April 22 is Going to Be a Big Day for Dungeons and Dragons Homebrew Creators

Dungeons and Dragons is releasing the SRD 5.2 on April 22, officially opening the floodgates on third-party content creation using the new rules. With this document, protected under the Creative Commons license, players can create, publish, and sell homebrew content using most of the rules from the updated Dungeons and Dragons core rulebooks.

The new Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual is out, meaning Wizards of the Coast has officially released all three of its revised core rulebooks. Though it is technically cross-compatible with the 2014 rules, all official Dungeons and Dragons content from now on will be written with the 2024 books in mind.

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Now, Dungeons and Dragons is about to release a document that will be crucial for homebrew content creators who hope to use these refreshed rules. The SRD 5.2 is officially releasing on April 22, allowing third-party publishers and content creators to create and sell products made with the updated Dungeons and Dragons rules from the new core rulebooks. Access to the updated SRD will be completely free and protected under the Creative Commons license, ensuring creators’ rights to publish D&D content will be preserved indefinitely.

What Is the Dungeons and Dragons SRD 5.2?

The SRD, or Systems Reference Document, contains the base rules for Dungeons and Dragons’ 2024 rules, including a massive library of Dungeons and Dragons classes and subclasses, species, and other new features like the rules glossary, weapon mastery properties, and exploration mechanics found in the new Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. While it does not include everything from the books or the free D&D Beyond Basic Rules, the lion’s share of content can be found within the protected document. Once published, additional versions featuring errata can be added, but Wizards of the Coast can never legally revoke any that have already been shared, ensuring creators will be protected forever.

The SRD 5.2 will exist concurrently with the SRD 5.1 – the original document that covers the 2014 rules that Wizards of the Coast publicly published under Creative Commons in the aftermath of the D&D Open Gaming License controversy of 2023. Creators looking to convert homebrew from the 2014 rules to the 2024 version can also look forward to a Conversion Guide, which Dungeons and Dragons will be releasing at some point in the future.

The release of the SRD 5.2 comes hot off the heels of the confirmed departures of Dungeons and Dragons dynamic duo Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, the former of whom will be joining the latter in leaving the company soon. Hopefully, the SRD 5.2 can safely shepherd content creators into this new era of Dungeons and Dragons.

Dungeons and Dragons

Created by Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game in which players craft their own worlds and band together to take on adventures through mysterious realms outlined in companion materials. One of the best role-playing games ever made, it has been adapted into a variety of video games and other media.

Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons

Original Release Date

1974

Designer

E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson