will be able to use with the 2024 Rule books that we have designed to both look backward and forward uh because we view the game as this living thing now that is continuing and rather than this being a stop or a pause right this is a a renovation a let's let's make the foundation of the game even stronger so that we can have another decade uh or however however long is then you know after that the key for us is that the new books will not only introduce all sorts of new options whether it's weapon Mastery or bastions or new subass options or new class features and new equipment new magic items on and on and on new monsters all of that new uh is going to coexist seamlessly with the material that is already in the game and in any case where maybe we have have adjusted how something functions the core Rule books will walk right beside you and make it clear how that new functionality interacts with fifth edition books you already have so you're not going to need like a conversion guide or anything like that you're going to be able to just get these books and keep playing and you'll even have the option of having mixed character groups you might have somebody who has made a character using the 2014 version of a class and it sub classes right next to somebody who's using the 2024 version of that class and subclasses yeah or if you're a DM running a game at home you can pull monsters from the new monster manual Monsters of the Multiverse or any Adventure that we've published uh or any stat block that we've released on ddb and all of that meshes together you can have two different players playing fa War locks and one from 2014 one from 2024 and they're going to be seamless and work together fine yes um now I think people are going to want to play the 2024 version I do too and in fact in fact I have the une Arana feedback that indicates that uh at least the people who took the survey agree with me right uh because uh my goodness uh did that subass leap up in in satisfaction did it step up because all the Misty steps sorry yes it did step up because of all the Misty steps so sorry and now I'm and now I'm imag imagining a a movie about dancing we're gonna step up onto the streets um so if uh I know we always love talking about scores the arch Fay warlock used to be one of the lowest rated right warlock sub classes as of the UA in which it just appeared it is at 89% satisfaction satisfaction scores uh for uh a community as large as ours usually don't get any higher than maybe like between 90 and 93% just simply because the D andd audience is so massive uh you can almost think as 90% is is about as close as you're going to get to 100% satisfaction so if something has 89% satisfaction that is essentially home run uh and you know the warlocks are running around the bases yeah yeah I'm with their F patrons that's right Misty stepping cheating yeah I was to say just like bloop bloop bloop bloop Misty stepped from first base right back to home just become Checkers yeah uh no that is one of my favorite uh sub costes to be tested so far for sure um so what what's interesting cuz we were talking about the the evolution cuz we've had Monsters of the Multiverse and we've had changes as from 2014 10 years later A lot has gone on and and there's been some variation but we already talked about this before but it's like 2014 and then this linear growth of fifth edition and you all are trying to take 2024 the core Rule books and not be the beginning of something but in the very center of everything like the center of the web the center of the Cog that unites all the books that have existed and all the books that will exist in fifth edition exactly yes it these books are the uniter they they connect to the best options that have existed up until they come out and they set the stage for new options that will come out after they're released was this fun was this hard like what was this process like both actually why not both yeah so it it's a fun challenge just from a design point of view but also uh cramming in as as many new Easter eggs as we can into the books has been very exciting and rewarding seeing the art yeah you know stepping up the art in the core Rule books so that the core Rule books now have some of the most fabulous art that you can find anywhere uh in fantasy I think is been enormously fun to see that uh and covering a lot more like you mentioned classes are getting the sub classes are getting art very indicative of those classes like I've seen some of those art and just blew my mind of how smartly it was done yes we have uh we have more resources at our disposal now than we did back in 2012 when we were putting the core books together and so we're just pouring a lot of beautiful beautiful work into these books and turning them into real real show pieces yeah cuz now you know every class has opens with a full page piece of art every subass has an illustration of a character who is a member of that subclass more spells are Illustrated in the players handbook more magic items are Illustrated in the DMG yeah yeah more monsters and the monster manual for anyone who hasn't heard us talk about it before has over 80 brand new monsters in it this is and a on top of the monsters from 2014 I mean it's a really cool opportunity just to see like new layouts and a a lot more like the font sizes are changing I know this is a weird thing to be