D&D (2024) WotC Fireside Chat: Revised 2024 Player’s Handbook

In this video about the upcoming revised Player’s Handnook, WotC’s Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins reveal a few new tidbits.

• The books are near final and almost ready to go to print
• Psionic subclasses such as the Soulknife and Psi Warrior will appear in the core books
• Named spells have art depicting their creators.
• There are new species in the PHB.

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[FitzTheRuke]

Your coyotes are as big as a golden retriever? HOLY CRAP. Dude, that's not a coyote, that really is a wolf.

I know what a coyote looks like. I see them regularly. Nope. they're not wolves. They're coyotes. My goldie isn't the biggest kind of goldie, she's about the same size as they are, but they probably weigh a bit less. They're pretty skinny.

Coyotes are about 30 pounds usually.

I'd guess that the ones around here are at least 50-60lbs. My goldie is about 80lbs.

A full grown beaver is about 40 pounds and can get upwards of 80.

I'd guess the ones I've seen (in two different lakes, so they're not the same beaver) are more like 20-25 lbs.

Here's a beaver and coyote in a photo for comparison:
View attachment 361535

Isn't that clearly a coyote puppy? Look at that cute curious paw action!

 

[Valetudo]

I'm glad to see a couple psi subclasses put in core. Did the fireside chat quell some of the hate? Are they ever gonna give us a taste of the updated monsters?

 

[Hussar]

I know what a coyote looks like. I see them regularly. Nope. they're not wolves. They're coyotes. My goldie isn't the biggest kind of goldie, she's about the same size as they are, but they probably weigh a bit less. They're pretty skinny.


I'd guess that the ones around here are at least 50-60lbs. My goldie is about 80lbs.


I'd guess the ones I've seen (in two different lakes, so they're not the same beaver) are more like 20-25 lbs.


Isn't that clearly a coyote puppy? Look at that cute curious paw action!

Heh. In any case, the point being, people regularly don't really conceptualize just how small Small is. Just to use a good example, an Eagle is a small animal. Now, sure, an eagle is a bloody big bird, but, it's really not very big compared to a fully grown human. I think people picture Gimli as small. He's really, really not. See, even the Hobbits in the movies:

are WAYYY bigger than a D&D halfling. Look at Bilbo there. ((This was what I found after a 30 second Google image search - I'm sure there are better examples). But Sir Ian here is 6 feet tall. That hobbit is over four feet. Bilbo is a freaking GIANT halfling. He should be, by D&D stats, about a foot shorter. The top of his head should be below Gandalf's belt line. In D&D terms, Beorn is medium, and that would make Bilbo about the right relative size.

Actually, this image from Wikipedia:

Shows it even better. All the Hobbits, in D&D terms, are medium. Note, they're barely shorter than Gimli who's supposed to be 5 feet in D&D terms. The Hobbits, again, in D&D, are about a foot shorter than they are pictured here. Small is REALLY small.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Heh. In any case, the point being, people regularly don't really conceptualize just how small Small is. Just to use a good example, an Eagle is a small animal. Now, sure, an eagle is a bloody big bird, but, it's really not very big compared to a fully grown human. I think people picture Gimli as small. He's really, really not. See, even the Hobbits in the movies:

View attachment 361539
are WAYYY bigger than a D&D halfling. Look at Bilbo there. ((This was what I found after a 30 second Google image search - I'm sure there are better examples). But Sir Ian here is 6 feet tall. That hobbit is over four feet. Bilbo is a freaking GIANT halfling. He should be, by D&D stats, about a foot shorter. The top of his head should be below Gandalf's belt line. In D&D terms, Beorn is medium, and that would make Bilbo about the right relative size.

Actually, this image from Wikipedia:

View attachment 361541

Shows it even better. All the Hobbits, in D&D terms, are medium. Note, they're barely shorter than Gimli who's supposed to be 5 feet in D&D terms. The Hobbits, again, in D&D, are about a foot shorter than they are pictured here. Small is REALLY small.

I think halflings should be a bit bigger in d&d. If that is still withing the bounds of medium is debatable though.

Actually I'd rather have hobbit size and maybe even dwarf size = small. And then add one more small category at the lower end and maybe also add one more large category at the upper end.

I miss diminuitive and gargantuan.

 

[Cadence]

I think halflings should be a bit bigger in d&d. If that is still withing the bounds of medium is debatable though.

Actually I'd rather have hobbit size and maybe even dwarf size = small. And then add one more small category at the lower end and maybe also add one more large category at the upper end.

I miss diminuitive and gargantuan.

Does S vs. M have much non-cosmetic effect in 5e? It doesn't change encumbrance, pushing, dragging, or lifting for example.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Does S vs. M have much non-cosmetic effect in 5e? It doesn't change encumbrance, pushing, dragging, or lifting for example.

No. It does not. Except for some weapon use. But I have a hard time calling humans and halflings the same size category. But maybe that would just be the cleanest way to handle species.

And just make any heavy weapon require str 13.

 

[Parmandur]

I think halflings should be a bit bigger in d&d. If that is still withing the bounds of medium is debatable though.

Actually I'd rather have hobbit size and maybe even dwarf size = small. And then add one more small category at the lower end and maybe also add one more large category at the upper end.

I miss diminuitive and gargantuan.

I feel like Dwarves being Small with Powerful Build would make sense.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I feel like Dwarves being Small with Powerful Build would make sense.

Also a nice idea. It would make a lot of sense actually.

 

[Charlaquin]

I feel like Dwarves being Small with Powerful Build would make sense.

I agree in theory. In practice, Powerful Build wouldn’t do anything on a Small character in 5e, since Powerful Build just allows you to carry as much as a creature one size larger, and Small characters have the same carry limits as Medium characters do.

 

[Remathilis]

Does S vs. M have much non-cosmetic effect in 5e? It doesn't change encumbrance, pushing, dragging, or lifting for example.

Currently, it has very corner case applications like weapon size (can't use weapons with the heavy property) and some rules about squeezing into tight spaces. I think it also has some application in nonmagical armor.

On the one hand, I don't mind that. Tracking every change for a size S race was notoriously a hassle. (Especially on encumbrance, where you had to do math on every item you got and on what your limit was) On the other, it really is just a relic of when it did matter with no practical purpose.