2024 Player's Handbook: Spells reaction video D&D 5e

[@michaelc9056]

Nothing has brought Treantmonk's community together more than trying to perfectly time their morning/afternoon/evening around the release time of these reaction videos 😂

[@imthestein]

Accurate comment is accurate

[@dougfile6644]

Aaaargh. I'm late to the party!

[@maegn]

I’m late! I’m late!!! 😻

[@cristotheranger4263]

I rolled a nat 1 on my watch initiative. 😢

[@draketruscello7076]

Because we love him

[@alexanderwizardjar9540]

Okay so we all skip the WotC videos and learn the news from Chris, right?

[@lucario5748]

Yep

[@larstollefsen1236]

For sure

[@mr_jyggalag]

There are WotC videos?

[@EpicRandomness555]

I watch Duke from One Shot Questers react to the video then wait for Chris

[@giuseppesiena955]

Even from Italy , we still keep more info from Chris❤

[@josequiles7430]

It's really funny to imagine Crawford having a bad time casting spells in BG3 and thinking "This sucks and it's my fault"

[@nyanbrox5418]

this sucks, let's fluffing do something about this! and then they change it, and now it's better yeah, imagine if devs actually enjoy playing their own games, crazy

[@Kurse_of_Kall]

that's actually really funny. I definitely had a ton of moments like that in BG3 and immediately jotted down notes for my own homebrew of mechanics that I really did and didn't like. Glad to see the actual devs did they exact same!

[@avengingblowfish9653]

It's funny to imagine JC actually playtesting stuff...

[@teraxe]

Can someone explain why he thought Produce Flame was hard to cast in 5e? I personally have loved the flavor of the spell even if it is slightly under powered.

[@avengingblowfish9653]

@@teraxe You lose your light source when you throw it. Also, the range on the spell doesn't line up with the vision it grants. You can see up to 20 feet in the dark, but can throw it 30 ft?

[@nschoenwald]

It's insane that they talked so much about how spell blocks were changed but did not even show a single one.

[@louisst-amand9207]

crawford is blackmailing us

[@henrymalinowski5125]

So we’re waiting until the Sorcerer video to hear about changes to casting bonus action + action spells?

[@bobbobby475]

The latest quicken spell says that you can only cast one leveled spell on your turn. So if you bonus action level spell you can only action cantrip.

[@henrymalinowski5125]

@@bobbobby475 While this is true, this is the reason a change is suspected. Previously, this language was apart of the general spellcasting rules and not in the quicken spell section. It's inclusion in the quicken section, has lead some to speculate that the restriction on casting a leveled spell with an action on the same turn as a bonus action spell is being removed.

[@yiklongtay6029]

​@bobbobby475 without any additional detail, this means you can't counterspell in response to a counterspell if you were casting a a leveled spell initially in the same turn

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

When I think about what this channel will look like on August 1st when the nondisclosure agreement ends, I envision Chris turning into the Kool-Aid man and bursting through a wall.

[@razzy6593]

I imagine him doing a 24h long video going page by page of the book 😂

[@waltercosta2067]

​@@razzy6593can he do that? I mean, I'm all for it but copyright will be a pain

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I'll be spreading out the videos, but my plan is to cover everything you need to know before the book is released.

[@razzy6593]

@@waltercosta2067I mean probably not😂 but I can dream!

[@jugglejunk]

@@razzy6593 Well couldn't he just record them before, but only start uploading them on 1st august? This way he could drop like 20 videos in a single day. (not an actual expectation, but just an example number)

[@EmeraldG01]

I was pretty disappointed with how few specifics were talked about in this video. Still glad we got it

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I was hoping they would dive into the details more.

[@earthenjewel1]

Yea, when they said they could talk about this for hours, I thought to myself, "then why don't you." Far too short and not detailed enough to get me excited about the changes to spells. I wanted to know about the changes to Hunter's Mark and Hex, since they've literally designed two classes around their use.

[@Adurnis]

(Kidding) Anybody wanna kidnap Jeremy and Todd and put them in a room and say, “You’re gonna talk about spells until I tell you to stop.”?

[@chade6514]

Crawford had nothing. He was asked like 3 times for exciting spell changes and he thinks we wanted to move cloud of daggers?

[@nyanbrox5418]

@@chade6514 actually I have wanted to move cloud of daggers, it was annoying that you couldn't, I am happy you can *likely* use an action to move it now, I'll take that

[@Adurnis]

To me, the most informative thing said in this video was from Chris: “They didn’t go as far in nerfing outlier spells as I was hoping.”

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

Yeah, I kind of suspected that would be the case. I wonder the extent though. Like, does not taking it far enough mean they adjusted a lot of spells, but not enough, or does it mean they adjusted an insufficient number of spells sufficiently?

[@nyanbrox5418]

wall of force, polymorph, shield these outliers are all going to be exactly as powerful as they were before *but at least* polymorph finally is temp hp, my goodness, that spell made no sense before, but temp hp there are rules for also stuff like maxhp reduction mechanics, instant death at x hp, when you are knocked to 0 hit points, wildshaping while shapechanged, etc etc etc, also what the heck moonbeam actually does also, if they aren't going to nerf outliers on the high end, the very least they can do is buff outliers on the low end, granted both is ideal, the latter at least helps something like simulacrum, aint no way that spell was one of the many lucky survivors, heck that spell might be summon simulacrum, concentration lasting for 1 hour now, and using a preset statblock that would be my fantasy, I hope it works like that so so so so so so bad

[@levstepanov2892]

Can you explain why polymorph made sense?​@nyanbrox5418

[@danieljones-mh7rb]

@@nyanbrox5418 definitely adding concentration to simulacrum. I'm quitting dnd over the lack of nerfs to save/suck spells that I know is incoming. I don't want to huff copium, I know that encounters being essentially shutdown by a heightened polymorph or hypnotic pattern is enough for me to quit.

