Player’s Handbook coming Sept. 17, 2024, Dungeon Master’s Guide Nov. 12, 2024
Monster Manual punted to February 2025
As part of the official yearlong celebrations of Dungeons & Dragons’ 50th anniversary, the new edition of the Player’s Handbook will be released Sept. 17, 2024, with the Dungeon Master’s Guide following on Nov. 12, according to a news release distributed for Wizards of the Coast. The DM resource Monster Manual is not scheduled for release until Feb. 18, 2025.
The Vecna: Eve of Ruin adventure campaign is set for a May 21, 2024, release, with the adventure anthology Quests from the Infinite Staircase coming July 16, 2024.
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 will come out June 18, 2024.
It’s about more than just new adventures, retrospectives and Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks. Brand collaborations with Converse footwear and apparel, a LEGO building set with minifigures and Pop-Tarts treats are also in the 50th anniversary consumer licensing pipeline.
The year-long celebration kicks off in March 2024, when fans all over the world will be able to play the same adventure together inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons creators’ love of tournament-style play. Fans can experience an excerpt from an upcoming release, Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, in game stores, at community centers, libraries, conventions like Gary Con and PAX East, on kitchen tables and painted scenery, in video chat rooms, and on D&D Beyond. Dungeon Masters will be available wherever fans want to play.
“D&D has a rich history, an exciting present, and a great future,” said Kyle Brink, executive producer of the team making D&D at Wizards of the Coast. “This year we’ll be celebrating all three with the 50th Anniversary of the first publication of Dungeons & Dragons. We’ll take you through the making of the game, bring some of the classic adventures to today’s play, visit the most iconic settings in the D&D multiverse, and kick off the future of the game with the new 2024 core rulebooks that are the heart of the game. We’ve been building up to this for a while now. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
What’s coming before the new Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks?
Vecna: Eve of Ruin
- Adventure Campaign
- For characters of levels 10-20
- A high-stakes adventure in which the fate of the entire multiverse hangs in the balance. The heroes begin in the Forgotten Realms and travel to Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk as they race to save existence from obliteration by the notorious lich Vecna who is weaving a ritual to eliminate good, obliterate the gods, and subjugate all worlds.
- Release Date: May 21, 2024
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977
- History of D&D
- The ultimate book showcasing D&D’s inception, including Gary Gygax’s never-before-seen first draft of D&D written in 1973, a curated collection of published fanzine and magazine articles contribute to D&D’s origin story. Each document is introduced, described, and woven into the story by one of the game’s foremost historians, Jon Peterson.
- Release Date: June 18, 2024
Quests from the Infinite Staircase
- Adventure Anthology
- For character levels 1 to 13
- This anthology weaves together six classic DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventures while updating them for the game’s fifth edition. The Infinite Staircase holds doors leading to fantastic realms. It’s home to the noble genie Nafas, who hears wishes made throughout the multiverse and recruits heroes to fulfill them.
- Release Date: July 16, 2024
New Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks (2024-25)
Player’s Handbook (2024)
- Player resource
- Take your game to the next level with the revised 2024 Player’s Handbook. More player options, enhanced organization, and engaging additions to the fifth edition rules, make this a must have for your next Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
- Release Date: Sept. 17, 2024
Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)
- DM resource
- It’s never been easier to become the Dungeon Master than with the revised 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. Learn the craft from the experts in a cleverly crafted and accessible approach to running your own game. With more tools than ever before, becoming the master of your own multiverse will be a snap.
- Release Date: Nov. 12, 2024
Monster Manual (2025)
- DM Resource
- The revised 2025 Monster Manual brings you the greatest selection of foes to face off with your player’s characters than ever assembled in the history of the game. More options at all levels of play means more ways to provide the challenges that will keep them coming back to the table again and again.
- Release Date: Feb. 18, 2025
An earlier version of this update incorrectly listed the Dungeon Master’s Guide release date as Sept. 17, 2024.
Wizards of the Coast announces dates for major 2024 D&D releases – then backtracks with “Coming Soon”
Wizards of the Coast on Dec. 1, 2023, announced release dates for the updated 2024 versions of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game’s Core Rulebooks — Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual. Then, it deleted those social media graphics and replaced all dates with “coming soon.” It also changed the graphic to replace Core Rulebooks with simply Player’s Handbook.
The company also said the same day as the release of the Core Rulebook(s) would bring the release of the scenario Vecna: Eve of Ruin, “a multiverse spanning adventure which goes up to level 20 and features cameos from famous D&D characters.” A Vecna module was announced earlier this year, but now we know the full title. This date, like the Core Rulebook(s?), was later replaced with “coming soon.”
A representative for the company said “the product release dates that were published in error and are actually not correct,” and that specific release dates will be announced “later” but in 2024.
WotC had also said a D&D “making of” book that includes the 50-year-old RPG’s original rules set, and a new adventure collection, Quests From the Infinite Staircase, would follow. Those announcement posts, also — you guessed it — now just say “coming soon.”
The Hasbro subsidiary has said the 2024 update would complement rather than replace the existing 5th Edition of the fantasy tabletop game, which itself turns 10 in 2024.
This post was updated to reflect the apparent retraction of 2024 release dates posted earlier in the day by the Dungeons & Dragons social media team. The dates were removed at the company’s request because they said they are not correct.
Update! D&D creative team addresses erroneous release dates …
A new video from the D&D creative team addresses last year’s “erroneous” release of a May timeframe for the release of the next edition of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game.
“We realize there was an erroneous release date published with regards to the 2024 players handbook. that was definitely incorrect. The Player’s Handbook is NOT releasing in May. (but it will be coming this year) Stay tuned for an official announcement soon…”
