Can D&D 2024 content be usable with the old D&D sheet?

So first, the purpose of this post is not to attack the new D&D 2024 sheet.  I think it has a lot of potential once they get it to a point where it can function properly and have all the benefits of the old sheet.  The problem is, I run seven weekly D&D games and none of my players (nor I) want to use the new D&D sheet because it just doesn't work as well as the old sheet.  We have to copy/paste all the content into the old sheets to be able to play with the new content and I don't feel like that's acceptable.  I really want to support roll20, but there's no point in buying any of the 2024 material if it doesn't work with the 2014 sheet.  Is there any chance that roll20 will make the new content compatible with the old sheet for the time being?  Maybe later when the new sheet has reached the level of functionality the old sheet possesses, we can justify using it.  But right now, the lack of API support, lag, lack of basic functionality, and just broken options make the new sheet unusable in my opinion. Again, I love roll20 and love the potential of the new sheet. But it's just not at a place where I can use it and I really want to continue to support roll20 by buying all the books, but can't justify doing so if the functionality isn't linked to a sheet I (we) can use.  It would be smarter for me to just buy the PDFs and copy/paste the data into the old sheet. Thanks for listening and great work on the new jumpgate stuff! =)

I totally agree 👍

From what I've read, the D&D 5E 2014 by Roll20 character sheet is 12 years old and has been updated, patched and tweaked so much that it's simply not possible to incorporate the 2024 changes into it without a complete re-write. Instead of doing that using the old sheet architecture, Roll20 has decided to create the new sheet using a more modern one (called Beacon). For various reasons that I personally don't understand (because writing software is not part of my skill set) it's not going as well as planned.

I can speak a little bit to the difficulty with Beacon, as an outside non-programmer who has been involved in discussions with those that are programmers.  I am told that it is very powerful and flexible in the way it does things on the back end. But it is all "behind the curtain" and not exposed to Roll20.  Thus the main issue, Roll20 was built on customizability. Want to do something? We have a macro, script, or some other way for you to do that! So the Roll20 Devs have to build a bridge between Roll20 and Beacon to enable things like macros, scripts, etc. to customize the sheets the way folks expect.  And that is on top of the usual issues with working with a new technology and a brand new sheet that had a timeline forced  on it   by an outside party. 

I doubt the 2014 sheet could be updated to handle the new content in a cost-effective manner.  However, as someone who runs a 2014 campaign today, and would like to gradually add 2024 content, without forcing an entirely different, and to my mind less easy to use, sheet on my players, I'm going to throw in my +1 anyway. I do recognize that Roll20 had to implement the new sheet under time pressure and finishing that work has got to be where their focus is for now.  But longer term, it would be great if they did something more format-compatible with the 2014 sheet as an alternate sheet, or if they could somehow find a way (unlikely as it is) to support the old sheet with the new content.

I think the new sheet is more intuitive (assuming it worked bug-free), but it has way less customizability.  One thing that drives me crazy is that when I ask players to link things like spell descriptions, the new sheet only links about half the information leaving out things like range and components...

Ken S. said: I doubt the 2014 sheet could be updated to handle the new content in a cost-effective manner.  However, as someone who runs a 2014 campaign today, and would like to gradually add 2024 content, without forcing an entirely different, and to my mind less easy to use, sheet on my players, I'm going to throw in my +1 anyway. I do recognize that Roll20 had to implement the new sheet under time pressure and finishing that work has got to be where their focus is for now.  But longer term, it would be great if they did something more format-compatible with the 2014 sheet as an alternate sheet, or if they could somehow find a way (unlikely as it is) to support the old sheet with the new content. They have implemented a 10% solution and have the community helping with debugging.   They have adverts claiming all sorts of wonderful stuff for  a sheet that is still not even halfway to achieving their first claimed objective. The 2014 sheet could, before it was taken in-house, import the 2024 data.  So why can it not now?  Probably because they do not want it to.  The approach seems to be "detect 2024 content and block with a 'funny' message". The work needed to complete the 2014 sheet ability to import 2024 data cannot be more than is done every day on 2024 sheet changes.  The charactermancer would not be able to be used, but basic drag and drop...the code already exists! The simplest way to implement this suggestion has to be to release the 2014 sheet back to the community, and the community will get it sorted for the community. 