[@Adurnis]

I’d be willing to bet shield will be nerfed in some way. They CAN’t blind to its effects on the game, it’s simply impossible (if I’m wrong, send someone to my house to resuscitate me on 8/1. I’d be willing to believe they missed the buck on a bunch of other spells.

[@Thatposer444]

This video was really the definition of “Yes girl, give us nothing!” On WotC’s part.

[@Porphyrogenitus1]

"They're taking the rest of the week off" Tbqf they took today off too.

[@phillipmccollam7554]

Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron: yah! Take THAT, Artificer Alchemists!

[@Adurnis]

Just one level too high for ‘em 😂

[@zoddlander]

I multiclassed my Alchemist with an Evocation Wiz! the Cantrip damage of Toll the Dead and Chill Touch felt OP! I didn't get to high tier play! but I had great fun as a "blaster"! Hope that play style sticks around in a way!

[@JakeDMaier]

Honestly, what were they thinking...

[@nyanbrox5418]

@@JakeDMaier they were thinking that since it is illegal for them to add artificer into the core rules, they might as well add some crafting support with feats like Crafter, new potion and scroll crafting rules, new might be a strong word, new if all you had before is the 2014 DMG, and of course spells like Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron which you can use to help evoke that feeling of being that potion maker, and spells like fabricate from 2014 for that feeling of magical item crafting basically what they are thinking is, let's do to artificer what we did to the mystic, and just build it into the base game instead of needing a class that almost nobody played anyway, (according to statistics ofc)

[@intothekey]

I hope the artificer gets some love. It's my favorite class

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

I’m getting better and better at checking for these right after Chris uploads them.

[@TOXICTUNA64]

Uploaded 3 seconds ago, don't mind if I do

[@Wonderwall627]

This is arguably the most important video for actuality changing 5e and making it a better game. Classes didnt just need a balance to even out power levels

[@ikaemos]

I mean, for the most important video, it doesn't touch on any of the most important spells, or the most pertinent changes. It's all buffs, buffs, new spells, new options... They're acting like GM-ing for 5e casters isn't an atrocious cardiac disease risk. I know, they think they can't do these marketing videos by talking about nerfs, but, I mean... they're wrong. Literally nothing would get me to buy these books as eagerly as the words "Shield now caps at AC 18", "Counterspell has been removed from the game," and, "Casting Forcecage now puts you on a blacklist of players who don't deserve a GM."

[@Wonderwall627]

@@ikaemos preach

[@danyalraza9707]

@@ikaemos you sound like you need to git gud? Forcecage is a level 7 spell. It requires a material componnet. It can be cast once a day. It's not that big of a deal to allow it to exist.

[@danyalraza9707]

I for one don't want casters to get nerfed at all. High level play being rocket tag is actually fun for me. I don't want control spells to be neutered.

[@theWebWizrd]

​@@danyalraza9707 none of what you said have anything to do with skill. The moment you play a 13th level character and you have prepared by buying the right component, a whole lot of encounters are entirely warped around that one spell, a spell which will always work if applicable and can't be legendary resisted. That is *horrible* design. There is nothing fun about that. I have played a wizard to level 17 and I refused to take Forcecage since it is obviously just broken by design.

[@IanFerguson]

Chris, blink twice if dragon breath's inclusion means draconic sorcery grants bonus spells.

[@IanFerguson]

Answered! 😁

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Blink Blink!

[@Pererro4ever]

It seems like pretty big news that Crawford thinks only a few spells needed attention for being over powered, that doesnt seem like the conventional wisdom

[@nyanbrox5418]

nono, there are only a few outlier spells, there are like a dozen and several of the more outragious ones were indeed addressed polymorph is actually a good example, so, let's say you get it at level 7, the only CR 7 beast is the Giant ape, which has an AC of 12 and 127 HP the average player at this level has about an 18 AC I'd say, at least the tanks who would lose health the fastest now, polymorph would give you 127 temp hp, meaning it doesn't stack with things like the new barkskin, which would have been absurd, that's good, 127 temp HP at a -6 AC penalty, you take an extra 14.7 DPR from every CR 7 monster attacking you, which is an average of 1 at this level, the new cure wounds at this level heals you 40hp at level 7 for a 4th level slot for the same action cast, but at no concentration, a concentration 4th level spell should be a bit stronger 47.5 is the average DPR for a monster like this according to the MM, with a +6 to hit, so your player will normally take 21dpr from the monster, an average of 2 whole rounds of getting whallopped on by the big bad monster without losing the HPs, 3 or 4 if you have a spell or spells like shield to temporarily buff your defenses, or other defensive abilities the big ape don't get like deflect attacks in those 2 rounds, the beast form from polymorph, ahem, giant ape exactly, due to his lower AC, is taking about 36 DPR, and will survive roughly 3.5 turns so as you can see, if you have zero remaining defensive features, polymorph OP, but with buffed cure wounds, let's say if the person is a monk or wizard with shield slots, yeah no it is absolutely better for you to actually just cast cure wounds, not polymorph, assuming the PC has 60% over baseline damage, so if you are a monk or a fighter, you actually would very probably just rather cure wounds, *not* polymorph, if you are a wizard out of spells, yep polymorph would be great, or maybe if you were a barbarian who somehow kept the benefits of rage, also great old cure wounds was so bad it wasn't worth talking about, I just really wanted to mention that polymorph is still good, but yeah, cure wounds is actually not bad now, and remember cure wounds is non-concentration

[@Adurnis]

@@nyanbrox5418 I mean that would be big news for optimizers. I doubt most casual tables have ever HEARD of simulacrum.

[@Shmanshme2]

Your disappointment with the rebalancing of high level spells makes me nervous

[@hweidigiv]

Remember, "high level" is anything after 9, because games end at 10th level. -_-

[@The_Crimson_Witch]

​@hweidigiv I mean statistically speaking DnD Beyond has shown most of them actually end around 5th. But most modules end at 10th, so most groups *aim* to end at 10th.

[@zenith110]

It's unfortunate that the way they discussed spells wasn't terribly in depth. I do understand that they were probably looking to speak broadly to the various categories of spells, but they could have gone in more depth.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

For sure.

