Gab Hernandez 
Wizards of the Coast has just announced a controversial change for 2024 DnD, which may threaten 5e spells and magic items.
Dungeons and Dragons has had a roller-coaster year. Early in 2024, fans heavily criticized WOTC for its attempted changes to the TRPG’s Open Games License (OGL), changes that severely restricted third-party content. The heat cooled after Wizards reverted many of the changes, and WOTC began teasing DnD 2024’s changes.
Many new and exciting changes are coming to DnD 2024, from class overhauls to new spells. Even so, many fans worry about their 5e adventures. After all, 5e has been the system of choice for fans for over a decade. Despite WOTC’s promises of backward compatibility, some still doubt the company’s words.
Recent actions have only cemented this opinion among critics of the upcoming DnD 2024 ruleset.
New versions of 5e spells and magic items come to DnD 2024
Players can still use most 5e spells and magic items in DnD 2024, with some exceptions. But any changed spells and magic items will no longer be available on DnDBeyond, and instead be replaced with 2024 versions. In an August 2024 changelog on DnDBeyond, WOTC clarified the status of revised spells and magic items in DnD 2024.
Players will no longer have access to the 2014 versions of spells and magic items on the DnDBeyond character sheets. It’s still legal to use them, but fans now have to jump through some hoops in order to do so. If a player wants to use these versions, they must add homebrew versions of the 2014 spells and magic items.
In addition, old versions of classes, subclasses, species, backgrounds, feats, and monsters will be marked with the legacy badge. However, a player cannot use a 2014 feature for a 2024 class. For example, a 2014 battle master cannot use 2024 fighter level progression and features.
Players who purchased the 2014 Player’s Handbook on the DnDBeyond platform expressed outrage at these changes. Many of these are different from the products they initially purchased. Not to mention, these changes could make it fundamentally more difficult to play 5e games. However, Wizards of the Coast did clarify that the 2014 content was not deleted. Even so, most of the complaints come from players annoyed at the extra hoops needed to use content they’ve already bought.
Many fans have accused WOTC of forcing players into the new DnD 2024 system, regardless of their willingness or desire. Wizards does stand to benefit financially from encouraging more players to adopt the new system.
Whether these changes will remain hotly contested remains to be seen when DnD 2024 launches on September 2024.
