One D&D is the next wave of Dungeons and Dragons products, bringing new content to Wizards of the Coast's legendary tabletop RPG. The One D&D trailer reveals that the company is moving away from using edition titles, instead planning to expand and perfect the existing Fifth Edition ruleset. This might not be a bad move, as Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition has proved to be one of the most popular systems in the game's long history, and an updated set of rules and character options could carry that popularity for another decade.
There are three aspects to One D&D. The first is a slew of rule changes and expansions that will kick off with updated versions of the Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Player's Handbook in 2024. The second is an overhaul of the D&D Beyond website, giving players new tools and features to support their D&D experience. The final aspect is the D&D Digital Play Experience, an official virtual tabletop that will allow players to play online with 3D maps and characters powered by Unreal Engine 5.
The New and Updated Rules of One D&D
Players won't have to wait until 2024 to start experiencing the rule changes coming in the new Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide. Starting from August 2022, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing monthly or bimonthly playtesting materials, allowing players to get their hands on beta versions of the new rules and features. These Unearthed Arcana articles will also give players a chance to shape One D&D as it develops, offering feedback and criticism as they play.
The first of these Unearthed Arcana articles is the Character Origins playtest, which is already available to download for anyone who is registered on the D&D Beyond website. The playtest contains plenty of new rules that are focused around backgrounds and race choices. Many of the original Player's Handbook races have been expanded with new racial traits for the first time, including the ability to choose to be Small rather than Medium-sized for Humans and Tieflings. In addition, the playtest content also outlines the Ardlings, a brand-new race that are influenced by the Higher Planes of existence, just as the devil-like Tieflings are influenced by the Lower Planes.
Changes to D&D Beyond
Compared to the playtest content, very little has been revealed so far about the new features coming to D&D Beyond.in One D&D. The main attraction highlighted in the One D&D reveal trailer is the addition of digital and physical product bundles. These specially-priced bundles will allow players who buy a physical copy of a source or adventure book to also get access to a digital version of that book in D&D Beyond. The first bundle, which contains upcoming book Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, is already available on the D&D store.
Buying a physical/digital bundle will give players more than just a digital version of the book in D&D Beyond, however. They will also gain all the preorder perks associated with that digital content, as well as the ability to use and share any rules that it adds through D&D Beyond. It's this connectivity that allows players to add content directly to the D&D Beyond character creator, expanding their D&D character options with the new purchase. Players can expect these features to expand as One D&D rolls out, and it's already been revealed that they will be able to connect their D&D Beyond accounts directly to the new D&D Digital Play Experience.
The D&D Digital Play Experience
Players will be able to experience all the One D&D rule changes and updates through the D&D Digital Play Experience, an official virtual tabletop. At the moment, third-party VTTs like Roll20 and Foundry are the most popular way to play D&D Fifth Edition online. Wizards of the Coast will now be entering that field, with a brand-new 3D VTT built in Unreal Engine 5. D&D Digital is currently early in development, but footage from the One D&D reveal trailer showed that players will be able to customize models, battle maps, and encounters in a 3D environment. The VTT will also utilize a tilt-shift camera technique to give the feel of playing on a real tabletop, and to help separate D&D Digital from CRPGs.
Unfortunately, players who want to get their hands on the new system are going to be in for a long wait. Although no release date has been given for D&D Digital, the D&D Beyond website reveals that Wizards of the Coast is planning to launch a closed beta test of the VTT somewhere in 2023. This timeframe indicates that the company are aiming for the full release to coincide with the final One D&D rule updates in the 2024 Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master's Guide.
One Dungeons and Dragons is in development.