Dungeons & Dragons Releases Updated Free Rules Based on 2024 ruleset

The new Free Rules for Dungeons & Dragons are now available to read on D&D Beyond. As part of today's early access launch for the new 2024 Player's Handbook, Wizards of the Coast also released the new set of Free Rules for D&D on D&D Beyond, which are intended as a compliment to the 2014 Basic Rules release. The Free Rules currently contains class rules for four classes (Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard), each with one subclass, along with a handful of species (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, and Human), and four backgrounds (Acolyte, Criminal, Sage, and Soldier). Also included are 12 feats, 48 creature statblocks (mostly related to wild shape or familiar forms), and 320 spells.

Wizards of the Coast noted that these new Basic Rules are not the new SRD 5.2 and they will be updated with additional rules material (such as the remaining classes) once the full 2024 Player's Handbook is released later this month. The SRD 5.2 will be released once all three core rulebooks are released in 2025.

On September 17th, the Free Rules for Dungeons & Dragons will also be released on other partner VTTs in addition to D&D Beyond.

 

[sevenbastard]

I notice right away, people have been claiming shields are now equipped with a free object interaction or drawn as part of an attack like a weapon, but… It says right there in the armor table that a shield takes a Utilize action to don or doff.

Yeah but if you say something enough online maybe your DM will think it's true.

 

[mellored]

I notice right away, people have been claiming shields are now equipped with a free object interaction or drawn as part of an attack like a weapon, but… It says right there in the armor table that a shield takes a Utilize action to don or doff.

I think they changed it between the preview .pdf copies they sent out to YouTuber's and the actual printing.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think they changed it between the preview .pdf copies they sent out to YouTuber's and the actual printing.

Apparently they changed it between sending it to the printers and uploading the digital version to D&D Beyond, at least according to folks who now have physical copies

 

[mellored]

Apparently they changed it between sending it to the printers and uploading the digital version to D&D Beyond, at least according to folks who now have physical copies

It would be unrealistic to expect perfection when it never happened before.

We should probably judge based on how many lines of errata we get.

 

[Yaarel]

It would be unrealistic to expect perfection when it never happened before.

We should probably judge based on how many lines of errata we get.

Personally, I prefer digital rules with continual rules updates/errata, rather than an unchanging hardcopy with sometimes problematic rules.

Maybe DnDBeyond can have a "Beta" version that accumulates the recent updates, so online players can select it, then annually (or whenever) make these updates official in the next printing.

 

[Barantor]

Pity they want them online like this via D&D Beyond rather than the PDF format they were in for the 2014 Basic Free Rules. We also had pdf form fillable sheets right on the wizards site. This move to have everything integrated into Beyond might work for some folks but I'm walking away.

 

[Uta-napishti]

Oh, the 2024 rules will be out in PDF. Unfortunately, WoTC is just deciding they won't be the ones putting it out.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Oh, the 2024 rules will be out in PDF. Unfortunately, WoTC is just deciding they won't be the ones putting it out.

When a post like this is made, everyone in the thread who makes their money by publishing content groans slightly, as if they were in personal pain (they are), and then moves on.

 

[Uta-napishti]

When a post like this is made, everyone in the thread who makes their money by publishing content groans slightly, as if they were in personal pain (they are), and then moves on.

Well, I am myself a publisher who makes money by selling PDFs ...

I am just encouraging WoTC to sell digital PDFs of their core 5E content, rather than leaving PDFs a playground for pirates. I am aware they make PDFs of their < 5E archive and some marginal products, but the only PDFs I can get of their new stuff are produced by pirates. This product is free for crying out loud, and they want it as widely distributed as possible.

 

[clearstream]

I found this of interest, right at the outset

Imagination is a key ingredient of Dungeons & Dragons, a cooperative game in which the characters that you roleplay embark on adventures together in fantasy worlds filled with monsters and magic.

In D&D, the action takes place in the imaginations of the players, and it’s narrated by everyone together.

And this, under Ability Checks

The DM and the rules often call for an ability check when a creature attempts something other than an attack that has a chance of meaningful failure. When the outcome is uncertain and narratively interesting, the dice determine the result.