''Player's Handbook 2'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

The ''Player's Handbook 2'' includes eight classes: the avenger,

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

, bard, druid, invoker,

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

, sorcerer, and warden, and five races: the deva, gnome, goliath, half-orc, and shifter.

Publication history

The 4th edition ''Player's Handbook 2'', subtitled ''Arcane, Divine and Primal Heroes'', was released on March 17, 2009. The book was designed by

Jeremy Crawford Jeremy Crawford is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He is most widely known for being the Lead Rules Designer for Wizards of the Coast. Career Jeremy Crawford co-designed and edited the ''Blue Rose'' role-playing ...

Mike Mearls Michael Mearls is a writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. He was the senior manager for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' research and design team. He co-led design for the 5th edition of the game. He also worked ...

, and

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

, and featured cover art by Daniel Scott and interior art by Steve Argyle, Eric Belisle,

Michael Bierek Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

Devon Caddy-Lee Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Mitch Cotie,

Thomas Denmark Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Eric Deschamps Eric Deschamps is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for '' Sharn: City of Towers'' (2004), '' Explorer's Handbook'' (2005), ''Dragon Magic'' (2006), ''Complete Ma ...

, Brian Despain, Vincent Dutrait, Steve Ellis,

Wayne England Wayne England (d. 9 February 2016) was an English artist whose work regularly appeared in role-playing games, wargaming rulebooks and magazines and was used on cards for collectible card games such as '' Magic: The Gathering''. He died on 9 Fe ...

, Howard Lyon, Mike May,

Raven Mimura Raven Mimura is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Early life and education Raven received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Rhode Island School of Design. He spent a year teaching art and building his portfolio ...

, William O'Connor, Hector Ortiz,

Wayne Reynolds Wayne Reynolds is a British artist whose work has appeared in comics and role-playing games. Early life and education Wayne Reynolds was born in Leeds, UK. He attended art college in Dewsbury and Middlesbrough. Games Wayne Reynolds has contin ...

, Chris Seaman, John Stanko, Matias Tapia,

Franz Vohwinkel Franz Vohwinkel (born 1964 in Munich, West Germany) is a German artist and illustrator whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Works Vohwinkel drew the cover art for the book ''Dataware'' (1998) for TSR's ''Alternity'' game, and illustra ...

Eva Widermann Eva Widermann (born June 6, 1978) is an illustrator and concept artist whose work appears in role-playing games. Education She went to the Scholastic of Graphic & Design, Munich. Career Widermann started her graphic design career in 1998 and wor ...

, and

James Zhang James Zhang is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career Zhang has done interior illustrations on a number of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' books for Wizards of the Coast, including '' Sharn: City of Towers'' (2004), the ''Eberron ...

. Shannon Appelcline commented that with Fourth Edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Wizards planned to publish just three books for each setting, beginning with the poorly-received ''

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' includes everything a Dungeon Master needs to run a 4th edition ''D&D'' ...

'', ''

Forgotten Realms Player's Guide The ''Forgotten Realms Player's Guide'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents The ''Forgotten Realms Player's Guide'' presents the changed Forgotten Realms setting from the point of view of ...

'' and ''

Scepter Tower of Spellgard ''Scepter Tower of Spellgard'' is an adventure module for the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Plot summary In ''Scepter Tower of Spellgard'', a mysterious presence has taken up residence in one of the towers ...

'' in 2008, and "The next year saw the clockwork production of ''

Dungeon Master's Guide 2 ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2'' gives expansions for the Dungeon Master to add to a campaign. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide 2 ...

'' (2009), '' Monster Manual 2'' (2009) and ''Player's Handbook 2'' (2009), as well as the reappearance of Eberron through the typical two books and an adventure – the latter released as part of Free RPG Day. These setting books were much better accepted, perhaps because the 4e nay-sayers had now moved on to other games."

Reception

The book reached No. 28 on ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

''s bestseller list the week of March 26, 2009 and No. 14 on the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''s non-fiction bestseller list a week later.

References

{{D&D topics Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2009