Leading up to the release of their new core rulebooks, Dungeons & Dragons has been slowly unveiling what changes players can expect. The new Player’s Handbook and Dungeons Master’s Guide which will release in 2024, and the new Monster Manual which will release in 2025, all contain a multitude of key rule updates.
We recently talked about changes to the character sheet, the core Druid class, and the Circle of the Moon Druid subclass. Now let’s get a breakdown of the key changes being made to spells and the D&D magic system as a whole.
A New Area of Effect (AoE)
Areas of Effect in Dungeons & Dragons are used to determine what the spell impacts. For example, the popular Wizard spell Fireball has an AoE known as a Sphere. This means that fire damage is dealt to all enemies within its sphere, which has a 20ft radius. Other AoE’s include a Cone, a Cylinder, a Line, a Wall, and more. All these tell the spellcaster how they should cast the spell to maximize its effectiveness.
For the updated rules, D&D is introducing a new AoE called Emanation. Emanation spells extend in a straight line in all directions from a creature or object (such as the spellcaster) and moves with the chosen target. What makes Emanation stand out is that the point of origin of the spell is not included in the AoE. This is a key update, as a spellcaster doesn’t want to get caught in the damage of their own spell. Or, if they are casting it around an ally, they don’t want to inadvertently hurt their ally. This makes certain spells more user-friendly and honestly makes more sense as the spellcaster should have pretty good control over their own magic.
Updated Spells
There will be over 400 spells in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. While there will be far too many changes to list, here are key takeaways:
- Healing Spells: They will be more powerful, with Cure Wounds now doing 2d8 + modifier and Healing Word doing 2d4 + modifier at 1st level. Previously it was 1d8 and 1d4 respectively.
- Prayer of Healing: It now also gives the benefits of a Short Rest instead of only healing.
- Cloud of Daggers: It can now be moved up to 30 feet on your turn with an action, whereas it used to be stationary.
- Chromatic Orb: It can now hit an additional enemy.
- Blade Ward: Now lasts a full minute and forces enemies to subtract 1d4 from attack rolls, instead of only granting Bludgeoning, Slashing, and Piercing resistance.
- Locating Spells: Spells specific to classes can now be found within the section of that class instead of at the back of this book. This makes planning, building, and referencing your character much faster.
In addition to updates for certain spells, there will also be plenty of new spells in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Other spells that were once part of supplemental content, such as the Toll the Dead cantrip, are now part of the core spell list.
The new Dungeons & Dragons books are currently available for pre-order at $49.99 a piece.
