Hi D&D Beyond team, first of all, thank you for the recent labeling update that clearly distinguishes 5e (2014) from 5.5e (2024). It’s a smart step that genuinely improves clarity across the platform.
I’d like to propose a feature that could significantly enhance usability for many players and Dungeon Masters:
a global rules-version filter — selectable at login or in account settings — that allows users to hide either 5e or 5.5e across their entire experience.
This would provide several concrete benefits:
Stronger clarity and consistency: Users who only play with one ruleset would no longer risk mixing content accidentally, especially during character creation or when browsing their library.
A smoother onboarding experience: New players or returning players wouldn’t have to learn the difference every time—they could simply choose their preferred ruleset once and stick with it.
Reduced cognitive load: With two versions coexisting, a simple global filter would eliminate unnecessary friction and help keep the interface clean and focused.
Full flexibility: Advanced users would still be able to switch between rulesets whenever needed, making the feature helpful but not restrictive.
Even a simple toggle (“Show only 5e” / “Show only 5.5e”) would go a long way toward improving clarity and preventing confusion—especially in long-term campaigns where consistency matters.
This feels like a natural next step in the evolution of the platform’s UI/UX, and it aligns perfectly with your commitment to making D&D Beyond as intuitive and user-friendly as possible.
Thank you for considering this enhancement, and for your continued work on making the platform better for everyone!
This is a lot more complicated than you think and basically requires a partial rewrite of the site to get it to function that way. They already have massive projects as is and the stream of new books too. They're a small team - this would be a huge amount extra for little added function.
As for limiting your options for characters and such - you can already do this.
On the Home tab of the Character Builder you can enable or disable sources - use this to limit character sheet options to the ruleset you want.
The My Library page, accessed by going Library > All Sources, allows you to filter the list to only 5e (2014) or 5.5e (2024) rulesets and only see the books, owned or shared, for those rulesets.
Backgrounds, Feats, Equipment, Magic Items and Monsters pages have a Source Category option in the filter settings where you can select the specific ruleset and limit entries to that ruleset. Classes and Species do not but do show everything divided into their source books.
It is already possible to ensure you're only seeing / using the ruleset you want where you need to restrict them. There is no need at all to rewrite large sections of the site to make it a static global setting.
Given that we already see enough "where is my content" / "xyz rules are missing" posts due to somebody clicking a toggle without realising it hides content, I feel that your suggestion would actually increase the confusion, not reduce it. Especially if they select a ruleset, such as 5e, but forget about the toggle then go buy a 5.5e book and find it not appearing anywhere - which means more posts or customer support tickets about this. Some people like jumping the gun or panicking - feeling as if not seeing the book they purchased, not realising it was their mistake as to why, can cause them to feel scammed. People who feel scammed may then try to 'chargeback' the payment to force a refund - a nuclear option since this causes charges and fees to D&D Beyond, and in protection from further attempts, can terminate accounts. I have seen people experience this.
Your suggestion, while well-intentioned, is more likely to cause confusion and issues while only adding a lot more work for something you can already do anyway.
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Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond. Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ thisFAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I fully understand the technical and organizational constraints. My goal isn’t to push for a site rewrite, but to suggest an optional, persistent preference designed to reduce repeated human errors (especially during character building and quick lookups), without taking anything away from users who prefer to see everything.
To avoid the risks you mentioned (content “disappearing,” purchases not showing up, extra support tickets), here are a few lightweight UX safeguards that can make this safe and self‑explanatory:
Opt‑in, not default Users explicitly enable it (“Show only 5e” / “Show only 5.5e”). No change for everyone else.
Subtle contextual banner When content is hidden due to the selected ruleset, show a small notice (“Some results are hidden by your active filter: [Temporarily show all]”).
Purchase‑flow prompt If a user buys a title from the opposite ruleset, prompt: “You have a 5e filter enabled. Would you like to: [Disable it] [Keep it] [Show this title anyway]”.
One‑click temporary override A “Show all for 10 minutes / until end of session” button lets users explore without changing their persistent preference.
Per‑campaign default (optional but high‑value) Campaigns can set a default ruleset to prevent accidental mixing by party members.
Low‑impact MVP As a first step, even “remember the last used filter” at account level (not just per page) could remove a lot of everyday friction.
Ticket reduction, not increase With clear status messages and opt‑in, confusion should decrease. This also helps tables that consistently use a single ruleset—a very common scenario.
