D&D 5E So, 5e OGL

[tomBitonti]

As soon as they figure that out and how to leverage that, the brand will be a true monster, and people will realize that the OGL, and the fights around it, is really of no concern. The rules are useless without a world and characters to express them.

This.

As shown by the release of the basic character building rules in PDF for 5E: The core rules are only marginally important. They are easy to replicate, and arguably can only be protected in form, not in technical content.

From a pure content point of view, the rules are a small part of what is provided: All of the following are important: rules, rules text, images, interesting NPCs; story lines; associated fiction.

External factors matter a lot! All of these are important: What tools are available (rules compendia, monster and encounter builders, NPC databases, image databases). Are they easy to use and do they provide important features (print or print-on-demand; online, but detachable; with and without subscription; well indexed)? Are there supporting products (modules, campaign books, rules additions, miniatures, sound tracks)? Is there community support (prepackaged events for stores; use of social media)?

Plus: Maintaining a channel of products at the correct pace, and with uniform high quality. Having a conversation with the gaming community (as opposed to talking down to it, or simply being insulting).

Plus: Keeping up with technology and social trends! What with the pervasiveness of technology and connectivity, the breadth of what is possible is staggering. If only it can be made real, and as useful as one can imagine, while providing a decent return.

Thx!

TomB

 

[Mistwell]

I think there will be an OGL for Basic D&D - but not the old version of the license, a new one that is expressly not compatible with the old one. That would make the content in the MM, DMG, and PHB that isn't released for Basic the proprietary content.

Which isn't much different from 3e. There was always proprietary content in those books, it was just sort of a hodge-podge of in or out. This way would be cleaner.

 

[Nellisir]

I think there will be an OGL for Basic D&D - but not the old version of the license, a new one that is expressly not compatible with the old one. That would make the content in the MM, DMG, and PHB that isn't released for Basic the proprietary content.

Which isn't much different from 3e. There was always proprietary content in those books, it was just sort of a hodge-podge of in or out. This way would be cleaner.

I think they'll adopt a GSL-style license for 5e.

• It'll allow adventures compatible with Basic
• It will have some kind of sunset provision - new adventures have to be compatible with the most recent version of Basic. Adventures compatible with older versions could still be sold. (this gives them a loophole to upgrade the Basic at some point and forces publishers to upgrade as well; existing products could still be sold, but you couldn't write for an older version of Basic.)
• There will be some mechanism for referring to features (monsters etc) in Basic without reproducing the entire entry. Stat block format maybe.
• Some mechanism for creating new monsters makes sense.
• Ability to create and distribute new PC races and subclasses will be restricted or nonexistent.
• Ability to reproduce material from Basic will be nonexistent except as noted for monsters.
• You could probably finagle a setting guide under the license, but not a class guide/splat book.
• Something WotC could require, that just occurred to me, is that published material be sold through an exclusive vendor. WotC could set up their own branded storefront (probably through Drive-Thru RPG) and require products to be sold there and only there (ie Apple/iTunes).
• There will probably be a higher-tier licensing system for established companies with some kind of quality overview at WotC's end. We're not going to hear much about that.
• There MIGHT be a push to funnel some of the publishers into doing Dungeon & Dragon content. That's a big if, though, and would require a lot of ongoing effort on WotC's part. I give this about 5% likelyhood.
• Not OGL compatible.

 

[Perram]

If they put another OGL poison pill in this one, though, it will be another non-starter. They had to remove it from the GSL, after all.

 

[darjr]

I'm hoping for an OGL, and even one for just the Basic rules would be great.

I do agree with @Mistwell; that the old OGL could be used to make compatible products for 5e. I think @mearls; his very self kind of hinted at it a few times.

If there isn't an OGL letting the rules for the BASIC out for free, especially if there is some sort of perpetual license, and not for the PHB etal, is a genius idea. Though it would still lack the possibility of unfettered third party products.

I LOVE LOVE the idea of them concentrating on settings and such. For instance I'd probably buy several hard back books on greyhawk. Several. Same for DarkSun.

One of the best arguments for WotC. And a great epiphany. The OGL didn't share away ALL of their intellectual property. The greatest of their intellectual property lay in their settings and adventures. Though I do really like the rules.

 

[Henry]

If they put another OGL poison pill in this one, though, it will be another non-starter. They had to remove it from the GSL, after all.

I agree; I can certainly see publishers going along with several of Nellisir's suppositions in a new GSL, but ones with a sunset or an inability to create new classes, races, or feats means that they would be pretty much going it alone again. On the other hand, there's a wide berth in the market for a "lite" D&D, leaving Pathfinder as the go-to for the "system mastery" D&D that a segment will always want.

 

[Plageman]

I'm not well versed in Paizo way of doing things but I didn't see products copy-pasting the Pathfinder rules as what was done during the later 3.5 era. Instead all the Pathfinder compatible products are new capaign setting, rules options or adventures.

 

[Nellisir]

I agree; I can certainly see publishers going along with several of Nellisir's suppositions in a new GSL, but ones with a sunset or an inability to create new classes, races, or feats means that they would be pretty much going it alone again.

I'm iffier on those two requirements. We're not going to see a wide-open OGL again. I will be amazingly ecstatic if we do, and I'll do cartwheels if they go back to the straight-up OGL, but no. So what's WotC's goal with Basic?

• It's the gateway to the heavier stuff. As such, there should be a clear path from it to the hardcovers
• It's the spine of the D&D system. As such, it needs to be static.

So license-wise, they want to control distribution and presentation of Basic, and keep it in one form. No d20srd websites, no BASIK knock-offs that add in tieflings and forgelings. They don't need a SRD document, or whatever the GSL monstrosity was called - the Basic PDF fills that role. So I don't think material from PDF is going to be copyable like it was under the OGL.

Q - What's the difference between a class splat book and an adventure that includes a new player class?
A - None that I can think of. So IF they want to disallow splat books (and maybe they don't), there will be some kind of restrictions on what kind of content you can create. I can't think of how that'll be spelled out at the moment.

The sunset provision makes sense if 3rd-party publishers have to refer to the PDF. If D&D goes to a 6th edition, what happens to the PDF? If it gets updated, WotC won't want publishers to keep referring to an older version that's not longer supported (or even available).

I think it'll be pretty simple to run a 5e-branded product of some kind side-by-side with an OGL product that supplies the stuff that can't be done under a 5e license (most of the vocabulary in 5e is completely generic, unlike 4e) , but that's still two products instead of one.

Right now I think it's equally likely that WotC won't do a public license at all. They won't even make it an issue. I don't think there will be a rush to make a clone 5e on a large scale (ie Pathfinder), and the little retroclone stuff won't even register. Honestly, an OGL 5e clone is going to appear in a year or two at most anyway (more likely 6 months). And they can always chose to do a license in the future (might be a good way to drum up interest in a few years, once the system has proven stable).

 

[Morrus]

They have had discussions with some companies about individual licenses.

 

[Nellisir]

One of the best arguments for WotC. And a great epiphany. The OGL didn't give away ALL of their intellectual property. The greatest of their intellectual property lay in their settings and adventures. Though I do really like the rules.

Nitpick: the OGL didn't give away ANY intellectual property. It SHARED it.

(This announcement brought to you by fourteen years of countless facepalms at wanna-be star publishers who never actually do anything complaining that they don't want to give away their copyrights by using the OGL with their special flower D&D knock-off).