What's an OGL? An SRD? What's OGC? A Quick Primer!

With all this information about OGLs and SRDs and other acronyms flying around, I thought I'd write a quick primer for those who aren't familiar with the concepts. This is not legal advice in any way, shape, or form - it's just a basic explanation of what these things are and what they mean. For the purposes of this article, I'm not including the Dungeon Master's Guild material, which is an entirely different structure and set of rules. Also, as it's not legal advice, I'm not going into detail on the nuances of the license - it's literally just a cursory overview of the concept, not a detailed analysis of the text. I hope it helps!

First, some definitions.

OGL. This stands for Open Gaming License. About 15 years ago, when D&D 3rd Edition launched, the then-VP of of WotC was Ryan Dancey. He was the architect of something called the Open Gaming License, or OGL. The OGL is a license to use and share material which has been designated as "Open Gaming Content".

SRD. This stands for System Reference Document. This is how WotC told us what they were designating as "Open Gaming Content". Basically, if it was in the SRD, you could use it. If it wasn't, you couldn't. So, if you were a publisher writing a D&D resource book, you'd use the SRD as your basis, not the D&D 3rd Edition Player's Handbook. That way, you knew you were only using Open Gaming Content.

OGC. That's an acronym for Open Gaming Content. Because typing that out all the time gets annoying.

15 years ago there was something called the "d20 Boom" ("d20 System" being the name of the underlying ruleset behind D&D 3E) -- hundreds of publishers used these licenses and produced supplements and games compatible with or based on the D&D 3E (or later 3.5) ruleset. And I mean hundreds - d20 books were falling out of the sky. It dried up eventually, of course.

So, those things out of the way, what just happened?

WotC has just released a new SRD based on the D&D 5th Edition ruleset. Like the old SRD, it contains the rules of the game and tells you what is OGC and what is not. In other words, if it's in the new SRD, it's OGC. Note that the old SRD is still valid; OGC once designated as such is permanently OGC. So you can use anything in either SRD (or, indeed, anything any other party has designated as OGC).

Now that you know what is OGC (the answer to the question "can I use X?" is "read the SRD"), you can go ahead and start producing products compatible with D&D 5th Edition. It's all legal, it's all approved of, it's all with permission. However, there are some restrictions.

The main restriction - the biggest obstacle - is that if you are using the OGL you have to follow its terms. And one of those terms says that you agree not to use any trademarks without written permission from their owner. Now, WotC has given you written permission to use a bunch of stuff - that's the SRD. A big 300-page written permission. But notably, that SRD is missing certain things, and that means you can't use them.

One of the things not in the SRD is the words "Dungeons & Dragons" or "D&D". So you are allowed to produce stuff compatible with D&D... but you can't say so directly. Not if you agree to the terms of the OGL. So you'll see people using the OGL and describing their content as "compatible with the world's most popular roleplaying game" or somesuch.

Now it's time for another definition.

d20 STL. This was the d20 System Trademark License. It was rescinded years ago, so you can't use it. But it was a license which allowed you to indicate compatibility by using a trademark - the d20 System Logo. You've probably seen it; it was a red and white square like this:

You can't use this​

As I said, you can't use it any more. The license was rescinded. Paizo has a similar logo for the Pathfinder RPG which you use to indicate compatibility. They have their own trademark license if you want to use it.

You can use this​

So, right now, there's no way to clearly indicate compatibility with D&D 5th Edition. The Dungeon Master's Guild offers some methods, but that's an entire different route, and I'll go into that at some other time.

That's the Open Gaming License, what it is, and what it does. It's actually fairly simple, as licenses go. And it's fairly short. You can read it in its entirety, and that will answer most questions you may have about it. If you're planning on publishing using the OGL, your first step is to read the OGL, and understand it. Here it is:

[h=4]Open Gaming License[/h]
THIS LICENSE IS APPROVED FOR GENERAL USE. PERMISSION TO DISTRIBUTE THIS LICENSE IS MADE BY WIZARDS OF THE COAST!


OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a


The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.

1. Definitions: (a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute" means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.

2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License.

4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.

6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute.

7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.

10 Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so.

12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.

14 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

[h=4]Section 15[/h]
You need to put a copy of the OGL (i.e. all that text above) in your book.

You see Section 6? That tells you that you have to put stuff in Section 15. If you're writing for D&D 5th Edition, you have to put this in s15:

System Reference Document 5.0 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Chris Perkins, Rodney Thompson, Peter Lee, James Wyatt, Robert J. Schwalb, Bruce R. Cordell, Chris Sims, and Steve Townshend, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

You also have to add your OWN copyright notice. If somebody uses your OGC in future, they then have to include your copyright notice in their s15. So I might add:

Morrus' Book, Copyright 2016, Morrus

And there we go. That's what the OGL is, and what it's for.

[h=4]Yes, But...[/h]
The OGL is a license. A license is a form of contract - an agreement you voluntarily make.

Now, folks often say "hey, WotC can't copyright the word X!" -- and you're right. In all likelihood they can't. That's not what this is, though. This is you making an agreement which contains conditions as to what you can and cannot use. The argument isn't "I should be able to use this because it's uncopyrightable", it's "I can't use it because I agreed not to".

What you're doing is agreeing to certain terms in exchange for other benefits. In this case, the benefit is what's known as a "safe harbor" - a whole bunch of stuff you can conveniently use without challenge, safe in the knowledge that nobody will send you a Cease-and-Desist letter form their lawyers. It's up to you if that deal's worth it, of course. Generally, it really is, but that's your call.

You could do a lot of this stuff without a license. You could fall back on regular IP law, fair use, all sorts of other stuff. But then you need to know what you're doing, and you probably need to hire a lawyer to be sure. And even then, you might get it wrong. The OGL is a safe way to do it, written in clear language, making it nice and easy for you. It's a pretty sweet deal.

I hope this has been useful. Like I said, it's not legal advice. It's just a quick primer for those who aren't familiar with the concept. Before you start using the OGL, you need to do some research. But this should suffice as an introduction to the topic.

 

[Staffan]

I would say you should do yourself a favor and include the PRD -if not the APG- in your copyright section just to be safe. The SRD5 is OGC, OGC is meant to be combined with more OGC to produce even more OGC. If you are restricting yourself to only one source you are limiting yourself unnecessarily.

One thing to remember when including stuff from another book in your Section 15: you have to include the whole Section 15 of that book in your own Section 15 (minus duplicates).

So if I wanted to include the Yamabushi Tengu from The Brinewall Legacy (part 1 of the Jade Regent AP), in my book, it would not be enough that I included The Brinewall Legacy in my Section 15. I would have to include the SRD3 and five different Tome of Horrors entries, in addition the The Brinewall Legacy, because those are all included in Brinewall's section 15. Even if I'm clearly not including any Dire Corbies in my product, I still need to include the Dire Corby entry in section 15.

Interestingly, I don't need to include the Pathfinder RPG, only the actual adventure, because Paizo didn't include it in their own S15.

 

[Nellisir]

From what it sounded like... Mike seemed to think just creating new subclasses that are specific to the new setting would be the preferable way to go. Especially considering these new subclasses would actually be worthwhile to people even who don't choose to play in the new setting.

If you make up a new setting... the players can figure out for themselves whether they need or want to include the stuff already in the PH. There's no reason to try and recreate the PH in the new setting book. No one is going to buy this setting book on its own without not first having bought a PH, so trying to include all the non SRD5 material from the PH in this setting book is not necessary.

I wrote an OSR supplement, The Basic Illusionist. I wouldn't mind making a 5e version, but the illusionist isn't in the OGL. I'm comfortable enough with the OGL to deal with the issues on my own, but there's definitely room for setting-neutral game aids that deal with older elements of the game but aren't present in the SRD.

 

[rooneg]

I wrote an OSR supplement, The Basic Illusionist. I wouldn't mind making a 5e version, but the illusionist isn't in the OGL. I'm comfortable enough with the OGL to deal with the issues on my own, but there's definitely room for setting-neutral game aids that deal with older elements of the game but aren't present in the SRD.

