Dungeons & Dragons SRD 5.2 Is Officially Live

The new System Reference Document (SRD) for Dungeons & Dragons' revised 5th Edition is officially live. The new SRD was officially released and is available for download on D&D Beyond. A FAQ detailing changes from the previous SRD was also released.

The SRD provides a version of D&D's rules that can be used and referenced in third-party material and form a framework for publishing material compatible for D&D's latest edition. The newest version of the SRD contains a mix of species, backgrounds, subclasses, and feats from the 2024 Player's Handbook, along with statblocks from the 2025 Monster Manual.

One other interesting note is that the new SRD purges references to creatures and characters classified as D&D IP. The previous SRD released under a Creative Commons license contained reference to Strahd and Orcus, both of which were removed in the new SRD. Additionally, the SRD renames the Deck of Many Things as "Mysterious Deck" and the Orb of Dragonkind as "Dragon Orb" to allow for both to be used in third-party material while not infringing upon D&D IP.

 

[Zaukrie]

Great to have the confusion of IP names removed....great move by WotC.

 

[Scribe]

Great to have the confusion of IP names removed....great move by WotC.

What was the confusion?

 

[Zaukrie]

What was the confusion?

IP was included in some of the writeups, so it wasn't clear how/if you could use them. Like names were mentioned, but were IP. Now, there is no IP included.

 

[Morrus]

Great to have the confusion of IP names removed....great move by WotC.

I'm not sure what was confusing--they were released into Creative Commons by the previous SRD and they still are. Not putting them into a subsequent SRD doesn't remove them.

 

[Morrus]

IP was included in some of the writeups, so it wasn't clear how/if you could use them.

It was clear. You can use anything in the 5.1 SRD under the terms of the Creative Commons license, which is clear.

Like names were mentioned, but were IP. Now, there is no IP included.

They are still part of Creative Commons. It's a one-directional thing. You can't rescind it.

 

[Reynard]

I just scanned through it quickly. it looks pretty comprehensive (if a little wordy). Interestingly, there is no section on the Plane or Cosmology. There are a few mentions of plane names in other descriptions, but it is clear that they wanted to remove as much of the Great Wheel setting as possible this time around.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm not sure what was confusing--they were released into Creative Commons by the previous SRD and they still are. Not putting them into a subsequent SRD doesn't remove them.

It removes them from 5.2. I wasn't confused. You weren't confused, but people were confused if they could use Strahd in any way since his name was in 5.1. Whatever, it isn't important. I feel like this could devolve into pedanticism and 5 pages of talking about something that isn't crucial......

 

[Reynard]

I'm not sure what was confusing--they were released into Creative Commons by the previous SRD and they still are. Not putting them into a subsequent SRD doesn't remove them.

Just for clarity, you can create a product that reference both SRDs, correct?

 

[Morrus]

It removes them from 5.2. I wasn't confused. You weren't confused, but people were confused if they could use Strahd in any way since his name was in 5.1.

They could and they still can.