[@elementzero3379]

A sentence of your non-specific feedback, such as the opinion that some outlier spells weren't rebalanced well, says more than Jeremy said in this entire video. It feels like he's really trying to keep these videos vague. I guess I get it, but it's frustrating for those of us who followed the playtest and enjoy gameplay mechanics. I'm really eager for the end of the embargo.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

This one was more vague than the class videos. I was hoping it would provide a lot more details.

[@elementzero3379]

@@TreantmonksTemple Yeah, this one was the worst. Still, he even goes to pains to avoid specifics when discussing Class Features by name. He's killing me. I'm impatient. 😄

[@solowolf7418]

This was the worst video they have done. Generalities all around. Giving out previous updates again. Just a bad, bad production job. Why did they even bother?

[@elementzero3379]

This was exactly how I felt. I was very annoyed that I even wasted my time watching it. It certainly feels like they don't really want to share any specifics. Even when discussing Class Features, Jeremy engages in linguistic contortions to remain vague.

[@hellos123321]

It feels like these videos are made for the super casual D&D audience, where they've bought the 2014 PHB and have never checked in again about the game.

[@elementzero3379]

@@hellos123321 Agreed. Anyone who followed the playtest is getting very limited benefit from these. We are seeing some new stuff and having some changes confirmed; but anyone hoping for more than generalities is out of luck.

[@vinspad3]

31:30 Colby will be SOOOOOO happy that you can move CoD. Holy bejeebus!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Yeah, he loves that spell!

[@davidfarnham5623]

My prediction is that they didn't nerf the shield spell since it's only a problem at optimized tables.

[@RexCogitans]

Silvery Barbs buff confirmed! 🎉

[@TreantmonksTemple]

lol!

[@nyanbrox5418]

well the buff is that it is unchanged from 2014 since it wasn't reprinted, so if your DM allows you to use every setting specific anything ever released, then you will have the OG barbs to haunt your tables

[@eewweeppkk]

@@nyanbrox5418 Silvery Barbs came out in Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos which came out in 2021, not 2014.

[@LordOz3]

Could they only afford one pose for female spellcasters? It seems like every picture they're standing arms akimbo - kobold sign language for "shoot me!"

[@nyanbrox5418]

the lady with fireball is going pew pew!

[@Rat_McPissum]

great timing, i just checked your channel 30 seconds ago to see if this was up lol! Thank you for the marathon of videos and keep up the great work!!

[@Foretelling]

Bladeward as a reaction instantaneously put that spell in S tier.

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

It does... I'm a little concerned about it devaluing the unique power of Uncanny Dodge though. Also, given that there are apparently ways to take the non-legacied classes from previous books and use them in 5.24e, I'm really curious how something like the Earth Genasi from Monsters of the Multiverse is supposed to interact with these rules. They have a feature that specifically allows the Genasi to cast Bladeward as a Bonus Action, but I doubt that will fit in with 5.24e at all.

[@andrewmcmillan229]

“Let’s take one of the rogue’s best features and give it to wizards as a cantrip from first level” lol

[@nyanbrox5418]

from the understanding I had of some subtext, it has been made a reaction that grants you resistance against the physical damage type, rather than all damage types by giving disadvantage, and still only works for melee attacks as such, it is basically a worse uncanny dodge, but for level 1s which is resistance against bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing 1 melee attacks damage, which is pretty great, but most wizards probably *NEVER* want to be in melee anyway, and for the 1 turn they are, shield is better cause it stops all attacks I would only take blade ward on an eldritch knight or bladesinger who actually is a melee combattant, not just an old fart in a dressing gown

[@dr.glutamate8762]

The play test version gave the triggering attack disadvantage. Of that's what they stick to, it'll be fine.

[@agilemind6241]

@@nyanbrox5418 You're forgetting that Magic Initiate is a background feat. Literally any / every character can easily get access to Blade Ward, and why wouldn't you? Fighters, Rangers, Paladins, Bards, Warlocks, Druids, Clerics, they can all grab Blade Ward. Combine it with a weapon that has Sap, and you've got enemies attacking you with disadvantage and if they hit, you can half the damage.

[@fredericgenest]

Less than 1h after the WOTC video is over; you rock Chris! And Happy Canada Day!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Thank you! I will need to consume some maple syrup in celebration!

[@fredericgenest]

​@@TreantmonksTempleTry to get a bottle of Sortilège, whiskey mixed with maple syrop. A little bit like the Lays chips; when you start, it is difficult to stop (be sure to be in a safe location 😉).

[@Varatho]

I, for one, am going to miss the likes of Shape Water and Mold Earth.

[@nyanbrox5418]

me too, but mold earth was OP and you literally know it

[@TheRealmDrifter]

I think it absolutely sucks. Can't have a "specialized" mage anymore, like a Pyromancer or waterbender that only uses water/ice spells.

[@hweidigiv]

This edition never had enough to really sell anyone other than a pyrokinetic without using tricks to change damage type. Using a spell with multiple elements and limiting yourself to one is better than releasing only one elemental spell

[@zonahable]

7p NM 7 ​@@hweidigiv

[@PsyrenXY]

The constant spellcasting mechanics change teases have me especially excited. Theres a lot that Baldurs Gate 3 showed could benefit the game that I'm hoping the devs took on board besides just the potion stuff!

[@ellock1998]

I think they’re kind of shooting themselves in the foot with their refusal to get into at least SOME of the mechanics. I watched the premier as it was coming out and a lot of people were saying (and also said in previous DND 2024 previews) that this just seemed like something that should have been errata and they just slapped some art on. I don’t think this is true, but I think if they addressed more of the mechanical changes it would make these videos more clear to the average viewer that there are more substantial changes in the book. Idk though, some people just like to hate maybe they wouldn’t feel different :/

[@TreantmonksTemple]

This video did not generate the excitement of the class videos IMO

[@Psuedo-Nim]

I only care about the official D&D announced video as to prepare me to me watch for Treantmonk's.

