Hello Adventurers!
It’s an exciting time to be involved in Adventurers League, with the 2024 Core Rulebooks releasing over the next few months. Today, we’re going to talk about how those books work within the existing Adventurers League system.
This article will be updated prior to the release of each core rulebook.
General Rules Guidance
It has always been the Adventurers League’s policy to use the most recent version of the rules when they have been updated. This applies to the 2024 rules revision in the following ways:
- When a new core rulebook is released worldwide, Adventurers League games will use the updated 2024 rules found in it.
- Until a 2024 core rulebook is released, continue to use the rules from its 2014 counterpart.
- If a rules option appears in a previously published sourcebook such as Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything or Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and was updated in the 2024 rules, use the updated rules.
- If a rules option appears in a previously published sourcebook and has not been updated in the 2024 rules, continue to use the most recently published version of that option.
Grace Period Before Rules Implementation
Players will have a grace period of 60 days from the worldwide release date (see below) of each core rulebook to update their characters to the 2024 rules. After that time, all characters must be updated to the 2024 rules where applicable.
Dungeon Masters should begin using the new rules once a book is available. Dungeon Masters without access to the 2024 Core Rulebooks can use the Rules Glossary in the D&D Free Rules (2024). When the 2024 Monster Manual releases, the D&D Free Rules (2024) will be expanded with content from those books for your use.
2024 Player’s Handbook
This book is available for use in Adventurers League games starting on September 17. You can review our Updates to the Player’s Handbook article to get a complete picture of what rules have been updated.
On or after the release of the 2024 Player’s Handbook, you are welcome to rebuild your existing characters, swapping out any player options you’d like to use with the new rules. Just keep the grace period above in mind. If any player options have not been updated in the 2024 Player’s Handbook (i.e., subclasses, species, etc.), you should continue using the most recently published version of that option.
Exception: Treasure obtained from play cannot be "rebuilt," but if you selected a magic item at level 5, you may change your selection to another item as referenced in the D&D Adventurers League Player’s Guide.
If you choose to use a background or species from an older book, please reference the sidebar "Backgrounds and Species from Older Books" in chapter 2 of the 2024 Player’s Handbook for information on updating these rules.
2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide
This book is available for use in Adventurers League games starting on November 12.
Magic items should be updated to the rules presented for them in this book. As a reminder, you cannot “rebuild” treasure – including magic items – obtained from an adventure (see the Exception section above). Magic items awarded in adventures that are now artifacts can be used during play of that adventure only, and cannot be kept. If you have an item that is now an artifact, that item is no longer available to you. You may replace it with a suit of +3 Armor, a +3 Shield, or a +3 Weapon (specific weapon or armor is your choice based on availability in your campaign, no firearms).
You may use the rules presented in "Creating a Background" in chapter 3 to create your own background for your character instead of using the backgrounds presented in the 2024 Player's Handbook.
Dungeon Masters should use the updated rules presented in this book to adjudicate situations covered in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Greyhawk is not currently an approved setting for Adventurers League community-created content. We will have more to share on this before the end of the year.
Bastions
Bastions are available for player use. All characters starting at level 5 may begin to build a Bastion and begin with one Cramped and one Roomy facility. You must have a visual representation of their Bastion’s space–a Bastion map showing the use of floor space. This can be as simple or detailed as you desire but must clearly show where basic and special facilities are located, as well as an easily referenceable scale. A Bastion’s facility costs to build or enlarge a space in GP must be paid. You have 20 times your character level in days to add basic facilities or enlarge them when you first decide to build a Bastion (at or after level 5). Special facilities are gained at the character levels specified in the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide and are chosen by you at the time your character reaches the required level.
You may rebuild one Bastion facility (replacing an existing facility with a new one) at the end of a session during the Bastion turn, provided you adhere to all requirements on special facilities and pay any increased GP and time costs. If the rebuilt facility requires more time than currently available, you must wait until the time cost is paid before using the facility. Facilities with orders that have yet to be fully resolved may not be rebuilt.
At the end of each session, you are given a Bastion turn for your character participating in the adventure. Bastion turns must be resolved by the end of the session, with the DM adjudicating any rolls made from a Bastion order. For Adventurers League play, a specific character may not issue the same Bastion order two turns in a row.
Time Between Bastion Turns
Each time you take a Bastion turn, 10 days is assumed to have passed since the last Bastion turn. You can use this time to calculate how long it takes for certain orders to resolve, and to determine how long it’s been since you initiated adding or enlarging a basic facility.
2024 Monster Manual
This book is available for use in Adventurers League games starting on February 18. It will include updates to all creatures from the 2014 version of the book. Other specifics on its use in Adventurers League will be communicated closer to the book’s release date.
Previously Published Adventures
All Adventurers League adventures and compatible products continue to remain as published, except for using updated rules as present in the 2024 Core Rulebooks upon each release. Adventures typically do not include the creature statistics from the Monster Manual, since it is a required core reference. Many creature statistics will be updated in the 2024 Monster Manual; until such time, continue to use the 2014 Monster Manual version of those statistics.
Exception: There are some creature statistics that are present in the 2024 Player’s Handbook; Dungeon Masters do not have to use the updated versions of those creature statistics in adventures until the 2024 Monster Manual releases, but they may choose to do so if they wish.
Updating Existing Adventurers League Adventures
The Dungeoncraft program allows for community-created Adventurers League adventures. If you have published an adventure under this program, those adventures should not be updated until after the release of the updated fifth edition Systems Reference Document (SRD 5.2).
SRD 5.2 will release after the 2024 Monster Manual in 2025.
Designing New Adventurers League Adventures with the 2024 Rules
Adventure designers publishing content through the Dungeoncraft program from now until before the release of the 2024 Monster Manual should reference the 2014 rules where applicable. Updates to the Dungeoncraft program will be made available after the release of SRD 5.2.
Updates to Adventurers League Documents
The D&D Adventurers League Resources & Links thread will be updated with references to the 2024 rules as applicable. Those updates to the documents should go live over the next few weeks to months. Keep up with the latest here on D&D Beyond or visit our official D&D Discord and check out the Adventurers League channel.
Onboarding to New Rules at the Table
After the grace period is over, if a player unintentionally comes to the table with an outdated character, don't interrupt the adventure to have them update their character. Inform them of the updated character options and ask them to rebuild before the next session.
During this time, many players and Dungeon Masters may still be learning the new rules or not be as aware of updates as others. Please remember to be mindful of each person’s experience and support others. Make sure that sessions keep moving, and don’t worry about adapting to a new rule in the moment if it creates tension or disrupts enjoyment. Keep Adventurers League sessions welcoming and fun above all else!
