Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.2 Is Officially Live

The new System Reference Document (SRD) for Dungeons & Dragons' revised 5th Edition is officially live. The new SRD was officially released and is available for download on D&D Beyond. A FAQ detailing changes from the previous SRD was also released.

The SRD provides a version of D&D's rules that can be used and referenced in third-party material and form a framework for publishing material compatible for D&D's latest edition. The newest version of the SRD contains a mix of species, backgrounds, subclasses, and feats from the 2024 Player's Handbook, along with statblocks from the 2025 Monster Manual.

One other interesting note is that the new SRD purges references to creatures and characters classified as D&D IP. The previous SRD released under a Creative Commons license contained reference to Strahd and Orcus, both of which were removed in the new SRD. Additionally, the SRD renames the Deck of Many Things as "Mysterious Deck" and the Orb of Dragonkind as "Dragon Orb" to allow for both to be used in third-party material while not infringing upon D&D IP.

 

[SkidAce]

He wouldn't. That was his entire purpose. Let's not canonized the guy as some sort of RPG philanthropist.

Thata not what i remember him saying when it was done. The leadership didnt want it but he convinced them.

YMMV

 

[Yaarel]

The OGL and CC are altruistic in the sense of being a better and healthier way to do business.

 

[Sacrosanct]

You mean the forums?

User content uploaded to Beyond. Monsters, items, classes, etc.

 

[Alzrius]

Exactly, and he created it to ensure we would never lose access.

He says as much in his interview (i.e. chapter 6) in the Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons book:

"The most important thing the OGL did wasn't about the OGL; it was about D&D. The release of the SRD under the OGL means that the game is now immortal. Nothing can be done at the corporate level to take D&D away from humanity. It can exist in some legal way, no matter what happens at WotC, Hasbro, or anywhere else in the future.​

​

When I looked at the situation that TSR was in when they were acquired, I knew there was a very good chance that D&D would cease to exist because TSR had pledged its intellectual property against loans that they couldn't repay to different lenders. Had the company gone into bankruptcy, those lenders would have gone to bankruptcy court and fought over who controlled TSR's IP. If that happened there's a very good chance we would have ended up with a situation where nobody controlled enough of D&D to do anything with it, and it would have just stopped existing. The OGL, with the System Reference Document, means D&D is immortal. That's the most important thing, and I think that's valuable to everybody."​

 

[SkidAce]

He says as much in his interview (i.e. chapter 6) in the Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons book:

"The most important thing the OGL did wasn't about the OGL; it was about D&D. The release of the SRD under the OGL means that the game is now immortal. Nothing can be done at the corporate level to take D&D away from humanity. It can exist in some legal way, no matter what happens at WotC, Hasbro, or anywhere else in the future.​

​

When I looked at the situation that TSR was in when they were acquired, I knew there was a very good chance that D&D would cease to exist because TSR had pledged its intellectual property against loans that they couldn't repay to different lenders. Had the company gone into bankruptcy, those lenders would have gone to bankruptcy court and fought over who controlled TSR's IP. If that happened there's a very good chance we would have ended up with a situation where nobody controlled enough of D&D to do anything with it, and it would have just stopped existing. The OGL, with the System Reference Document, means D&D is immortal. That's the most important thing, and I think that's valuable to everybody."​

Thank you.

 

[Reynard]

Thank you.

So we are just going to pretend all that talk AT THE TIME of network externalities didn't happen?

Dancy may well be leaning g into his role as eternal preserver of D&D now, 25 years later, but those of us who were there very much remember why he did it.

 

[Alzrius]

Thank you.

Grognardia also has a post quoting him from the Paizo messageboards back in 2010 (unfortunately, the link doesn't work now) where he says:

"I also had the goal that the release of the SRD would ensure that D&D in a format that I felt was true to its legacy could never be removed from the market by capricious decisions by its owners."​

EDIT: I also recommend reading the comments by Rick Marshall on that page; they're fascinating!

 

[michaeljpastor]

Goodness gracious. It's BOTH duck season and wabbit season! Altruism and enlightened self-interest are not mutually exclusive

 

[SkidAce]

So we are just going to pretend all that talk AT THE TIME of network externalities didn't happen?

Dancy may well be leaning g into his role as eternal preserver of D&D now, 25 years later, but those of us who were there very much remember why he did it.

I was there also.

But it doesnt matter, no worries.

 

[overgeeked]

He says as much in his interview (i.e. chapter 6) in the Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons book:

"The most important thing the OGL did wasn't about the OGL; it was about D&D. The release of the SRD under the OGL means that the game is now immortal. Nothing can be done at the corporate level to take D&D away from humanity. It can exist in some legal way, no matter what happens at WotC, Hasbro, or anywhere else in the future.​

​

When I looked at the situation that TSR was in when they were acquired, I knew there was a very good chance that D&D would cease to exist because TSR had pledged its intellectual property against loans that they couldn't repay to different lenders. Had the company gone into bankruptcy, those lenders would have gone to bankruptcy court and fought over who controlled TSR's IP. If that happened there's a very good chance we would have ended up with a situation where nobody controlled enough of D&D to do anything with it, and it would have just stopped existing. The OGL, with the System Reference Document, means D&D is immortal. That's the most important thing, and I think that's valuable to everybody."​

Yes, 20+ years later he says that. At the time it was purely a business move and he repeatedly said so and said it’s how he convinced management to go along.