Today, preorders launch for the updated Dungeons & Dragons Core Rulebooks! The Player’s Handbook was initially released in 2014, marking 10 years since the momentous release. With the incredible growth of Dungeons & Dragons—made possible by stores like yours—we expect the new Core Rulebooks to be the D&D event of the decade!

Local Game Store Early Access means the 2024 Player’s Handbook will release in North America on September 3, 2024. This article includes all the information you need to begin preorders and event scheduling, but more information regarding sales promotions, in-store materials, and event details will be forthcoming.

D&D 50th Anniversary Play Series Events

Dungeons & Dragons celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and we are eager to share details on upcoming events where players can build a party with fellow fans in-store and dive into the new content together.

Aligning with each of the Local Game Store Early Access release dates for the updated Core Rulebooks, we're eager to introduce additional D&D 50th Anniversary Play Series events! You may have already run the Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth event at your store, and now you can schedule three more to keep the anniversary celebration rolling:

• 2024 Player's Handbook
• Play Series Event: September 3 – October 7, 2024
• Key Event Weekend: September 3 – 8
• 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide
• Play Series Event: October 29 – November 25, 2024
• Key Event Weekend: October 29 – November 3
• 2024 Monster Manual
• Play Series Event: February 4 – March 3, 2025
• Key Event Weekend: February 11 – 16

While you can schedule as many events as you like during the event window, we recommend scheduling at least one event on the highlighted key weekends to drive players to join the fun. These key weekends were selected with our overall event schedule in mind; you might consider these weekends good starting points for new and interested players to join in if you're running multiple D&D 50th Anniversary Play Series events or use them as launch parties to celebrate each book release in style. In the end, choose what works best for your store!

Each Play Series event will feature free claimable adventures on D&D Beyond, using pre-made characters and featuring content from the new core rulebooks.

We will provide you with codes to pass along to your store's Dungeon Masters so they can access the content ahead of each event on D&D Beyond. Neither Dungeon Masters nor participating players need a D&D Beyond subscription to access the content redeemed via codes, though they will need a D&D Beyond account.

WPN Premium Stores in U.S., Canada, and Guam: Redeem D&D 50th Anniversary Materials on the WPN Marketing Portal

The WPN Marketing Portal, powered by Smartpress, has an existing suite of evergreen D&D items you can redeem to boost marketing efforts in your store. With each Core Rulebook release, we'll be adding even more materials for you to redeem:

• Bookmarks for in-store gift-with-purchase for any of the new Core Rulebooks
• Poster-sized map to support D&D 50th Anniversary Play Series event
• Navigational signage for on-shelf display alongside products

These new items will be added later this summer, and we hope you're looking forward to using these items to hit the ground running with marketing each of the updated Core Rulebooks.

Fans in your community may already be eager to get their hands on the books after seeing previews across the web, so please visit our product pages and the marketing materials page to download product images, copy, promotional assets, and any other details you need to get your listings live!