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]

The issue is that one of the main reasons to use D&D Beyond is the tooltip feature. And it's not just the character sheet. Any hyperlinks in 2014 monsters will also point the DM to the 2024 rules.

For me, the whole point of using D&D Beyond was for the convenience, and this makes it a helluva lot less convenient for people still using the 2014 rules as to be not really worth it. It also sucks that the change is being forced on us. I wanted to swap over to the 2024 rules in my own time and at my own pace, but I can't do that if I want to keep using D&D Beyond.

I empathize, but that's the cost of digital ownership..I don't have a choice when my favorite video game gets a patch and my character gets nerfed. I can only put off Windows updates for so long before my system gets unsafe. There are lots of TV shows, movies and music that I can no longer stream or even access. It sucks, but that's the price you pay.

 

[pukunui]

I empathize, but that's the cost of digital ownership..I don't have a choice when my favorite video game gets a patch and my character gets nerfed. I can only put off Windows updates for so long before my system gets unsafe. There are lots of TV shows, movies and music that I can no longer stream or even access. It sucks, but that's the price you pay.

Ah, but see, Microsoft at least leaves it up to you to decide when to upgrade Windows. They don't generally force you to switch by upgrading your version of Windows automatically, which is what WotC is doing with the 2024 rules in D&D Beyond.

EDIT: A better comparison would be with Microsoft's Office 365 suite or Adobe's Creative Suite. They're both subscription models, and they do automatically replace old features with new ones without your say-so.

 

[Zaukrie]

Ah, but see, Microsoft at least leaves it up to you to decide when to upgrade Windows. They don't generally force you to upgrade like WotC is doing with the 2024 rules in D&D Beyond.

It's all there. You have to do some work on the data for some things. But with some minor effort, you can still use data that is out of date. MS supplies an OS, but not data. Just like WotC.

 

[pukunui]

It's all there. You have to do some work on the data for some things. But with some minor effort, you can still use data that is out of date. MS supplies an OS, but not data. Just like WotC.

I'm not sure I would call the effort minor. For me, the whole point of using D&D Beyond was to have the rules at my fingertips. If I have to go back to looking things up manually, why should I bother continuing to use DDB? DDB's compendium search function isn't the greatest, and I can actually look stuff up in the physical books faster by memorizing page numbers, which is not something you can do with the digital, non-PDF versions offered on DDB.

 

[Blue]

this is great, glad 2014 content will accessible and backwards compatible!!

If I'm just dense and this was sarcasm, forgive me; it's late.

If it's not, 2014 material will be accessible except spells, magic items, equipment, and monsters, which will be updated to 2024 regardless if you want them to. Oh, and the tooltips will give you the 2024 info.

 

[Clint_L]

What hyperbole? I always expected them to start mothballing 5e content but I didn't expect them to do it so FAST.

They are not mothballing 5e. The rules system is 5e. I've been using the UA for better than a year. It's not a radical departure. The updated rules are now the current game, but if you have purchased older content, it is still there.

This is not new. I currently have Monsters of the Multiverse as well as Volo's Guide to Monsters activated on my DDB, because I like using creatures from both of them. It's not hard. Barely an inconvenience. I toggled a switch.

Forcing people to manually go in and "homebrew" a whole slew of spells just to keep the naughty word they already paid for is incredibly dickish.

So two spells="a whole slew". And is being "dickish"? Yeah, there's the hyperbole I'm talking about.

But no, it's not incredibly "dickish" to remove a derogatory term from the game.

But what do you expect from Hasbro at this point?

In this case, they did exactly what they said they would do. So...more of that, I guess?

 

[Clint_L]

The sky is not falling no.

But I sure would like to be able to use Sleep 2014 version with my 2014 characters instead of Sleep 2024...

You CAN.

What, do you think the game will explode if you choose to use the 2014 version from your 2014 book which still exists?

One of my players is going to keep using the entire 2014 Moon Druid sub-class rules, as she intensely dislikes the new version. It's not a problem. In fact, she kept using it all year while we otherwise used the UA. It was fine. Business as usual. Zero hassle. No worries. Hakuna matata.

It just means that the tooltip on DDB will reflect the new version. I dunno about others, but we already have a ton of house rules, home-brew and rules from earlier versions of D&D and even from other games that we incorporate and that are obviously not on the DDB tooltips. Yet somehow, we manage.

The tooltip reflects the standard, current version of the game. As ever. And, as ever, virtually no one perfectly plays the standard, base version of D&D. Players have been modding the game since its inception. The tooltip cannot reflect this, and everyone understands it.

So yeah, if you want to play a non-standard or non-current version of the game, the standard, current version of the game won't perfectly match. Obviously. But in practice, for most folks this is easily manageable, and is a feature, not a flaw.

 

[John Lloyd1]

So two spells="a whole slew".

I think he is referring to this statement from the change log:

If you wish to use the old version of a magic item or spell that has been replaced by its 2024 counterpart, you will need to create a homebrew copy of it and enable homebrew content on your character sheet. Then, you can add it to your character sheet.

 

[Clint_L]

I think he is referring to this statement from the change log:

From his reference to "naughty word," I assume he means spells changed for language reasons. Which was done for exactly two spells. If I misinterpreted the intent, then he can clarify.

Otherwise, I'm not sure I understand the point he's making. You don't have to do anything to keep the books you already paid for. They are still there in your library on DDB.

Other spells you only have to change manually if you want them on the tooltip. Which isn't that much work, but more than I would bother with rather than just saying, "we're going to use the 2014 version of sleep."

 

[John Lloyd1]

From his reference to "naughty word," I assume he means spells changed for language reasons. Which was done for exactly two spells. If I misinterpreted the intent, then he can clarify.

Otherwise, I'm not sure I understand the point he's making. You don't have to do anything to keep the books you already paid for. They are still there in your library on DDB.

Other spells you only have to change manually if you want them on the tooltip. Which isn't that much work, but more than I would bother with rather than just saying, "we're going to use the 2014 version of sleep."

It is also the point where it becomes easier to use the physical book.