Save $60 if you pre-order the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks before they start launching in September

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game. Along with that 50th anniversary comes a new—or revamped, rather—version of D&D 5th Edition. You can now pre-order digital and physical versions of the three core rulebooks on the D&D Beyond Marketplace. I think they should've called this new/not-new edition "D&D Gold" (since a 50th anniversary is a gold anniversary) or at least "D&D 50." But I was not invited to that meeting.

I'll keep the math simple:

• Digital only
  • 2024 Player's Handbook (September 17,2024) $29.99
  • 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide (November 12, 2024) $29.99
  • 2024 Monster Manual (February 18, 2025) $29.99

• Physical only
  • 2024 Player's Handbook (September 17,2024) $49.99
  • 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide (November 12, 2024) $49.99
  • 2024 Monster Manual (February 18, 2025) $49.99

• Digital and Physical Bundle—all three core rulebooks in both digital and physical versions—$179.97

Your calculator will confirm: Buying the digital and physical bundle saves you $60 in the long run. It's worth noting that the digital version you buy from D&D Beyond is only usable on D&D Beyond. It doesn't require a subscription to view your digital books, but you're not being given a PDF or any other downloadable format.

If D&D Beyond is ever shut down—and one day it will be—you will no longer have access to your digital books. Don't get me wrong: I love the convenience, searchability, and usability of my D&D library on D&D Beyond that I can share with my D&D buddies in our D&D Slack channel. But I will lament the day the bombs drop and we are instantly robbed of all our digital conveniences in this life.

But a physical book that is well-cared for will outlive you. When the apocalypse happens and we're all tucked into our Costco-stocked underground shelters, rest assured that you can still play D&D on day one of the post-apocalypse.

For giving the 2024 D&D 5th Edition core rulebook bundle your money before its even released, there are a few extra digital goodies that become available on your D&D Beyond account to sweeten the deal:

• The Dragons of D&D digital art book
• A digital gold dragon mini (when the D&D 3D virtual tabletop enters closed beta)
• And the D&D Beyond gold dice set

Pray for me as I scrape together the finances to keep my daughter in ballet and somehow afford these new core rulebooks. My players depend on me.