Key findings
- Originally, D&D Beyond would have replaced the 2014 rules with the 2024 rules, making old rulebooks obsolete on the platform.
- After much outrage in the community, D&D Beyond will now support backwards compatibility between the old and new core rulebooks.
- The community response prompted D&D Beyond and Wizards of the Coast to act quickly.
Dungeons & Dragons Beyond, Wizards of the Coast’s official digital companion to the tabletop game, now enables backward compatibility between content from the 2014 and 2024 editions of the Player’s Handbook and other core rulebooks.
In a previous changelog, D&D Beyond stated that players who wanted to use content from the 2014 manual would have to resort to “homebrew,” a separate system within the app for player-created content.
The old and the new
In an updated statement, D&D Beyond walked back those changes: “Our enthusiasm for the 2024 Core Rulebooks has led us to view these planned updates as welcome improvements and free upgrades to existing content,” the statement begins. “We misjudged the impact of this change and believe you should be free to choose your own playstyle. We’re taking your feedback to heart and will be doing the following…”
The statement then goes on to say that players who only have access to the 2014 Player’s Handbook will retain everything on their digital character sheets. Players will be able to access both the new and old editions and choose between the two when creating a new character, with D&D Beyond allowing for various backwards compatibility scenarios.
For example, a player can create a cleric using the 2024 Player’s Handbook. However, when he reaches level 3, he may want to choose the Knowledge Domain subclass from the 2014 Player’s Handbook. He is free to do so, and his cleric will continue to level up using the 2024 rules.
One of the main complaints from the community prior to these changes is that they don’t want to be forced to upgrade to Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e, especially when they’re in the middle of a campaign. This is especially egregious because D&D Beyond rulebooks cost money and older content becomes obsolete, essentially making this purchase obsolete and hurting the consumer.
Fortunately, the outrage in the community sparked so much that D&D Beyond and Wizards of the Coast responded quickly.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that took the world by storm in the 1970s and continues to enchant millions of players today. With a seemingly endless number of campaigns to play and spin-off media ranging from video games to blockbuster movies, you’ll never get bored of D&D.
