D&D 50th Anniversary Preview Event

is an ever-changing, ever-growing game, and this ability to reinvent itself is part of why it's able to celebrate a 50th anniversary this year with an audience that's bigger than ever. It's also taking the opportunity to shake things up once more with a cavalcade of new books, including several core rulebooks that freshen up the ideas governing 's fifth edition for the past decade. Publisher Wizards of the Coast dropped the One D&D branding originally intended for the new products about a year ago, but it doesn't seem like it's reneged on any of its ambition.

Of course, there are also a lot of fans celebrating the 50th anniversary of the game, and some of these celebrations are currently happening in creator Gary Gygax's hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Here, at Gary Con, was able to attend a presentation on the upcoming books and some of the plans surrounding them. Although hasn't been without its controversies in the past couple of years — most recently with comments from Hasbro's CEO about AI — getting to hear the creatives behind the books talk about their work puts things in a more encouraging light.

Chris Perkins, the principal game design architect for, didn't waste much time in getting to the point about the unusual nature of 2024's rulebook transition. "" is what the team wants to avoid this time around, instead focusing on making books that are easier to use, more engaging, and address problems that players and designers have with the current 5e standard. The 2014 books have defined countless games, but they were made by a small team on a shoestring budget and a tight deadline, and the new versions offer an opportunity to rectify shortcomings.

«The word 'edition' is very problematic for us.» — Chris Perkins

When the time comes to crack open the new books, the most obvious change might be the significant increase in art, with a notable example being the unique illustration for every one of the 48 subclasses included in the. Wizards of the Coast displayed