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.

 

[see]

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?

I'm not a lawyer, but there's no way to automatically allow all Open Game Content released under the OGL to be used under a non-OGL license.

The original copyright holders (WotC for the SRD/MSRD/RSRD/SRD5 and 3.5 Unearthed Arcana, Clark Peterson for the original Creature Collection, Sword & Sorcery Studios [whomever that wound up with after White Wolf was bought] for most of the Scarred Lands stuff, Mongoose Publishing for all their releases, and so on) licensed their stuff under the OGL, not "any nice license that comes along later", and would have to authorize any use of their content under a different license.

Exception: If the ORC were declared an authorized version of the OGL by WotC, then Section 9 of the OGL 1.0/1.0a would allow moving all Open Game Content released under the OGL to it. But that's not a trick anyone other than WotC can do.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Tell me you didn’t read the blog post without telling me you didn’t read it.

Winky Face!

 

[Charlaquin]

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".

The thing is, a big part of the appeal of 5e was how it cut down significantly on the numbers bloat that 3e and 4e both suffered from. The total bonus to any given roll is usually a single-digit number until high levels, and dis/advantage alleviates the endless fiddly +1s and +2s that could previously slow the game to a crawl. PF2 very much doesn’t do that; there are several categories of modifiers that go into calculating your bonus on a roll, which can easily end up eclipsing the d20. There’s a lot to like in PF2, but if 5e won you over with bounded accuracy, PF2 is going to be pretty off-putting in comparison.

 

[Arcane Mark]

“We hope that you will continue to support Paizo and other game publishers in this difficult time for the entire hobby. You can do your part by supporting the many companies that have provided content under the OGL. Support Pathfinder and Starfinder by visiting your local game store, subscribing to Pathfinder and Starfinder, or taking advantage of discount code OpenGaming during checkout for 25% off your purchase of the Core Rulebook, Core Rulebook Pocket Edition, or Pathfinder Beginner Box. Support Kobold Press, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Roll for Combat, Rogue Genius Games, and other publishers working to preserve a prosperous future for Open Gaming that is both perpetual AND irrevocable.

We’ll be there at your side. You can count on us not to go back on our word.”

Damn. That’s good to see.

Yep! We are 100% committed to a future for open gaming at Roll for Combat

~Mark Seifter, Roll for Combat Director of Game Design

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The thing is, a big part of the appeal of 5e was how it cut down significantly on the numbers bloat that 3e and 4e both suffered from. The total bonus to any given roll is usually a single-digit number until high levels, and dis/advantage alleviates the endless fiddly +1s and +2s that could previously slow the game to a crawl. PF2 very much doesn’t do that; there are several categories of modifiers that go into calculating your bonus on a roll, which can easily end up eclipsing the d20. There’s a lot to like in PF2, but if 5e won you over with bounded accuracy, PF2 is going to be pretty off putting in comparison.

It feels very likely that there will be a doc (soon?) that moves PF2 closer to 5E. Replacing all the bonuses and penalties with something that works like advantage/disadvantage would definitely be on it.

 

[Dausuul]

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?

It's owned by the original publisher. The OGL grants a license for other people to copy that content, with various restrictions, but the copyright still belongs to (in this case) WotC.

That's generally how open source licenses work. It's not the same thing as public domain.

 

[Tazawa]

Yup, I'm kinda in the same boat at the moment. I put my hopes on KP, wishing real hard they dont go with a Pathfinder design mentality, because there's no way in hell we'd play a system as heavy as PF, sadly.

Or I'll just mangle my 5e books and create my own system: Day Dream of the 5 Enchanters (DD 5E)

Have you heard of this game called Level Up, produced by a game publisher of some note? It would likely be compatible with whatever license Paizo produces, as it references Pathfinder in its OGL section 15.

It plays very much like 5e—so much so that you can have 5e and Level Up characters in the same game and run adventures from either system.

 

[bedir than]

Exception: If the ORC were declared an authorized version of the OGL by WotC, then Section 9 of the OGL 1.0/1.0a would allow moving all Open Game Content released under the OGL to it. But that's not a trick anyone other than WotC can do.

hmmm

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It's the d20. It's always the d20.

Let the DM who has never had to say this cast the first d4!

One of my players, this man is an incredibly senior psychiatrist, not many better-qualified in the country, he's played RPGs for 30 years. I've seen him do great RP and really stick to a bit, as well doing pretty well-designed characters and trying out really new and different ones, and this man, 42 years old, still routinely mistakes a d12 for a d10.

He's got a bit better at it recently since he started teaching his daughter about D&D, I think teaching her the dice has caused him to learn! There's hope for us all!

 

[masdog]

Nope. It's owned by Wizards. Always was. The OGL grants a license for other people to copy that content, with various restrictions, but the copyright still belongs to WotC.

That's generally how open source licenses work. It's not the same thing as public domain.

If you mean that WotC owns the copyright on the text of the OGL (as in the text of the license agreement), you’d be right.

But if you mean that WotC owns the copyright on all of the content published under the OGL, you’d be wrong. Very wrong…