excited about but like you do Utah I'm getting old I have trouble reading but but there's like a lot of great like quality of life improvements and how these books are now structured that will be like way you know like it's going to be friendlier for those who are new to this hobby as well yes we're doing a bunch of you Explorations in terms of how information is presented on the page yeah how we can beautify the pages making it easier to uh making them more beautiful and also making it easier to navigate so that you can find the information you need and that is a glorious Challenge and I think people will be delighted truly delighted by some of the Innovations they're going to see and on top of the brand new play experiences they're going to have uh people have gotten to see through the unearth Arcana process that at least half of the classes are being revolutionized in terms of how they play thanks to the introduction of weapon Mastery uh we have the Bastion system that gives a new kind of mini game uh that can occur between sessions and there there's a whole lot more that people are going to see that you know the the stuff that they love will be there but tuned up paired with brand new options and then you're going to be able to as so many of us love to as D and D players and DMS Tinker with it all and and mix it up in ways that are satisfying for your individual campaign but we still have some surprises not everyone not you're not going to see everything in UA that's oh absolutely not coming up so we're making sure that every major piece of class design does appear in UA at least once right but there are going to be some spells that people want see brand new spells that people won't see until the book is out uh there are a bunch of monsters people won't see until the books are out there are magic items people won't see until the books are out unless of course we next year do some previews I mean I suspect there will be previews where you will you will see some of it before yeah uh but uh they will not be a part of the UA process I mean it's interesting because we're not we're not used to getting like such a a substantial uh update and having an addition last 10 years but you know the idea is like the plcape campaign guide is the fifth edition PL plcape campaign guide definitively like that's this is the thing you know curse of strad this is Curse of strad for fifth edition and for the 2024 core Rule books you're not getting a different version of this adventure later that it needs to be revamped pardon my Pun It's there it's done and we have revamped it but but like that that that's what's exciting is like big bees you can pick up big bees now the decam many things you can grab plcape and it's all going to be connected to the core rule books absolutely uh because we we developed a book like big bees while we were working on the the the new core books now the new core books are going to have like new ways of presenting certain kinds of information enhancements to the stat block format that sort of thing but none of those changes make the thing that you already have stop working uh you will still be able to use you know one of those fabulous giant stat blocks in in Big B presents with your 2024 core Rule books and uh I say that because there there could be especially the closer we get to release and when people see parts of the books an inclination to see that something is different and then uh Ponder does that mean it doesn't work anymore and the answer is no it will keep working the things will keep working together uh because we have been very careful throughout this Edition to kind of segment things off in terms of the design it is possible for us to change something over here without create creating a shock wve over there we've made it so that we can make enhancements also to to presentation that do not undermine how the system functions and if you've been following us on our journey through fifth edition you've seen us do this kind of thing before like you know the monsters in Monsters of the Multiverse the STA blocks are formatted slightly differently than some of the earlier monster step blocks that we presented but they work perfectly together Yep this is a continuation of that and in Tasha's another example where we presented new optional class features and in the years since that book came out people have seen you can have a a warlock who doesn't use the Tasha's features playing next to a warlock who does right and they can coexist with the 2024 Rule books it's going to be the exact same kind of thing where sure you heard characters might have a few different abilities but you can still play together has there been like any delightful surprises like I know the Bastion system I'm fairly well obsessed with um but like in in this process like something that came up or some new idea I know weapon Mastery comes up a lot because that is kind of a GameChanger and a huge way for especially if you're a melee class fighter but um is there anything that was like a delight bastions I'm obsessed with because that inevitably especially Raven LOF because I love to introduce uh a Bastion like thing or like a home base because nothing's better wor horror than like a house that can be haunted like give someone like Financial stake in a house and then haunt it or have a vampire invaded and see where that breaking point is have