Player’s Handbook 2
I remember opening up the first Player’s Handbook for Fourth Edition and being awestruck by the full color interior art. The amazing images brought forth a world that was both familiar and new in a way I had not seen in other books. Only later did I become aware of the new system and how it would irrevocably change my D&D experience. However, from the moment I opened Player’s Handbook 2, it was the new classes and powers that grabbed my attention and would not let go.
Inside the covers, Player’s Handbook 2 presents five races new to this edition: Deva, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Orc, and Shifter. It also presents Racial Paragon Paths for all the races from both Player’s Handbooks. Of greater interest are the eight new Primal, Arcane, and Divine classes in the book: Avenger, Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Invoker, Shaman, Sorcerer, and Warden. Player’s Handbook 2 also fleshes out all available classes with new Epic Destinies, magic rituals, equipment, and wondrous items. What is not included in the new book is any of the races, classes, powers, and such from the first book, which is okay if you already own the first book, but if you are new to the game it forces you to spend extra money.
When I first heard about the decision to split the Player’s Handbook into two separate books, I was a little upset. It meant that if I wanted to play two of my favorite classes (the Druid and the Sorcerer), I would have to shell out the cash for two books instead of one.
While there is still a small part of me that feels that way, I have to say that Player’s Handbook 2 benefited greatly by being the second book. First of all, the book is laid out much better in terms of the rules being roughly where I expect them to be. There were a few times in the original book that I had to go searching for the right text for a particular mechanic. All in all, this book is much clearer about where to find certain rules. For instance, if a power uses a particular keyword (say the barbarians have powers with “Rage”) the text told me exactly where to find Rage rules.
More importantly, though, Wizards of the Coast seemed to feel more comfortable taking risks with the classes and races in Player’s Handbook 2 than they did in the first book. While no one would claim the first set of classes were vanilla or boring, the classes in the second handbook take big chances.
My favorite example is the Wild Magic build of the Sorcerer. The Wild Magic Sorcerer takes the idea that the Sorcerer is untrained in the proper use of magic, so their magic sometimes erupts forth in powerful, though barely contained bursts. They have a power called Chaos Burst which does two different things based on your first attack roll. If it is even, you gain +1 to AC and if it is odd, you pass a savings throw. This is a nice touch and not something I expected at all.
More importantly, there is a coolness factor to the Player’s Handbook 2. All eight classes offer something that makes them fun to play. For instance, The Invoker is a different take on the divine spellcaster who calls on her gods for offensive powers. Players who have ever wanted to serve a god as a damage-dealer but were shackled by the Paladin’s famous code should really like this new class. .
On the other hand, the base Avenger class (sort of a holy warrior without the Paladin’s morals) was not very interesting to me until I read its Paragon Paths. I would play an Avenger for ten levels to get to be a Hammer of Justice or a Zealous Assassin. In this way, Wizards of the Coast never gave me a reason to dismiss playing a class out of hand (like the 3.5 Bard class, which I never had the desire to play.)
There is another thing the Player’s Handbook 2 got right, but because it’s not directly applicable to every game, it might not get the attention it deserves. Wizards did a great job of giving lots of little bits of setting detail in the class and race write-ups without the text reading like an encyclopedia. For instance, there is one sentence in the write up of the Druid’s Paragon Path, Guardian of the Living Gate, that mentions there are a number of Druidic orders, all of whom are fighting against alien invaders. It’s tantalizing, it says a lot about the world, but it’s not overwhelming. It also gives DMs a nice tool to use.
Of course, the Player’s Handbook 2 is not without its faults. The races presented in the game are not nearly as exciting as the classes. In particular, a new race, Shifter, is a canine-looking human with partial shapeshifting powers. The race is okay, but it’s nothing compared to the shapeshifting of the Druid, who excels at going into animal form. Gnomes were neat, but there was nothing about them or any race that screamed “Play me!” as much as the classes.
Also, perhaps my biggest complaint was pointed out by a friend of mine. With all the creative powers and fun touches like Chaos Burst comes additional bookkeeping. There was already a burden on the player to remember which powers she used in an Encounter or in a Day. Now players have to remember which effect they rolled, which rage is active, etc. Certainly, this problem is easy enough to overcome with a good enough system of organization or a few play aids, but the additional work might turn some players off of some of the more unique powers.
Taken as a whole, the Player’s Handbook 2 is a great addition to every Fourth Edition player’s arsenal. The concerns I had about it, from the price tag to power creep, were largely dispelled by the book. Instead, what I got were classes that made me more excited to play than the first set, and some nice additional rituals and racial Paragon Paths on top of that. Player’s Handbook 2 surpasses the original Player’s Handbook in a number of ways, and it is definitely a necessity in any 4th Edition library.
Want to learn more about Player’s Handbook 2? Read on…
- Atomic Array: Episode 018: Player’s Handbook 2
- Game Cryer: Player’s Handbook 2 Review
- Gnome Stew: A Veteran GM’s Take on GMing and the PHB2
- Critical Hits: The Avenger
- Campaign Mastery: The Barbarian
- Uncle Bear: The Bard
- Critical Ankle Bites: The Druid
- Kobold Quarterly: Review: Player’s Handbook 2
- The Core Mechanic: The Invoker
- Flames Rising: The Shaman
- Stupid Ranger: The Sorcerer
- Musings of the Chatty DM: The Warden
Drop by Wizards of the Coast today!
March 13th, 2009 at 20:45
Thanks for the review, I’ve had an enjoyable afternoon reading through all these review blog posts today from you lucky, early book receiving, bastiges.
August 23rd, 2009 at 04:49
[...] all well-tread tropes which have appeared in different forms in Wizard’s of the Coast’s Players Handbook 2, or even sooner. The Wokan is a Druid variant, designed here as a mix of controller and leader; the [...]