Player's Handbook I: A 4th Edition Core Rulebook (D&D Core Rulebook)

by Wizards RPG Team, Matthew Sernett (Goodreads author) (Contributor)

book data

96 ratings, 3.84 average rating, 25 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		30%
4		35%
3		23%
2		9%
1		1%

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published

June 6th 2008 by Wizards of the Coast

binding

Hardcover, 288 pages

isbn

0786948671 (isbn13: 9780786948673)

description

The first of three core rulebooks for the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game.

The Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game has defined the me...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 139)

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05/27/09

D_Davis is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading, role-playing

Kicking off our campaign today. First time DMing a D&D game, and the first time we've ever played 4ed. Should be interesting.

I've got my soundtrack prepared for the game session today. I put together a mix of songs from Diablo 2, and some tracks from Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel Guitar, The Tear Garden, Thom Brennen, and Diatonis, and each encounter has its own theme.

Should be pretty cool. I love incorporating music and stuff into my campaign - it really adds to th...more

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08/22/08

Jerk rated it:

bookshelves: role-playing-games

Monte Cook really described well what is wrong with forth edition D&D. He said that when 3ed edition came around, D&D was out of print and people were rather unhappy with the system. Here comes 4th edition and everyone is still pretty happy with 3ed edition. So what did 4th change? Well, it turned AD&D into a video game on paper. Much like playing an MMORPG that has been super tweaked and balanced into a table top miniatures game. In fact is it less like Dungeons and Dragons and more like ...more Monte Cook really described well what is wrong with forth edition D&D. He said that when 3ed edition came around, D&D was out of print and people were rather unhappy with the system. Here comes 4th edition and everyone is still pretty happy with 3ed edition. So what did 4th change? Well, it turned AD&D into a video game on paper. Much like playing an MMORPG that has been super tweaked and balanced into a table top miniatures game. In fact is it less like Dungeons and Dragons and more like Advanced D&D Minis which is what I really think they should have called the game. I like that they simplified skills and I damn near hate everything else.

Nothing is believable or scary anymore. Any character can heal all damage done to him several times a day just because. Any character can almost die and then just sleep off his injuries after 6 hours and be as good a new. Multiclassing is gone (the feats don’t fool me.) First level characters have so many hit points and powers and abilities that even trivial small encounters take forever. Dual wielding is not really the same anymore. There are new races that don’t fit the feel of other editions. And all spells’ descriptions only explain how a spell functions in combat, the only thing the rules seem to ever pertain to.

It is impossible to not be offended that this is PHB#1 and a new one will be released every year with new rules and material. That is much like saying, lets not finish a product and release it; lets start over making our product and sell it to you every time we manage to scrap up 200 pages of giant sized print with comic book style artwork. I'm so glad Gary Gygax is at peace and resting so that he never had to see this.

Why make these changes? Because WOTC has never understood Dungeons and Dragons since the day they bought it. They just purchased it because they figured they could get a return on their investment. Will I play it? Yes of course, but I have had to write a 40 page supplement with about 20 new house rules to make this game feel like Dungeons and Dragons. I am really trying to accept this with an open mind but things seem so backwards. I remember when computer games used to imitate D&D, now it is the other way around and just as I learned playing old D&D video games, there is no substitute.
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01/11/09

Randy Lander rated it:

bookshelves: gaming

Like most relatively satisfied 3.5 players, I was somewhat skeptical of 4th edition. But the more I heard about it, the more I liked, and now that I've started GMing the game, I would never go back. Running a 4th Edition game is *so* much more fun and tons easier as a GM.

The adaptation of every class to an identical "power" system of at-will, daily and encounter is a good way to standardize learning the rules and applying them in play, but at the same time, there's a ton of...more Like most relatively satisfied 3.5 players, I was somewhat skeptical of 4th edition. But the more I heard about it, the more I liked, and now that I've started GMing the game, I would never go back. Running a 4th Edition game is *so* much more fun and tons easier as a GM.

The adaptation of every class to an identical "power" system of at-will, daily and encounter is a good way to standardize learning the rules and applying them in play, but at the same time, there's a ton of variety in how the classes work. A party is now really integrated, with each character playing a different and important role. It's a little more structured than the multiclass-at-will 3.5 or even the chaotic nature of 1st and 2nd edition D&D, but it's also user-friendly and cinematic.

The skills, updated from a big list to a focused list and now with a "You either know how to do it a little bit or you're really good at it" mechanic, are not terribly realistic, but they work for adventurers that should have a bit of jack-of-all-trades about them, and using them is a snap compared to the point-based system of 3.5.