In short, I’m not asking for a rigid global switch, but for a safe, reversible, persistent preference that prevents frequent mistakes and smooths the experience. If helpful, I’d love to see an A/B test on a minimal version (“remember last filter + status banner”) to measure real impact on usage and support.
Thanks again for the constructive discussion and for all the work you do on the platform!
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Hi D&D Beyond team,
first of all, thank you for the recent labeling update that clearly distinguishes 5e (2014) from 5.5e (2024). It’s a smart step that genuinely improves clarity across the platform.
I’d like to propose a feature that could significantly enhance usability for many players and Dungeon Masters:
a global rules-version filter — selectable at login or in account settings — that allows users to hide either 5e or 5.5e across their entire experience.
This would provide several concrete benefits:
Even a simple toggle (“Show only 5e” / “Show only 5.5e”) would go a long way toward improving clarity and preventing confusion—especially in long-term campaigns where consistency matters.
This feels like a natural next step in the evolution of the platform’s UI/UX, and it aligns perfectly with your commitment to making D&D Beyond as intuitive and user-friendly as possible.
Thank you for considering this enhancement, and for your continued work on making the platform better for everyone!
This is a lot more complicated than you think and basically requires a partial rewrite of the site to get it to function that way. They already have massive projects as is and the stream of new books too. They're a small team - this would be a huge amount extra for little added function.
As for limiting your options for characters and such - you can already do this.
On the Home tab of the Character Builder you can enable or disable sources - use this to limit character sheet options to the ruleset you want.
The My Library page, accessed by going Library > All Sources, allows you to filter the list to only 5e (2014) or 5.5e (2024) rulesets and only see the books, owned or shared, for those rulesets.
Backgrounds, Feats, Equipment, Magic Items and Monsters pages have a Source Category option in the filter settings where you can select the specific ruleset and limit entries to that ruleset. Classes and Species do not but do show everything divided into their source books.
It is already possible to ensure you're only seeing / using the ruleset you want where you need to restrict them. There is no need at all to rewrite large sections of the site to make it a static global setting.
Given that we already see enough "where is my content" / "xyz rules are missing" posts due to somebody clicking a toggle without realising it hides content, I feel that your suggestion would actually increase the confusion, not reduce it. Especially if they select a ruleset, such as 5e, but forget about the toggle then go buy a 5.5e book and find it not appearing anywhere - which means more posts or customer support tickets about this. Some people like jumping the gun or panicking - feeling as if not seeing the book they purchased, not realising it was their mistake as to why, can cause them to feel scammed. People who feel scammed may then try to 'chargeback' the payment to force a refund - a nuclear option since this causes charges and fees to D&D Beyond, and in protection from further attempts, can terminate accounts. I have seen people experience this.
Your suggestion, while well-intentioned, is more likely to cause confusion and issues while only adding a lot more work for something you can already do anyway.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
I fully understand the technical and organizational constraints. My goal isn’t to push for a site rewrite, but to suggest an optional, persistent preference designed to reduce repeated human errors (especially during character building and quick lookups), without taking anything away from users who prefer to see everything.
To avoid the risks you mentioned (content “disappearing,” purchases not showing up, extra support tickets), here are a few lightweight UX safeguards that can make this safe and self‑explanatory:
Opt‑in, not default
Users explicitly enable it (“Show only 5e” / “Show only 5.5e”). No change for everyone else.
Subtle contextual banner
When content is hidden due to the selected ruleset, show a small notice (“Some results are hidden by your active filter: [Temporarily show all]”).
Purchase‑flow prompt
If a user buys a title from the opposite ruleset, prompt:
“You have a 5e filter enabled. Would you like to: [Disable it] [Keep it] [Show this title anyway]”.
One‑click temporary override
A “Show all for 10 minutes / until end of session” button lets users explore without changing their persistent preference.
Per‑campaign default (optional but high‑value)
Campaigns can set a default ruleset to prevent accidental mixing by party members.
Low‑impact MVP
As a first step, even “remember the last used filter” at account level (not just per page) could remove a lot of everyday friction.
Ticket reduction, not increase
With clear status messages and opt‑in, confusion should decrease. This also helps tables that consistently use a single ruleset—a very common scenario.
In short, I’m not asking for a rigid global switch, but for a safe, reversible, persistent preference that prevents frequent mistakes and smooths the experience. If helpful, I’d love to see an A/B test on a minimal version (“remember last filter + status banner”) to measure real impact on usage and support.
Thanks again for the constructive discussion and for all the work you do on the platform!