D&D dev suggests if he had to do it all over again, there might be fewer 5e classes, not more

It's no secret that D&D is getting new core rulebooks this year, and new details have just been revealed about how its classes will work… but if one D&D designer had their way, some would be very different.

In a Gary Con panel, publisher Wizards of the Coast gave a sneak-peek of its revised Player's Handbook. Even though this is an update to one of the best tabletop RPGs rather than a complete revamp, plenty is changing where the D&D classes are concerned. While the 12 options from before are sticking around, the new book features more ways to personalize your character than before. To be precise, there are 48 subclasses included here, numerous balance fixes, and illustrations for every single subclass at long last. (Apparently, there wasn't the budget for that in the 2014 books - nowadays, it's a different story.) Per the team's research, visualization is what usually gets people to play a particular class or subclass, so a lot of care was given to allowing more representation in this regard.

D&D game architect Chris Perkins said that this user-friendliness was key to him and the team  – and if he could go back in time, he'd do more in terms of streamlining.

"Speaking frankly, [and] this is my own personal opinion, 12 classes is actually a lot," Perkins tells us. "If I were redesigning, if I could go back to 2012 to when we were talking about Fifth Edition for the first time, I would probably put a strong case forward that we could actually do with less classes in the core game. You know, keep the choices simple. Because when you're asking somebody to choose between a Sorcerer and a Wizard, to the untrained eye, it's not clear what the difference is until you start to drill down and you realize where they get their power from and how their spell-casting works. When you look at it superficially, they seem pretty much the same. And you know, what is the difference between a Barbarian and a Fighter? A Barbarian could almost be a subclass [for a] Fighter if we were designing this game from scratch."

Still, that doesn't mean you'll be saying goodbye to your favorite class for now. As we mention in our interview with Perkins, there isn't a new edition of the game because players can't get enough of this one. The people have spoken, and Fifth Edition is here to stay.

In terms of what the team has condensed, the changes are apparently very data-driven and based on survey feedback. Wizards of the Coast have been putting out playtest documents for quite some time now, and apparently these were instrumental in the makeup of the new D&D books. In particular, the Monk class has received a lot of TLC so should be seen at tables much more in future. Additionally, the Wizard subclasses have been condensed to four.

The Player's Handbook will arrive in September 2024.

For recommendations on what to play while you wait, be sure to check out the best board games or these board games for adults.