I hope that a library of OGL archetypes that extend the 5e SRD (like what you're talking about) start to show up. One of my concerns is that the existence of the DM's Guild will mean that people would be more likely to just toss their stuff up there, which would make it impossible to reuse in OGL games and supplements going forward.

 

[Nellisir]

I hope that a library of OGL archetypes that extend the 5e SRD (like what you're talking about) start to show up. One of my concerns is that the existence of the DM's Guild will mean that people would be more likely to just toss their stuff up there, which would make it impossible to reuse in OGL games and supplements going forward.

Personally, I'm likely to mix and match a bit. Anything OGL would have to stay OGL, but I'm not against putting some stuff on DMGU that's setting-related, like spell updates to 5e or whatever. I think the DMGU will be the easier option for many people, and it'll absorb a lot of the one-off material. That might bump up the OGL quality a notch.

Also, I'll need to read the DMGU agreement carefully - I'm wondering about the possibility of dual-streaming original content into two different products, one OGL and one DMGU. The OGL doesn't take away your ownership of copyright, and it only applies to a product, so it's possible for me to take my original OGL content and release it under any other applicable license as a different product. (This'd only work with stuff that's original to me + 5e SRD though).

 

[rooneg]

Personally, I'm likely to mix and match a bit. Anything OGL would have to stay OGL, but I'm not against putting some stuff on DMGU that's setting-related, like spell updates to 5e or whatever. I think the DMGU will be the easier option for many people, and it'll absorb a lot of the one-off material. That might bump up the OGL quality a notch.

Oh sure, for an individual person's table I expect DMs will pull from all sorts of sources (has that ever not been the case?), but I still want there to be a world where people can put out their own OGLed settings or whatever as easily as possible, and that's simpler when they have more material to work with.

Also, I'll need to read the DMGU agreement carefully - I'm wondering about the possibility of dual-streaming original content into two different products, one OGL and one DMGU. The OGL doesn't take away your ownership of copyright, and it only applies to a product, so it's possible for me to take my original OGL content and release it under any other applicable license as a different product. (This'd only work with stuff that's original to me + 5e SRD though).

Sadly, I'm pretty sure the DMGU contributor's agreement keeps you from posting the entirety of your thing anywhere other than the DMGU. You can use small snippets for marketing purposes, but that's it.

 

[Consona]

Iosue, Morrus, thank you!


Additional questions...

1. There is no Abjurer in SRD. Can I use wizard subclass named "Abjurer"? Is the name of that subclass protected by license? Let's assume, for the argument's sake, there is no "Abjurer" in Pathfinder or 3e SRD.

2. What exactly is "game mechanic"?

There is no Abjurer in SRD. In PHB Abjurer has ability Called "Arcane Ward". It creates temporary HP = 2x level + atribut mod. Can I rename "Arcane Ward" to something else, rewrite the text and fluff but use the "creates temporary HP = 2x level + atribut mod" thing?

Any other ideas? I don't think I've got the answers I wanted.

 

[MoonSong]

Any other ideas? I don't think I've got the answers I wanted.

Well, you shouldn't copy verbatim from the phb. If it is in the PHB but ot in the srd5 you shouldn't use it. But my previous point still stands, if you also put the srd 3.0 or 3.5 on your section 15 this is all moot, most names are already there, and it is a single line of text.

And yes the basic mechanics are free, you can use "creates THP= 2x level + attribute mod". You just have to write it yourself.

 

[Iosue]

1. There is no Abjurer in SRD. Can I use wizard subclass named "Abjurer"? Is the name of that subclass protected by license? Let's assume, for the argument's sake, there is no "Abjurer" in Pathfinder or 3e SRD.

Yes, you can do that. Abjurer is not a term that lends itself to being copyrighted or trademarked, in this case. You can take the name "Abjurer" and create a whole new subclass with it. In fact, Wizards would like people to do just that.

