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.

 

[Lucas Yew]

Splendid news! My rocky day today has been compensated well...

 

[Nebulous]

Yeah, it's been a hell of a week.

Still, it doesn't stop me from fantasizing of playing a game that runs like D&D with a magic system like Ars.

Whoa. Now that would be something special. EDIT: And that is the kind of modular game D&D SHOULD be, or rather, whatever version of D&D springs from this new era. If you want an Ars Magica magic system, there is a mod you can plug in.

 

[payn]

Sooo.... When wil the Empire/WotC/Hasbro blow up their first rebel planet/company? If we're going with the SW theming here...

As for the Paizo ORC license, let's first see what/how/if that happens. All the good intentions in the world doesn't bend reality. And the assumption that such an ORC license will be 'safe' forever is also a bit... Naive, such a license will work, until it doesn't. When someone challenges it (like WotC is doing now) and actually wins (which might be a crapshoot). Underlying laws change, the general consensus changes, politics change, etc. It wouldn't surprise me at all that in 2045 we would have a similar 'crisis' because of reason xyz...

And how much impact the WotC/Hasbro OGL 1.1 change/enforcement will have on the RPG market depends on the big D&D centric influencers. If those move from D&D to something else due to the OGL 1.1 change/risk, then the damage is potentially huge, with D&D loosing a huge market unless they start pushing their own influencers and are able to get as much cloud as those. I do not like watching others play D&D on YouTube/Twitch, and have no real interest in those influencers, but I do recognize that much of D&Ds current popularity/influence is due to those influencers. Those channels are businesses by themselves, so decisions there will probably be done based on a bottom line, which is also quite difficult to gouge. How large are the groups there, purely due to D&D, purely due to the personalities playing, how many would leave is they kept playing D&D, how many would leave if they started playing something else, how much does WotC/Hasbro want for their use of D&D, etc...

Even if WotC/Hasbro rolls back their OGL shenanigans, 3rd party companies will probably start moving away from the OGL, the question is, would they risk another Open Source license? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!

You should reread the announcement by Paizo.

 

[Reynard]

I hope all these new games still use d20s otherwise the plastic waste issue will get very bad indeed!!!!

The real wast is the D12...

 

[mikeawmids1]

Today, WotC be like;

 

[Nebulous]

For me, I think what will come from this is the actual "6e" I wanted, not the slightly 5.5 updated version D&D that WotC planned, but it will come from one (or more) of the other extremely talented developers. EDIT: And I would be perfectly happy is a core PHB focused on levels 1-10 and left 11-20 for a separate power mod. I don't know the stats, but I think a small percentage of D&D games actually dip into the high levels.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

The real wast is the D12...

Our Twelvefold RPG system uses only d12s. We have signed the #OpenDnD letter, and we intend to join the ORC alliance.

Travis H.
CEO of Twelvefold Works Publishing

 

[TheSword]

I think it’s very worthy of Paizo to pay for the legal fees to set up the license but they aren’t actually changing the circumstances for most 3pp. They are saying that PF2 is open, but it always has been. The take up hasn’t been great because 5e has always been so much popular.

If 5-6 small publishers each release their own game systems distanced from D&D then I am sorry to say I foresee a divide and conquer issue. None of those game systems will become big enough to sustain the community and commentary that 5e does and so the streamers, influencers, you-tubers, blogs? Websites will have to stay with 5e to maintain and grow the audiences they need. Those games become as relevant as the myriad of systems out there now that you struggle to get anyone to talk about (my own preferred WFRP included)

Essentially the legal risk doesn’t go away unless the game is made different enough to make it incompatible with 5e. As soon as it becomes incompatible it no longer benefits from the gravy train.

The ironic thing for me, is that it’s the fan fury that gathers more and more momentum which is pushing 3pp to make statements and push through decisions that could have massive repercussions for their businesses. All without a single public statement from WotC. The mass hysteria from the fandom when nothing has been officially announced gives WotC all the cover they need. They can sit back and watch what their competitors do, then make a new proposal that gathers back in all the commentators, streamers, you tubers, bloggers etc and watch their previous 3pp competitors dwindle into obscurity.

If I was a 3pp the smart move would have been to wait and see and be sensible. It may feel like folks are capitalizing on the moment, but that only lasts until the news cycle shifts and something else takes over.

 

[payn]

I think it’s very worthy of Paizo to pay for the legal fees to set up the license but they aren’t actually changing the circumstances for most 3pp. They are saying that PF2 is open, but it always has been. The take up hasn’t been great because 5e has always been so much popular.

If 5-6 small publishers each release their own game systems distanced from D&D then I am sorry to say I foresee a divide and conquer issue. None of those game systems will become big enough to sustain the community and commentary that 5e does and so the streamers, influencers, you-tubers, blogs? Websites will have to stay with 5e to maintain and grow the audiences they need. Those games become as relevant as the myriad of systems out there now that you struggle to get anyone to talk about (my own preferred WFRP included)

Essentially the legal risk doesn’t go away unless the game is made different enough to make it incompatible with 5e. As soon as it becomes incompatible it no longer benefits from the gravy train.

The ironic thing for me, is that it’s the fan fury that gathers more and more momentum which is pushing 3pp to make statements and push through decisions that could have massive repercussions for their businesses. All without a single public statement from WotC. The mass hysteria from the fandom when nothing has been officially announced gives WotC all the cover they need. They can sit back and watch what their competitors do, then make a new proposal that gathers back in all the commentators, streamers, you tubers, bloggers etc and watch their previous 3pp competitors dwindle into obscurity.

If I was a 3pp the smart move would have been to wait and see and be sensible. It may feel like folks are capitalizing on the moment, but that only lasts until the news cycle shifts and something else takes over.

Its to the point that D&D has become too expensive a playground for 3PP no matter how popular D&D is. They have a better chance working with the rest of the community.

 

[Nebulous]

If 5-6 small publishers each release their own game systems distanced from D&D then I am sorry to say I foresee a divide and conquer issue. None of those game systems will become big enough to sustain the community and commentary that 5e does and so the streamers, influencers, you-tubers, blogs? Websites will have to stay with 5e to maintain and grow the audiences they need. Those games become as relevant as the myriad of systems out there now that you struggle to get anyone to talk about (my own preferred WFRP included)

If I was a 3pp the smart move would have been to wait and see and be sensible. It may feel like folks are capitalizing on the moment, but that only lasts until the news cycle shifts and something else takes over.

That was my main concern; you get 5-6 publishers putting out 5-6 different fantasy games, there's no way the public can keep up. In an ideal world they could co-create a core game and all SHARE supplementing it, but I don't know if such a thing is even possible. It would be unprecedented.