we gone too far or have we sold the property but like is there what what excites you the most oh gosh it it it's hard because combined the three new books yeah which are the biggest versions of the players handbook dungeon Masters Guide and monster manual the game has ever had the three combined will be close to a thousand pages and so there is a lot that uh in there that we have been carefully tending and working on and so yeah if we pause it's like oh my God I love so much of it uh but really if I had to choose I'm most excited about how some of the brand new options when paired with things that are already in the game will not only feel new on their own because they're brand new but are also going to make old things feel new because as soon as you pair some of these new options with an old thing the whole context changes uh and that's true with weapon Mastery that's true of some of the new Feats that are going to be in the players handbook that's true of some of the new spells magic items Monsters uh and other game options that are present you'll have this sometimes this one element that will get added in and even though everything around it's like oh yeah I recognize that from 2014 but it will all feel different because of that introduction of that new thing that shifts the whole context and there's something like that in just about every part of the game uh you know whether it's you know the changing and counter building rules or the way we're organizing treasure uh like that is different and how that will be noted in the new monster manual and so on and so forth that there are all sorts of these little beautiful Grace notes in every part of the game that bring new options change your perspective on how that piece of the game works gives you a new Option gives you new inspiration for making your own content and so on yeah I can't agree more and I would add that for me me one of the most exciting things is the chance to go back and just drop in a few new little surprises for people um and also just pay off on now that we've got 10 years of playing the game and analyzing and hearing from folks we know what some of the pain points are in the books and we can address them things like well there aren't very many common magic items in the magic items chapter of the DMG so we'll put a few more in uh you know that kind of thing and then Wrinkle in a few little surprises like oh uh here's a new item that not only fills kind of like a hole or a niche but actually kind of TAPS into something else in the D andd Multiverse that we haven't touched on really yet that opens up possibilities for products and stories in the future could you have had any idea that this would be going on this long for fifth edition it just grabbed people immediately like I remember everyone telling me about fifth edition and saying you've really got to try it you have to jump in and I was immediately Enchanted it started with interviewing you all and then I bought all the books I'm like oh this is so this is so fantastic that's got to be gratifying right or humbling I don't know which both both yes it's it's gratifying that people care enough and enjoy the game enough to want to see where it goes next and to be part of that creative process that's enormously gratifying It's a Wonderful honor to get information from the community that helps us make the experience better for everyone like when we hear oh you could do more in the game to support highle play with more highle monsters in the monster manual we can address that and then cackle with delight as we come up with cr20 threats uh to to sneak into this book be careful what you wish for you you've been kind of on tour this year you've been going to a lot of conventions what's that experience like when you get to like meet fans cuz sometimes I even forget like we're also busy and you're busier than me but like when you go to a con you get to have this humano human interaction and you see what these books and these games mean to people what what have some of these takeaways been one of my favorite things about going to genon this year is we had our panel where we talked about some of the things we're most excited about in the three new core role books and I loved that after that panel the number of people over the rest of Gen Con who would come up to me and say I wasn't sure about the 2024 Rule books until I listen to that panel and now I can't wait to get them and uh I think we can certainly convey uh that excitement and convey information but there's AIC you those face to face it's a totally different experience than say reading survey data uh on uas which is completely dissociated from the human Connection in the wake of the pandemic it's kind of shocking to me it's like oh yeah this is this is nice it's nice to be back out at these places and and talking to folks in the flesh and hearing what they have to say about their characters about their campaigns about their uh fears and concerns and about their Joy at being able to play with their friends and and and see this game sort of carry on its Legacy so UA has been going on we've got some survey results you mentioned that Fay wild uh uh warlock did quite well which shocked her I like a good teleporter well did we get any feedback from B the bastions system already not yet not yet not yet not yet but I'm very curious so the the data that we have right