2. What exactly is "game mechanic"?

There is no Abjurer in SRD. In PHB Abjurer has ability Called "Arcane Ward". It creates temporary HP = 2x level + atribut mod. Can I rename "Arcane Ward" to something else, rewrite the text and fluff but use the "creates temporary HP = 2x level + atribut mod" thing?

A game mechanic is any kind of procedure used to run a game. Basically, the rules of a game independent of the text used to express that in a rule book.

For example, the rule for Battlemaster superiority dice is as follows:
"Superiority Dice. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest. You gain another superiority die at 7th level and one more at 15th level."

This is the text from the PHB. It's copyrighted, so it cannot be used verbatim in another product. However, what it is describing is a system where a player has a pool of four eight-sided dice, which they can spend, is replenished at a certain points in the game, and which is added to when they player reaches certain levels of play. That system is the game mechanic, and it cannot be copyrighted.

You can say, "Specialist Fighters get four d8s, called combat dice. You can use a combat die to perform certain actions described below. Any spent combat dice are restored after a short or long rest. Your combat dice increase by one at 7th level and 15th level." And that's totally okay. Any number of games share mechanics with D&D, such as levels, hit points, armor class, and dice pools.

So, in theory, one could create a subclass, called, say, "Abjuring Wizard", that uses the same exact mechanics as the PHB version, but with all the names changed and descriptions reworded. The thing is, at that point things become dicey. Because while in theory that is just a new expression of uncopyrightable game mechanics, in practice it has never been tested in court with role-playing games. Which means that if WotC was inclined, they might sue you for infringement, and the court would have to decide if taking a collection of mechanics that WotC has put together, changing the names, and rewording the description constitutes infringement. Some people think you would have a very good case if it went to court. But WotC has a legal team and deep pockets. They could make it so cost-prohibitive to pursue in court that you have to settle.

To date this has never happened, even though people have used the 3.5 OGL to create virtual clones of previous editions that were not covered in the 3.5 SRD. Generally, it's thought that this is because WotC doesn't really care about previous editions. But they may take a quite different view of that being done with the current edition. So the general answer to your question is, "In theory, you could. In practice, you probably shouldn't."

As a disclaimer, I Am Not A Lawyer, and this is not legal advice. WotC's response to questions similar to yours has been, "Consult a lawyer," and it's not a bad response.

All that said, WotC has provided an elegant solution to the conundrum. Use the DM Guild instead of the OGL, and you can use any of the core rules and all sorts of other IP without worrying about infringement. You have to sell it on their marketplace, which means WotC and OBS each take a 25% cut of each sale. However, what you lose to them might be gained in greater visibility and full compatibility with 5e. The OGL is meant for taking the rules of 5e and creating a new game, say, a space game, or a western game, or for creating a whole new campaign setting that will have different subclasses, backgrounds and the like from what is offered in the WotC campaign settings. Trying to end-run around the limitations of the SRD in order to create the same content that WotC already did is not really in the spirit of the OGL, and really more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Consona]

Thank you! I think I understand it much better now.

All that said, WotC has provided an elegant solution to the conundrum. Use the DM Guild instead of the OGL, and you can use any of the core rules and all sorts of other IP without worrying about infringement.

Yea, this was a very clever move.

The OGL is meant for taking the rules of 5e and creating a new game, say, a space game, or a western game, or for creating a whole new campaign setting that will have different subclasses, backgrounds and the like from what is offered in the WotC campaign settings.

Yes, this makes sense, especially in conjuction with the existence of DM Guild.

 

[aramis erak]

Does anyone know why WotC did things like mention, by names, all the cleric domains one could choose from, but only provide the mechanics details of one, the Life domain?

-HM

so you know you can safely reference them by name in 3rd party content for 5E, and put "(See Core Rules)" in without actually violating the terms of the OGL.

So, it's fine to include "Lama Louzi, Cleric of Foo" as a written up character, but not to reuse the rest of the domain text for Foo.

Especially for someone who is writing a setting book... you can simply list the deities, their symbols, and their domains, and move on, leaving it to the player to go look them up in the correct books.

If, instead, you're writing a new core book, you cannot use the same text... you can use the same names, but the actual spells better not be entirely the same.