Everything you need to know about the 2024 Core Books

If you’re a passionate player of Dungeons & Dragons, or even a casual observer, you may be aware that this year, in celebration of the game’s milestone 50th anniversary, new core rulebooks (Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual) are being released.

Everything I’ve read suggests they will be backward compatible with the existing 5e books, they represent a refinement, rather than a renovation. “The new and improved guide for fifth edition DUNGEONS & DRAGONS” is how it’s described.

Yesterday, we got some HUGE news, and here’s what I’ve been able to suss out so far:

Release dates

• 2024 Player’s Handbook drops on September 17, 2024
• 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide drops on November 12, 2024
• 2024 Monster Manual drops on February, 18 2025

These were shared earlier this year, but the confirmation that they remain on track is positive news.

Covers

They released the cover art for the new books, and so far so good: the style is very 5e but also harkens back to some of the earlier editions too. It’s a nice touch to connect back to the visual history of the game.

Pre-order

Open now. Like this minute.

There will be multiple purchase avenues no doubt, but Wizards of the Coast continues its value-bundling. (All prices to come in USD)

The big dog is the 2024 Digital & Physical Core Rulebook Bundle, which retails for $179.97. You save $60 off the retail price with this budle and you’ll get: 2024 PHB, DMG, and MM in both physical and digital formats, but you’ll also get free shipping (limited locations) and some digital bonuses including a Dragons of D&D digital art book, a D&D BEYOND Gold Digital Dice set, and a digital 50th anniversary digital Gold Dragon mini (more on this to come below).

The pre-order for the standalone physical bundle ($149.97) and digital bundle ($89.97) also include all three books and the digital goodies, but if you’re getting both the physical and digital formats it’s obviously cheaper to buy the combined bundle of both, at $60 less.

Each physical book will be available individually for $49.00, with the digital version costing $29.99.

If you purchase the physical book, you’ll have the option to purchase the digital as an add on (during your purchase) for $10 bucks.

It doesn’t appear that the individual books include free shipping though, so that’s an additional cost you’ll have to incur if you choose to purchase the books one at a time.

Virtual Tabletop Confirmed

It’s been an open secret that Wizards of the Coast has been pursuing a digital tabletop platform.

Once they purchased D&D BEYOND, it felt like an absolute certainty.

Well now, it’s confirmed, because that digital gold dragon I mentioned earlier, is for the digital tabletop, which is coming in a closed beta later this year. Called “Sigil” it’s undoubtedly related to the multiversal city of the same name, which featured heavily in the recent release of Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse.

The D&D branded tabletop could be a game changer: Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and other platforms have a massive headstart, but with it’s corporate resources (and the opportunity) it’s hard to imagine this built from the ground up virtual tabletop solution (with D&D Beyond integration, no doubt) is going to heavily shift the landscape.

Content

Full disclosure, I haven’t received advanced content on what’s included in the 2024 Core Rulebooks, however, D&D beyond does have some images, and a banner on what they might include.

Here’s what it includes:

• D&D 5th Edition
• 12 Classes, 48 subclasses (four per class)
• 16 Backgrounds
• 10 Species
• 75 Feats
• 391 Spells
• 550+ Monsters
• 211 Items
• 400+ Magic Items

The way the list is laid out, we can reasonably expect that the classes, backgrounds, species feats, and spells will appear in the PHB – the Monsters will appear in the MM, and the Magic Items will appear in the DMG.

The items may be spread between the PHB and DMG, but I’ve shared the order as it appears in the banner, so it isn’t explicitly clear.

Conclusion

Reactions I’ve seen have ranged from trepidation to exultation, but it’s clear that the 2024 Core Rulebooks are a huge evolution for Dungeons & Dragons. Between the new books and the virtual tabletop, the 50th anniversary of the game could very well be its biggest yet…and no doubt, the team is hoping for a critical hit!

Whether you pre-order now and secure your digital goodies, or wait ’til you read more on the new content, one thing is clear: 2024 will be a year to remember for D&D.