Paizo Announces New Irrevocable Open RPG License To Replace the OGL

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Paizo, the maker of Pathfinder, has just announced a new open license for use with RPGs. The license will not be owned by Paizo - or by any TTRPG company, and will be stewarded by Azora Law, a company which represents several tabletop gaming companies, until it finds its home with an independent non-profit. This new license is designed to be irrevocable.

We believe, as we always have, that open gaming makes games better, improves profitability for all involved, and enriches the community of gamers who participate in this amazing hobby. And so we invite gamers from around the world to join us as we begin the next great chapter of open gaming with the release of a new open, perpetual, and irrevocable Open RPG Creative License (ORC).

The new Open RPG Creative License will be built system agnostic for independent game publishers under the legal guidance of Azora Law, an intellectual property law firm that represents Paizo and several other game publishers. Paizo will pay for this legal work. We invite game publishers worldwide to join us in support of this system-agnostic license that allows all games to provide their own unique open rules reference documents that open up their individual game systems to the world. To join the effort and provide feedback on the drafts of this license, please sign up by using this form.

In addition to Paizo, Kobold Press, Chaosium, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games, and a growing list of publishers have already agreed to participate in the Open RPG Creative License, and in the coming days we hope and expect to add substantially to this group.

The ORC will not be owned by Paizo, nor will it be owned by any company who makes money publishing RPGs. Azora Law’s ownership of the process and stewardship should provide a safe harbor against any company being bought, sold, or changing management in the future and attempting to rescind rights or nullify sections of the license. Ultimately, we plan to find a nonprofit with a history of open source values to own this license (such as the Linux Foundation).

Read more on Paizo's blog.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

I think it means we'll have several system reference documents to choose from.

we'll almost certainly have the PF2 SRD on it. probably also the SRD for kobold press' thing. beyond that, who knows?

 

[Mecheon]

Questionable expansion but such a great cinematic, amazing music and that's one of the best time-travel lines ever.

It had so much promise.

That they squandered.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

So, the PR doesn't read as though Paizo has been involved in any discussions or negotiations with Wizards about this. What do we make of that?

It is interesting. Maybe they just got an NDA, signed it, saw the OGL 1.1 and went "Hahaha screw that!"

 

[OB1]

This is probably the best of both worlds.

• WotC get their 5e IP back to build their platform for their players.
• Paizo are rehabilitated in the eyes of the fickle mob - maybe pick up sales from among the 3pp community. Miss out on 5e business, but they never really that anyway so who cares.
• I get to keep on converting Paizo adventures for a systems I don’t play over to 5e

Every one is a winner.

This!

And maybe WotC even goes one step further an only allows a general non-commercial license for One, and all commercial development for the system is done by a specific deal with WotC.

D&D becomes primarily a closed ecosystem, competing on it's own, but still using it's massive reach to pull new gamers into the hobby. Those gamers eventually discover a whole new ecosystem of games. People new to design can cut their teeth in the D&D ecosystem with it's big player-base, and when they are ready, move on to the ORC to sell.

 

[trancejeremy]

What does an open license without a common game system even mean?

The 1.0a OGL was used for other games besides D&D. The two notable ones are Mongoose Traveller 1.0 and WEG's D6 which spawned a decent amount of third party support (though nothing like Paizo or Kobold Press). Of course the problem is that they would have to release the SRDs for those systems (well, WEG just released the core books) under the new license

 

[Weiley31]

Shots fired. Roll for initiative.

Actual Footage of the behind-the-scenes boardroom meeting between Paizo and WoTC representees providing the OGL 1.1 guidelines and paperwork for them to sign.

 

[CleverNickName]

Damn, Paizo.
That was impressive.

(seriously though, don't ever do this. Microphones are expensive.)

 

[eyeheartawk]

The 1.0a OGL was used for other games besides D&D. The two notable ones are Mongoose Traveller 1.0 and WEG's D6 which spawned a decent amount of third party support (though nothing like Paizo or Kobold Press). Of course the problem is that they would have to release the SRDs for those systems (well, WEG just released the core books) under the new license

WEG D6? That can't be right they lost the license before then. You thinking of somwthing else?

 

[Incenjucar]

So now that we have ORC on the horizon, where is the PIE?

Let's see who remembers this.

We could have ORC and Pie events where game stores showcase ORC systems and sell savory and dessert pies. ORC and Pints for the 21+ crowd.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's a rookie DM move, WotC, to not understand that when pitting one big dragon against an army of low level folks, the action economy means the dragon is going to lose every time.

There are some good third party books I can recommend to help you step up your game.