On August 1st the 2024 5th Edition Player’s Handbook will be available for sale at Gen Con in extremely limited quantities. This will be the first time that the book’s contents will be out in public, which means that RPGBOT and every other DnD creator you can think of will be scrambling to transition to the new rules.
For folks at Gen Con looking to grab a copy: Tickets to buy a copy go live at 7am EDT each day and the actual sale window if you get a ticket is: Thursday, August 1: 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. EDT Friday-Saturday, August 2-4, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EDT. D&D has some more information. Apparently designers Chris Perkins, Jeremy Crawford, and Josh Herman will be signing copies.
If this is your first edition change, I have some words of experience which I hope will settle some nerves. I’ve been playing DnD since 3rd Edition was just the core rulebooks. I know we have readers who’ve been playing even longer than that, but the vast majority of our readers joined the hobby in the 10 years since 5e launched, which means that most people reading this have never been through an edition change.
I won’t say “everything is going to be okay”, because I can’t promise that.
It Is Okay to Keep Playing the 2014 Rules
There will be groups who stick to the 2014 5e rules. There are groups who have played the same edition since they started, some dating all the way back to OD&D, the original published rules. No one is going to come to your house and take your books just because there’s a new edition.
If you’re totally happy with the 2014 rules, that’s okay! There’s a lot of official content, and there’s more fantastic 3rd-party content than any group could possibly consume in a lifetime. It’s okay to stay with the rules that you like. This is a hobby. Play what makes you happy.
If you want to wait a while to transition, that’s okay, too! In my experience, it takes about 2 years for the majority of the active player base to move to the new rules. In that time we’re likely to see two full-length adventures and likely one rules expansion similar to Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. When you’re ready to transition, there may be some very exciting content to explore.
It Is Okay to Jump to the 2024 Rules
The 2024 core rulebooks will be released through the Fall of 2024 and the Spring of 2025 (the Monster Manual releases in February). People are going to handle this differently, but I’m assuming that most folks won’t start playing games under the 2024 rules until after the holidays.
Regardless of your timeline, the 2024 rules offer some exciting new toys. Weapon Mastery, new subclasses, updated character options, an updated character creation process, and revamped monsters all promise to provide some exciting new experiences with the game.
If you want to make a clean break from the 2014 rules, that’s okay! They’re a complete version of the rules that will be playable on their own. While we’ve been promised backwards compatibility, backwards compatibility always comes with some headaches, so it’s perfectly fine to take a fresh start and stick to just the new stuff.
If you want to keep using your 2014 content, that’s okay, too! The 2024 rules are intended to be backwards-compatible with the 2014 rules. We don’t know specifically how that works in practice yet, but I expect that there will be some rough edges that the community will work through over time. If WotC doesn’t publish a compatibility guide, RPGBOT will. Until then, work out the rough edges with your group to figure out what works for you.
Expect Improvements, but Don’t Expect Perfection
The 2024 rules won’t be perfect. Based on what we’ve seen in previews, there are already pain points both in the character options and in the system itself. People can and should discuss them and what to do about them. Homebrew solutions will be numerous. Some will be good.
No TTRPG is perfect, and people will learn to adapt to the new issues, but I’m optimistic that a lot of the 2014 rules’ pain points will be addressed. Except mounted combat. I’m expecting mounted combat to remain a frustrating mess, so I still have a dead horse to beat. We all need hobbies, right?
Regardless of our opinions about changes in the rules, do not turn your frustrations into harassing people who work for Wizards of the Coast or other people in the TTRPG space. Those are real, human people who deserve to be treated with the same kindness and respect with which you would treat someone in real life.
It is Okay to Play Other Games
If you’re finding that D&D doesn’t do it for you anymore, regardless of your reason, it’s okay to play other games. If you want a D&D-like experience, Pathfinder and Tales of the Valiant are both excellent. If you want something further afield, there is a near-infinite supply of games to try. An edition change is a great excuse to try something new!
And if you play other games for a while, then return to D&D, that’s okay, too.
Expect New Content From RPGBOT
A new edition means a ton of new content. Stick around.