now is for the UA right before that and the overall the scores were fantastic uh great old one warlock 87% uh the abjurer in the Wizard 78% the divver 81% uh like you go through and the satisfaction levels and again for anyone joining us for the first time in a talk about scores we're always looking for a score that is 70% or higher right uh that that is our goal and right now I'm looking at the scores for everything that that was that was in that UA and it looks like every single thing scored 70% or higher except for the brawler in the fighter and also a few features within the Barbarian uh and so because of that but my world tree Barbarian is safe though world world tree Barbarian is safe so part of sometimes the pain of this process is the brawler didn't make it uh we we might revisit the brawler cuz we've talked before about sometimes sometimes it's just not the time for something right and uh we can you know put the idea on a shelf and we can come back to it uh what we found is the Brawlers Niche for people just wasn't clear enough there was a sort of a lot of conceptual static for people between it and the Monk and the Barbarian uh and so we're going to go in a different direction uh for that sub class slot in the fighter uh but the the path of the world tree Barbarian made it uh and but uh does have some things that need tweaks so people are going to see uh the Bas Barbarian along with that subass come back out in unar Arana along with uh the Monk and the Druid uh so right now in a game that has 12 classes nine of of them or rather a core book that has 12 we never forget the artificer uh uh nine of them now are moving forward in our internal Game Dev with just the Druid Monk and Barbarian uh needing uh another visit uh to unearth Arcana and I know Jeremy has said this a hundred times but uh the UA process the way it's built is everything that you've seen in UA is trial balloons mhm and so when when the player's handbook comes out again in 2024 that will be really for many people their first chance to see these elements in their final form and you know we're going to be making little tinyo tweaks right up until the time that the books are no longer in our hands outside of like big profound things like why do we keep doing like making D and D why why do we love it we got a new building so that's nice and the studio space is not next to a microwave so you're welcome hilarious that we started out making these videos seven years ago with just a door slamming next to us and I was just taping fabric to the walls as a backdrop we actually have a studio setting uh not with all the bells and whistles yet but we also have a new building which there's a raven Loft section which is amazing uh I'm sad that we're not stationed in that section I I actually most of the time when I'm in the building I work in the Raven you're in the Raven we have different little sections that have themes in the building so okay well now you know where Jeremy is lurking it's a Jeremy shaped coffin with like a light and a laptop desk yeah whereas I've been in the Fay wild all day yes yes I am also stationed in the Fay wild uh any parting notes because I want to do these kind of Fireside Chats where we just kind of talk about what's are on Minds um what the we're wrapping up the year it's been a big year so we have uh more unored Arana coming before the end of the year the classes I mentioned along with some other goodies that we will include with those classes uh and uh in addition to that let's see we have pxs unplugged Chris and I will both be there I'll be there too to talk to people in person about uh DND in general as well as specifically the 2024 core Rule books along with the game's 50th anniversary and we will also be having the uh Acquisitions Incorporated episode that is the epilogue to the video series that we shot that is currently airing so I also recommend people go watch uh that series it's a really good series thank you it's been really we also had a movie and we had balers Skate 3 so it's uh it's amazing to see so many new players like get interested in Dungeons and Dungeons and Dragons this year so it's been it's been fun and there are other products surrounding the core Rule books that we can't talk about yet but we'll be excited to next year that's right because we have we have other books coming out next year uh just as a part of it it's still a regular year of D and D but also those books uh all are connected in some way to it being the 50th Anniversary so we will be we will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary pretty much all of next year and also into the year after that because as you often like to point out uh the anniversary actually starts later in the year yeah it's going to be a very big year we're not going to be busy at all yeah yeah perfect uh thank you everyone for watching thank you to Jeremy and Chris uh for taking time out there clearly not busy days to do a 30 minute video uh thank you so much thank you thank you

Channel: Dungeons & Dragons

Views: 87,263

Keywords: Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, gaming, roleplaying game, ttrpg, forgotten realms, eberron, Wizards of the Coast, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, tabletop, RPG, Todd Kenreck, dnd, Wildemount, Critical Role

Id: kYgSsn7b0f0

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 07 2023