So while I'm always happy when people are criticizing D&D Beyond in particular or proprietary platforms in general, in this particular case it's actually against the rules-as-intended to play a 2014 Oath of the Ancient in a 2024 paladin shell.

(All house ruling aside, of course, and heaven knows I love house ruling and how house ruling is an argument against D&D Beyond.)

2014 oaths that do not have a 2024 version are still legal in the 2024 shell, but for oaths that do have a 2024 version, you've got to play the 2024 version if your group is playing D&D 5.24.

The reason for this is that some of the updated subclasses have nerfs or that features from them have been moved to the shell or otherwise taxed. Or, even the ones that have been buffed have the same issue in some sorta bid for table balance.

I cannot pick the 2014 version of things I own if they’re in 2024 content I don’t own

The intent is that it should work like this:

I cannot pick the 2014 version of things regardless of ownership if they’re in 2024 content regardless of ownership.

If Beyond platform ownership enters the equation, the Beyond team has messed up.

(Again, the word "legal" is a little silly in a game like D&D which works best when groups can change any rule, mash up editions freely etc. So please don't shoot the messenger here. I don't agree with WotC's decision here. I just remember them announcing that this was how it was going to work, even at the table with all physical books and no Beyond.)

@JackbyDev@programming.dev @dndnext@ttrpg.network

You can use 2014 PHB subclasses but only with 2014 PHB classes. When choosing a class, scroll down to "2014 Core Rules".

This is why you need physical books. You can't downgrade or stop me from using my books. After the removed content from Volos I was done. I still use it for filtering but have my physical books and my pirated PDFs. It's a real shame that they don't come bundled

I made a spreadsheet in Google Sheets so I can track all my shit without Beyond. I can share, if anyone wants a copy.

I would seriously advise just downloading PDFs and using a classic sheet/customizable app.

D&D Beyond's pricing is embarrassingly predatory.

Avast ye swabs: 5e.tools/

I hate playing with people who insist on using beyond

D&D Beyond has been garbage since the start (the shitty double-dipping business model where you pay both a subscription and for individual content—imagine if Netflix worked that way!) and got considerably shitter when they ripped out all the stuff you had paid for with no recourse after WotC put out a "patch" to remove whole pages worth of lore.

Genuinely, my advice is switch to Pathfinder. The shitty behaviour from WotC with the OGL is what finally got me to pull the trigger, but that mid-2022 deletion of content had me already on the edge of the cliff regardless. It's similar enough that most D&D players won't have trouble migrating. It has some aspects that I can reasonably see some players might not like: undoubtedly it is a little more complicated to build a character.

But it has other aspects which are just straight-up better. For starters, this. When they released a major update that removed some older content, all the old content was made still available at the flick of a switch in Archives of Nethys. It's also all free. No need to buy each individual book one at a time and then pay a subscription on top of that. You can see all the books' content without paying a cent. And tools like Pathbuilder let you build characters conveniently online for free with very few restrictions, and those restrictions (like animal companions) can be lifted for a single one-time purchase of less than $10. Or, because the rules are free, there are other software options that integrate well with the game, if you prefer, including one from the original developers of DDG with the same predatory pricing model.

There are also a few aspects to the rules that I think very few people could possibly see as negatives, including a few of those most core to the game: 4 degrees of success and the 3-action economy. 4DoS means if you roll 10 over the target, you get a critical success even without a natural 20, but a critical fail if you get 10 under. This allows your basic spell save damage spells to have double damage, regular damage, half damage, or no damage. And allows some other effects to have cool extra effects depending how how high you roll. 3AE gives you more control over your turn and solves the weirdness of D&D's bonus actions, and allows you to make more interesting turns, especially as a martial.

I reckon it's always been garbage. First character I tried to setup I needed to buy expansions for so I immediately gave up.

If you're looking for another app with all the 5E content, it doesn't exist, because everything except the SRD is copyrighted. So your options are to find some character building spreadsheet with all the options, try one of the suggestions in this thread, or pony up more cash to rebuy all the stuff you already bought.