Dungeons & Dragons returns to its roots in Lake Geneva, Wisc., to celebrate its 50th anniversary at Gary Con. D&D Community Manager LaTia Jacquise moderated a panel with Game Architect Chris Perkins and Senior Game Designers Amanda Harmon, Jason Tondro, and Justice Arman to showcase what's in store for 2024, and preview some stunning art* from upcoming books such as the multiverse-spanning adventure Vecna: Eve of Ruin.

Here's a breakdown of what you missed at the panel:

• 50th Anniversary Play Events Kick Off
• Shoutout to Our Partners
• Vecna: Eve of Ruin Discussion
• An Introduction to Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye
• Quests from the Infinite Staircase Spotlight
• Sneak Peek at The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977
• A Tease from the 2024 Player’s Handbook

* Please note that artwork included in this article might not be final.

50th Anniversary Play Events Kick Off

Artist: Campbell White

We're making it easier than ever for you to sit down and play with new and old friends through a series of play events held throughout our gold anniversary. These kick off this weekend at Gary Con and PAX East, where fans get to jump into tournament-style and noncompetitive D&D play with Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Top-scoring tables at these conventions will have the opportunity to win fabulous prizes!

Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth is a one-shot adaptation of a Gary Gygax original that has been remastered for the upcoming adventure collection Quests from the Infinite Staircase.

You'll get to claim a free copy of Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth here on D&D Beyond starting March 26. Dungeon Masters will get to challenge their players and compare scoring with other parties using the included optional tournament rules. D&D Beyond users with a Master-tier subscription can jump into play faster, as the adventure will be integrated into Maps, a VTT.

And if you need help finding a DM to play with, we announced earlier this month a partnership with StartPlaying. 

Shoutout to Our Partners

The panel turned the spotlight on our partners, including those whose fantastic works have been integrated into the D&D Beyond toolset:

• Tal'Dorei Reborn (Darrington Press)
• Dungeons of Drakkenheim (Dungeon Dudes, Ghostfire Gaming)
• Grim Hollow: Lairs of Etharis (Ghostfire Gaming)
• Humblewood Campaign Setting (Hit Point Press)
• Tome of Beasts 1 (Kobold Press)

Tome of Beasts 1 is the latest addition to D&D Beyond. This collection of over 400 monsters by Kobold Press went live on D&D Beyond on March 21. With it, you can delight, horrify, and challenge your players, no matter where they adventure in the vast multiverse. 

We've also been hard at work with other partners to bring more cool merch to our fans:

• Beadle & Grimm's launched preorders in early March for the Platinum Edition for Vecna: Eve of Ruin, which includes aluminum-plated cards that come together to form the iconic Rod of Seven Parts, among other goodies to help you run an immersive D&D campaign.
• Converse has D&D-themed high-top sneakers and other apparel planned for an April 11 release that will let you show off your fandom.
• The LEGO Group is taking the tabletop game to brick form with the April release of the Dungeons & Dragons: Red Dragon’s Tale set, a free-to-claim adventure, and an actual play show.
• Reyn Spooner launched a line of Aloha shirts commemorating D&D's 50th anniversary. You may spot some D&D folks wearing these around the convention!
• Sirius Dice brought back Acererak's Treasure Packs, which include a random set of dice, metal coin, and dice bag for the dice goblin in your life.
• WizKids launched a D&D 50th anniversary line of products, including a pre-painted miniatures set based on classic D&D monsters and characters, as well as plushies.

If you're at Gary Con this weekend, you can see some of this merch on display in Ballroom C!

Image courtesy of WizKids

Vecna: Eve of Ruin Discussion

Artist: Bastien Lecouffe Deharme

What happens when the archlich Vecna seeks to destroy the gods and subjugate the multiverse? You get together a team of high-level adventurers and iconic allies to stick it to him! The panel talked about the multiverse-spanning adventure Vecna: Eve of Ruin and the process behind key art made by Bastien Lecouffe Deharme.

