Clarifying Language: One D&D, 2024 Core Rulebooks

Reposting the June 8th, 2023 D&D Community update below:

As we continue playtesting and discussing materials for the upcoming Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual, and even release updates on the D&D Virtual Tabletop and evolving D&D Beyond toolset, it's important to clarify the language we use around these projects. One D&D is the overarching initiative shaping the future of the game. The updated fifth edition rulebooks, VTT, and D&D Beyond updates are housed under this initiative. When talking specifically about the revised fifth edition core rulebooks and their predecessors, we'll identify them by their year of publication. So, if we're talking about the barbarian class in the upcoming Player's Handbook, we'll refer to the book as the “2024 Player's Handbook.”

When the 2024 core rulebooks release, we'll drop the “2024” and simply refer to them by their title. (e.g., the 2024 Player's Handbook will just be the Player's Handbook). At that point, we will only clarify the publication date of the books when we're comparing the 2014 and 2024 versions, or simply referring back to the older version.

We recognize that the term “One D&D” has caused confusion around the updated rulebooks. The 2024 core rulebooks aren't ushering in a new edition of the game; the books you enjoy today will be compatible with the updated core rulebooks, because it's all the same edition of D&D. If you're a casual reader, though, this may not have been clear with how we've used the One D&D term in the past. That said, we'll be updating the language we use here on D&D Beyond and elsewhere so as to eliminate confusion around our continuing support for fifth edition.