Feats, the key improvement of D&D 3rd edition, take a bit of a backseat to all the nifty powers, but they are a nice way to flesh out your character a bit and individualize them so that not every fighter looks alike, for example.

The rituals are a good idea made overly complicated, and unfortunately the focus on combat has left wizards a bit bleh, in some ways. No more clever uses of silence or illusion magic, it's all blast and fire now, and silence, mage lock and other spells are relegated to long-winded, out-of-combat rituals. It's a nice idea, but it probably could have used more time in the workshop to really let the wizards shine, instead of just making them secondary blasters ala the new warlocks.

As with all of WOTC's books, the organization is pretty terrible. The book looks beautiful, and it's actually a fairly readable book, which is not the standard for game manuals, but at the same time, it has a barely-functional one-page index (when it could have used something much more exhaustive) and the rules are not cross-referenced as heavily as they should be. A little more "see page XX" throughout would have been handy, especially given the uselessness of the index.

That said, the organization and some minor rules issues are just that... minor problems. Overall, this is a slick, very playable upgrade of the system.(less)

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06/18/09

Michael Phillips rated it:

If I had known I could review gaming rulebooks on this site... woah boy...

To my friends and those few people following my reviews, sorry for the nerdy segue... which, as I wrote it, turned into a one-sided conversation for some reason.

Ok, I gave this book 5 stars because...

Yeah, 5.

No, stop that, I've heard all the arguments.

Yes, I loved 3.5 too.

No, I don't think they made all the classes feel the same with the new power syst...more

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01/24/09

Sean rated it:

bookshelves: dnd, own, rpg

Read in January, 2009

The new 4E Player's Handbook is a mixed bag. Parts of it are great and parts are disappointing. The descriptions and pictures are all great. Unfortunately, the organization is less than ideal. As a reference manual, the organization is acceptable. However, a first-time reader may find parts confusing. For example, rituals are mentioned in many of the classes, but aren't actually addressed until the last chapter of the entire book. Actions and movement are discussed frequently, but the details ar...more

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06/01/08

Daniel rated it:

bookshelves: rpgs

Read in October, 2008

I liked it, sometimes even against my own will. I like the game that's in these pages, and I'm excited to play it. Whether it is/isn't D&D I'll leave for later; I'll take this game for what it is and enjoy it as such.

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9 comments

10/18/08

Eric Pickney rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, games

Of all the editions that have come since the original Advanced D&D, I think that this is the closest to the original in flavor (if not in rules). The classes are distinct, the rules have been pared down to only those that are necessary to run the game, and the game is more about having fun and doing cool stuff again (rather than about enhancing your mathematics skills through min-maxing your character).

I personally like the layout of the book. I think that it's very intuitive and I...more Of all the editions that have come since the original Advanced D&D, I think that this is the closest to the original in flavor (if not in rules). The classes are distinct, the rules have been pared down to only those that are necessary to run the game, and the game is more about having fun and doing cool stuff again (rather than about enhancing your mathematics skills through min-maxing your character).

I personally like the layout of the book. I think that it's very intuitive and I can easily find what I am looking for. It flows along well from attributes, to races, to classes, skills, feats, and finally gear for your characters. Combat rules and Rituals are at the back as not every player will need to look at them more than once or twice.

I don't mind the inclusion of the Dragonborn and the Tieflings as PC races in the main rulebook. I know that others have taken issue with that. But the races have been around in D&D (not necessarily with the same names though) for long enough to be established. And I've only ever known one guy that played a gnome and he was a svirfneblin and not from the PHB anyway.

I think that they could have put a better mix of classes in the book. Warlords and Clerics play an awful lot alike. I wouldn't minded have seeing Wizards and Warlocks rolled into one class and given the opportunity to be an AoE wizard or a single target attacker/debuffer. I miss having Druids and Monks in the book. But they are coming out soon enough in the PHB 2 (maybe) so we'll get them back then.

The new combat rules are clean and quick, something that I appreciate greatly as the main DM of our group. And the new ritual rules are fun enough with a little tweaking on the time required to cast. I like the idea of making the ritual caster characters take 10 rounds to cast a ritual while the remaining PCs try to hold the bad guys off long enough so I shortened the time to rounds instead of minutes for most rituals.

Overall, I really like the new edition of D&D. I think that it is more fun for me to run than other editions (especially 3rd) have been. I look forward to many years of running it.(less)

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07/30/08

Roberta rated it:

bookshelves: gaming

Dungeon and Dragons released its 4th edition this summer, and it is a change from the other editions in a number of ways.

Some of the changes from 3.5 to 4.0 include different starting player races and classes, the change from feats and class powers to at-will, encounter, and daily powers, a smaller and streamlined skill list, new magic item system, rituals for more power spells.

