I've been really bummed the last week or so with the OGL news. I simply can't get myself up to really do anything D&D / RPG related. I was briefly excited about changing to a new platform, but that soon faded. I was checking DnD Beyond (DDB) this morning to see if there was any OGL news and I realized something. I want to play D&D, not another game, and I want to use DDB. There is a lot of interesting content on DDB (a lot of it free) that reminds of Dragon/Dungeon magazine. I want to continue with my 5e homebrew game, it is just about perfect for my group.
I know technically I can continue playing, but this whole OGL debacle has just drained the RPG will out of me. I guess I feel betrayed? I don't know. Even the calls to create a new open system or rally behind another system just feel wrong and a bit like a betrayal as well. I like D&D and I like sharing it with others. I like the shared community. These forums are, in fact, the only social media I really engage in. I like hearing what
@Micah Sweet ,
@Parmandur,
@Maxperson ,
@TheSword,
@Ruin Explorer,
@Stalker0,
@Matrix Sorcica, and many, many others have to say. I doubt I get that if I leave D&D. I am just finding it very hard to have the desire to play or engage in D&D right now.
For me, the best, and possible the only solution, is a new OGL 1.0(b) that adds that is irrevocable and next to nothing else. I don't even think I want a siloed OGL1.1 anymore (which I previously thought would be fine). Otherwise I just might leave the hobby all together.
The realist in me says you can’t really change the macro decisions like these that happen in the world. They are profound strategic changes that are being driven by far more than just fan goodwill or lack of. That can be depressing and make a person feel like their view doesn’t matter.
What you can control though, is how you react to things. You have control over what you buy or not, what you read or not, what you say or not, who you spend time or not… and at the end of the day those are the only things that really matter.
D&D is good fun for the most part. It’s not going to stop being fun after OGL is settled. The reason I know this, is that it was good fun long before the OGL came along.
It seems to me that what you’re feeling is a lack of inspiration and up to now a lot of that inspiration has been coming from 3pp, and interacting with people who write and are passionate about that stuff. I totally get that. Im on the record as saying I think the last two years of WoTC products have been not to my taste at all.
My last fews years game time has consisted of Odyssey of the Dragon Lords, Scarlet Citadel, Cubicle 7’s Adventures in Middle Earth, Paizo’s Age of Worms, a Bloodborne spin off, Kingmaker, and planning a homebrew Dark Sun campaign cobbled from Pathifnder,
@Steampunkette &
@toucanbuzz ’s stuff. The only 5e WoTC stuff I played in the last two years was the excellent Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign DMd by
@GuyBoy and Dungeon of the Mad Mage DM’d by our friend Matt. A very short foray into Rime of the Frostmaiden (that imploded) and Dragon heist.
[Edit: for anyone who’s wondering, that list is why I take a contrary view on the topic to some of the people around here. I run a business and understand why for WOtC that situation isn’t tenable]
… oh and of course WFRP 4e which I try to shoehorn into every thread that I can but doesn’t count because it’s not a D&D derivative (or rather it is but back from the day when TSR would slap a C&D on you if you breathed the word IP so it’s different enough not to matter!
The fact is, good ideas will still be around and either way the big players aren’t going to just disappear - their ideas are still there and their passion. They will still be generating new stuff it’s just might not be 5e. The silver lining is that 5e is the easiest game I’ve ever seen to convert stuff to. So much so that I’m still buying pathfinder stuff 5 years after I stopped playing.
My advice is not to give up, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Instead scale back or switch direction and do something different. I feel personally we’re still in a golden age of D&D resources with millions more playing D&D than ever before, despite the doomsaying. Keep looking until you find inspiration and most of all enjoy the experience. Pick up where you left off that Rappan Athauk campaign 10 years ago with new characters, or do a conversion of Kingmaker. Or just play Baldurs Gate I and II again on tablet to remind yourself what a great story could be.
On separate note thank you for including me in your list. I was pretty touched that someone actually wanted to know what I had to say. I sometimes feel like the 10th man around here but It’s lovely to hear that someone was interested.
Lastly, be kinder to yourself matey!
