Paizo Announces New Irrevocable Open RPG License To Replace the OGL

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Paizo, the maker of Pathfinder, has just announced a new open license for use with RPGs. The license will not be owned by Paizo - or by any TTRPG company, and will be stewarded by Azora Law, a company which represents several tabletop gaming companies, until it finds its home with an independent non-profit. This new license is designed to be irrevocable.

We believe, as we always have, that open gaming makes games better, improves profitability for all involved, and enriches the community of gamers who participate in this amazing hobby. And so we invite gamers from around the world to join us as we begin the next great chapter of open gaming with the release of a new open, perpetual, and irrevocable Open RPG Creative License (ORC).

The new Open RPG Creative License will be built system agnostic for independent game publishers under the legal guidance of Azora Law, an intellectual property law firm that represents Paizo and several other game publishers. Paizo will pay for this legal work. We invite game publishers worldwide to join us in support of this system-agnostic license that allows all games to provide their own unique open rules reference documents that open up their individual game systems to the world. To join the effort and provide feedback on the drafts of this license, please sign up by using this form.

In addition to Paizo, Kobold Press, Chaosium, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games, and a growing list of publishers have already agreed to participate in the Open RPG Creative License, and in the coming days we hope and expect to add substantially to this group.

The ORC will not be owned by Paizo, nor will it be owned by any company who makes money publishing RPGs. Azora Law’s ownership of the process and stewardship should provide a safe harbor against any company being bought, sold, or changing management in the future and attempting to rescind rights or nullify sections of the license. Ultimately, we plan to find a nonprofit with a history of open source values to own this license (such as the Linux Foundation).

Read more on Paizo's blog.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

When I hear things like "you only have a 60% chance of hitting unless your players know how to provide bonuses with their abilities that help modify your to hit" that sounds like a level of complicated that I'm not sure I want to deal with.

Again, nothing but respect for Paizo, but they make a game that is far more complicated than I want to play these days.

I thought the same before I played it, but that's just mathy types talking smack. 5E has a similar intended default hit chance.

I mean, it's fine not to like it, but I'd really say it's overall like 10% more complex than 5E. Unfortunately it is frontloaded.

 

[MockingBird]

Because of my players...

we play 5e with PHB only, no feats, and spell cards and they still find a way to forget which die to roll to attack in-between turns and give me the dead-fish-eyes when I as if their spell require a save or a spell attack roll

So no way in hell I'd be able to push them though character creation without at least 2-3 of them jumping through a window or trying to slice their own throat with a spoon!

This, I respect Paizo but I am definitely not a fan of PF2e. I also don't want to learn a more complex game. I can't help but to imagine how things would be if Paizo had developed a lighter game when they created PF2e. They would be in a real prime position.

 

[FoolishFrost]

They did. In tandem with PEG. It's called savage pathfinder. You don't have to like it, but it exists...

 

[Charlaquin]

There website is down, so I can't see if there's been an answer, but I asked on Paizo's website if there's any way that the ORC License could have a provision so that Open Game Content from the OGL v1.0a could be used under it? That way, twenty-plus years of compatible materials could be easily ported over to the new license (including the 5.1 SRD).

Any of the lawyers here on EN World want to chime in as to whether or not this is a feasible idea?

Not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine any way that could be done. OGC is owned by WotC and licensed under the OGL; 3rd parties who don’t own the content don’t have any ability to license it to others under a new license.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

When I hear things like "you only have a 60% chance of hitting unless your players know how to provide bonuses with their abilities that help modify your to hit" that sounds like a level of complicated that I'm not sure I want to deal with.

Again, nothing but respect for Paizo, but they make a game that is far more complicated than I want to play these days.

as someone in a pf2e game right now, that's a lot less complicated in play then it sounds. it's usually as simple as "i'm gonna demoralize that enemy to give them frightened 1" or "i'm gonna flank that guy so he's flatfooted to both of us".

or if you're a fighter like i'm playing, it's flat out just "i exist".

 

[Jimmy Dick]

We will not go gently into that good night. Hell no! If we're going out, we're going out with all guns blazing.

Cue AC/DC: If You Want Blood...You've Got It!

 

[Charlaquin]

RE: folks who don’t want to switch to PF2, I completely understand; there’s a reason I didn’t make the switch when it first came out, despite it having a lot I liked the look of. Hopefully it won’t be too long before another game with rules “weight” closer to 5e emerges.

 

[Tazawa]

I think that's the biggest potential risk now, a dozen fantasy heartbreakers, with no network externality effects.

I don’t think that is likely. I think the companies are very aware of the network effects and will be careful to build on them. They understand that they can strengthen the RPG community by cooperating and have it benefit them all.

 

[Alzrius]

Not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine any way that could be done. OGC is owned by WotC and licensed under the OGL; 3rd parties who don’t own the content don’t have any ability to license it to others under a new license.

Wait, Open Game Content that's published under the OGL v1.0a is owned by WotC?

That...doesn't sound right.

EDIT: Or did you mean the term "Open Game Content" itself, which might be copyright WotC?

 

[Vincent55]

Paizo be like