D&D Direct Lays Out The 2024 Edition’s Road Map

In a new “D&D Direct” broadcast today, Wizards of the Coast laid out a road map for the products Dungeons & Dragons players can expect through next year, to go hand-in-hand with the game’s revised “2024 Edition” rules, which will soon begin rolling into more players’ hands.

In addition to the revamped Monster Manual in February, an additional four cornerstone products will be offered for the 2024 edition ecosystem, while Wizards of the Coast’s in-house “immersive 3D sandbox,” Project Sigil, approaches a closed beta period.

As revealed during D&D Direct, the upcoming core product lineup for the 2024 Edition of Dungeons & Dragons includes:

• Dragon Anthology (working title), Summer 2025
• Updated Starter Set (working title), Fall 2025
• Forgotten Realms Player Guide (working title), Late 2025
• Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide (working title), Late 2025

The tentatively-titled Dragon Anthology will be the first anthology-style sourcebook released for the 2024 edition of D&D . Its ten short adventures will put the “Dungeons & Dragons” into D&D , as they all feature dragons… in dungeons. This also helps differentiate it from other dragon-centric supplements like Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons .

The Updated Starter Set for the 2024 edition rules will function like previous intro boxes , but with a bit of an updated approach. “We really lean into using components to teach people how to play,” said Lead Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford. The included adventure is set in an area called the Borderlands (no relation), and will take players to a keep, the surrounding wilderness itself, and the “Caves of Chaos,” potentially setting in motion a long campaign of heroism.

Perhaps the biggest bombshell in today’s D&D Direct is the pair of Forgotten Realms books for the 2024 edition rules environment. The setting of Faerun has essentially become the de facto campaign setting for D&D over the years, and thanks to the popularity of 2023 Game of the Year Baldur’s Gate 3 , it’s never been more popular or mainstream. Fifth Edition has never seen a full-fledged guide to this world, however, aside from the more specialized Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide .

D&D is capitalizing and correcting these points with a two-pronged release. The Forgotten Realms Player Guide will include lots of “crunchy” options for creating characters including new subclasses, feats, backgrounds, and spells, plus info on setting-unique info like the factions of Faerun.

Similarly, Dungeon Masters can seek out the Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide for info on beloved regions like Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, the Dalelands, the Moonshae Isles, and Calishem—each with a specific genre in mind, should DMs choose to use them in those specific ways.

Two years ago, in a broadcast similar to today’s D&D Direct , Wizards of the Coast first unveiled this new vision for the premier tabletop RPG—then under the working title of “One D&D.” At the time, they considered the third pillar of this initiative to be a fully digital playspace, and today, that dream has taken another step toward reality.

Project Sigil, an immersive 3D sandbox powered by Unreal Engine 5 , will allow players to bring their campaigns to life like never before. This utility includes digital miniature customization to reflect characters’ unique appearances and magical items, and “lush 3D environments” to truly illustrate the scale of encounters.

(Both Project Sigil and the 2024 edition rules were recently previewed in a star-studded actual-play session live from GenCon. Neil Newbon and Samantha Béart reprised their roles as Astarion and Karlach from Baldur’s Gate 3 in a game run by Aabria Iyengar, also featuring Anjali Bhimani and Brennan Lee Mulligan.)

All D&D Beyond subscribers can sign up now for the Project Sigil closed beta here .

Also teased during D&D Direct was a new set of 12 Lego Minifigs, releasing on September 1, that expand the partnership between these iconic game and toy brands. Beyond will also be incorporating more content from third-party creators like Kobold Press , Canada’s own Hitpoint Press , and Free League , among others.

The 2024 edition of Dungeons & Dragons ‘ Player’s Handbook will be widely available on September 17, but Master-tier subscribers to D&D Beyond will be able to gain early access starting September 3. On the same day, participating independent game stores will be selling the book early, with an alternate-art cover. Stay tuned to CGMagazine for more coverage on this new edition.