D&D (2024) How D&D Beyond Will Handle Access To 2014 Rules

D&D Beyond has announced how the transition to the new 2024 edition will work on the platform, and how legacy access to the 2014 version of D&D will be implemented.

• You will still be able to access the 2014 Basic Rules and core rulebooks.
• You will still be able to make characters using the 2014 Player's Handbook.
• Existing home-brew content will not be impacted.
• These 2014 rules will be accessible and will be marked with a 'legacy' badge: classes, subclasses, species, backgrounds, feats, monsters.
• Tooltips will reflect the 2024 rules.
• Monster stat blocks will be updated to 2024.
• There will be terminology changes (Heroic Inspiration, Species, etc.)

D&D (2024) - Wizards of the Coast Backtracks on D&D Beyond and 2014 Content

Wizards of the Coast posted an overnight update stating that they are not going forward with previously released plans to require those wishing to use some 2014 content on D&D Beyond to use the Homebrew function to manually enter it. Instead, all the content including spells and magic items will...

www.enworld.org

 

[mamba]

However, the text for Unarmed Strikes has been fully updated to the 2024 rules even for 2014 characters. This I did not expect.

I think they quietly said that this would be the case and hoped that no one would notice / care. At a minimum this was left out of the stuff they announced to truly have two versions for and distinguish between 2014 and 2024

 

[pukunui]

I think they quietly said that this would be the case and hoped that no one would notice / care. At a minimum this was left out of the stuff they announced to truly have two versions for and distinguish between 2014 and 2024

Indeed. I will discuss with my groups individually - for my Witchlight game, we might just give it a try since all the players rely on DDB. However, my other groups are a mix of DDB and pen-and-paper, so I'll have to tell the DDB players to ignore that rule change for now.

I am going to roll with the change from Inspiration to Heroic Inspiration for my Witchlight game, but I'll get my Eberron players to continue to ignore it since we've been using a variation on action points instead of inspiration for that game anyway, and I will continue to do so. (We only play in person, but two of my players use DDB on their phones. For the action points, I give everyone a d6 that they can roll at the table.)

 

[SlyFlourish]

I'm advocating for using the brand name when talking about a specific 5e variant and 5e compatible when speaking to them as a whole. Saying it's all 5e does nothing but confuse the issue.

I agree completely. And one of those brand names is D&D. D&D 2014, D&D 2024, A5E, TOV. These are all variants of 5e and have largely compatible material between them and thousands of other 5e compatible supplements.

 

[FrogReaver]

I agree completely. And one of those brand names is D&D. D&D 2014, D&D 2024, A5E, TOV. These are all variants of 5e and have largely compatible material between them and thousands of other 5e compatible supplements.

So is d&d 5e compatible?

 

[SlyFlourish]

I do not consider PHB core books to be compatible, they are replacements. You could maybe use them alongside, depends on the case I guess, @Imaro was saying Symbaroum is not compatible with D&D 5e despite being a 5e ruleset

They include material easily compatible with one another. I use ToVs luck system in all my 5e games. I think D&D 2024 has stuff easily dropped into A5E or ToV like surprise or exhaustion. A5Es system for supply and safe havens can drop right into ToV or D&D. That’s the cool bit. All these 5e compatible systems have stuff you can move from one to the other.

 

[SlyFlourish]

So is d&d 5e compatible?

Yes! D&D 2014 and D&D 2024 are both 5e compatible.

 

[FrogReaver]

Yes! D&D 2014 and D&D 2024 are both 5e compatible.

Then you mean something entirely different by ‘5e’ than I do. I don’t know for a fact but I bet an overwhelming majority would find it weird saying 2014 5th edition d&d is 5e compatible.

 

[SlyFlourish]

I really don’t understand why it’s so controversial to say:

5e used to refer to compatibility with the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons (2014). Today 5e means general compatibility with several 5e-based core systems and thousands of supplements, campaigns, and adventures.

I don’t think any part of that is inaccurate or diminishes the effort of the creators of D&D 2014.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Then you mean something entirely different by ‘5e’ than I do. I don’t know for a fact but I bet an overwhelming majority would find it weird saying 2014 5th edition d&d is 5e compatible.

Is it not?

 

[FrogReaver]

Is it not?

No.