Updating Your Campaign to the 5.5e D&D Rules

Editor’s Note (March 2, 2026): On D&D Beyond, content that was previously labeled "2024" is now labeled “5.5e” (with 2014 content labeled “5e”). This is a clarity update only—no rules, purchases, or gameplay are changing, and both versions remain fully supported and compatible. For more information, see the D&D Beyond Changelog.

 If the Player’s Handbook (5.5e) and Dungeon Master’s Guide (5.5e) released while your gaming group was mid-campaign, you may have wondered how and when to incorporate the new rules. Some adventures last months or years, but your players may already be looking at new class features that they’d like to use as soon as possible. Well, there’s no need to wait to update to D&D’s new rules!

Here, we’ll review what Dungeon Masters should consider when moving a game from the 5e to 5.5e rules during an ongoing adventure.

• When to Switch
• Narrative Considerations
• Getting Characters Ready for the New Rules
• Flexibility is Key
• Rule Changes for DMs to Remember

When to Switch

Artist: Axel Defois

While the easiest time to make the switch is between campaigns, a campaign may still have a long way to go before its conclusion. In this case, you may want to make the switch mid-campaign.

Before switching to the new rules as a group, it’s important to include a discussion to ensure everyone is on the same page, similar to a session zero. In this transitional conversation, you should discuss:

• Overview of the Updates: What rules have changed and how? This is a good time for someone with access to the 5.5e rules to present them to those who aren’t familiar yet.
• Changes to Characters: What’s changed for the players’ characters? Review each character and how their features, spells, feats, or magic items have been adjusted to ensure everyone is ready to play.
• Explore New Systems: Review new features, like Weapon Mastery, Bastions, and crafting. If your players are above level 5, you could also use this time to discuss how and when players will get access to a Bastion.

Once everyone is familiar with the updates, your group can decide on a time to start using the new rules. This might be the beginning of the next session or a more transitional moment, such as the end of the current campaign arc. Whatever you decide, ensure the entire table agrees on the timeline and implementation before rolling it out.

If your players are unsure about the timing for when to switch but are interested in trying out the new rules, consider running a one-shot or non-canon side quest first to see how they go.

Narrative Considerations

While some rules have changed, there isn’t an inherent need to address them narratively. For most groups, the easiest way to update will be simply to incorporate the new rules and continue playing.

But, as the DM, you may want to make the rule changes part of a larger narrative. If you plan on going this route, here are three examples of how the updates can be addressed in-game:

• Gaining New Powers: During the course of their adventures, characters grow stronger and gain new powers. For example, a Sorcerer may wake up knowing new spells after a level-up. So, you can treat any new abilities the characters gain in the new rules as a result of their experience and training.
• Magical Gift: If your party has a powerful supernatural ally such as a dragon, fey, or genie, perhaps there is an opportunity in your story for that entity to grant the group new powers and abilities. A devil, demon, druid circle, or witch coven could offer these gifts in exchange for help with a quest.
• Extraplanar Exposure: When adventurers travel outside the Material Plane, they often encounter unpredictable magical forces. For example, the Feywild’s effects on time, magic, and memory are well-known. If your adventure includes interplanar travel, you could switch your group to the 5.5e rules as the party moves from one plane to another. Similarly, the party might catch a glimpse of an extraplanar entity like a Great Old One or deity and be permanently altered by the experience.

Getting Characters Ready for the New Rules

Artist: Chris Rallis

The 5.5e rules introduce a wide range of improvements, but there’s no need to become an expert in everything at once. Mistakes will happen as your group gets more comfortable with the rules, so make sure everyone feels supported during the learning process.

Players should focus on the updates that matter most to their characters, such as class features, spells, feats, and other character options. A perfect opportunity to dive into these changes is when transitioning their character to the updated rules.

