2024’s D&D Player’s Handbook is set to deliver plenty of refreshes and rebalances of our Fifth Edition favorites, with new options that aim to enrich the processes of character creation and play. However, despite the fact the OneD&D PHB is set to upgrade your experience as a player, that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) translate to a hike in your character’s power level.
Sure, it’s fun to have a character that’s so OP they cut through dungeon encounters like a hot knife through butter, but the best tabletop RPGs don’t just offer players an unbridled power fantasy. For the sake of the game’s balance (and your Dungeon Master's sanity), there has to be far more thought put into the limits of what D&D player characters are capable of.
When it comes to magic, the upcoming core rulebooks will re-spec and reimagine almost 400 spells from various Dungeons & Dragons sources like the 2014 PHB, Xanthar’s Guide to Everything, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Among these, there are some spells like Cure Wounds and Cloud of Daggers that are getting a welcome buff. On the other hand – much to the chagrin of battle Clerics everywhere – Spiritual Weapon is getting cut down a peg or two. But before any salty healer launches their mace through the windows of the Wizards of the Coast office, I think it’s worth hearing the game designers out on why this debuff actually means good things for Clerics and their party members.
