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.

 

[Voadam]

I just noticed the 5.1 SRD released the name St. Cuthbert for use in CC (under the OGL proper names in the 5.1 SRD were reserved as PI and were not OGC).

 

[Azzy]

I just noticed the 5.1 SRD released the name St. Cuthbert for use in CC (under the OGL proper names in the 5.1 SRD were reserved as PI and were not OGC).

View attachment 403372

Considering that there was a real St. Cuthbert, that name could never be PI.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I guess based on this, we should expect a new SRD shortly...Ooops.

 

[Yaarel]

I guess based on this, we should expect a new SRD shortly...Ooops.

Why is this a problem? Because there are two versions of Iron Golem? One if it is Large, and the other if it is Medium/Small. I am sure that is intentional. At least this, isnt a problem.

 

[Dire Bare]

Keep in mind there were a number of popular games (Pathfinder, Mutants and Masterminds, DCCRPG, the whole OSR movement) that may not put out major competition, but do carve out a niche and wouldn't exist if the OGL wasn't designed to have that break glass scenario. I'm ok that it did, most of those games are legit good, but I don't think Dancy expected so many OGL products to explicitly bypass the PHB using the OGL. In that regard, too many companies were more than willing to "reprint the SRD" and make money off it.

Dancy was a strategist, but not a prophet.

I'm not saying that there aren't, and haven't been, popular, well-selling games!

But they don't offer significant competition to D&D. The sales difference between the #2 best-selling game is pretty far distant from D&D sales. The only time this wasn't true was between 4E and 5E, when WotC stopped putting out D&D product.

 

[Voadam]

Why is this a problem? Because there are two versions of Iron Golem? One if it is Large, and the other if it is Medium/Small. I am sure that is intentional. At least this, isnt a problem.

The second one is a humanoid and repeatedly referred to as a knight in the lower part of the statblock.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The second one is a humanoid and repeatedly referred to as a knight in the lower part of the statblock.

Yeah, it's obviously supposed to be "knight". They just forgot to update the name when they copy and pasted.

 

[Yaarel]

The second one is a humanoid and repeatedly referred to as a knight in the lower part of the statblock.

Ah.

Heh. Is this the new Warforged for the CC?

 

[Yaarel]

Yeah, it's obviously supposed to be "knight". They just forgot to update the name when they copy and pasted.

Heh, looking at a glance at a wall of text, without comment or hint, isnt "obvious".

 

[Remathilis]

I'm not saying that there aren't, and haven't been, popular, well-selling games!

But they don't offer significant competition to D&D. The sales difference between the #2 best-selling game is pretty far distant from D&D sales. The only time this wasn't true was between 4E and 5E, when WotC stopped putting out D&D product.

You don't need a Pepsi to directly challenge Coke if their are enough other Sodas that can each take just enough from their sales to make Coca-Cola nervous. Even if WotC isn't afraid of losing it's market dominance, I'm still sure the C-Suite regrets giving away the formula and allowing so many other companies to eat those sales that could have gone to them.