[@chrisg8989]

It's always worth the wait to see Treant Monk's impressions! Thanks for your hard work and insights.

[@Mass0404]

16:50 That might be the first time I’ve heard Chris laugh, to my memory anyway.

[@garryame4008]

I REALLY need to see the ranger spells and their concentration requirements

[@Wonderwall627]

You won't be pleased

[@waltercosta2067]

​@@Wonderwall627let the man have his copium, I'm hoping too

[@Wonderwall627]

@waltercosta2067 lol. I am not setting my hopes high with how little the changes are to the game. It's just the intent Jeremy said concentration was left to prevent double holding. Though maybe it's just to block bless from cleric dips or feat adds and the ranger list will be better

[@waltercosta2067]

@@Wonderwall627 as they said in the video about spells, the have the spot to have clarifications, a simple line on HM saying that you can't use with Hex would be enough , but we already know it is not happening, the only thing to hope for is a change to the casting time of HM, but maybe even that is too much to hope for

[@nyanbrox5418]

Entangling strike and such are likely non-concentration, but almost half of the total spell list will be that being said, spells like speak with animals, detect magic, beast bond, detection from poison and disease, barkskin, locate object, pass without trace, silence, spike growth, summon beast, conjure animals, summon fey, stoneskin, grasping vine and the like, these ones are obviously still concentration spells, I mean obviously, the only ranger spells that *should* stack with hunters mark, are the "ranger smite" spells, and the arrow spells, what I hope has changed are spells like lightning arrow, flame arrows, hail of thorns, ensnaring strike, spells which by themselves are usually just spells that affect 1 arrow anyway, and are an instantaneous effect, or an effect that lasts for 1 round, these are the spells that should no longer be concentration, because you literally never concentrated on anything, you just cast the spell, and it broke concentration on what you had concentrated on before, and now your concentration is over instantly concentration should be for lingering effects which last at least 1 minute flame arrows is just... it makes 12 arrows deal an extra 1d6 fire damage... it's literally hunters mark, but only for exactly 12 arrows!!!!!!!!! it is not a lingering effect, it doesn't make your arrows deal 1d6 extra damage for 1 hour, like hunters mark, it makes the first 12 arrows you use deal 1d6 extra damage, ie, for 6 rounds of combat, as this is a 3rd level spell, also an action to cast, aye yae yae yeah, flame arrows was in elemental evil, I hope it made it into the phb with a way to just bonus action give all 12 arrows 1d6 extra fire damage for an hour, with no concentration or something, since it is a 3rd level spell, so you get this at level 9, a total of 29 fire damage to 1 target is the same kind of damage as fireball, and this is a 3rd level spell, so that part is fine, it just doesn't stack with hunters mark which literally deals more damage in a more reliable damage type, force, so to justify the 3rd level slot it should be non-concentration, or be concentration but do just, more damage than hunters mark

[@zenith110]

My personal pet peeve spell: Tenser's Transformation - it didn't need to be so difficult to make useful and selectable. I hope its been reworked.

[@backonlazer791]

It's such a cool idea but I've never seen anyone actually using it.

[@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф]

Its in Xanathar's guide, and we already know what 23 out of 30 "new" spells are. So there is a tiny chance that it is among the 7 unrevealed, but chances are super low.

[@SilvrSavior]

I've seen 1 DM use it on a homebrew Warlock. Namely, he forgot greater invisibility & TT were concentration.

[@barcster2003]

The one thing they convinced me of is they potentially fixed the usability of spells. People think the guidance change here is bad but I think it allows it to be used in more situations. It's not every type of rolls but potentially multiple rolls of that type.

[@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф]

It is also very easy to fix: 1) Remove concentration- its already not letting you canst spells, just make it break current concentration to prevent stacking. 2) Instead of weird proficiency gimmick- just set AC at 20. At 11+ level 20AC for a 10 min, without ability to cast spells is fine. 3) Let you use your spellcasting ability modifier, instead of Strength or Dexterity, for the attack and damage rolls. Every charisma and wisdom casters can do it at level 1 or 2 now, so not a big deal at 11th level. Or... let you cast current version on enemies, as it is great debuff against caster bosses.

[@barcster2003]

That was a major bummer. Was nice to hear about the guidance change but man that was pretty low info.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

Tell me about it

[@leodouskyron5671]

Got to say not happy that they put Planescape into spell rules. If it was just a name I don’t care but I really hate when they add their IP into the rules definitions as my RP worlds don’t use their worlds persons and their multiverse does not exist!

[@TreantmonksTemple]

It's an odd inclusion considering they said they wanted spells less-wordy.

[@dreamwanderer5791]

Wow, yay more talk about the art. Yeah woo not like the books themselves tell you to make spells and whatnot look however you want to begin with. (Listen I know it's a good thing to have a baseline to compare things to, it's something I've literally asked for in the past, but we don't need to have multiple videos have sections about how great the art is over the actual gameplay elements of the game.)

[@floofzykitty5072]

I need to know if the Con save Counterspell is going through, and if it is, whether they will be addressing that almost every monster with the Spellcasting trait have insane Con saves. Surprised more people aren't talking about this because it will determine whether Counterspell is even worth casting against a monster or if it becomes a "DM spell" that basically only works vs players.

[@nyanbrox5418]

have you seen the con saves on the arc mage? it's like a +2

[@floofzykitty5072]

@@nyanbrox5418 If you can cherry pick singular creatures like that then I can tell you that CR 5 Balgura's have a cumulative +9, CR 9 Glabrezu have a +14, A Drow Priestess has a +5 (essentially making it a 50/50)... The reason why arch mages have low con save is because they are humanoid and humanoids are created with the stats of player characters in mind. Humanoids in the monster manual almost always have lower stats, particularly to Con. Humanoids are in the minority of spellcasters. It's not wise to base your entire view of the monster manual on the creature type that is one of the least populous in it. Look at any of the fiends, monstrosities, elementals or celestials that have spellcasting then come back and tell me monster manual con saves are low.

