OGL: Kobold Press 'Raising Our Flag' For New Open RPG

Kobold Press has announced its plans regarding the upcoming new OGL v1.1, which involves a new, open game codenamed Project Black Flag.

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Kobold Press has been and always will be committed to open gaming and the tabletop community. Our goal is to continue creating the best materials for players and game masters alike.

This means Kobold Press will release its current Kickstarter projects as planned, including Campaign Builder: Cities & Towns (already printed and on its way to backers this winter).

In particular, Deep Magic Volume 2 will remain fully compatible with the 5E rules. We are working with our VTT partners to maintain support for digital platforms.

As we look ahead, it becomes even more important for our actions to represent our values. While we wait to see what the future holds, we are moving forward with clear-eyed work on a new Core Fantasy tabletop ruleset: available, open, and subscription-free for those who love it—Code Name: Project Black Flag.

All Kobolds look forward to the continued evolution of tabletop gaming. We aim to play our part in making the game better for everyone. Rest assured, Kobold Press intends to maintain a strong presence in the tabletop RPG community. We are not going anywhere.

Raising Our Flag - Kobold Press

Kobold Press is committed to open gaming. We are moving forward with clear-eyed work on a new Core Fantasy tabletop ruleset: available, open, and subscription-free for those who love it—Code Name: Project Black Flag.

koboldpress.com

 

[Steel_Wind]

Well, no. The GSL did not try and de-authorize the OGL 1.0a or take back previous SRDs. This will have to be newer than PF1 was relative to 3.5.

WotC can huff and puff and threaten to blow their house down. But they can't stop this in court with an injunction - they don't meet the legal test for it.

The only thing WotC can really do that is practical and effective? That's to not let 5e go out of print. And a 5e that isn't out of print is a 5.1 SRD under the OGL 1.0a that continues to beat with a pulse. That's a VTT that continues to be authorized - and THAT is what WotC does not want. They paid $140 million for DDB so they could use that asset to earn money in an exclusive space.

I know, I know: It's inconvenient as all hell when your competitors don't give up easily.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

I'm so happy to see this. 5e has needed a competitor for so long. A monopoly isn't good for anyone. Pathfinder 2e was always poorly suited for attracting the the 5e playerbase, so hopefully this one is better for it.

(hopefully it has a few more classes than 5e)

 

[jerryrice4949]

The odds I can get my group to agree on a game that isn't DnD are small. But because they won't try new games, but because we'd all have to agree on one game.....

I can relate. Also due to sunk cost of our current material.

 

[Zaukrie]

I can relate. Also due to sunk cost of our current material.

Right. I own enough 5e stuff to play well beyond my expected life span.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Right. I own enough 5e stuff to play well beyond my expected life span.

I have 20-30 books I haven’t even had time to open yet. Yup. I can and probably will stop buying material outside of the occasional miniature until this all resolves.

 

[Myrdin Potter]

I would imagine this would be an SRD free clone of 5e. Kobold Press has released a ton of 5e material and has the incentive not to make a completely new system.

 

[timbannock]

My honest hope is that as many people as possible write their own open games and release them. It might take a few years, but I can see fans coalescing around certain publishers, systems, or even bits of systems and cobbling them all together to make a game that works best for them and their table. That would be ideal, really. The idea of one big centralized dominant game and game company needs to die here and now.

So much this! Having bigger companies like KP (and perhaps Paizo) with resources to spare putting out brand new games might actually lead to the best possible scenario: D&D no longer being synonymous with RPG, and also several very well-produced, slick looking games that are well supported across all the VTTs, Demiplanes, etc.

The odds I can get my group to agree on a game that isn't DnD are small. But because they won't try new games, but because we'd all have to agree on one game.....

BINGO. I am in the exact same situation. I can get half the players to do a CoC one-shot when we cannot get others for D&D, otherwise no agreement for the whole group.

How many people really die on the hill of "I'll only play Monopoly at game night. Star Wars Monopoly, Mario Monopoly, whatever...it's just gotta be monopoly." That's the world TTRPGs have been living in for 50 years and it's really old. At the very least we are living in an age where it is easier to find other gamers who might have similar tastes. You are online talking about this, after all. And if the big 3PP companies start pushing out really slick, well-produced games of their own, with support across the VTTs and Demiplanes and so on of the world, maybe your players will come around to the idea of trying new stuff?

I bet there's something to be said about new games solving the GM problem. If anybody can do that, well, it's never been WOTC, but it quite possibly might be a rededicated KP, Paizo, Monte Cook, etc. working on their own games.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's a weird take. I think they were possibly suggesting a fan based attack.

Also a very weird take. Who are the pro-OGL fans trying to take down Kobold Press?

A small company's web servers get hammered by unusually high attention and can't keep up. No sinister explanations required.

 

[Dausuul]

Signed up. I look forward to seeing where they're going with this.

Really brave of them. They could have bent the knee and let smaller companies eat it. Let's see who follows suit (or doesn't).

So far, I have seen exactly two responses from companies affected by the change:

1. We will not sign on to OGL 1.1 and we are moving away from reliance on the OGL.
2. We are consulting with counsel and have no comment at this time.

Notably absent is anything along the lines of "We think we can work with WotC and look forward to using the OGL 1.1."

 

[Reynard]

Also a very weird take. Who are the pro-OGL fans trying to take down Kobold Press?

A small company's web servers get hammered by unusually high attention and can't keep up. No sinister explanations required.

Sure. I wasn't suggesting I agreed with the idea, just that I didn't think they meant a hack by WotC.