Hypothetical question for 3pp: 5e goes OGL what would you publish?

[Wicht]

I see what you're saying, and I hope you are right,...

Well, don't misconstrue my mood to be one of confidence.

I remember the GSL fiasco myself. But I will follow what they do with keen interest.

 

[Jester David]

The OGL/GSL question is a big one.
The absence of a flexible 3PP certainly hurt 4e. Because people couldn't provide alternate rules it was much harder to produce alternate content, content WotC wasn't creating themselves.
But the restrictive GSL also came before Pathfinder took D&D's market share. The urge not to make the same mistake might be strong (even if the lessons that should be ones of creating a flexible game, listening to the audience, communication, and devaluing the core books).

I can still see the upper management changing their mind and deciding a new OGL is not worth the risk.

What Products
I imagine any 3PP with a world would do a campaign conversion with races and class options.
Finding an unsupported niche (psionics, horror, evil campaigns) works for a lot of Paizo's 3PP. Similar lines would work with D&D Next. I can also imagine Asian mythology products being a good hook for 3PP.
Given the initial push of 5e seems to be on retro play and winning back lost players, a good 3PP hack would be a variant focused on new school play, possibly with a 4e slant. A 4e Pathfinder as it were using 5e.

 

[Morrus]

If I were to guess (and this is a complete WAG) I'd imagine that we'd likely see something like the OGL, but with aspects of the d20 STL incorporated into it. Instead of two licenses, there'd be one, and that would feature restrictions on creating new games with it (e.g. no XP tables or how to roll ability scores, like the d20 STL forbade - so you couldn't make a full Pathfinder with it, but you could make a thousand splatbooks or adventures which required the core rulebooks).

That's my guess, anyway.

 

[Dias Ex Machina]

If I were to guess (and this is a complete WAG) I'd imagine that we'd likely see something like the OGL, but with aspects of the d20 STL incorporated into it. Instead of two licenses, there'd be one, and that would feature restrictions on creating new games with it (e.g. no XP tables or how to roll ability scores, like the d20 STL forbade - so you couldn't make a full Pathfinder with it, but you could make a thousand splatbooks or adventures which required the core rulebooks).

That's my guess, anyway.

And that would be fine by me as well. The whole purpose around my response was that we are confident an/the OGL is coming. If my source was unsuccessful, and we only have a GSL, DEM will publish through that agreement considering we did so with 4th Edition without any restrictions of freedom or paranoia of intellectual property loss. The possibility that WOTC will not open 5E for 3PP support is so minute, I’d have better odds winning the 6/49 and then promptly getting struck by a chunk of Russian space debris.

And even considering that, we’ll still be able to publish for 5E. Goodman released 4E products before the GSL said he could. I’m only saying that baring a vicious shark attack, DEM will be able to deliver our promise mentioned in our Kickstarter to release Amethyst for DDN.

 

[TrippyHippy]

If D&D5e wants to succeed as a brand, in the light of it's competitors, then it needs to be Open. If they try to do it in splendid isolation, it will die a slow death from the offset.

 

[frankthedm]

Maybe I'm jaded, but I'm thinking if we see an OGL, it is because Mearls and crew are trying to get the gilded thread ready knit themselves a golden parachute for when Wotc lets them go.

5E does not need an OGL, it just needs to be both a good game and a familiar game to enough people. TSR got folks to buy their books over again with 1E, Basic, 2E and then again with the skills and powers set. They only died due to disastrous mismanagement. 3E got away with many changes because so many of them were intuitive and 3.5 refined many things but did not utterly invalidate 3.0 books. 4E birthed Pathfinder cause Wotc made 4E too different. Pathfinders ditched Wotc to stay with a familiar game.

 

[Dias Ex Machina]

4E birthed Pathfinder cause Wotc made 4E too different. Pathfinders ditched Wotc to stay with a familiar game.

Noooo, they ditched WOTC because WOTC failed to deliver the 4E rules to third party publishers in a timely fashion. The GSL only sealed the deal. The seeds of Pathfinder had already been sowed before anyone had even seen the 4th Edition rules.

 

[frankthedm]

Noooo, they ditched WOTC because WOTC failed to deliver the 4E rules to third party publishers in a timely fashion. The GSL only sealed the deal. The seeds of Pathfinder had already been sowed before anyone had even seen the 4th Edition rules.

Meant Pathfinders as players of Pathfinder, not as a ref to Paizo Staff. Pathfinder's success came from its familiarity. Paizo probably had plans for their own d20 ruleset when Wotc told them No More Print Dungeon & Dragon Magazine in X issues. You can announce this in N months.

My worry is that no such license appears; in which case you've Kickstarted and taken money for something you can't legally provide.

Thank you [MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION]. it is sounding like this is all a verbal agreement. Good news, but not secure enough for patronage, IMHO.

You can use the OGL to replicate as much of 5e as possible I suppose.

I'm curious on how to do that before 5E is even out without going by the playtest docs which came with a NDA.

That said - hypothetically - there would be Kickstarter from me for DDN versions of our three adventure paths, and possibly a new one.

After the agreements are signed, should those be required?

 

[Mistwell]

I'm curious on how to do that before 5E is even out without going by the playtest docs which came with a NDA.

I am suggesting you release almost-simultaneous with 5e, not before.

 

[frankthedm]

I am suggesting you release almost-simultaneous with 5e, not before.

I'm curious on how one can get almost-simultaneous with the delays it takes to write, edit, playtest, final edit, get it printed and deliver to market.