[@Lycaon1765]

The thing is also they're taking away actual spell slots from monsters anyway and everything is just a "spell-like ability", so it's not worthwhile at all even if it's still a check.

[@nyanbrox5418]

@Lycaon1765 spell slot monsters will still have slots, the high level spells that weren't cantrip, those are spells The cantrips and 1st level spells? Yeah lots of those have just become at will powers, and the damage "magic" they use is now an at will ability, so they have more consistent damage than fire bolt

[@nyanbrox5418]

@Lycaon1765 also counterspell going from the strongest spell in the game to an ok utility spell that you should still probably take but it's optional is perfectly good with me

[@alexanderwyattberg]

Thanks for working to get this out to us on Canada Day!! You’re a god among mortals!

[@dontokoi30]

TBH these updates should just be Jeremy talking to Chris.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I would like that.

[@burntcustard]

That would be fantastic

[@shrapnelsponge]

I wish they had gone into more detail about the spells changed and what’s gained or lost concentration.

[@ltericdavis2237]

I have to say, seeing you break out in laughter at the disappointment of a celestial warlock has got to be the funniest thing I’ve seen this week

[@mystopian]

How disappointing?! They revealed bugger all. Thankfully, we have you to actually say something of substance in response.

[@TheMichaellathrop]

If you can doge a chromatic orb you can doge a ball.

[@CecilQuetzalcoatl]

Do you think D&D 2024 is too focused on buffing player options to the detriment of DMs running the game? Unrelated, but I think they're spending too much effort on the art. I prefer to use my imagination and having official art kinda boxes you in creatively

[@elementzero3379]

It's impossible to say based upon the things they've shared. I think we need the complete rules, including the Monster Manual, to even begin assessing this.

[@CecilQuetzalcoatl]

​@elementzero3379 That makes sense and I'm inclined to agree. Mike Shea's been talking about D&D'24 a little and that's his main complaint so far, that rather than fixing the issues with the game they're just putting in buffs for players that in some cases will make it harder on DMs. I do think some of the new rules are better for DMs, regarding mechanics for surprise and exhaustion specifically

[@NageIfar]

I am not excited to run 5.5e for sure. Easier to run in some ways /looking up stuff in the books), but so much harder to moderate at the table. Because let's be real, DMs kinda HAVE to know what the player characters can do because players will get overwhelmed by the many more features they now have.

[@CecilQuetzalcoatl]

​@NageIfar That's one reason I don't like weapon mastery, it's just resourceless maneuvers. I think maneuvers were a better system and we know how to deal with them already. Mastery is a new system for both players and DMs to manage, relatively it's not that complicated but we don't know until we start playing with it

[@NageIfar]

@@CecilQuetzalcoatl The correct move would have been to throw weapon feats, fighting styles, maneuvers, weapon properties and such into a single pile and then separate that pile into a few dedicated subsystems that don't conflict or overlap all that much. But this was beyond the scope of 5.5e, so we got a new band-aid taped on top of the existing mess.

[@comradewarners]

My guess for spellcasting changes is that there will be no restriction on bonus action/action spells.

[@nyanbrox5418]

Considering some of the other changes to some of the other classes, wink wink abjurer wizard, wink wink illusionist wizard, and some of the wording changes to some features, wink wink quickened spell now specifies no non-cantrip action spells that turn wink wink, and wink wink 18th level wizard no longer getting bonus action spells that they can cast with spell mastery, almost as if the only thing stopping that being OP before now was the innability to cast a levelled 2nd level spell as your bonus action on top of an action spell wink wink wink wink wink wink wink!!!!!

[@NutronicAtomic]

Okay but can we all agree that Todd's "yeah right" eye flutter was the most passionate and hilarious thing we've seen out of him during any of these?

[@wekashipo7507]

The problem with the idea of balancing the game is that some things need to be nerfed. But because 2024 just HAS to be backwards compatible, players can just say "Nah, I'll just use the 2014 version." Like we saw with the Paladin. I'm gonna be real here, some spells should simply not exist. Shit that shuts down encounters like Forcecage. Shit that makes casters better than martials at their own job like Shield, Knock, and Conjure Animals. Shit that instantly removes risks like Remove Curse and Tiny Hut. Even if those spells are removed or at least nerfed to be more reasonable, you can still just use the 2014 version.

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

Anyone else ever catch themselves trying to 4-dimensional-chess the information out of Chris' head based on the comments he's liking? Not saying its going to work (he's been doing a great job of keeping it under wraps) but I still noticed myself trying on some level.

[@TreantmonksTemple]

I liked this comment. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

[@purpleniumowlbear2952]

@@TreantmonksTemple LOL!

[@richardboyd1790]

I'm curious. Since we, the players who are checking out treantmonks content, are more on the enthusiasts side, it's no suprise we are all very familiar with tashas and xanathars. I wonder what % of players have only ever used PHB content.

[@nyanbrox5418]

likely 90%

[@michaeljpastor]

Nice timing! My Tales of the Valiant hardback just arrived today, too! It's RPG Xmas morning!

[@timothyparsons5558]

It bothers me that they keep claiming all sorts of brand new features. But it's material we've been playing with for several years because it was in Tashas' (or a different book)

[@nyanbrox5418]

most players never got to see tasha's, similar to how 1-2% of people know the rammifications of AI this is why the artificer is a class most players have never even heard of, and it is the least popular class by so much and it is not close

[@Prismatic_Rain]

I mean, Conjure Animals could have just been limited to 2 beasts max if they are so worried about flooding the battlefield or bogging down play. I've been playing with it as a druid character for the last 2 years. It hasn't been a problem at all. I've had a lot of fun with it. I love being able to make the decision between a Giant Snake, or 2 Giant Frogs, or 2 Eagles, or a Rhinoceros, or whatever. The "summon" line of spells feels so sterile and boring in comparison. I honestly don't think I would have anywhere near as much fun playing my druid if I was stuck with only them as an option.

[@parheliaa]

Nothing interesting so far. Every second minute they are fawning about the art in the book. And I am not impressed with it so far. Everything is sugary, pink, cute and, boring... 34:59 For example who is it? An elf grandma cookie seller with a crystal ball?

