Looks like things will be backwards compatible. You may need to tweek older resources to balance things out. I have heard no word on how they are going to do the character creation tool side of it. Will they try to mesh the character creator or just make it a new tool?
I see they're "backwards compatible," but like the OP asked, will there be like a toggle button or something so we can still use 2014 ruleset? Like if we're mid-campaign and want to keep playing with the set we started. Or if my level 11 wizard hits level 12 in October, will the spells, feats, etc. at level up now follow the new rules?
All info I have seen says nothing about how things will be on DnD Beyond, just info on the PHB and a little on the MM.
Same. It's all basically saying "you can use your old stuff if you want to," i.e. if your DM lets you in this game of make believe, but nothing about whether the official digital platform makes it physically possible to keep using your old stuff. Or when they update the free basic rules, will it overwrite everything?
There's been no official guidance on this in terms of how D&D Beyond will work. That said, going off the past? When certain races were made legacy, if your character was using a legacy race it just had the legacy tag on it then. From a character perspective, there is no "toggle" in the character sheet to just flip it back and forth from legacy to standard. You have to edit the character sheet and go to the race portion and choose the new version of the race, which then in turn edits what the race can do and all of its associated features. If you built it with the legacy aarakocra, your walking speed was 25 and fly speed was 50. If you built it with the Multiverse version, your walk and fly speed were 30.
I have to imagine it's going to be the same. You have to figure there are 8+ years of characters on this website, and editing all of them with new rulesets would be a massive, massive overhaul. It's far easier to just add (2014 Version) or some such shit to the titles of current classes and then, presuming you own the content for the new stuff that is beyond SRD 5.whatever, you'll get access to the 4 new sub-classes for each main class.
Again, going off of prior history. The 2014 books will still exist. You'll still have access. You probably won't be able to purchase them anymore, but that is a guess but fits with the history, ex. Tome of Foes Vs Monsters of the Multiverse. The 2024 versions aren't errata, so unlike the overhaul that Curse of Strahd got, the version on the website won't change. Tome of Foes as an example, if you own that content here, you still have access to it. You can use it as inspiration for whatever and it works within the Encounter Builder.
Thanks-- that makes sense. Hopefully we get some official confirmation. The SRD rewrite was my main thought.
Even then, SRD 5.2 is a separate document from 5.1. Anything released under 5.1 will operate under 5.1 guidelines. Anything released with content from 5.2 will operate under 5.2 guidelines. They have said that they aren't releasing the 5E SRD until around the time the Monster Manual comes out, aka Feb 2025.
When the new books release will they overwrite the 2014 rules? Or will both exist? Will we be able to choose which we use in our games?
Can anyone answer these questions?
Looks like things will be backwards compatible. You may need to tweek older resources to balance things out. I have heard no word on how they are going to do the character creation tool side of it. Will they try to mesh the character creator or just make it a new tool?
TO DEFEND: THIS IS THE PACT.
BUT WHEN LIFE LOSES ITS VALUE,
AND IS TAKEN FOR NAUGHT-
THEN THE PACT IS, TO AVENGE.
I see they're "backwards compatible," but like the OP asked, will there be like a toggle button or something so we can still use 2014 ruleset? Like if we're mid-campaign and want to keep playing with the set we started. Or if my level 11 wizard hits level 12 in October, will the spells, feats, etc. at level up now follow the new rules?
All info I have seen says nothing about how things will be on DnD Beyond, just info on the PHB and a little on the MM.
TO DEFEND: THIS IS THE PACT.
BUT WHEN LIFE LOSES ITS VALUE,
AND IS TAKEN FOR NAUGHT-
THEN THE PACT IS, TO AVENGE.
Same. It's all basically saying "you can use your old stuff if you want to," i.e. if your DM lets you in this game of make believe, but nothing about whether the official digital platform makes it physically possible to keep using your old stuff. Or when they update the free basic rules, will it overwrite everything?
There's been no official guidance on this in terms of how D&D Beyond will work. That said, going off the past? When certain races were made legacy, if your character was using a legacy race it just had the legacy tag on it then. From a character perspective, there is no "toggle" in the character sheet to just flip it back and forth from legacy to standard. You have to edit the character sheet and go to the race portion and choose the new version of the race, which then in turn edits what the race can do and all of its associated features. If you built it with the legacy aarakocra, your walking speed was 25 and fly speed was 50. If you built it with the Multiverse version, your walk and fly speed were 30.
I have to imagine it's going to be the same. You have to figure there are 8+ years of characters on this website, and editing all of them with new rulesets would be a massive, massive overhaul. It's far easier to just add (2014 Version) or some such shit to the titles of current classes and then, presuming you own the content for the new stuff that is beyond SRD 5.whatever, you'll get access to the 4 new sub-classes for each main class.
Again, going off of prior history. The 2014 books will still exist. You'll still have access. You probably won't be able to purchase them anymore, but that is a guess but fits with the history, ex. Tome of Foes Vs Monsters of the Multiverse. The 2024 versions aren't errata, so unlike the overhaul that Curse of Strahd got, the version on the website won't change. Tome of Foes as an example, if you own that content here, you still have access to it. You can use it as inspiration for whatever and it works within the Encounter Builder.
Thanks-- that makes sense. Hopefully we get some official confirmation. The SRD rewrite was my main thought.
Even then, SRD 5.2 is a separate document from 5.1. Anything released under 5.1 will operate under 5.1 guidelines. Anything released with content from 5.2 will operate under 5.2 guidelines. They have said that they aren't releasing the 5E SRD until around the time the Monster Manual comes out, aka Feb 2025.
https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1717-2024-core-rulebooks-to-expand-the-srd
They aren't going to overwrite your existing books, so... yes, you can use the 2014 rules. It may be less convenient to use them on this site.