regardless of there reason though I own a ton of 2014 books I will not buy a single additional 2024 book on Roll 20 until they add in the ability to drag and drop to 2014 sheet. I mean nothing needs done to the sheet, the feats just need to be allowed, additionally if they ever remove the 2014 sheet I will find a new vtt, the 2024 sheet suck and I despise it so very much. Like no problem with it being there but it just doesn't do it for me, I hate everything about it, especially the way it is organized and edited. Additionally, the new spells and new feats do nothing that the old ones didn't do, so making them drag and drop is a active choice, and not a design limitation I would so give this topic all of my votes if I could, as this limitation is greatly hindering my ability to enjoy what is otherwise my favorite vtt

Rick A. said: From what I've read, the D&D 5E 2014 by Roll20 character sheet is 12 years old and has been updated, patched and tweaked so much that it's simply not possible to incorporate the 2024 changes into it without a complete re-write. Instead of doing that using the old sheet architecture, Roll20 has decided to create the new sheet using a more modern one (called Beacon). For various reasons that I personally don't understand (because writing software is not part of my skill set) it's not going as well as planned. I could perhaps understand character creation not being supported, but there is no reason to not allow drag and drop since feats spells ect structurally are no different then what already exists. And not having drag and drop features they will feel it down the road when people stop buying said books on there platform, a lot of us really dislike the new sheets. and if we have to copy past anyhow then why even bother purchasing the content. Though Monsters seam to work fine with the 2014 sheet even the new ones so MM may still be worth buying

I dislike the new sheet.  it is buggy...just tried creating a goblin and it is mixing the Eberron settings with the MoM settings (keps asking for Eberron sub species).   I also can't print it and as I use roll20 for physical games this is a huge hinderance.   I have been a pro supporter for years and you have me looking for alternative vtt programs.  JUST ALLOW THE OLD SHEET TO USE THE 2024 content.     -Bill

In the past, roll20 has rolled out new features and allowed users to slowly migrate over only forcing a transition after several years of making sure the new features work properly. I don't know why they would think they should force new content onto a buggy sheet that doesn't even have half the features of the old one. While I love most of roll20's creative decisions, this one was a real miss.

I want to add my +1 to this as well. I do like a lot of the new 2024 rules, but I really don't like that the price I have to pay to fully utilise them in Roll20 is to deal with this new character sheet. I've tried my best to get used to it but I find it messy, un-intuitive, buggy and the lack of macros and customisation is an absolute deal breaker for me. I've used Roll20 for at least a decade now and the loss of so many basic features in exchange for this thing really disappoints me. The 2014 sheets were vastly superior. I applaud any company that takes a risk these days with some new and innovative ideas. I know there's always a risk in trying something new. But, where this sheet currently stands, I feel this was a swing and a miss. It's just not fun anymore. It's slowing my games down immensely, so much so that they're more tedious than enjoyable now. I've given time and money to Roll20 over the years because I really believe in what they do and where they want to go. But for the first time in a decade, I'm considering a new VTT. I hate this sheet and I hate that we've lost features. Please consider what can be done to allow new content to be used on the old sheets. 

own all the 2024 books on D&D beyond and would normally buy them here as well as I always did in the past, but not being able to drag to 2014 sheet means I have no reason to buy any of the new books here and I know many others feel the same. we buy the books here because of the drag and drop feature, but that 2024 character sheet is horrible. Need drag and drop for the 2014 sheet, or eventually people like myself will have to start looking for other options. So hope they get this working

any possibility of an api making this possible?

I totally agree, i dont like the new sheet, this sheet is not versatile as the 2014,  you cant even turn off night mode