The book itself is 330 pages and longer than the Dungeon Master's guide (DMG). In the past, ...more

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07/22/08

Robert rated it:

bookshelves: dungeons-and-dragons

I am completely pleased with the changes made to the Dungeons and Dragons game with this new installment. I have played several games, and read through the Handbook several times already, and I can't find any portion that does not make sense, streamline the game, or enhance the level of fun I am having with it.

Character generation is far easier than its ever been. The game can still cater to all kinds of players, from those who like to role play for most of the session to those who ...more

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07/12/08

Matt rated it:

Read in January, 2009

i like:

- the rolls are arranged vs. defenses.
- the powers (giving players more options is good.)
- that rogues are more powerful
- some of the simplifications of movement
- the reset button hit on some of the racial stuff.
- the layout of the powers is helpful for a player.

i don't like:

- #1 problem: healing is thoroughly broken. this makes the game nearly unplayable.
- spells were destroyed essentially. that sucks. that added...more

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09/15/08

Ben rated it:

bookshelves: games

It's difficult to say whether I think this is an improvement on 3.5 or not. The big differences are simply that many of the classes have been homogenized with one another and that the freedom to choose the manner in which your character develops has been curtailed in favor of pre-packaged "paths" that classes may follow. The biggest difference now between a fighter and a wizard is that while a wizard casts "fireball," a fighter can use a martial power for nearly identical eff...more

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06/06/08

Steve rated it:

Read in June, 2008

It's hard to accurately review a rulebook like this having only read it, and not actually played a game using said rules yet, so this review is subject to later amendment.

The changes from the previous edition are overall positive seeming changes. It seems as if the designers took a conscious choice to make the game a bit more like a tactical computer game, and this is ultimately positive... even the last edition seems a bit clunky, and it was a huge improvement over previous version...more

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01/07/09

Nytetyger rated it:

bookshelves: 2009-challenge

Read in January, 2009

Interesting... adding half dragon and half demonic races; but with all the math and modifiers, if this had been the book I found over 20 years ago, I'd never have played the game... and never met my better half!

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07/04/08

Mike rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommends it for: D&D Players

Not bad. It does seem to change the game considerably which is going to rub some people the wrong way. The emphasis seems to be much more on combat than other aspects, but the rules are much cleaner and the content that used to be in the DMG (magic items) are finally moved to the PHB where they belong. A player can now get away with owning the PHB without constantly needing to look in the DMG.

I'd give it 5 stars, but honestly, the writing is weaker (okay, weird thing to complain a...more

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01/20/09

Andy rated it:

bookshelves: dnd

and why would i, a geek(shut up, you know who i'm talking about), rate this badly?

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11/17/08

David rated it:

bookshelves: role-playing

I have to admit, there are some changes from 3.5 to 4.0 that I like, but, overall, I am not very impressed with the new game. It seems like almost all flexibility has gone out of character creation, and, except for a token feat, multi-classing has gone out the window. Any class or ability with non-combat utility has been either minimized or removed. Overall, the game is fun for the occasional dungeon crawl or hack-and-slash scene, but I would not recommend it at all to anyone for an extended ...more

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01/05/09

Clackamas rated it:

bookshelves: 2009, games

Read in January, 2009

Eh. I'll stick with 3.5 for now.

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08/06/08

Mike rated it:

Read in July, 2008

I knew I'd never have enough time to devote to understanding this recreation of the core rules but since I was stuck on a cross-Atlantic flight, I was able to get through it.
It's... different. It's like reading the instructions to a video game. But it has more graspable ideas for new players. I don't love the artwork. I don't love the pages and pages and pages of tables of powers.
Once I start play-testing it... it will make sense and may even be fun. Reading through the rules at least ...more

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04/11/09

Snibble rated it:

Read in May, 2009

Looks like an interesting update (though I can't really compare it to the latest versions, I haven't played or read anything since 2ed). Seems like martial classes might not get useless at higher levels like they once did. Seems like casters are probably more useful below 10th level than they once were. Looks like higher level play is probably more interesting overall.

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06/09/08

furious rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, mines, rpg

Read in June, 2008

recommended to furious by: gary gygax
recommends it for: nerds, fanboys, hobbits, satanists & other gaming subcultures

from this book i have learned that my inner nerd is less resilient to the ongoing marketing efforts of Wizards of the Coast than i would have hoped. i railed against a 4th edition forever, i protested against the forced system change & the necessity of learning a whole new set of rules YET AGAIN. nevertheless, there i was at midnight on release day, standing in line on the streets of Berkeley with a crew of my fellow nerds, looking to avoid the delays of the Amazon pre-order. damn you, gygax's g...more

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