Community created 5e clone?

[mellored]

Should we legally "steal" the game and take it into our own hands?

Make something as close as possible to 5e, able to be played at the same table as 5e, but legally owned by the community (creative commons license?)

Maybe call it "Dragons and Dungeons"?
Maybe "hire" Chris Perkins and some others via patreon?

We will probably need some kind of voting system, so we don't have 10 different variations of "fighter" or "goblin". Some kind of constitution to govern changes would be good.
I.e. 70% to make a class/monster, and 80% to change something.

And again, keep it compatible, so we can all play together.

 

[J.Quondam]

If I understand correctly, that's a primary goal of Project Black Flag out of Kobold Press, isn't it?

 

[MoonSong]

Should we legally "steal" the game and take it into our own hands?

Make something as close as possible to 5e, able to be played at the same table as 5e, but legally owned by the community (creative commons license?)

Maybe call it "Dragons and Dungeons"?
Maybe "hire" Chris Perkins and some others via patreon?

We will probably need some kind of voting system, so we don't have 10 different variations of "fighter" or "goblin". Some kind of constitution to govern changes would be good.
I.e. 70% to make a class/monster, and 80% to change something.

And again, keep it compatible, so we can all play together.

It would require a wiki space with a crowner system similar to tvtropes's. Each main class, and kin would need to go throygh the process to gain approval and become the community's version of that class.

 

[Yaarel]

Should we legally "steal" the game and take it into our own hands?

Ethically, yes.

The intention of the Open Gaming License 1.0a in the first place is to empower gamers to play D&D "in the wild" beyond the capricious whims of any corporation. The game belongs to the gaming community.

When Chris Cao of Hasbro-WotC tries to terminate the OGL 1.0a, he is trying to steal the D&D game from the gaming community.

It is ethical to perpetuate the gaming culture in the wild.

Indeed, by cloning D&D, the gaming culture is continuing the customs of D&D without using the brandname "D&D", which is precisely the original intent of giving the D&D SRDs to the gaming community in the first place.

The theft that Chris Cao is trying to do is unethical.

Any cloning of the SRDs by the gaming community in response, is ethical, to ensure the perpetuation of the liberty of gaming culture.

 

[Yaarel]

We will probably need some kind of voting system, so we don't have 10 different variations of "fighter" or "goblin".

I think we can have "10 different variations" of Fighter and Goblin.

The voting system determines which of the variants is the "default". Whichever gets the most votes is the default, and the rest of the variants are "options" that a Game Master can choose for ones own setting.

Note, "Goblin" is public domain. Any version of a goblin is fine.



"Fighter" is public domain too, but I would probably call it a "Warrior" anyway, since this name is closer to what the concept is. Or, I would split it into two separate classes: a tough heavy-infantry "Knight" versus an agile light-infantry "Skirmisher".

 

[Yaarel]

I wonder if there is a way to track "auto-voting" based on the number of views − or better yet, the number of actual uses to build characters or settings?

 

[MoonSong]

I wonder if there is a way to track "auto-voting" based on the number of views − or better yet, the number of actual uses to build characters or settings?

There is. It all comes to how it is programmed and having a character creator that is pñugged to the wiki.

 

[Yaarel]

There is. It all comes to how it is programmed and having a character creator that is pñugged to the wiki.

And a Setting Creator for DMs, and an Encounter Builder.

 

[MoonSong]

And a Setting Creator for DMs, and an Encounter Builder.

I'm wishing I hadn't flunked Web design. I know superficially how to do it, but I don't think I could do it myself

 

[mellored]

I think we can have "10 different variations" of Fighter and Goblin.

The voting system determines which of the variants is the "default". Whichever gets the most votes is the default, and the rest of the variants are "options" that a Game Master can choose for ones own setting.

Sounds good.

Note, "Goblin" is public domain. Any version of a goblin is fine.

Most of the monsters are public domain.