WotC Rumor: OGL will not be supported starting with One D&D

[Greg K]

right you misunderstand, I was under the impression the 8 of us are outliers... and even we use the DM side of things (monsters, magic items, adventures)

I think that's sad... not that I think 3pp should be smaller but other RPGs should get MORE love... Torg WoD and Savage World espcially... and I have a soft spot for rifts

For me, it is Icons: Assembed, Savage Worlds and, upon reading, Barbarians of Lemura, Honor + Intrigue, BASH!, Tinyd6, Modern Age, Atomic Highway, EarthAD.2

 

[John R Davis]

Worth noting that before the 5E SRD was released, there were still third-party 5E products being produced by companies such as Kobold and Goodman. They repurporsed rules released under the 3.5 SRD to create 5E compatible material. When something 5E-specific needed a nod, and the 3.5 SRD didn't have something to repurpose, substitute terms such as "combat advantage" were used. It's easy to see something similar happening without a 1D&D SRD.

Yeah. I Kickstartered a 5th ed thing before the actual SRD came out. There will be lots 3PP for OneD&D and whatever comes in the distant future..

 

[S'mon]

It seems plausible that they won't release an SRD for ONE D&D, at least initially. It took them a while to release one for 5e. But I don't think they can stop 3PPs using the OGL and the 5e SRD and just putting "ONE/5e Compatible" on their products. Some companies used the OGL and the 3e SRD to publish for 4e.

 

[Morrus]

Wouldn't it be pretty easy for the creators just make a few changes to update their 5e products and slap a One D&D or 5.5e on the cover?

Well, we don't yet know how easy the changes will be, but assuming they (as is likely) are -- in our experience, which is admittedly anecdotal - an 'updated' pre-edition book is a harder sell than a 'made specificaly for this edition' book, even if the content is identical. Folks like the new and shiny, generally. It's not a content issue as much as it is a marketing issue.

 

[Art Waring]

Worth noting that before the 5E SRD was released, there were still third-party 5E products being produced by companies such as Kobold and Goodman. They repurporsed rules released under the 3.5 SRD to create 5E compatible material. When something 5E-specific needed a nod, and the 3.5 SRD didn't have something to repurpose, substitute terms such as "combat advantage" were used. It's easy to see something similar happening without a 1D&D SRD.

This sums it up pretty much. I do remember folks using the 3e OGL to release 5e content before their official SRD was released because it took some time to release it. Even if we don't get a new SRD you can still create content using the older SRD's.

As for the OP, I have seen the youtubers videos on occasion, and he is a fairly experienced DM's Guild content creator. However, he has never published under the OGL and he has said fairly recently that he is just now starting to look into using the OGL as he thinks about moving away from the guild.

While he does have good advice for those seeking to publish on the DM'sGuild, he has very little to no experience working with the OGL (3e or 5e). I respect his advice on other subjects, but in terms of the original OGL, if they could have gotten rid of it by now they would have. Wizards can't revoke the license because there is no such provision allowing them to do so in the OGL.

The OGL was created for just this reason, to protect the legacy of the game system for future generations because of the fear that D&D might die with the TSR era (or any company that might own the rights in the future), when Ryan Dancey was trying to create an open source gaming community before wotc went fully corporate.

a quote from the wotc ogl faq

WotC OGL FAQ wrote: Q: Can't Wizards of the Coast change the License in a way that I wouldn't like?

A: Yes, it could. However, the License already defines what will happen to content that has been previously distributed using an earlier version, in Section 9. As a result, even if Wizards made a change you disagreed with, you could continue to use an earlier, acceptable version at your option. In other words, there's no reason for Wizards to ever make a change that the community of people using the Open Gaming License would object to, because the community would just ignore the change anyway.

 

[Alby87]

I remember, weeks before the ONE D&D announcement a Mike Shea blog post and Ray Winniger giving a thumb up. Dungeons and Dragons future? Ray Winninger gives a nod to Mike Shea's proposed changes.

One of the point was an updated SRD. So I think that the OP youtuber did the stunt to get some clicks. Remember that the original 5e SRD has the "old" races rules, and one the things WotC want to do with OneD&D is to create a new "accetable for everyone" D&D, so at least those rules needs to be updated in the SRD. Update this, update all. Maybe the rumor (if ever existed) is that the SRD will offer a lot less content of what is offering now?

 

[Bill Zebub]

Rumor: no, it won’t.

 

[Ancalagon]

It seems like a poor idea to me not to have an updated OGL/SRD for 5.5e. I hope this rumor is wrong.

 

[darjr]

I gotta say I dint see the clickbaity videos as the majority of this YouTube persons work.

So I gotta conclude he heard something misunderstood it and panicked a bit.

That’s all.

I do think lots of FUD is out there and people smell blood in the water about D&D.

But I think it’s a lot of whishfull thinking.

The PHB is 136 out of all books on Amazon US right now. And we’re heading into the holiday season where it traditionally dips due to other books being bought as gifts (the reason for the dip is speculative on my part)

So it’s not WotCs blood, sorta.

 

[darjr]

It seems like a poor idea to me not to have an updated OGL/SRD for 5.5e. I hope this rumor is wrong.

I thinkn it is.