D&D Beyond to Introduce “Legacy” System for Older Rules
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Dungeons & Dragons is undergoing one of the biggest changes in over a decade with the introduction of the new 2024 Player’s Handbook. Many fans, however, have been left wondering just how this will impact the use of the popular D&D Beyond digital platform and whether older 2014 materials and rules will still be available.
Wizards of the Coast has recently addressed these concerns with a post on their ongoing D&D Beyond changelog. In the post, they note that D&D Beyond users won’t lose access to the 2014 Basic Rules (which will still be available for free) or any 2014 DnD materials which were purchased through a user’s account.
So just what does this mean for D&D Beyond users and what specific rules will be updated? Below, we break out all the details.
What 2014 DnD rules will be automatically updated on D&D Beyond?
Initially, Wizards of the Coast had indicated that a number of rules would be updated automatically for all D&D Beyond users. This meant that if you referenced the rule on your character sheet it would use materials from the 2024 DnD Core Books, with no option to select the 2014 rule variant.
This included: Core gameplay definitions, Armor Class, Saving Throws, Skills and Abilities, Alignment, Senses (Blindsight, Darkvision, Tremorsense, Truesight), Area of effect definitions, Spells (save for Feeblemind and Branding Smite) and Mundane Magical items.
This was particularly problematic for spells. For example, if you were using D&D Beyond to play your Warlock character and you wanted to cast Armor of Agathys (a spell which has changed in the new PHB), your character sheet would have automatically used the 2024 version. If you wanted to use the older version of Armor of Agathys, you would have had to manually look up the spell in the 2014 rules compendium or create a Homebrew version and add it to your character sheet.
Following significant fan backlash online, however, Wizards of the Coast changed direction in an official post on D&D Beyond on August 25th, 2024 noted:
Players who only have access to the 2014 Player’s Handbook will maintain their character options, spells, and magical items in their character sheets. Players with access to the 2024 and 2014 digital Player’s Handbooks can select from both sources when creating new characters. Players will not need to rely on Homebrew to use their 2014 player options, including spells and magic items, as recommended in previous changelogs.
What D&D Beyond rules will be considered “Legacy”?
Wizards of the Coast has noted that D&D Beyond will classify certain DnD 5e rules from 2014 as being “Legacy” (a label that will automatically be applied in the platform). This means they will not be automatically updated to use the 2024 rules and existing 2014 materials are still accessible. Legacy rules in D&D Beyond will include:
- Classes
- Subclasses (if they have a new version in the 2024 Player’s Handbook)
- Species
- Backgrounds
- Feats
- Monsters
- Magic Items
- Spells
How will the D&D Beyond Legacy rules work in practice?
After initially producing a system that forced players to use 2024 rules for magic items and spells, Wizards of the Coast has changed direction and will now allow players to choose whether or not to use the 2014 or 2024 rules for character creation and management
That being said, using the D&D Beyond Legacy system means that there can also be some overlap between the newer and older version of DnD 5e. For example, you could create a Fighter using the 2024 class rules, but then choose a 2014 subclass. Similarly, you could create a Fighter using the 2014 rules with a 2014 subclass (although, notably you cannot use the 2014 class rules and choose a 2024 subclass).
Wizards of the Coast has noted, however, that there will be larger changes to terminology. We are not changing players’ current character sheets, except for relabeling and renaming. Examples include Races to Species, Inspiration to Heroic Inspiration, and Cast Spell to Magic.
Final Thoughts
Updating DnD 5e has been a complicated process. And while Wizards of the Coast insists the new 2024 version is completely compatible with the 2014 rules, there are in fact a number of significant changes that make this easier said than done, particularly when it comes to D&D Beyond.
It’s great to see that after initially forcing automatic updates for spells and magic items, Wizards of the Coast has listened to fans and will now players to choose whether to use the new 2024 rules of the 2014 “Legacy” rules.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead. In the meantime, you can find more information on the new DnD 5e rules in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
