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

 

[Remathilis]

What part of 5e do they own? Just the IP?

The parts they didn't put in the CC.

 

[SlyFlourish]

You don't feel the new books are a refresh? I've only been able to look through it briefly but from what I saw its still 5e. Do you wish it had just been a reorganization with new art? Or do you wish it had been more changes?

Just to add, I love your videos.

For me, a refresh would have been fixing up what needed to be fixed and leaving the rest alone. Many of the new subsystems could have been optional rules, not core. Instead, we’re seeing a whole bunch of significant changes.

 

[SlyFlourish]

D&D 5th Edition is created, published, and owned by WotC. They opened the core of the rules, the SRD, in both the OGL and later CC. D&D 5E is an open game, owned by WotC. Several awesome game companies developed their own variations of D&D 5E, like Level Up and Tales of the Valiant. Doesn't change ownership of the game, but does affect what others can do with it.

If you are fan of one of these variants of D&D 5E over the official rules, 2014 and/or 2024 revisions . . . that's great! It all works together rather easily, despite folks claiming the 2024 revision (or the DDB implementation of it) makes "sweeping" changes to the play community.

A5e has its own 5e system reference document completely independent from the WOTC 5.1 SRD. A5e and TOV are just as “official” as D&D 2024.

 

[SlyFlourish]

WotC. Level Up is Level Up, or A5e.

What about companies that build off of the 5.2 SRD in 2025? What will you call those?

 

[SlyFlourish]

D&D 5E is 5E. WotC owns 5E.

EN World owns the A5E SRD and its 5e. ToV is 5e.

5e is a platform on which many games are built including D&D 2014, D&D 2024, A5E, and Tales of the Valiant.

 

[Remathilis]

For me, a refresh would have been fixing up what needed to be fixed and leaving the rest alone. Many of the new subsystems could have been optional rules, not core. Instead, we’re seeing a whole bunch of significant changes.

You see, that's the problem. You're "needed to be fixed" and mine are going to be different. To me, the uneven subclass progression across classes needed to be fixed. Pact magic warlocks needed to be fixed. Abilities tied to short rests and stat modifier per day needed to be fixed. Wild shape using the Monster Manual needed to be fixed. None of those things were. They backtracked on all the biggest things and opted for a slightly better version of Tasha's. The only major changes were weapon mastery, ASI and feats to background, level 3 subclasses and bastions. Everything else is errata or Tasha made core.

 

[Imaro]

EN World owns the A5E SRD and its 5e. ToV is 5e.

5e is a platform on which many games are built including D&D 2014, D&D 2024, A5E, and Tales of the Valiant.

No it's the 5th edition of D&D which WotC owns and has allowed others the ability to reference parts of in their games...

Simple question, is a Mind Flayer part of 5e is a Beholder? Are they part of what's allowed by the 5e SRD and/or creative commons? Why not if WotC doesn't own 5e?

 

[Remathilis]

No it's the 5th edition of D&D which WotC owns and has allowed others the ability to reference parts of in their games...

Simple question, is a Mind Flayer part of 5e is a Beholder? Are they part of what's allowed by the 5e SRD and/or creative commons? Why not if WotC doesn't own 5e?

I think the problem is that people are using 5e like a Common noun (like a kleenex or a jello or to google something) rather than referencing a proper noun. 5e stands for what? Fifth edition. Fifth edition of what? There are no other editions of Level Up or Tales of the Valiant. 5e stands for fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons. But since the OGL debacle, people have tried to push this narrative that 5e is more than D&D and thus can survive without it. Much like how you can google something on Bing or Duck Duck Go.

And in some senses they're right. You can play Tales of the Valiant and never touch a WotC book and it plays just fine. But the issue comes when someone playing TotV says they are playing "5e" or even "D&D" since those terms tend to point back to the Fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons and create confusion, much like if I told you to google something and you brought me Bing results instead of Google search ones.

Some of this is done due to common parlance (to play D&D, regardless of what RPG you are actually playing, is a depressingly common language tick) and some is done with motive (a desire to separate the community from WotC and it's D&D by co-opting the term for other games). But it leads to this problem where people are talking past each other by using the same words with different meaning.

 

[Minigiant]

For me, a refresh would have been fixing up what needed to be fixed and leaving the rest alone. Many of the new subsystems could have been optional rules, not core. Instead, we’re seeing a whole bunch of significant changes.

Yeah this isn't a refresh. It's a revision with a few changed rules and some popular house rules becoming core.

I'd argue that a refresh make next to Nearly Zero additional money 10 years after release compared to selling the old books still.

There's Only so much you can push 5e from official and unofficial sources before you stretch a little bit past the limit.

Like I think Nimble5e is a little too far out there to be considered 5e. IMO If you don't have advantage on attack rolls not 5e and Nimble5e doesn't even have attack rolls.

.

 

[mamba]

You see, that's the problem. You're "needed to be fixed" and mine are going to be different. To me, the uneven subclass progression across classes needed to be fixed. Pact magic warlocks needed to be fixed. Abilities tied to short rests and stat modifier per day needed to be fixed. Wild shape using the Monster Manual needed to be fixed. None of those things were.

agreed, that would have been a version I would have looked forward to, when they announced that they would not have any of that for the sake of compatibility I lost all interest and it has not returned since