WotC non-OGL alternative to D&D

[Thomas Shey]

what is the difference between Dragon Age and Fantasy Age, sounds like they both work for generic fantasy?

Fantasy AGE is later evolution of DAGE, with less of the Dragon Age specifics baked in.

(My personal opinion is that both tend to start to progressively break down above about level six, showing some artifacts of how DAGE was originally written and playtested. I won't speak about Modern AGE; a quick reading shows some attempts to address at least some of the issues there).

 

[hojulation]

A few other systems I haven't seen mentioned yet are Symbaroum and Coriolis, both by Free League, as well as the Genesys system originally from Fantasy Flight Games before their buy out and reshuffling. It was the system that powered the FFG Star Wars RPG originally, but then was spun off as a stand alone, setting agnostic system (still available on Drivethru RPG) and then later they released separate setting books for Terrinoth, Android, and even their Keyforge TCG.

 

[Yaarel]

Symbaroum and Coriolis, both by Free League

I am fond of the Year Zero Engine that Free League games tend to use. It is elegantly simple.

Do you know if they have an equivalent of an revocable Open License? Is it modifiable?

 

[mcmillan]

I am fond of the Year Zero Engine that Free League games tend to use. It is elegantly simple.

Do you know if they have an equivalent of an revocable Open License? Is it modifiable?

They have a deal with OneBookShelf similar to the DMs Guild, but no open license as far as I'm aware.

https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037116592

 

[Yaarel]

They have a deal with OneBookShelf similar to the DMs Guild, but no open license as far as I'm aware.

https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037116592

I appreciate the info detail.

 

[Spohedus]

I’m surprised we are on page 4 of this thread without mention of Dungeon Crawl Classic (DCC). Our table has been thoroughly enjoying it over the last six months.

 

[overgeeked]

I’m surprised we are on page 4 of this thread without mention of Dungeon Crawl Classic (DCC). Our table has been thoroughly enjoying it over the last six months.

It's been mentioned several times. It's OGL so doesn't fit the criteria for the thread.

 

[Lanefan]

I will still play D&D. We play in our own setting and we have all the material we need.

Same here, but it's still cool to hear about these other systems and their relation to WotC/OGL.

I didn't realize Dungeon World was completely divorced from the OGL. For some while now (2 years? 3 years?) a friend has been running a game using some sort of mashup of our homebrew 1e variant and Dungeon World as her rules system; I guess it must be going OK as they're still at it (their next session should start within an hour or so, in fact).

I don't need to continue to support WotC to play D&D. It is my game, not theirs.

I don't need to support them either, but at the end of the day I'll concede they do own at least some of the IP and in all fairness over the last 10 years or so (the last two months notwithstanding) have done a pretty good job* in marketing the game and increasing its popularity.

* - even if sometimes that "pretty good job" simply meant getting out of the way of things like Critical Role and giving them room to rock.

 

[Retreater]

I liked Forbidden Lands when I tried it.

 

[MoonSong]

Look for Heroes Against Darkness. It is CC and very D&Dish.

 

[hojulation]

They have a deal with OneBookShelf similar to the DMs Guild, but no open license as far as I'm aware.

Free League isn't the only game designer to have this kind of deal with OneBookShelf. Similar arrangements exist for AGE, Cypher System, Genesys, Shadow of the Demon Lord, Traveller, even Hero Kids, just to name a few.

 

[overgeeked]

The Gaming Gang just did a video featuring 29 non-D&D fantasy games. Most of them have been mentioned and some of them are OGL, but still worth watch.

 

[Aldarc]

Fantasy AGE is later evolution of DAGE, with less of the Dragon Age specifics baked in.

(My personal opinion is that both tend to start to progressively break down above about level six, showing some artifacts of how DAGE was originally written and playtested. I won't speak about Modern AGE; a quick reading shows some attempts to address at least some of the issues there).

There is an upcoming revision to FAGE. There are also options in Fantasy AGE Companion that also address some of the issues you allude to.

 

[Thomas Shey]

There is an upcoming revision to FAGE. There are also options in Fantasy AGE Companion that also address some of the issues you allude to.

Yeah, some of it was me simplifying. I'm also not sure but some of them are kind of intractable, though.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Yeah, some of it was me simplifying. I'm also not sure but some of them are kind of intractable, though.

Which issues would you say were intractable? I was considering Fantasy AGE and maybe the issues won't matter to me but maybe they will.

 

[Reynard]

They have a deal with OneBookShelf similar to the DMs Guild, but no open license as far as I'm aware.

https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037116592

There is a YZ Engine SRD too. It was released under the OGL 1.0a but there is no reason it has to be since it isn't derived from the D&D SRD.

 

[rcade]

D6 was released under the OGL.

D6 is OGL but it isn't derived from the System Reference Document, so nothing Hasbro/WOTC does would affect the validity of the license or the ability to create new derivative works from it. Here's the Section 15 for D6 Fantasy:

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
D6 Fantasy (WEG 51013), Copyright 2004, Purgatory Publishing Inc
West End Games, WEG, and D6 System are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

There are some OGL-licensed games that don't use the SRD. The publishers wanted to support open gaming and have their own network-effect benefit from third parties growing their player base.

 

[Reynard]

D6 is OGL but it isn't derived from the System Reference Document, so nothing Hasbro/WOTC does would affect the validity of the license or the ability to create new derivative works from it. Here's the Section 15 for D6 Fantasy:



There are some OGL-licensed games that don't use the SRD. The publishers wanted to support open gaming and have their own network-effect benefit from third parties growing their player base.

This means they can republish without the OGL, but if they keep it they are still bound by it regardless of whether they used the SRD.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Which issues would you say were intractable? I was considering Fantasy AGE and maybe the issues won't matter to me but maybe they will.

HP bloat + very efficient damage reduction from armors.
It is also not hard to ''auto-hit'' most creatures after 5-6th level.

So it becomes a game slog because you roll only to see if you Stunt (rolling double of the 3d6s) and hope to at least deal some damage to a creature with a huge pool of hp, even at low-level.

There's also some shoehorning going one with the class, giving melee only features to the Warrior and ranged only to the Rogue.

But its a pretty basic and simple system, its not hard to correct those and some issues were even addressed in the companion (optional rules to boost damage or halve HP, frex).

There's also a distinct lack of monsters. There's only a few enemies in the corebook and a single thin(while quite good) bestiary. And since there's 9 stats, making new enemies can take some time; not PF 1 time, but still a little long.

 

[rcade]

This means they can republish without the OGL, but if they keep it they are still bound by it regardless of whether they used the SRD.

It also means that WOTC/Hasbro can't tell you to stop publishing the work or publishing your own derived works from it because it has nothing to do with their IP.