D&D publisher walks back controversial changes to online tools

Wizards of the Coast has walked backmost immoderate of its planned updates to D&D Beyond. All your existent Dungeons & Dragons characters sheets are erstwhile again harmless with the steadfast nary longer forcing updates to newer versions of spells, weapons, and magic items.

Last week, arsenic a portion of the updates to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition — collectively known arsenic the 2024 revision — the steadfast announced that it would update D&D Beyond, the tabletop RPG’s authoritative integer toolkit that players usage to notation contented and make characters utilizing a big of authoritative and third-party sources. The update would adhd the caller 2024 rulebooks to the toolkit, people outdated contented with a “legacy” badge, and alteration players’ quality sheets to bespeak each the caller rules and features.

That past portion is captious to knowing wherefore immoderate D&D players (including my ain dungeon master) spent the past 72 hours successful a authorities of panic. Though immoderate of the 2024 revisions are fundamentally cosmetic successful quality — for example, “races” volition beryllium updated to “species” — different updates similar the ones to weapons, spells, and magic items fundamentally change the game. Wizards of the Coast would person fundamentally overwritten each user’s quality expanse with the caller accusation whether they wanted it oregon not.

“All entries for mundane and magical items, weapons, armor, and spells volition besides beryllium updated to their 2024 version,” Wizards said successful its archetypal announcement.

The steadfast did accidental that players would person the enactment to proceed to usage the 2014 mentation of spells and magic items. But doing truthful requires utilizing the game’s homebrew rules. which aren’t known for being user-friendly.

To enactment this successful perspective, deliberation of it similar owning a car. Imagine that aft 10 years with 1 car, learning its ins and outs, the shaper decides that erstwhile it rolls retired the latest exemplary of your car, it’s going to magically alteration your car to the caller model, too. Now, though your car is fundamentally the same, it doesn’t enactment similar you’re utilized to. And erstwhile you inquire the shaper if you tin spell backmost to your aged car, it says you tin but that you’ll person to manually reconstruct it yourself.

Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast isn’t successful the car business, and aft a play of backlash connected societal media, the institution volition nary longer unit the caller changes connected players.

“We misjudged the interaction of this change, and we hold that you should beryllium escaped to take your ain mode to play,” Wizard’s said successful its latest announcement. Current quality sheets volition lone beryllium updated with caller terminology portion the older versions of spells, magic items, and weapons volition beryllium preserved. Also, players who person entree to some the 2014 and 2024 integer versions volition person the enactment to usage some erstwhile creating caller characters.

Essentially, Wizards of the Coast is doing what it should person done successful the archetypal place: simply adding the caller contented and giving players the prime to opt in.