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]

What about the Mindshard, and its the left arm that's big and shardy and the right that's more humanoid?

...

Perfect! You're a genius!

 

[Azzy]

There are dozens to choose from and the removal of Ability modifiers makes them less heavily consequential differentiations - secondary to Backgrounds at least.

I find that ability modifiers (which are very gamey) to be much less consequential than actual features that help define the species.

 

[Faolyn]

I want a dedicated Psion race. What, we can have dedicated races for the elements (genasi), divinity (aasimar), and devil/demon stuff (tieflings), but not Psionics?

Because the only psionic "outsiders" are aberrations (edit: which may not be what you want in a psionic species). There's also the Elan from 3e, which probably someone has converted to 5e--there's a Level Up version of them.

Technically the Kalashtar from Eberron are fairly psionic in nature, although I don't know if they'd work well outside of Eberron's mythology without a lot of reskinning.

 

[Azzy]

Because the only psionic "outsiders" are aberrations (edit: which may not be what you want in a psionic species). There's also the Elan from 3e, which probably someone has converted to 5e--there's a Level Up version of them.

Technically the Kalashtar from Eberron are fairly psionic in nature, although I don't know if they'd work well outside of Eberron's mythology without a lot of reskinning.

There's also duergar. For non-converted-to-5e species, there's several in the 3.5e Expanded Psionics Handbook.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I want a dedicated Psion race. What, we can have dedicated races for the elements (genasi), divinity (aasimar), and devil/demon stuff (tieflings), but not Psionics?

Oooh....can I play a Mindflayer?

 

[Faolyn]

There's also duergar. For non-converted-to-5e species, there's several in the 3.5e Expanded Psionics Handbook.

True. I keep forgetting that the duergar are psionic. I think I keep thinking the derro are the only psionic ones.

 

[Remathilis]

I want a dedicated Psion race. What, we can have dedicated races for the elements (genasi), divinity (aasimar), and devil/demon stuff (tieflings), but not Psionics?

Kalashtar

 

[Kurotowa]

Kalashtar

Pretty much. Grouping those races by power source is deceptive. What they're really based on are is genies (genasi), celestials (aasimar), and fiends (tieflings). In other words, derivatives of well established monster types. In that way they're no different than dragonborn.

If you want a psionic PC race, you need to tie them to a psionic monster type. Eberron does this with kalashtar by inventing the quori, but that's very setting specific and never really got too popular because the quori are new and niche. And that's the problem with every new psionic PC race. They get bundled with the brand new psionic monsters in the psionic splatbook, and no one cares about the monsters or the PC race outside of the small number of devoted psionics fans.

Really, if you wanted a psionic PC race to take off, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. They need to be tied to the illithid somehow. Maybe not too directly, since it's a very specialized taste to want to be a squidhead, but more directly than the duergar are. Because mind flayers are the most iconic and well established psionic monster in D&D, and that makes them the only hope for a psionic PC race to take off.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Pretty much. Grouping those races by power source is deceptive. What they're really based on are is genies (genasi), celestials (aasimar), and fiends (tieflings). In other words, derivatives of well established monster types. In that way they're no different than dragonborn.

If you want a psionic PC race, you need to tier them to a psionic monster type. Eberron does this with kalashtar by inventing the quori, but that's very setting specific and never really got too popular because the quori are new and niche. And that's the problem with every new psionic PC race. They get bundled with the brand new psionic monsters in the psionic splatbook, and no one cares about the monsters or the PC race outside of the small number of devoted psionics fans.

Really, if you wanted a psionic PC race to take off, it's pretty obvious what needs to be done. They need to be tied to the illithid somehow. Maybe not too directly, since it's a very specialized taste to want to be a squidhead, but more directly than the duergar are. Because mind flayers are the most iconic and well established psionic monster in D&D, and that makes them the only hope for a psionic PC race to take off.

So... tadpoled like the characters in Baldur's Gate 3, but with a species theme?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The shardminds would be "broken" or OP (overpowered) in Dark Sun because they are living constructs and then they don't need food or drink. My suggestion would be in the Athasian Tablelands the living constructs PCs can be allowed but to recover the power balance then we add something like an elemental fungus, something style "red weed" from George Orwell's "War of Worlds", a disease for constructs, created as a biological weapon. Then to stop the infection the living constructs need "medicines", simple biological fresh tissues.

WotC has learnt with the experience sourcebooks about alternate powers aren't sold so good, and this is worse in the transtaltions to other languages. And a second book about those alternate powers are harder to be sold.

I would love a 5e version of Tome of Magic and Tome of Battle, with more classes, but even if this happens some day, we will have to await a long time.

I loved the martial adepts, but the gameplay was opposite to the current phylosophy of the 5e where the rules have to be simple and easy to be understand, and combats fast. The classes from "Adventures of Rokugan" (bushi, shinobi, duelist) have got something like this, but I need more time to understand it.

I guess WotC wants the psionic mystic class to be something like the D&D version of the "cultivators" from xianxia fiction.

If the duergas are added to the PH, I guess it will be as subrace in the same level than drows.

Some times I miss the spriggans, the evil cousins of the gnomes.

* I have written "psionic" for 5e in DMGuild and there are 457 articles (incarnum only 9). This should mean a group of players are really interested into the return of psionic. Of course it would need a lot of playtesting and feedback.

Some times 3PPs have got some good ideas, for example the Athanatism, the psionic discipline about the manipulation of souls and spirits. (Dreamscarred Press).