D&D (2024) WotC Reveals The Confirmed Release Dates of 2024's D&D Slate

We now have the actual release dates of the upcoming slate of Dungeons & Dragons books, as shared by WotC via a press release emailed out a few minutes ago.

• Vecna: Eve of Ruin (May 21)
• The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 (June 18)
• Quests from the Infinite Staircase (July 16)
• Player’s Handbook (Sept 17)
• Dungeons Master’s Guide (Nov 12)
• Monster Manual (Feb. 18, 2025)

Vecna: Eve of Ruin

• Adventure Campaign
• For characters of levels 10-20
• A high-stakes adventure in which the fate of the entire multiverse hangs in the balance. The heroes begin in the Forgotten Realms and travel to Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk as they race to save existence from obliteration by the notorious lich Vecna who is weaving a ritual to eliminate good, obliterate the gods, and subjugate all worlds.
• Release Date: May 21, 2024

The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977

• History of D&D
• The ultimate book showcasing D&D’s inception, including Gary Gygax’s never-before-seen first draft of D&D written in 1973, a curated collection of published fanzine and magazine articles contribute to D&D’s origin story. Each document is introduced, described, and woven into the story by one of the game’s foremost historians, Jon Peterson.
• Release Date: June 18, 2024

Quests from the Infinite Staircase

• Adventure Anthology
• For character levels 1 to 13.
• This anthology weaves together six classic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventures while updating them for the game’s fifth edition. The Infinite Staircase holds doors leading to fantastic realms. It’s home to the noble genie Nafas, who hears wishes made throughout the multiverse and recruits heroes to fulfill them.
• Release Date: July 16, 2024

Player’s Handbook (2024)

• Player resource
• Take your game to the next level with the revised 2024 Player's Handbook. More player options, enhanced organization, and engaging additions to the fifth edition rules, make this a must have for your next Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
• Release Date: September 17, 2024

Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)

• DM resource
• It's never been easier to become the Dungeon Master than with the revised 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide. Learn the craft from the experts in a cleverly crafted and accessible approach to running your own game. With more tools than ever before, becoming the master of your own multiverse will be a snap.
• Release Date: November 12, 2024

Monster Manual (2025)

• DM Resource
• The revised 2025 Monster Manual brings you the greatest selection of foes to face off with your player's characters than ever assembled in the history of the game. More options at all levels of play means more ways to provide the challenges that will keep them coming back to the table again and again.
• Release Date: February 18, 2025

 

[Corinnguard]

Should I take the release date of the DMG being right before my birthday as a sign?

If so, as a sign of what?

You should. The release date for the new PHB is right before my birthday too.

A sign from the RPG Gods?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Should I take the release date of the DMG being right before my birthday as a sign?

If so, as a sign of what?

It's a sign that you should run a game!

 

[Charlaquin]

These dates line up with what I've been expecting since WotC first mentioned that "the Anniversary will continue into 2025". The ONLY detail that differs is I thought that the DMG and the MM would be the other way around.

Yeah, I was surprised at DMG before MM too, but I guess it makes sense, since all the in-print monsters are fully usable with the new rules.

 

[Stormonu]

I gotta admit, I'm pretty surprised that the first adventure of the updated rules is for levels 10-20. Not that I'm complaining mind you, it's just unexpected.

No, no, no. This is the last adventure of the current edition. Lets them blow up the Realms one more time for the new edition.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The D&D One moniker also feels completely obsolete.

They seem to have dropped that fairly quickly when the overall trend (on youtube and elsewhere) was to completely "misunderstand" what they were going for with that name.

(I put misunderstand in quotes, because I think that there was a LOT of deliberate "misunderstanding" going on, but honest or not, the confusion spread quickly).

The original plan, spelled out in plain English in the first post on the subject, was that "OneD&D" was the name of the initiative to have people consider Print 5e, Digital 5e, F2F D&D, & VTT D&D to ALL be "one" thing - D&D. AND that they were working on updated rulebooks. The updated rulebooks were NEVER meant to be called OneD&D. The initiative was called that.

 

[Demetrios1453]

A little tidbit I worked out while discussing things in the Venca-specific thread. There are three pictures in the crystals on the Vecna regular cover: in the front are a Spelljammer ship and what appears to be Castle Ravenloft, and on the back there's what appears to be Avernus. On the back of the alt cover, there are seven symbols in the outer ring (presumably representing the pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts), and three symbols in the center, which were the symbols used for the Descent to Avernus, Curse of Strahd, and Spelljammer campaigns. This very much seems to indicate that Ravenloft, Avernus, and Spelljammer will play important roles in the Vecna campaign.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Yeah, I was surprised at DMG before MM too, but I guess it makes sense, since all the in-print monsters are fully usable with the new rules.

The MM has the biggest Art Order, too, and the most fiddly post-production layout to worry about.

Yeah, it makes sense.

I think that the DMG is probably the MOST WORK, overall (at least, to make a GOOD version, which they, and we, really hope that this one will be), but because of that, they've probably put more time into it in advance.

 

[Minigiant]

I think that IS their justification, but I suspect that they'd have rather had all three core books out in 2024 - it just didn't work out that way. (Or in other words - I don't think that this was done "on purpose" but more like "juggling" or "spinning plates" and this is the closest they could get to a reasonable "landing").

Playtesting the PHB took too long.

A properly timed playtest would take so long it would kill the current version of the game's sales.

A deadline ensures the books make the anniversary but won't get 90% of what they want done.

 

[RoughCoronet0]

No, no, no. This is the last adventure of the current edition. Lets them blow up the Realms one more time for the new edition.

It’s tradition after all.

 

[CapnZapp]

They seem to have dropped that fairly quickly when the overall trend (on youtube and elsewhere) was to completely "misunderstand" what they were going for with that name.

(I put misunderstand in quotes, because I think that there was a LOT of deliberate "misunderstanding" going on, but honest or not, the confusion spread quickly).

The original plan, spelled out in plain English in the first post on the subject, was that "OneD&D" was the name of the initiative to have people consider Print 5e, Digital 5e, F2F D&D, & VTT D&D to ALL be "one" thing - D&D. AND that they were working on updated rulebooks. The updated rulebooks were NEVER meant to be called OneD&D. The initiative was called that.

Yeah it was a very bad idea overall.

If people took it to mean WotC wanted them to stop playing OD&D or AD&D or 3E or whatever, it pissed them off.

If people took it to mean WotC wanted them to play only using expensive subscriptions and accesories, it pissed them off.

If people took it to mean the new rulebooks would be the One and only D&D, it pissed them off.

Basically, One D&D pissed everyone off.

As a sidenote, I don't think anyone misunderstood anything. I think the OGL debacle has very clearly shown what WotC dreamt off pulling off.

tl;dr: whatever nefarious purpose you read into the D&D One moniker it was probably true