Dungeons & Dragons: 2024 Monster Manual
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Wizards Of The Coast
Release Date: February 18, 2025

Welcome, friends, to the third and final installment of the “Big 3” books for the 2024 refresh on your D&D books. The Dungeons & Dragons: 2024 Monster Manual is full of new and revitalized creatures. And, yes, I do think that it being referred to as a 2024 release is weird, but it will help to remind you that the original timeline had this and the other two books, the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide and the 2024 Player’s Handbook, slated for release last year, but unfortunately only two made it out in time. Side note: I linked my reviews for those two in that last sentence. All that said, I have a few things to mention about this release itself.

Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana: A Visual History
50th Anniversary Edition
Hardcover | Kindle
By Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer
Foreword by Joe Manganiello
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: November 5, 2024

I am late to this party, folks. No excuses, I just have not taken the time to write about the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana: A Visual History. Not because I didn’t enjoy it: quite the opposite is true there, actually. But as this book is a 50th anniversary edition, there is little more I can add that I did not speak to in 2018 with the original release. If you missed that, my review is located right here. I will speak to the few differences, but really, the best thing about this newer release is it gives more people a chance to lay their hands on it.

The Young Adventurer’s Collection Box Set 2
Dungeons & Dragons 4-Book Boxed Set: Beasts & Behemoths, Dragons & Treasures, Places & Portals, Artificers & Alchemy
Paperback Box Set
By Jim Zub, Stacy King, Andrew Wheeler
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: September 24, 2024

Welcome back, reader! It is time to take a look at the newest box set in the Dungeons & Dragons: Young Adventurer’s Guide series. The Young Adventurer’s Collection Box Set 2 is here to deliver some great references for the intermediate-aged role-playing gamer in your life. I know I am a little late delivering this review, but maybe this is a better late than never situation, right? I will give you a brief synopsis of each of the four books in this fun little box set. I am impatiently awaiting the day that my grandchildren are old enough to read these and begin their adventure into the world of Dungeons and Dragons, I mean the first books I read to each of them included D&D books, such as these right here.

Puncheons & Flagons: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cocktail Book
Hardcover | Kindle
By Andrew Wheeler (author) and Ashley Stoyanov (recipes)
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: August 27, 2024

I am sure you’ve discovered something you never knew you needed, but now you probably would prefer not to live without it. Welcome to Puncheons & Flagons: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cocktail Book, the adult cocktail and mocktail book you will not want to forget to take on your next adventure. I have thoroughly enjoyed replicating food from the two Heroes’ Feast books from Ten Speed Press, so I was not at all surprised when this one came along. Let me tell you, friends, this is better than you might have hoped for in your wildest dreams. So many new experiences await!

Dungeons & Dragons: Player’s Handbook 2024
Hardcover
D&D Accessory
Wizards Of The Coast
Release Date: September 17, 2024

Good day, fellow tabletop gaming enthusiasts! I am stunned by the fact that it has been 10 years since the original Dungeons & Dragons 5e Player’s Handbook dropped, it feels like it was just yesterday that we were beta-testing this version. So many books have been added to the 5e library that have added not just fun, but so much variety to the world’s best roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. That said, things have definitively changed over the years since this newest edition was released to the public. But even starker are the differences we see over the decades, from those early and basic sets to the one that sits before me now: Dungeons & Dragons: Player’s Handbook 2024. I say all this to ensure that you understand that things change, but often we only see the differences, rather than the similarities. I’ve met gamers from all walks of life, some are open and ready to try new ideas put before them, whereas others feel the need to gatekeep and refuse to move forward. As with all things, we must adapt and change to survive. Wizards of the Coast recognizes this and tries their hardest to bring us new and inventive things to enhance our games. Does it always work? No. But refusing to try is tantamount to sacrilege when we are talking about a game that has morphed repeatedly for 50 years! So all I ask of you is that you approach this updated tome with an open mind, as you might be surprised how much you like it. For those who have not yet journeyed into other worlds created by your local DM, hello and know that all are welcome here. We always need new friends at the table to roll our clickety clacks.