In 2024 (and 2025), we got threeDungeons & Dragonsbooks. More precisely, we got updated versions of the three main core rulebooks to play the game: the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual. With it, classes, spells, and rules were revised.
Now, whether you liked the changes or not is up to you, of course. That said, if you did enjoy the changes and are now thinking about implementing them into your games, you can either replace all the rules or mix and match your favorite new and old rules together and DM your own way. Here, we’ll give you a few tips on dos and don’ts when swapping said rules.
5Talk To Your Players First
This Is A Group Decision
You may be the judge, but you shouldn’t make all the rules alone. Your players are a huge part of the game - the game is literally for them - and thus, they have a say about whether you should change the rules. Convincing them may not be particularly hard - just tell them that every class got buffed - but not everyone is on board with reinventing the wheel. Talk to them about it, be ready to explain some of the changes if they ask, and see what they feel about it.
If your party is composed of strictly new players, then it’s up to you which rules you should follow. That said, if you’reDMing for veteran players,they might be less inclined to have to worry about changes to a game they’re too familiar with, as they just want to show up and have a fun time, or the new rules might break their character-building idea. Whatever the case, talk to them.
4Don’t Make Big Changes To Ongoing Games
Don’t Break The Flow
If you have a campaign that has been going for a while, with the players being at a relatively high level or something similar, leave the campaign alone. Making big changes, such as simply telling players that their species or class now works differently, can make things complicated.
Not to mention that having to absorb multiple levels of an altered class can take a while. Leave the big changes for whenever you start a new campaign, so you and your players can slowly get used to the new rules. Feel free to change one rule here or there if you want to, like potions on bonus actions or the use of one spell slot per turn, but we don’t recommend anything significant.
If you are making any (or all) changes mid-campaign, revise the rules with your players and ask them to read things in their free time, too. The more people who can keep up with the new rules without needing explanation, the more fluid the game will be. It’s also worth noting that, while you can give a narrative explanation to these changes if possible, it’s not necessary.
3Implement Them Slowly
Take Your Time
Speaking of going slowly, let’s dive deeper into this topic. You don’t need to implement all the new rules right away, even if you intend to use all of them in the long run. If you’re playing with veterans used to the old rules, having them learn only a few rules at a time and having time to grasp them will make them adapt to the new rules more easily.
For instance, you can focus on the new changes tocharacter creationduring session zero and have them focus on that in the first few sessions, so they understand them better. Then, you can explain how exhaustion works now, then surprise, and so on.
2Create Tutorial Segments
Let Them Learn Through Experience
If you want your players to learn the new rules, you have to create situations where they come up.For example, if you want the players to learn about thenew surprise condition rules,create a scenario where they get to surprise enemies or a scenario where they are surprised by enemies, or both, so they can experience both sides.
It’s literally how video games teach you how to play. Though you may wait and talk to them when these topics come up organically during the sessions, if there are any rules you think are a bit more complicated to understand, or one of your players or more are having a hard time, teaching them through playing is the best solution. We highly recommend bastions to be their own session, for instance.
You can also talk to the player who’s having difficulties understanding outside the game, or even simulating a scenario with their character, just to explain.
1Keep The Old Rules You Like
Mix And Match The Books
Being surprised now only means you have disadvantage on your initiative roll, a change made because the old surprised condition can be brutal on whoever takes it. Still, let’s suppose you enjoy said brutality and you want to keep it. Well then, keep it.
You’re not obligated to change everything; you can keep the rules you like from 2014 if you and your players prefer them. Or maybe you can create a middle ground between both, such as giving the surprised characters disadvantage on everything they do, which is harder than the 2024 rules but still nicer than losing their turn like in the 2014 rules. It’s all up to you.
That said, pay close attention to what will be affected if you don’t change a certain rule. For instance, if you keep the old version of the surprised condition, like in our example, will players still be able to bypass it through the Alert feat? Are both old and new Alert feats allowed?