[@jinxtheunluckypony]

I was REALLY hoping to see some solid spell nerfs. I’ll have to check out what the conjuration spells look like once the NDA drops, it’ll probably determine whether or not I buy a new book.

[@mtvjacknife816]

28:08 I have been playing D&D since 3.5 and DMing for 3+ years and have never heard of the "Guards and Wards" spell! 😂 Am I the only one who's never run across this spell?

[@jrg305]

I'd like to see vampiric touch be a viable spell

[@zoddlander]

I just hope that they have removed the material components for all "summon spells"! 100gp per base slot level per spell can be hard for characters to get! just casting Summon Beast as a level 3 Druid would cost them 200gp in material component! just remove the cost! The tables that I play at start at level 3 and I was surprised that I had to spend 200gp befor I started to play to cast one of my favorit spells!

[@ben5720]

Thanks for covering all these so quick Chris!!

[@feltrix334]

On the one hand, I understand why they focus on art and formatting discussions so much. These are ads for the product that is the 2024 PHB, and they know that a lot of people source the info online, so they're trying to promote the stuff that you can only get from the actual book. But also... we're all watching it for the info about the rules, and it's frustrating when they put out stuff like this.

[@imthestein]

I’m wondering if we’ll hear the rule about the bonus action leveled spell during the Sorcerer video

[@nyanbrox5418]

we will first hear about it, unironically, from treantmonk! but seriously they actually could be waiting for that vid next week to drop that nugget, good shout

[@xadielplasencia3674]

True polymorph gives me TempHP??? that seems insane to me

[@nikcantsnipe]

Cant wait to cast Wish on the... Lady of Pain? So Chromatic Orb is basically Chaos Bolt now?

[@mathewflaherty4712]

Chaos bolt does more damage in exchange for a random damage type.

[@elementzero3379]

The Lady of Pain text is just weird. What a waste of space. 🤦🏻‍♂️😄

[@deonowl7773]

​@@elementzero3379Its basically a "Get out of Jail" card for DMs so they can say your wish wont work because someone is too powerful without causing arguments

[@elementzero3379]

@@deonowl7773 That's a good way of looking at it. 👍🏻

[@nyanbrox5418]

nono, chaos bolt has evolved into chromatic orb chaos bolt is gone, and chromatic orb has turned into both spells! also, chromatic orb is now a chaos spell, ie, it will be on the chaos sorcerers spell list more than certainly

[@lukesandadordoceu4835]

Hate how they’re avoiding to talk about some stuff that’s so important in the game, like bonus action casting rule and other rules that are such a huge base of most games. I’ll axiously wait for your video, even more anxious than ever!

[@nyanbrox5418]

I mean, the books aren't even out yet, they aren't obligated to share stuff like that, which to them are legit just minor tweaks and enhancements, even though some of us seem to act like it's the be all end all of the world maybe it's because they are leaving things in suspense on purpose!

[@bazs7722]

If they didn't fix the uninteractable fields of forces spells, I'm skipping this edition. I'm so sick of that shit.

[@ddublu]

might as well have listened to fart noises for forty minutes... tldr: we wrote a book at least in part about spells in dnd. you might call it a "players" handbook, but the dm will want to take a peek as well.

[@scotthalfhill7501]

So at level 5, the rogue (and Hunter at level 7) gets Uncanny Dodge, which is the same as Blade Ward (a cantrip). Bummer

[@nyanbrox5418]

blade ward is weaker than uncanny dodge the hunters uncanny dodge lasts for the entire turn and vs all damage types the rogues uncanny dodge lasts for 1 attack but all damage types blade ward lasts for 1 attack but only against attacks within 5ft which deal bludgeoning piercing and slashing damage enemies after level 7 are *ALL* dealing hybrid damage now, so legit don't worry about it, this is a spell for eldritch knights

[@scotthalfhill7501]

​@nyanbrox5418 so it still sucks?

[@davidarmstrong1617]

35:03 ... yeah, because we all play D&D so we can talk to our mom. Do they even know who their audience is, anymore?

[@ryangentry2003]

I would just like it if there was some uniformity in the spell descriptions. Flavor and mechanics were all over the place in the old version.

[@Reoh0z]

> Art Not surprised, the last couple supplements I picked up were more many more times art than mechanics.

[@adriangoetz5108]

I don't see any mention of Booming Blade or Green Flame Blade, so I'm assuming they're not in the book. Especially considering Eldritch Knight now gets the love they gave to Bladesinger, that's fairly disappointing, though I still appreciate what Blade Ward can do for that build. They've mentioned that there is guidance in the book for converting old content. As a person who's probably read that, do you have the impression that they expect/encourage people to port spells from other books to 5.24e? If DMing a game using 5.24e rules, would you be inclined to allow BB/GFB?

[@nschoenwald]

True Strike was a melee weapon cantrip in the last playtest.

[@adriangoetz5108]

@@nschoenwald ooh, ok I'll take a look at that!

[@nyanbrox5418]

booming blade and green flame blade are indeed probably not in the book, the books redesign of that sort of spell is true strike, which is actually better designed and has better flavour imo than those two spells

[@DevinHandleyy]

Super excited to hear your thoughts on this. Spells should be a big one so hopefully we get some answers. Can’t wait for your embargo to end next month so we can hear even more!!!

[@HateSonneillon]

D&D is very wordy in not only its spells but in just about everything. So I'm very glad that they're making the spells at least more concise. I've had players that looked at spells or features that are a block of text and give up on them right away even though the effect is simple.

[@nyanbrox5418]

this kind of thing is one of the biggest changes to the game for the purposes of it's popularity imo also, look at 3rd edition, 5e is just so much of an improvement over that it's completely insane, the fact that there is more room to improve is not surprising at all

[@plannedtuna8293]

“Here’s some new art, also you can move cloud of daggers” - WotC really answering the big questions here.

