Tapestry Handbook

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Choose a Game System and Use SRD Content

Campaign configuration

Choose a Game System and Use SRD Content

Select the rules library for a campaign and understand how it shapes references, encounters, shops, and live-play tools.

GM

About 8 minutes

Choose a system when creating a campaign

  1. Open All Campaigns, select New Campaign, and find Game system in the Basics step.
  2. Choose D&D 5.5E (2024) for SRD 5.2.1, D&D 5E (2014) for SRD 5.1, or D&D 3.5E for the v3.5 SRD.
  3. New campaigns default to D&D 5.5E (2024) when no other system is selected.
  4. After creation, the campaign owner can change the selection from Campaign Settings, then Campaign. GMs and viewers can see the selected system but cannot change it.

Best practice

Choose the edition the table actually uses before preparing encounters or pinning rules references. Campaign notes and worldbuilding remain useful if the selection changes later.

Know what follows the selected system

The game system scopes built-in reference content rather than the campaign world. Core Rules, global search, DM Screen search, quick-reference panels, monsters, spells or powers, equipment, magic items, DC bands, travel tools, and generated shop inventories all use the selected SRD library.

Characters, locations, factions, quests, sessions, notes, maps, relationships, calendars, and other campaign entities do not change when the system changes. Custom content remains part of the campaign; custom monsters explicitly tagged for a different ruleset may be filtered from system-scoped monster searches.

Understand each SRD library

D&D 5.5E (2024)
Uses SRD 5.2.1 content for rules, monsters, spells, equipment, magic items, quick references, travel, and shops.
D&D 5E (2014)
Uses SRD 5.1 content with the 2014 rules wording, monsters, spells, equipment, magic items, quick references, travel, and system-matched shop inventories.
D&D 3.5E
Uses the v3.5 SRD, including spells and psionic powers, native 3.5 monster statistics, expanded skills, price-based magic items, 3.5 travel references, and an encumbrance helper.

Best practice

Use the campaign-scoped Core Rules and DM Screen search instead of assuming similarly named rules work the same way across editions.

Change systems safely

  1. The campaign owner opens Campaign Settings, then Campaign, and chooses a different value under Game System.
  2. Read the confirmation before applying the change. Rules, spells, items, monsters, shops, and quick references will switch to the new system.
  3. Existing encounter combatants retain their saved stat-block snapshots, so an encounter already in progress does not lose its combatant data.
  4. Review the pinned-reference dock after switching because pins may still point to content from the previous system.
  5. Review saved shop tags and regenerate current shop results when they were created against the previous system.
  6. Open Core Rules and run a representative search to confirm that the expected edition is active.

Important

Changing systems does not translate campaign-authored mechanics or convert old encounter snapshots. Review anything that intentionally preserves rules text or statistics from the previous edition.

Understand content and licensing boundaries

An SRD is a licensed rules reference, not a complete reproduction of every commercial rulebook. Features, creatures, spells, items, subclasses, and optional rules that are outside the selected SRD are not implied to be included.

SRD 5.2.1 and SRD 5.1 content is used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. The v3.5 SRD is used under the Open Game License v1.0a; open the license from a 3.5E campaign footer or visit /legal/ogl.

D&D Beyond character synchronization is a separate 5E-family integration for supported public character profiles. It does not add commercial rulebook content to Tapestry’s built-in reference library.