One D&D - What does the new Dungeons & Dragons edition bring?

The core rulebooks for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons were released in 2014, and we are about to celebrate their tenth anniversary. However, a new product called One D&D is on the horizon. Are you wondering what exactly it is and whether your old books are now useless?

Is One D&D the same as D&D 6E?

There were whispers and rumors about a sixth edition, or 6e, for some time, but it was never officially confirmed. No one doubted that Wizards of the Coast would work on a new variant of Dungeons & Dragons, but until last year, we didn't have a clear picture of what the new version would look like. Only with the closer reveal and introduction of One D&D did it become clear that we aren't getting a sixth edition, but rather something like D&D edition 5.5.

So, what is One D&D?

The new edition likely won't change the world's most popular role-playing game beyond recognition, but it will provide players and Dungeon Masters with expanded character creation options and NPCs, new skills, items, spells, monsters, and plenty of tweaks to make preparation and gameplay easier for GMs, while bringing players dozens of hours of fun. All of this comes in perfectly crafted new rulebooks with stunning illustrations.

Does this mean you should throw away your old rules?

You can hold off on such a radical solution for a while, and you might find that you never need to do it at all. According to the creators, One D&D should be fully compatible with the fifth edition, making it easy to combine the new rules with 5e expansion books. If a One D&D warlock visits your fifth edition game, you shouldn't have any trouble integrating them immediately. The same applies if you show up to a One D&D game with your favorite 5e paladin. Characters should be easy to port between editions.

When will One D&D be released?

We should see the trio of core rulebooks for the new Dungeons & Dragons edition as early as 2024, and the books will share the same names as in 5e. The Player’s Handbook will be the guide where players find everything they need to create and play their characters. The Monster Manual will provide the GM with a large supply of monsters and adversaries to complicate the characters' adventures. The Dungeon Master’s Guide should become an indispensable companion for every budding GM, offering a stash of magic items and inspiration for creating adventures.

Are there other changes coming?

A whole range of news and changes is coming to Dungeons & Dragons. In addition to the One D&D books, we will also see more expansion books for the fifth edition, such as Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Vecna: Eve of Ruin, or Quests from the Infinite Staircase. Changes are coming not only in print but also in digital form, and with the arrival of the new edition, the D&D Virtual Tabletop project should also move forward, a preview of which we first saw during the March 2023 D&D Direct. Simply put, this year will be packed for RPG players.

Want to learn more?

Our article was just a brief preview and a taste of everything Dungeons & Dragons players can look forward to in 2024. If we crammed all the important information into one long block of text, your head might explode by the end. That's why we're breaking the interesting bits into smaller portions for you to savor over the coming days and weeks. In the next article, you can look forward to a summary of the changes coming to the new version of the Player’s Handbook.

Author: Michal Dlouhý