The OGL, The SRD, and a "New Breed" of Games...

Seems like before 3e and the introduction of the SRD, if someone had a new idea for a game system or style, a new set of rules would be drafted right along with it.

After 3e and the introduction of The SRD, it seemed like everyone wanted in on d20. If someone had a new idea for a game, chances were good it would be done up in d20 format...

But lately it appears that a different breed of Game has been taking over... To me, it is sort of hybrid of the old style and new style... Things like C&C and Arcanna Unearthed... and from what I hear Spycraft 2.0... Games that are new ideas, but use familiar terms and concepts from d20 (and D&D in general) but aren't technically d20 compatible because they've been reworked...

I personaly find that very interesting... It kind of makes me feel like the OGL and the SRD really DID have a profound effect on gaming. Now, games are sort of growing into existance as opposed to simply being "created..." If that makes sense?

The same old concept is at work: "I think if things were handled this way, it would work better..." but now, they don't have to create a whole new system (with it's own new host of unforseen problems) to put that concept into play...

What I wonder is if the new breed games, had their own "SRDs" allowing people to produce work for them, would we eventually again see people "growing" new systems based on those systems?

Would we eventaully end up with "one game to rule them all?"

In my opinion, the OGL is performing EXACTLY the purpose it was designed for.

In one graphic:


It will never reduce the path of gamers from D&D and back to a single point, and the designers of it knew this. I'd say it's well on its way. Even games which do not use the OGL are enhancing their production values to compete with those which are, and many are following similar book outlines in presentation. In graphic ways and subtle, it does make a difference.

I'd say that being 'free' has almost ruined the SRD in that too many people, with the low cost to publishing, flooded the market and have 'scared' away some of the talent that might've gone to making great books and we are now seeing a... flood is too strong a word, but a renisance of non-d20, non-OGL style games, even in the fantasy vein and let me say, if you're setting is using dragons and knights and dwarves and elves and it ain't d20, it ain't for me.

Excellent graphic!

Would you agree, that there's almost a "new breed" of game design?

Scribble said:

Would we eventaully end up with "one game to rule them all?"

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No. No one basic mechanic handles all things equally well. So, you'd eventually get outgrowths that are so different from the parent that they really aren't the "one game" anymore.

I think it important to note that what you are seeing here really isn't a new penomenon. Creating new games based upon old ones has been going on for the entire history of RPGs - folks have been using D&D so heaviy house-ruled as to be a different game since just after the beginning. The only difference is that there's a reasonable legal path to publishing. The OGL has given folks a path for public expression of what was already going on otherwise.

JoeGKushner said:

I'd say that being 'free' has almost ruined the SRD in that too many people, with the low cost to publishing, flooded the market and have 'scared' away some of the talent that might've gone to making great books and we are now seeing a... flood is too strong a word, but a renisance of non-d20, non-OGL style games, even in the fantasy vein and let me say, if you're setting is using dragons and knights and dwarves and elves and it ain't d20, it ain't for me.

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I dissagree... free was great. Sure, the market was "flooded." But that's not so different then any market. Now we're starting to see that despite it being free, you have to be pretty good to make it in the "industry."

My issue now, is with the new concept, which seems to be SRD based, OGL based, but not D20 games.

And again, I'm wondering if they opened those up, would they "grow out" even more.

Like take Arcana Unearthed. If Mr Cook one day decided to open that up to anyone that wanted to make an AU compatible product, and released an AU SRD... would we eventually see a variant AU phb?

(and yeah, I guess you technically COULD make an AU compatible product without the AU SRD, but...)

Umbran said:

I think it important to note that what you are seeing here really isn't a new penomenon. Creating new games based upon old ones has been going on for the entire history of RPGs - folks have been using D&D so heaviy house-ruled as to be a different game since just after the beginning. The only difference is that there's a reasonable legal path to publishing. The OGL has given folks a path for public expression of what was already going on otherwise.

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Well, yeah, I realize house ruling has always been the case. But the chances that your heavily house ruled game is going to continue on after your stop playing it is much less, then the chances that your "house ruled" d20 game that you publish under the OGL concept...

Scribble said:

Like take Arcana Unearthed. If Mr Cook one day decided to open that up to anyone that wanted to make an AU compatible product, and released an AU SRD... would we eventually see a variant AU phb?

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I doubt it, due to the size of the market. I don't play AU, partly because I find it needlessly complicated in its magic, partly because I don't find the races compelling, but mostly because it simply isn't different enough from D&D to bother. There's only so much demand in the market for things that are similar to, but not quite, D&D/d20.

Umbran said:

I doubt it, due to the size of the market. I don't play AU, partly because I find it needlessly complicated in its magic, partly because I don't find the races compelling, but mostly because it simply isn't different enough from D&D to bother. There's only so much demand in the market for things that are similar to, but not quite, D&D/d20.

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But it does have a following... There are people who play it, and I'm sure people who house rule for it.

Granted, it doesn't have as large a following as d20, but I'm not sure I agree that we wouldn't eventually see someone publish an alternate form of it. (and by using AU I was only making an example, but the same can be said for just about all of the variants...)

Shrug. I'm not an expert, and I'm not going to say I think you're wrong at all. I just find it interesting what the OGL and SRD seem to have accomplished, and I'm curious what further "open source" gaming would create...

Scribble said:

Well, yeah, I realize house ruling has always been the case. But the chances that your heavily house ruled game is going to continue on after your stop playing it is much less, then the chances that your "house ruled" d20 game that you publish under the OGL concept...

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point taken, but in the early days the 3-18 ability stat block ranged far and wide beyond D&D. CoC had it, Ruinquest had it, V&V had it and probably lots of other games I never saw or played. Most ability score s were identical or similar to D&D regardless of the way they were generated, you might see a END instead of CON or Dextarity split into dex and Agility, but really that was about as far afield as things went. "Hit points" were nearly universal... ect. Where does house ruling end and game design begin?