D&D’s clunkily-named 2024 ruleset, a revamp of 5e, finally throws up its hands and goes fine, we’ll call it 5.5e on D&D Beyond, you win

Dungeons & Dragons, judging by the D&D Beyond site (which is owned by Wizards), is going through a bit of a revamp with its 2024 ruleset—in that it’s finally giving in to semantic ease and normal naming convention and just calling itself 5.5th edition, or 5.5e. Well, on one specific website.

The system, originally dubbed OneD&D, is still 5e when you look at the bones—mind, there are some major and very important changes, such as tweaks to grappling rules, class redesigns, weapon masteries, and the like. But the core bread and butter of the ruleset wasn’t enough to mandate a change to the big number by that little “e”.

Which is why it was a little confusing when OneD&D, a working title, became the D&D 2024 ruleset—drawing a distinguishing line between D&D 2014 (also known as 5e) and D&D 2024 (not known as 5e, but backwards compatible with it, technically). Almost everyone on the internet just basically called it 5.5e, and it seems like Wizards of the Coast is slowly catching on.

You can read D&D Beyond full FAQ for yourself, though the site is quick to dispel ideas that this is part of a larger rebrand: “No. This update is limited to rules labeling on D&D Beyond to improve clarity and usability.”

However, the reasoning itself mostly vindicates the raw and unfiltered power of community vocabulary: “Earlier on, they were referred to differently. As D&D Beyond evolved and more players used both versions side by side, it became clear that ‘5.5e’ matched how the community already talks about the game and made things easier to understand.

“Years were harder to scan and didn’t clearly signal rules compatibility. ‘5e’ and ‘5.5e’ are faster and clearer when you’re browsing, building characters, or running a campaign.”

It’s unclear whether Wizards will be adopting this rebranding in a wider sense in the future—and as someone who has to write about D&D for a living on occasion, by Vecna’s shrivelled hand I sure bloody hope so. Just to recap, the 5th edition framework has now had the following names:

D&D 5th edition (sometimes called 5e).D&D 5th edition (2014 ruleset).OneD&D (deprecated, working title).D&D 5th edition (2024 ruleset).D&D 5.5e (currently only on D&D Beyond).

I don’t mean to be that guy, but this doesn’t exactly strike me as clear and concise branding. That being said, it’s apt given Wizards’ past decade of executive fumbling—which is a shame, because I’ve warmed up to OneD&D/D&D 2024/D&D 5.5e. I think a lot of the choices made in the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Player’s Handbook are good ones and, quite frankly, deserved better branding.

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