[@alanmaxwell9105]

Hey Chris, solid as always. Thanks for getting these to us. When you drop your video on Aug 1st for the new game/spell mechanics… please just give us what the new shield spell looks like. Considering you said you don’t allow it at your table and things work better as a whole, I’m super curious if a redesign made it not such an automatic take. Thanks, Happy Canada Day!

[@cambo7712]

Really worried that they didn't pull enough spells back like shield, I hate having to work around casters finding ways to get tank level AC.

[@xiongray]

Easy. You Grapple them. Drag them away.

[@nyanbrox5418]

they didn't and now casters can get tank AC with just their background!

[@AutumnReel4444]

Nothingburger, tragic, welcome to Waiting-For-August-Gang

[@corakie4488]

Thanks Chris 😊 i love to hear your toughts on everything dnd!!

[@glitchking666]

Was kinda hoping to see if they talked about witchbolt and magic stone. Oh well at least we got to hear about the new spell art

[@jacobmonroe3899]

Jeremy over here acting like Prayer of Healing isn’t just Catnap. Haha!

[@Mage-mc7mz]

That Mexican lady’s chromatic orb should instead be a chromatic chancla, especially now that it can bounce around to different malcriados.

[@luizkormann314]

I'm competing with a friend to see who see's your reacts first, thanks for the grind

[@Ibra_Zaid]

WOTC : "Oh we now have a bunch of new spells!" Me during the video : We'll let's see some informations about those bunch of new spells... WOTC too : "Oh we worked really hard to improve those spells. And the spells work we did was massive, we made the wording clearer and... We worked really hard to improve those spells and..." (etc...) 😴😴😴

[@hawkname1234]

Improving existing spells is one of the most important things they had to do in the 5.5 edition. If you want new spells, you can buy an infinite number on The DM's Guild.

[@Ibra_Zaid]

@@hawkname1234 I don't care about new spells they gave no information, only few and that's what I pointed

[@andykapsar4667]

im gonna ask a REALLY DUMB question. how can you join a campaign after the new PHb cones out if the DMG and MM for the new version arent out yet?

[@TreantmonksTemple]

That's not a dumb question! I suspect we'll just use the old ones until the new ones come out.

[@hawkname1234]

The core gameplay mechanics are not changed. The dynamic range of dice rolls should be the same. So just do your character stuff and hit the enemy armor classes, etc.

[@tomasglover3889]

Happy Canada Day! Hope you get some R&R

[@TreantmonksTemple]

My wife and I are having a nice feast for supper!

[@kierantobin4553]

I can't believe we have to wait a week to find out about Monk changes

[@Lumpyrox1412]

I think Shield is probably the spell i’m most interested to see if it was adjusted. It didn’t need to be nerfed fully. The spell is a reaction and they’re meant to be good. But some kind of tweak would be nice to see!

[@ElManReborn616]

Steel wind strike is amazing, not really for damage, but to reposition yourself without verbal components

[@nicolo4219]

We'll see the specifics, but listening to Treantmonk they didn't nerf what was needed, and i'm quite underwhelmed by Crawford comments on high lvl spells. If DnD becomes close to unplayable at high lvls is mostly because of those spells, and still the martial/caster divide will reign supreme. I was hoping for something better......i guess i'm going to keep playing DnD as a player sometime but will still keep to DM Pathfinder 2E.

[@nyanbrox5418]

if you didn't like D&D before, you won't like it now, if you liked it before, you will *LOVE* it now that is the kind of thing they were going for, if they had made a new edition from the ground up, it would have isolated way more of their existing players, which politically is probably a bad play, but also they really want to bring joy to the people who already love the game again, I will put it here too, personally, I hope Simulacrum is now an action cast 1 hour duration, concentration spell, with a statblock, like the other summon spells, but it's an illusion so half of your HP etc, and the illusioner wizard can have fun with that and then you upcast it to make it more powerful, I think that would be sick

[@nicolo4219]

@@nyanbrox5418 I've been playing DnD since 3.5 and have been DMing since 6 years....i loved it for a long time and still do now. But i prefer to DM a game more balanced and with a more consistent ruleset...and DnD just doesn't deliver in that regard in my opinion. This is according to my tastes of course, it's not an absolute statement.

[@nyanbrox5418]

@nicolo4219 At my table, using the playtest, (levels 1-7) everything basically is balanced, rather, there is no noticeable unbalance between everyone, if anything the most powerful PC seems like the straight classed assassin rogue with no general feats and the origin feat Alert feat, weapon masteries shortsword and shortbow, he uses a mundane shortsword in one hand as a primary weapon My players are not optimisers, but I have made some suggestions as to what kind of feats each class may want, like how the assassin benefits from the alert fest because it's features activate when it goes first Once the new PHB is printed, I'm taking this campaign all the way to level 20, though the players will get a chance to swap out their characters at level 10 if they want to, I've never actually seen campaign play at higher levels, Pathfinder 2e is a very balanced system at all levels, where there practically is no martial-caster divide, while even in the 2024 ruleset, there still will be for sure, but I heard it will be lessened, and since I am playing with non-optimisers, it is effectively lessened once again, we'll see how it go

[@nicolo4219]

@@nyanbrox5418 I've no complains on how the game works at lower lvls (1-5) they are my favourite lvls of playing DnD in fact. My complains are about how the game becomes harder and harder to balance at higher lvls until it becomes almost unplayable if the DM doesn't do some serious limitation &/or ban on spells. (I DMed Madmage and Eve Of Ruin) Also some class is really poor designed (Twilight Cleric/Peace cleric, Chronurgy after lvl 11, hexdip, peacedip...all those things) I play on the internet mostly and although i've my personal group most of the times, it is not always the case and optimizers are REALLY common (if not the most)...which also encourages even not optimizers to become one due to a GREAT difference in power between PGs and the need to balance around optimizers in order to keep the game challenging penalizing, in fact, the fun of not optimizers. Houseruling is a thing that should be optional if you want to make your personal adjustment to the game, not a necessity in order to make the game work.

