D&D 5E I still want D&D and Beyond, but...

[el-remmen]

I too have been feeling bummed about all this. For me and my group, who only started with 5E in 2020 (well, technically we made characters in 2019, but didn't have our first actual play session until January 2020), 5E hardly feels old. Heck, we are about to start our second campaign using these rules and for the first time are exploring options beyond the core books! Double heck! I just started a new website with 5E material with the idea it'd be compatible with OneD&D even if I didn't pick up those books or adopt those rules. Now that project feels ill-timed.

But all that being said, I am still looking forward to actually playing because I enjoy it and enjoy the people I spend time with doing it. I have to remind myself, the hobby is not buying D&D, it is playing D&D.

I took a break from running D&D from 2009 to 2019 and didn't play at all from 2016. I had a lot of other stuff going on at that time and I had fallen out of love with 3.xE and Pathfinder did not seem different enough for what I wanted. But ultimately, it wasn't a ruleset that brought me back, it was new friends who asked me a run a game for them because they wanted desperately to try it. I doubt I would have felt so refreshed to guide them through a great D&D experience without that break.

I don't feel like I need a break again right now but a break can be good and doesn't need to be that long.

And lastly, I know I say this all the time but. . . D&D is not what WotC does, it is what we play, with or without the rules they (or anyone else) prints. Furthermore, my guess is that in the spate of new rule sets that emerge from this fiasco more than one will be close enough to 5E to allow for pretty easy adaptation if you really need that or want that.

 

[Knorrrssk]

Would they gain your trust if the released a OGL 1.0(b) the included that it was "irrevocable"?

PS - I just got Twilight Fables in the mail. I didn't really order the physical book, just the PDF and then some extra as a gift, but it is really great - thank you!

I know I wasn't who the question was aimed at, but as a small time publisher the only way they could regain my trust is if they released an OGL 1.0(b) that not only included the term irrevocable but also clarified that it could not be "de-authorised". For preference it would also be placed under the custodianship of a non-profit organisation to make sure that any updates that might have to be made to it in the future - for whatever reason - were not made with business concerns in mind.
Just rolling back on their current position just means we're likely to deal with this all over again further down the line.

 

[Xamnam]

At first yes, it seemed like they meant other avenues like film and t-shirts whatever. They still do. Though, the VTT went from a new product in the market to being likely the only product available. They are trying to squeeze blood from a stone and folks are trying to dismiss it as misidentification because its really only about movies and comics.

I'm asking this from a sincere point of confusion. The only reason they'd go after alternate VTTs is if they included content that prior to OGL 1.1 was OGC, right? The issue is including something like a character builder that lets you choose Barbarian, and then auto-populates a sheet with the text and mechanics for rage, or a list of spells or monsters with the D&D text and stats?

Just having a grid, moving tokens around, dice rollers, etc, even having a character sheet with fields that where you can tie numbers to rolls, seem like they'd have no issue, but I want to make sure I'm not misreading/misunderstanding 1.1 .

 

[Micah Sweet]

I understand where people are coming from; I too am feeling depressed about this, and lacking in creative will. I've been playing D&D in one form or another for over 35 years, with plenty of other games in between, and nothing has ever felt this bad. I am completely done with WotC (of course I was already on the way out), and am dedicating my efforts towards Level Up, de-OGL'd or otherwise.

@dave2008 , thanks for the mention. I also enjoy our conversations and hope they continue. This community means a lot to me.

 

[payn]

I'm asking this from a sincere point of confusion. The only reason they'd go after alternate VTTs is if they included content that prior to OGL 1.1 was OGC, right? The issue is including something like a character builder that lets you choose Barbarian, and then auto-populates a sheet with the text and mechanics for rage, or a list of spells or monsters with the D&D text and stats?

Just having a grid, moving tokens around, dice rollers, etc, even having a character sheet with fields that where you can tie numbers to rolls, seem like they'd have no issue, but I want to make sure I'm not misreading/misunderstanding 1.1 .

Technically, you are correct. VTTs could fork over 25% to WotC or they can be a VTT that doesnt do D&D. Hasbro has dropped mad stacks on their VTT development, it wont be long until folks cant compete with it in anything but price and inconvenience. While the former is attractive to many, the latter is not.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Technically, you are correct. VTTs could fork over 25% to WotC or they can be a VTT that doesnt do D&D. Hasbro has dropped mad stacks on their VTT development, it wont be long until folks cant compete with it in anything but price and inconvenience. While the former is attractive to many, the latter is not.

Yeah even if they decide to abide by Wizard's new terms they will be massively out-resourced anyway.

A very good point.

 

[Xamnam]

Ah, okay, thank you. I was confused, the way some folks have been talking, it sounded like the new license was claiming ownership of the basic idea, but that was just coming from a conflation of the term VTT with VTT that specifically runs D&D. I do understand how having to fold in all the data and rules by hand would be a massive pain point for the average user.

 

[Scribe]

I think Hasbro is doing this, not WotC.

One and the same. I watched Wizards ruin MTG, and they are doing the same to D&D now.

 

[Velderan]

One and the same. I watched Wizards ruin MTG, and they are doing the same to D&D now.

There's probably a safe argument that MTG was on Hasbro's radar from the day they bought WotC as the primary reason for the purchase, so there's probably long been pressure to squeeze that fanbase for as much money as possible. D&D was such a niche hobby for years that the recent explosion may have brought it to the executives at Hasbro's attention as something to focus on.

 

[Scribe]

There's probably a safe argument that MTG was on Hasbro's radar from the day they bought WotC as the primary reason for the purchase, so there's probably long been pressure to squeeze that fanbase for as much money as possible. D&D was such a niche hobby for years that the recent explosion may have brought it to the executives at Hasbro's attention as something to focus on.

Probably, but in the end, both will be smoking craters to me.

Its especially painful, when I know, everyone knows, that the people actually on the ground floor, who understand the systems the games operate, know that the actions they are taking are counter to the good of the systems.

They know its wrong, but they do it anyway.