D&D 5E I'll make my own Fifth Edition.

[Dungeonosophy]

From my blog:

I'm going to hold off from 5E until I see whether, come springtime, it will be released as a Public Domain open game or not.

Why?

If you read my Third Golden Age of Roleplay essay, you'll see why. I wrote that a few days ago. Then I saw the prices for the upcoming D&D products: $50 per adventure...above and beyond the $150 for the core rules! Hasbro and I live in a different economy. (And no, I don't see many films either.)

I've resolved to refrain from buying a single Hasbro product until D&D is freed into the public domain of Free Culture.

(Edit: after conversing with my EN World fellows, I've amended my resolve to refrain from buying a single Hasbro product until the degree of Openness of the rules set is revealed in early 2015. My decision then will hinge on whether it is Open enough for me to invest my interest and coin. Public Domain is the most unequivocaby Open.)

This is what I'm going to do: I'm going to make a D&D campaign that uses only three resources:

• 1) The few rpg books I already own.
• 2) Free downloads. That includes the 5E D&D Basic Rules.
• 3) My own homebrewed imagination.

I'll patch together my own set of rules. Here's a complete list of my rpg library:

• Blue Rose RPG and Blue Rose Companion by Green Ronin
• Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin
• Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG by Goodman Games
• The One Ring RPG by Cubicle 7
• Pathfinder Beginner Box by Paizo
• True20 Revised Edition by Green Ronin

That's plenty!

I have one player already, and we're set to embark next Sunday.

 

[SilverfireSage]

Where do you live where you can't get the books off of amazon for $30 each? That's pretty much as cheap as any of the books have ever been.

 

[jodyjohnson]

Sometimes one has more time than money, and other times, one would have more money than time.

Personally, the time vs. money trade-off is a no-brainer. Good luck on your endeavor.

 

[Vicar In A Tutu]

Good luck! Let us know how it turns out

 

[Umbran]

Sometimes one has more time than money, and other times, one would have more money than time.

Yah. And your time has value.

Now, if you enjoy the "work" required to put it all together, so that it, too, is as important a part of your hobby as sessions of play, then you are golden*, and set for a great time.

If not... well, then you've bought into a false savings. It becomes like knitting your own socks, on principle of the thing.




*If you're really good at it, you can turn the thing on its head - rather than spend time creating game materials for you and one lone player, create them for sale to the public, and perhaps earn back some of the time. Use that money to buy things for your game, since the thing you create for sale may not be what you actually want to play at home. If you aren't good at it... Low-quality product at cost of time is better than (hopefully) higher quality product at cost of $$?

 

[BryonD]

With that limited library you are going to run out of options.

I mean, you've only got 40 years, tops. Probably 38. Maybe a little less.

 

[Rune]

• Blue Rose RPG and Blue Rose Companion by Green Ronin
• Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin
• Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG by Goodman Games
• The One Ring RPG by Cubicle 7
• Pathfinder Beginner Box by Paizo
• True20 Revised Edition by Green Ronin

.

I note that one of the games on your list (The One Ring) is certainly not open source and has a suggested retail price well over $50.

I am curious, given the strong opinions expressed in the essay, how or why this game made it into your library.

 

[delericho]

Well, good for you! (Edit: in case it wasn't clear, that was sincere, not sarcastic. )

Just one thing, though...

If you read my Third Golden Age of Roleplay essay, you'll see why. I wrote that a few days ago. Then I saw the prices for the upcoming D&D products: $50 per adventure...

Nitpick: the Tyranny of Dragons adventures are $30 each, and can be had from Amazon US for considerably less than that.

 

[Remathilis]

1.) The term you are looking for is not "Public Domain." Its "Open Licensed". Public Domain means nobody owns the trademark to the material and you can do what you want with it. (For example: the character of Sherlock Holmes or Count Dracula). "Open Licensed" means the rules are free to use, but you can't claim ownership of them. Every 3pp book from 2000 to today has needed to put the OGL in the book, and WotC CAN and WILL sue today if you don't.

2.) You're thinking too small man. Blue Rose? Here's all of True20. Beginners Box? How about ALL of Pathfinder. How about some d20 Modern? Big Eyes Small Mouth? Mutants & Masterminds? Don't forget their granddaddy: 3.5 D&D

3.) Beyond that, I wish you luck. I'm broke too, but since I don't plan on following the APs (and I'm getting my books via Amazon) the cost is acceptable to me. So enjoy and good gaming.

 

[Iosue]

1.) The term you are looking for is not "Public Domain." Its "Open Licensed". Public Domain means nobody owns the trademark to the material and you can do what you want with it. (For example: the character of Sherlock Holmes or Count Dracula). "Open Licensed" means the rules are free to use, but you can't claim ownership of them. Every 3pp book from 2000 to today has needed to put the OGL in the book, and WotC CAN and WILL sue today if you don't.

If you read the blog post linked to in the OP, you'll see that he does indeed mean "public domain".