[@hawkname1234]

@@nicolo4219 I give you serious credit just for acknowledging something is your taste, and not an objective truth. Good for you!

[@Tarudizer]

Boy that was a whole lot of talking with very little substance, wasn't it! Oh well, gonna have to wait for the 1st of august I suppose

[@Trafoder]

I’m hopeful for reworked spells. I’m certain the divide won’t be fixed by any means, but they’ve done well to consider fan input so far.

[@nyanbrox5418]

if simulacrum is a concentration spell, lasts 1 hour, and has a premade statblock but is otherwise identical to you, I will be a happy bunny remember, new illusionist wizard buffs illusion spells, and simulacrum is an illusion, imagine getting +60ft range and getting to cast simulacrum subtly, that would be so cool! and instead of using wish to cast simulacrum, just getting to upcast simulacrum to 9th level cause it upcasts like the other simulacrum spells if it works like this, I will be so fluffing happy

[@karlhoglund536]

If Conjure Minor Elementals has the same scaling it did in the playtest that would be... concerning.

[@nyanbrox5418]

hahahahaha! it probably does! at least it is an action to cast and requires concentration, because there is now no way to cast 2 action spells like conjure minor elementals and scorching ray on the same turn damage now is better than damage later, so skipping your whole first turn just to cast conjure minor elementals is hopefully sufficient to have it not destroy absolutely every combat also, spirit guardians has good scaling and is AOE, so, as long as you are hitting 2 enemies with spirit guardians, you will still deal more damage than upcast Conjure Minor Elementals that is if you are only using spells like fire bolt... but if you are using upcast scorching rays?... lets just hope enemies at higher levels have alot of fire resistance

[@Nom2421]

I CAN NOT WAIT FOR AUGUST FIRST!!!! LET'S GO CHRIS!!!

[@nolan4339]

During playtest discussions, I had been a bit excited about an option to divide the spells into Arcane, Divine and Primal. I felt that subdividing spells by type of magic + type of spell, rather than by class spell lists + school of magic could have been a great way to restrict certain classes and subclasses to certain spell lists and easily allocate a spell list to custom classes and subclasses. I also felt that Primal and Divine lists could then also deviate from the 'Schools' of magic subdivision naming convention.

[@backonlazer791]

I haven't watched the video yet but I'm kind of worried about spells and monsters since they weren't really playtested to the extent I think they should have.

[@nyanbrox5418]

Monsters are probably alot stronger, but even the weak monsters should at least be more interesting at the very least, even if they are similar in power level

[@backonlazer791]

@@nyanbrox5418 I get the feeling they will be very sparing with new features for creatures and instead just tweak damage/AC/HP. Maybe some legendary creatures get more reaction stuff instead of legendary actions like that one Vecna statblock.

[@nyanbrox5418]

@backonlazer791 the new books have a ton of new features for high level creatures, and they are genuinely an improvement while still being simple to run as a DM

[@backonlazer791]

@@nyanbrox5418 Do you have copies of the new books or have those been in playtests? I haven't followed the latest ones.

[@SamiJ1508]

Was looking for this video. didn't find it. watched another one of my Monday release videos that was 15 minutes long and now here it is.

[@zizthesin]

Thanks for all of the work you have done for so long, including your written guides brother. As a wizard/cleric main your content has made me a stronger player and more skillful dm, and THESE guides really helping me with sticking to current 5e.

[@rivermichael4357]

I've been checking in and refreshing on your channel every few minutes waiting for this video!

[@liberalideas8224]

I was really looking forward to a wide cooling down on a lot of the spell power levels for some specific outliers that are currently bizarre in 2014 IMO. Additionally, I hoped for some fine tuning of the rules of how to cast spells. I didn't want an outright nerfing across the board, or even expect any damage to be reduced other than maybe some cantrips, as I am completely okay with big spells doing high damage. I just wanted spells like silvery barbs or shield to be calmed down a bit (or even removed) and rules of spell focuses/free hand/components being much more pronounced so that they were not so frequently hand waived ;) by many of the community. This video did not really cover that and it seemed to even hint at the opposite sadly. Oh well.

[@nyanbrox5418]

silvery barbs is setting specific, please just do not let this spell be in your non-strixhaven games xD

[@nyanbrox5418]

edit, also yeah it looks like shield, wall of force, allllllll the same power level as before, eldritch knight is eating big tonight, but so is the wizard with the medium armour and shield proficiancy background least they don't need to have multiclassing to get that anymore, huh-hah! yeah that stuff was always unintentional, but smite became a bonus action and the entire community became an arms race, if they did nerfs across the board, even if it's for the health of the game, there would be so so so much backlash, so they only cracked down on things that were just blatantly disrespecting the rules and basically ruining sessions I haven't seen the shield spell ruin games at my tables, because my players don't go out of their way to abuse it, but yeah simulacrum is just a built in campaign ending disaster due to stuff like the wish spell, so it *NEEDED* to be corrected, and if it is a 1 hour concentration summon illusion spell for my illusioner wizard, I will be so fluffing happy

[@liberalideas8224]

@@nyanbrox5418 All very well said. I brought up shield because I was spit balling with one of my DMs about a year ago about how OP I thought Dex was (and still do a little), so I made a wizard to kind of test it out. I made a Orc wizard with a 9 Dex, no multiclass and played him aggressively. What I found surprised me in that I was more resilient in combat encounters than even the other martials in our mini campaign despite the insane dex score. That was because of all the various low level spells that when mixed together and played well, makes the wizard insanely tanky even when built pretty poorly. When built well, well, you know. Still, while dnd 2024 isnt turning out the way I had first hoped it might, it is turning out quite well overall. It is looking like there will still be a bit of a martail to caster divide, but maybe a much smaller one this time. Also, as a Pally main, Paladin's are fine. I think the only real people that are upset about Smite belong to a subset of dnd players that only play to min/max combat, like dnd was nothing but a combat board game. No hate on them as I hope they continue to enjoy, but the game hasnt been that for nearly 50 years and shouldnt be balanced around that kind of taste.