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

 

[DinoInDisguise]

Depends on how good 6e is.

I think this depends on what WotC learned from 5e's success. If they learned that the larger community is in the hobby for the social interaction, they may have a successful 6e. But if they make a hard flip to mechanical depth and balance, again, in an attempt to capture that segment of the player base, I feel like 6e will be a repeat of 4e.

I don't think the money grubbin' bobs and bobbettes in the board room will let them make that mistake, but I hesitate to over-estimate their room reading skills.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No, that isn't the truth. Nothing changed with the rule set when it hit the SRD. What changed was that WoTC wouldn't sue you for copying their homework and selling it to the marketplace.

It became available to all. That's a big difference. All the difference really.

 

[Minigiant]

I think this depends on what WotC learned from 5e's success. If they learned that the larger community is in the hobby for the social interaction, they may have a successful 6e. But if they make a hard flip to mechanical depth and balance, again, in an attempt to capture that segment of the player base, I feel like 6e will be a repeat of 4e.

I don't think the money grubbin' bobs and bobbettes in the board room will let them make that mistake, but I hesitate to over-estimate their room reading skills.

I think if 6e manages a decent social pillar and allows for both simple and complex characters of all major archetypes the it would be a major success. Do a moderately balanced version of champion/battlemaster split for the fighter, cleric, rogue, and wizard and Wizards of the Coast has a practical money printer.


The space for anything except for an Level Up 6e which cranks up the complexity for outliers like ranger, paladin, and warlock will be very small.

 

[mamba]

No, it is at the very least the standard itself. And being the standard is very different from being based on the standard and borrowing from it.

the standard is what is in the SRD, which is a subset of D&D 5e. I did not say anything about them borrowing from the standard, I said they are one implementation of it. If it matters to you I can also say they are the original implementation of it, but whether they are or not is not really all that relevant to there being one

 

[mamba]

Okay, well then if you want to look at 2035 and guess at what happens with a 6e then... then I would say that Tales of the Valiant and Level Up will absolutely not get a bump in adopters from that change. Because people who would stick to 2014 DnD 5e....

that is not what happened with 3e to 4e, so I would not be so sure about that.

People like not sitting on a dead end that is not supported any more, so if ToV still gets support but 5e no longer does, some people will switch, maybe even most of those not moving to 6e

 

[mamba]

No, that isn't the truth. Nothing changed with the rule set when it hit the SRD. What changed was that WoTC wouldn't sue you for copying their homework and selling it to the marketplace.

which is exactly what it means to no longer be D&D only

 

[mamba]

Reps from WotC during the D&D direct, point blank said they want people to play whatever game they want to on the vtt.

guess we will see, I am not sure it does not have some implicit assumptions built into it that conflict with some other TTRPGs.

I consider that more a long term goal, if any. They will lack all the integration they have with DDB at least. I am sure they are not opposed to it, but that is not the same as making it a priority

 

[Imaro]

which is exactly what it means to no longer be D&D only

But this has been happening since 3e... licensing s9mething doesn't change what it is or who owns it.

 

[Daztur]

I think D&D is heading for a rupture sooner or later. That's not a hard prediction to make since fads never last forever and D&D outside of the hardcore fans has always been a fad that's come and gone. But on a more fundamental level I think that the kind of play that 5.*e rules support and the kind of play that a lot of new players actually want don't match up that well (I think a good barometer of how good rules are at supporting what people want is how much fudging the DM does, as fudging is generally a sign that the DM isn't getting what they want out of the rules they are using, and fudging seems VERY prevalent among 5e newbies).

And D&D having a rupture isn't a bad thing. The level of dominance that D&D has enjoyed for the last few years isn't good for the hobby. It keeps new ideas from flowing in and results in a lot of people spending a lot of time hammering a very square peg into a very round hole instead of playing games that do a better job of giving them what they want.

A period where a lot of players flow from D&D into other games would be nice right about now.

But then another period of D&D pumping in a bunch of new players later would also be nice later on.

The hobby really needs both: periods where D&D falters and new ideas can flow in and periods where D&D dominates and pumps in the new players the hobby needs to keep from becoming a bunch of cranky greying grognards. Because we really HAVE needed D&D to pump in new players. I can't think of any game that managed to get a bunch of newbies playing RPGs except Vampire in the 90's. Until other games can reliably pump in new players we NEED D&D, we also need D&D to faceplant every so often to keep a flow of players from D&D to other games going.

 

[Imaro]

guess we will see, I am not sure it does not have some implicit assumptions built into it that conflict with some other TTRPGs

I am not saying they are not aiming for it, I am just not sure they meet the goal

Like what? This is is such a vague statement I'm not sure what you're trying to say. I'm sure there may be ttrpgs that are more difficult or impossible to run on a vtt... any vtt.