A new free rules update from D&D Beyond will bring some changes to the 5.5E Player’s Handbook.

Yesterday, D&D Beyond released a free rules update. The update appears to have a small number of meaningful corrections to the new rules. I’m not sure if you should call this an errata or a stealth update, but yesterday, D&D Beyond released a “basic introduction” for D&D’s new 5.5E rules set. This isn’t the full SRD 5.2 that’s due to be released next year (more on that in a moment), but it’s more of a comprehensive starter rules set. It’s like the 5E basic rules found in the D&D Beyond Compendium. This is a great way to try out the 5.5E rules without having to commit to the entire new corebook, either digitally or physically. However, this rules set appears to have some rules corrections that are different from the printed version. We’ll take a look at both below. D&D Beyond Releases 5.5E “Free Rules” Update According to D&D Beyond, this new update is “a free trial for anyone wanting to try out the new 2024 Player’s Handbook content.” And it is. This is a stripped-down version of the rules, reminiscent of the rules in the Starter Set that came with D&D. You don’t get every class or every spell, although if you don’t have the Player’s Handbook you might not notice that latter part. However, you do get the following: Four base classes: Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard Four subclasses: Life Domain, Champion, Thief, Evoker Four races: Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Human Four backgrounds: Akorai, Criminal, Sage, Soldier You also get 12 feats, 48 ​​monster stat blocks, and 320 spells. That’s a lot, but it’s not all the spells that are in the book (right?). However, you also get something that those who got the Player’s Handbook at Gen Con, or who are probably waiting for a physical copy of the book, won’t get: a set of rules modifiers. These are small, but not insignificant. For example, equipping or unequipping a shield now requires a “utilize” action, which solves a potential exploit (equipping or unequipping a shield as part of an attack) that many forum optimizers were trying. But the fixes don’t stop there. The Giant Insect spell’s hit point formula has been changed from “30 + 10 per spell level” to “30 + 10 per spell level above 4”, which feels like the way it should be. True Polymorph, a 9th level spell, has had the wording removed that the spell expires if the target loses any temporary hit points granted by the spell. But it gets even weirder, because it all depends on where you look. If you go to the Free Rules Compendium linked below and read the spell entry, you’ll find the updated version. However, if you type the spell you’re looking for in the search bar and use the site’s search function, you’ll see the same version that appears in the printed version of the book. Screenshot below: This is the 2024 free rules update version of True Polymorph. This version appears to be identical to the printed book. For now, it’s not clear which is the intended one and which is not, but I think it will be resolved soon. But it’s worth knowing, because these differences are important. For example, Enthrall requires concentration in the printed version of the book but not in the free rules update. And the Lance has different characteristics depending on which version you look at. Still, I think the free version is more accurate, because it seems to address issues that the book doesn’t actually do anything about. This also seems to be true for the digital version of the Player’s Handbook, which is also now available to Master tier subscribers of D&D Beyond. There you will also find a ton of other changes. For example, Goliath’s Powerful Build feature no longer references a “saving throw” to end the grapple condition, but instead gives advantage to ability checks made to end the grapple condition. But still, there are differences between the Player’s Handbook and the free rules. Again, the official release date for the rules has not yet been announced. I think there will be an errata document published that will clarify and unify everything about the release. As WotC becomes more of a video game publisher, they will have the same tools available to any game developer, such as day one hotfixes. However, in this case, it seems to be day 13 hotfixes. Either way, D&D Beyond makes the rules available for free to everyone. But that’s not all! D&D Beyond updates the Player’s Handbook/Character Sheets In parallel with the free rules update, the D&D Beyond toolset has been updated to the latest set of rules. However, it’s worth mentioning that, due to the outcry of the community, WotC chose not to handcraft the old version of the spells on the character sheet, nor change access to the rules. But let’s look at what has changed. “The 2024 Core Rulebook revises Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons, updating everything from base classes to spells to monster stat blocks. D&D Beyond, the game’s official digital toolset, is being updated so you can start playing as soon as the new Core Rulebook is available. When you create a new character using the Character Builder, you decide which source you want to use. The 2024 content will always be available. However, you can choose to show or hide other sources in the Sources section. For example, 2014 content will be tagged as Legacy and will be “On” by default. If you don’t want to see the Legacy content, you can change the toggle to “Off” to hide those options. Rules and tooltips for 2014 characters with Legacy Sources enabled will have access to both 2014 and 2024 spells, actions, and items. Some terminology will be updated, but the descriptions will match the 2014 game mechanics. ” – D&D Beyond A complete list of changes can be found in the D&D Beyond changelog. Subscribe to our newsletter to get tabletop, RPG, and pop culture news delivered straight to your inbox. Happy adventuring! JR is a staff writer and DM for Bell of Lost Souls who covers all sorts of RPGs and occasionally eats sandwiches. You can ask him any questions at (email protected) Read Comments (1)