D&D 5E Ray Winninger, in charge of D&D, states his old school bonefides.

[dave2008]

No, they don't. Those links you posted are for old WotC/TSR products that are available for download (or POD). I'm talking about letting people write original materials, the way they currently do for the 5E rules and lore, with the rules and lore from pre-5E.

You can't currently use rules from older editions, but you can definitely use lore from older editions, as long as it is from a setting that is allowed on the DMsGuild. You are not restricted to the 5e version of the lore when you publish something on DMsGuild. With more old settings coming the assumption is these will become available on DMsGuild too. I think that is more generous than any previous stewards of the game have been.

From the DMsGuild FAQ:

"What can I use in my titles on the Dungeon Masters Guild?​

When you create your own title for the Dungeon Masters Guild, you get access to a hoard of resources. Your work can use any of the 5th Edition D&D rules published by Wizards of the Coast, plus decades of published material for the Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, Ravnica, and Theros settings. "

 

[Alzrius]

I don't know about using rules from older editions, but you can definitely use lore from older editions, as long as it is from a setting that is allowed on the DMsGuild. You are not restricted to the 5e version of the lore when you publish something on DMsGuild.

No, but you are with regard to what rules you can use, which makes it kind of a moot point. I don't know if you're allowed to publish a rules-free product on the DMs Guild, but when I mentioned using the "rules and lore from pre-5E" (emphasis mine here) I wasn't being figurative; I was referring to using both in the same product.

 

[aco175]

I always liked Ray's Dungeoncraft articles back in Dragon Magazine. He must be old school since it was published on paper and mailed to your house by this company called the post office- for you young people.

Side note for us old people that are a bit computer illiterate. Place a @ symbol before someone's name you are trying to quote. This will bring up the names as you type the first few letters and you can check off the one you are trying to name. This will also alert them that someone used their name.

 

[Dire Bare]

But the game's vision has changed quite a bit since it first came out, and it seems pretty clear with each new release that getting back to "the good ol' days" is no longer a priority. In fact, it almost seems like they're embarrassed of the past now, spending a great deal of energy rewriting the wrongs for a new audience.

So I think for many, WotC's marketing going from "Please come back, we made it cool again.", to "Wow, D&D was awful back then, am I right?", is cause to be a bit grumpy.

Huh?

So, WotC's slow steps towards inclusiveness, avoiding systemic racism and sexism embedded in their products, is somehow disrespecting the OSR crowd? Only the ones who don't mind racism and sexism in their gaming, I suppose. I'm okay with that.

 

[Dire Bare]

They don't necessarily have to actually put out old-school-style products to show support to old-school fans. A good alternative, one which would cost them very little (if anything), would be to open up the DMs Guild for people who want to write pre-5E D&D products.

If they're worried about that watering down what's available on the DMs Guild, then they could just have OneBookShelf set up a sister site for pre-5E materials. Either way, I think that would make a lot of the old-school fans happy, and it would be a tangible show of support from WotC (as opposed to a statement with no force or effect) that wouldn't require that any resources be diverted on their part.

While generally I find the OSR-crowd complaining tiresome, this idea I can support. Open up all of D&D's classic settings on the Guild, and open up all of the classic rulesets as well!

 

[Dire Bare]

4th edition is locked down - no OGL.

4th Edition is not locked down. While it doesn't have an OGL, it does have a GSL (Game System License). The GSL isn't as open as the OGL, but it's still open. Besides, everything prior to 3rd edition is "locked down" . . . . yet the OSR community manages to make plenty of games based off of those rulesets.

And there isn't anything preventing WotC from making those older rulesets open under the OGL if they decide to. It's simply a matter of will, and a degree of dedicated manpower on their part.

 

[Mercurius]

That's neat and all...but, 1) doesn't he have better things to do...like literally anything involving life, and; 2) why give the whiny gatekeepers the attention?

Why do you assume that all those interested in old school gaming are "whiny gatekeepers?" This attitude seems to be rather exclusionary. It also seems to be a rather uncharitable interpretation of his rather innocuous statement. I mean, maybe he's just saying, "All are invited to the table?" Is that what we should be shooting for, a big umbrella approach to the game and community?

Speaking as someone who plays an awful lot of OSR games, and considers themselves a fan of the OSR as well as other sorts of games, I do not see how Wizards can reasonably make a game that appeals to old school sensibilities more than 5e without ignoring large swathes of their existing audience. Besides it's not like OSR players need Wizards of the Coast or have ever needed them. There's such a staggering amount of quality OSR material available today. Great games. Great modules. Great communities. Who needs Wizards to deliver some compromised product?

I think their massive success gives them a bit of leeway and allows them to diversify the product and not just market everything for the "young uns." And with the expanding line, to at least 5 books--if not 6 or more--then they can offer a more diverse range of products.

Certainly, the bulk of the new fan-base are new players, but even if only, say, 10% are are TSR era gamers, that doesn't mean anything vaguely "old school" wouldn't be of interest to younger folks. Not to mention, that 10% still makes up a larger percentage of money spent, at least double. These folks are older, tend to have a bit more disposable income, and also buy books just to have them.

I mean, the entire game is a throwback. The nature of it is that it doesn't require screens of any kind, just human imagination, books, dice, and pen and paper (or the digital versions). I think that's part of why it is so popular now: younger folks craving a more organic, imaginative--and social--experience.

 

[dave2008]

No, but you are with regard to what rules you can use, which makes it kind of a moot point. I don't know if you're allowed to publish a rules-free product on the DMs Guild, but when I mentioned using the "rules and lore from pre-5E" (emphasis mine here) I wasn't being figurative; I was referring to using both in the same product.

I guess I missed that qualification. My point still stands that this group has been more generous than any previous stewards of the game have been. You can use all their lore with your own products and you can get PDFs and POD of a ton of old books. They have never been more inclusive to older editions than they are now.

PS - yes you can have lore only books on DMsGuild

 

[dave2008]

Side note for us old people that are a bit computer illiterate. Place a @ symbol before someone's name you are trying to quote. This will bring up the names as you type the first few letters and you can check off the one you are trying to name. This will also alert them that someone used their name.

You can also just hit the "reply" button and it automatically quotes them.

 

[dave2008]

No, but you are with regard to what rules you can use, which makes it kind of a moot point. I don't know if you're allowed to publish a rules-free product on the DMs Guild, but when I mentioned using the "rules and lore from pre-5E" (emphasis mine here) I wasn't being figurative; I was referring to using both in the same product.

I will point out that there are a ton of DMsGuild products that introduce new rules, and some of those rules look a lot of older edition rules! Yes, you need to make things for the 5e ruleset, but you can add things to 5e that make it look more and more like older editions. Like new death and dying or rest and recovery rules for example.

So in essence you can get old school rules and lore together - you just can't call them that