OK, so what does a D&D creator do now?

[Parmandur]

Would you mix OGL with the SRD 5.1 via the CC?

I'd talk to a lawyer about that, on the clock, but that seems...complicated...when 5.1 OGL is handily compatible with other OGL material?

Whoever made the call for the CC drop gave a new option, but Inthinknit definitively saved the OGL ecosystem as being viable permanently.

 

[Reynard]

Would you mix OGL with the SRD 5.1 via the CC?

The only reason you would do that is to access material in the SRD considered product identity, but if you use the OGL 1.0a, you have to abide by its product identity restrictions. So it is a net zero gain with a potential breach of license.

 

[Maxperson]

The only reason you would do that is to access material in the SRD considered product identity, but if you use the OGL 1.0a, you have to abide by its product identity restrictions. So it is a net zero gain with a potential breach of license.

You would also mix them if you wanted to use 3PP produced by the OGL 1.0a over the life of 5e. The SRD 5.1 in CC doesn't give you access to the prior existing OGC from products put out by 3PP.

 

[Reynard]

You would also mix them if you wanted to use 3PP produced by the OGL 1.0a over the life of 5e. The SRD 5.1 in CC doesn't give you access to the prior existing OGC from products put out by 3PP.

But you wouldn't need the CC SRD for that. The 5E SRD is already released under OGL 1.0a.

 

[Maxperson]

But you wouldn't need the CC SRD for that. The 5E SRD is already released under OGL 1.0a.

It can go either way. You might not want to fully trust your product to OGL 1.0a.

Let's say I want to use a third party product. I'll go with Runeblades again. In it there is a runeblade called Twilight. Twilight has mechanics attached to it and I really, really like it. I can't use the name, because that's not OGC. The mechanics are, though. So I rename Twilight into Shadow's Kiss and then set about using the runeblade. Now I want to attach it to an NPC BBEG in a 5e adventure I am making to sell, say an Orc Chieftan. That OGC isn't in the 3PP. To use it I would need to get Orc from the 5.1 SRD that is in CC unless I wanted to trust the OGL 1.0a and use it that way. Same with all the other monsters I include in the adventure that are from the 5.1 SRD. Then I create two new monsters and designate those names as PI of mine and the mechanics attached as OGC. If I want some monsters to use spells, I need to get those from the SRD 5.1 as well.

 

[Reynard]

It can go either way. You might not want to fully trust your product to OGL 1.0a.

Let's say I want to use a third party product. I'll go with Runeblades again. In it there is a runeblade called Twilight. Twilight has mechanics attached to it and I really, really like it. I can't use the name, because that's not OGC. The mechanics are, though. So I rename Twilight into Shadow's Kiss and then set about using the runeblade. Now I want to attach it to an NPC BBEG in a 5e adventure I am making to sell, say an Orc Chieftan. That OGC isn't in the 3PP. To use it I would need to get Orc from the 5.1 SRD that is in CC unless I wanted to trust the OGL 1.0a and use it that way. Same with all the other monsters I include in the adventure that are from the 5.1 SRD. Then I create two new monsters and designate those names as PI of mine and the mechanics attached as OGC. If I want some monsters to use spells, I need to get those from the SRD 5.1 as well.

But anything that would endanger your use of the SRD material from OGL 1.0a would also endanger your use of the non-SRD OGC originally released under OGL 1.0a. It's one license.

 

[Maxperson]

But anything that would endanger your use of the SRD material from OGL 1.0a would also endanger your use of the non-SRD OGC originally released under OGL 1.0a. It's one license.

Not exactly. One is a sublicense and there are arguments put forward by several attorneys that even if OGL 1.0a goes away, the sublicenses do not. Plus, assuming those arguments are wrong, you'd want to use SRD 5.1 through the CC so that all you have to do is change the little bit you borrowed from the 3PP and not the whole thing.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Theoretically, you can combine the 5.1 SRD content under CC with Open Gaming Content released by someone else, that way you don't have to respect WotC's PI declarations.

In practice, any OGC you'd want to integrate in a product that also makes use of the 5.1 SRD will almost certainly originally be derived from a WotC OGL SRD, meaning you still have to respect WotC's PI to use the content.