Artist: Bastien Lecouffe Deharme

We also got a first look at a few other beautiful pieces of art from Vecna: Eve of Ruin, created by Jedd Chevier, Calder Moore, and Brian Valeza.

The adventure will take players on a tour of the multiverse as they hunt down pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts. Krynn is among the realms your players will visit. In this art by Jedd Chevier, we see a pair of adventurers outside the Three Moons Vault, a complex on Krynn where allies of Lord Soth await them.

Artist: Jedd Chevier

And here, we see Evernight in all its morbid glory in the Shadowfell. The city is a dark reflection of Neverwinter and is choked by ash and surrounded by lava. You'll find necromancers and undead aplenty walking Evernight's dark streets, and all manner of dark trades being made.

Artist: Calder Moore

Vecna: Eve of Ruin brings over 30 monsters to your table. Among them are the deathwolf and the hertilod. Deathwolves are more commonly found on Krynn, and they combine the bone-breaking might of werewolves with the horror of the undead. The hertilod are as kind as they are huggable. They arise from the corpses of dead gods in the Astral Sea. If you chance upon one, be prepared to make a quick escape aboard your spelljamming vessel!

You can learn more about the adventure book in our "What Is Vecna: Eve of Ruin?" article.

Artist: Brian Valeza

An Introduction to Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye

Artist: Greg Staples

We also got a first look at cover art by Greg Staples for Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye, a prequel adventure to Vecna: Eve of Ruin. In this one-shot adventure, your party of 3rd-level characters patrol the streets of Neverwinter and investigate a murder that leads to a face off with Vecna's cultists.

Preorder a digital copy of Vecna: Eve of Ruin or the physical + digital bundle before May 21 and you'll receive this prequel adventure as a perk. It releases on April 16. You can otherwise purchase Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye for $4.99 starting May 21, the same date that Vecna: Eve of Ruin becomes available.

Quests from the Infinite Staircase Spotlight

Artists: Syd Mills and Patrick Gañas

Open a door and take a journey through the multiverse in Quests from the Infinite Staircase, a collection of six remastered adventures from D&D's first edition. The panel showed off cover art by Syd Mills (traditional cover) and Patrick Gañas (alt cover), as well as art from two adventures, The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

The following adventures are included:

• The Lost City (1st to 3rd level)
• When a Star Falls (4th to 5th level)
• Beyond the Crystal Cave (6th level)
• Pharaoh (7th to 8th level)
• The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (9th to 10th level)
• Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (11th to 13th level)

The adventure collection went up for preorder on March 21 and releases July 16. And in case you were wondering, yes, laser guns are back!

Artists: Zolton Boros and Michele Giorgi

Sneak Peek at The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977

There's no better place to talk about a book on the inception of Dungeons & Dragons than in Lake Geneva. Attendees got an early look at pages from The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977. Below is an introductory page that talks about what you can expect from this historical book. Notably, the book publishes for the first time the first draft of D&D.

And here are the table of contents, revealing the curated collection of documents that D&D Senior Game Designer Jason Tondro walks readers through to show how the game went from an idea to a beloved TTRPG.

We then have the first page of "Part 1: Precursors," which kicks off discussions on D&D's impact on media and the importance of exploring the game's history.

And finally, these pages show original artwork for iconic monsters such as the mind flayer and roper.

A Tease from the 2024 Player’s Handbook

This is a big year for Dungeons & Dragons. Not only do we have a fantastic lineup of adventures and events on the horizon, but we're releasing the 2024 Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. These rulebooks are a revision of the fifth edition ruleset and are chock full of new, gorgeous artwork.

At the panel, we gave attendees a first look at artwork and a draft of the opening page for the revised Wizard. You can see the artwork below, but as a reminder, it is not a final version.

Artist: Billy Christian

A Year of New Adventures

We're delighted to share in D&D's 50th anniversary with you! This year, you'll discover all-new adventures, merch that celebrates the game's storied history, and core rulebooks that build upon and revise the fifth edition rules you know and love today. We'll have plenty more news to share in the coming months, so stay tuned here on D&D Beyond!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his partners. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dogs, Quentin and Eliot.