Creating a New Character Sheet

When transitioning to the 5.5e rules, I recommend setting aside 30 to 60 minutes at the start of a session—or scheduling a separate time altogether—to work on creating new character sheets as a group. Players using D&D Beyond digital character sheets will want to create a copy of the sheet and update the name of the old sheet with “5e” or something similar.

Then, using the new character sheet, they can head to the Character Builder and delete the old class. They can then add the 5.5e version of the class, set the character to the level their character was previously at, and mirror their old class choices. Then do the same for their background, species, and ability scores.

Duplicating their character sheet will ensure their characters keep their inventory, so they can skip over starting equipment unless there are any changes they’d like to make.

Backgrounds and Species Not in the 5.5e Rule Set

If you’re using a background or species that doesn’t appear in a 5.5e source, consult the Backgrounds and Species from Older Books sidebar in the D&D Beyond Basic Rules for guidance.

Flexibility is Key

Characters will experience more streamlined gameplay when they adopt the rules from the Player’s Handbook (5.5e). Some will also see improvements to the way their class, feats, spells, or magic items function. However, there may be instances where a player doesn’t want to adopt the new version of a class feature, spell, magic item, or feat—likely because the player selected that option with a specific build in mind.

It’s perfectly fine for a player to wait until the current campaign wraps up or their character’s story comes to a natural conclusion before switching to a character built with the 5.5e rules, so long as that’s alright with the group.

Rule Changes for DMs to Remember

When a player wants to use a feature from the 5.5e rules, encourage them to refresh themselves on how the rule works and summarize the details for the group. By the same token, you, as the DM, should refamiliarize yourself with rules that come up regularly in play.

Here's a short list of frequently used rules from thePlayer’s Handbook (5.5e) and Dungeon Master’s Guide (5.5e), along with changes worth keeping in mind:

• Crafting: The Player’s Handbook (5.5e) and Dungeon Master’s Guide (5.5e) have rules for crafting various items. Review them at your leisure, but don’t feel compelled to memorize these tables and costs. Just bookmark where to find this information for quick reference later.
• Grapple and Shove: Grapple and shove rules have changed a bit, and they’ll probably come up in combat on both sides of the table. A creature may now make an Unarmed Strike and choose to damage, grapple, or shove their target.
• Healing Magic: Spells that restore Hit Points, like Cure Wounds and Healing Word, have seen upgrades, doubling the dice that restore Hit Points from their 5e versions. Similarly, other healing spells like Aura of Vitality and Prayer of Healing have been powered up.
• Heroic Inspiration: Players can now expend Heroic Inspiration to reroll any die immediately after rolling it, so that means a player could use it on anything from a Death Saving Throw to a damage roll!
• Potions as a Bonus Action: Potions can now be consumed or applied to another creature as a Bonus Action. Your players will be able to down a brew or use it on others on the same turn they use a Magic action to cast a spell or an Attack action to swing a weapon.
• Stunned: Stunned creatures no longer have their Speed reduced to 0. Keep this in mind, particularly when using monsters like Mind Flayers or when members of your group are playing Monk characters.
• Weapon Mastery: The new Weapon Mastery class feature lets characters unlock special properties of chosen weapons. You don’t need to memorize every property, but remember that weapon-focused characters will have more tools at their disposal.

If you want a quick way to reference the new rules, the D&D Dungeon Master's Screen is a handy resource to have on hand! This four-panel screen has reference material on the Dungeon Master-facing side, so you can easily find whatever information you need during play.

Understanding the Updates Together

When you and your group have familiarized yourselves with the 5.5e rules and discussed how you want to incorporate them into your game, it’s time to dive in.

Remember that everyone's learning and that errors will occur as part of that, so don’t sweat minor mistakes. Once you’ve got the hang of things, your group will find fun new rules and more options to customize their characters and gameplay!

Damen Cook (@damen_joseph) is a lifelong fantasy reader, writer, and gamer. If he woke up tomorrow in Faerûn, he would bolt through the nearest fey crossing and drink from every stream and eat fruit from every tree in the Feywild until he found that sweet, sweet wild magic.