March 2024 marks the commencement of a year-long celebration, as Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts worldwide unite to honor the 50th anniversary of the tabletop roleplaying game’s inaugural publication way back in 1974, coinciding with the year of the dragon.
The festivities kick off with a free tournament-style adventure, providing players the opportunity to engage at local game stores, conventions, or from the comfort of their homes. Additionally, fans can anticipate a sneak peek at upcoming books and new brand partnerships.
The first gift of the year-long commemoration is the exclusive 50th-anniversary wallpaper featuring stunning art from the 2024 core rulebooks, now available for download, allowing fans to showcase their love for D&D on desktops and mobile devices.
D&D has a rich history, an exciting present, and a great future,” stated Kyle Brink, Executive Producer of the D&D team at Wizards of the Coast. “This year, we’ll be celebrating all three with the 50th Anniversary of the first publication of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
The highlight of the celebration is a global adventure entitled “Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth” set to unfold in March, where fans worldwide will embark on the same quest inspired by the creators’ love for tournament-style play.
This high-stakes adventure allows players to delve into the Forgotten Realms and journey through the other settings such as Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk. Dungeon Masters will be readily available to guide and enhance the experience, whether on kitchen tables, video chat rooms, or through platforms like D&D Beyond.
Time to party up. We’re oozing with anticipation! Are you ready to build awesome adventures?#LEGODnD pic.twitter.com/0gbrxpFLwD
— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) February 19, 2024
The celebrations for D&D’s 50th anniversary extend beyond gameplay, with an array of licensed consumer products in collaboration with other popular brands. Converse will offer footwear and apparel, an official LEGO IDEAS building set with mini-figures which includes the iconic Gelatinous Cube, and Pop-Tarts introduces delicious gaming table-friendly treats.
Aside from official crossover merchandise, Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro promise an immersive experience in 2024, introducing a 3D virtual tabletop (VTT) and enhancing accessibility for players on D&D Beyond. The celebration will also take D&D to more shows and conventions to engage with fans globally.
WoTC already has a lineup of new products slated for release in 2024 and through 2025:
Vecna: Eve of Ruin (Adventure Campaign)
- Release Date: May 21, 2024
- For characters of levels 10-20
- A high-stakes adventure spanning multiple realms, with the heroes racing to prevent the notorious lich Vecna from obliterating good, destroying the gods, and subjugating all worlds.
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 (History of D&D)
- Release Date: June 18, 2024
- A comprehensive book chronicling the inception of D&D, featuring co-creator Gary Gygax’s never-before-seen first draft from 1973, along with a curated collection of fanzine and magazine articles contributing to D&D’s origin story.
Quests from the Infinite Staircase (Adventure Anthology)
- Release Date: July 16, 2024
- For character levels 1 to 13
- An anthology updating six classic D&D adventures for the fifth edition, woven together by the Infinite Staircase – a gateway to fantastic realms beyond imagination.
D&D Player’s Handbook (2024)
- Release Date: September 17, 2024
- Player resource with enhanced options, organization, and additions to the fifth edition rules. The first core rulebook for the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons (aka One D&D), it will include updated systems as seen in the playtests and subsequent surveys.
D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)
- Release Date: November 12, 2024
- Dungeon Master (DM) resource offering a clever and accessible approach to running games, equipped with more tools and rules for creating settings and plot hooks for D&D players.
D&D Monster Manual (2025)
- Release Date: February 18, 2025
- DM resource providing an extensive selection of foes for player characters at all levels of play, ranging from the common rodents to the majestic dragons of the titular TTRPG. This is also the final core rulebook for the updated D&D rules.
Other officially licensed games such as the MMOs Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) and Neverwinter also have tie-in events to coincide with WotC’s celebrations. DDO will have monthly freebies for the ‘Year of the Dragon‘ while Neverwinter already concluded its ‘Feast of Lanterns’ event.
As Wizards of the Coast eagerly anticipates celebrating the 50th Anniversary of D&D with fans in 2024, how will you join the adventure and leave your mark on the next 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons? And what would Larian Studios have in store for Baldur’s Gate 3 players to commemorate the D&D anniversary?
