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]

we are talking about editions here, it is not about othering them, just about discussing what constitutes sufficient changes to warrant a new edition

Micah literally said "Those should be separate games." And the only reason to do that is to make them illegitimate of the D&D name.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Any evidence for that assertion?

Would it matter to you or change your feelings if there were?

 

[Chaosmancer]

not sure how that makes it a no.... of course they were created after it, the standard I am referring to is the 5e SRD, D&D, A5e and ToV are all implementations of that 'standard', just like HDs and computers support the SATA standard to be interoperable.

No, they are not all implementations of that standard.

5e DnD was created, whole cloth, without any SRD being referenced. There was not a single point in time where WoTC went "we need to look at the reference document for how to write this rule, to follow the "standard" set by a different company". WoTC set the standard.

A5e or Level Up, at the very least, has always been "You like DnD 5e, here are a bunch of houserules for it" and based entirely on 5e. I haven't seen as much of Tales of the Valiant, but it did much the same in its marketing. There is a major difference here.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Not good enough. Neither Level Up nor TotV need WotC's game.

Are you stating that neither of them require the 5e Core Books to be run? In that case, why are they considered 5e at all and not seperate games entirely different from 5e? If they have their own PHB, MM and everything else and don't need anything from the DnD 5e games, then they are not the same game.

And, funnily enough, looking at Level Up at least... sure seems like they want to have their cake and eat it too.

FAQs — Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E)

www.levelup5e.com

So what exactly is Level Up?​

This is an ‘advanced’ version of the 5E ruleset, presented as a hardcover standalone game. It adds more customization and depth to the game.

So it’s not a 5E supplement?​

No! This is a standalone game ! While it is 100% compatible with 5E, it is a core ruleset. It includes everything you need to play.

Is it still 5th Edition?​

Yes! This is still the game you know and love. We love it too! All your 5E books will be compatible with this new game.

So, Level up is Dungeons and Dragons 5e edition, just a stand-alone version of it with entirely different rules, except where those rules are the exact same? Which again... really just amounts to a bunch of homebrew for DnD 5e. That's all this is. Very extensive homebrew for 5e, but but it exists solely as a version of Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. ADDING to the that game, but unwilling to be its own game, separate from DnD.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Not good enough. Neither Level Up nor TotV need WotC's game.

Yeah, but you need WotC's audience.

As soon as WotC's audience moves off of 5E and onto D&D 6E (whenever that gets made), Level Up and Valiant are going to be hurting for players the same way all the would-be 4E players complaining that no one wants to play 4E because they all want to play 5E.

Will there be some tables that continue to play Level Up ten years from now? Sure. But will EN World also be filled with people saying they'd like to play Level Up but that no one in their area wants to because they are all playing 6E? Also sure.

 

[Chaosmancer]

or a bump, just like Paizo during the shift to 4e… there will always be people who do not move to a new edition, there are even people that won’t switch to 2024, but it being compatible reduces the desire to jump ship

I doubt they would get a bump at this point. Maybe Tales of the Valiant because it is still "new" but anyone who wanted to move over the Level Up has already done so.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So they could be othered and ignored as not "real" D&D.

(Honestly, we should take Gary at his word that AD&D was a separate game from D&D and thus the Basic D&D was the true heir to OD&D. Everything else are different games wearing D&D's name).

Yeah, I think all those should be considered different games, if they don't allow or make difficult the same styles of play. To me that means they are different games. It doesn't mean one is better than another. We all have favorites. I loved 1e and 2e, but if they were called something else I would still love them.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Micah literally said "Those should be separate games." And the only reason to do that is to make them illegitimate of the D&D name.

This to me overvalues the D&D name and implies a value judgement I didn't make. I don't wish Level Up was called Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah, but you need WotC's audience.

As soon as WotC's audience moves off of 5E and onto D&D 6E (whenever that gets made), Level Up and Valiant are going to be hurting for players the same way all the would-be 4E players complaining that no one wants to play 4E because they all want to play 5E.

Will there be some tables that continue to play Level Up ten years from now? Sure. But will EN World also be filled with people saying they'd like to play Level Up but that no one in their area wants to because they are all playing 6E? Also sure.

EN World would be filled with people asking Morrus for Level Up Again: A6e.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Would it matter to you or change your feelings if there were?

It would certainly matter to me of there was evidence. It probably wouldn't change my feelings, but who expects anyone's feelings to change?