D&D 5E Will 3PP be able to produce material for 5e under the OGL?

[wedgeski]

If you mean the existing OGL, and 5E is not published under that license (which it almost certainly will not be), then any 3PP who attempted to claim compatibility with 5E based on the terms of the OGL would have to be very brave indeed. I suppose it could happen though, depending on just how the system is designed.

I really don't expect any kind of OGL-like open-ness this time around. However you measure the success of the OGL in the 3E era (and I don't blindly accept that opening the rules was responsible for 3E's success), it bred a home in Paizo for a version of D&D not under the rights-holder's control, and I can't think of any board-room that would risk such a thing happening again. I suspect the new license will be less OGL and more GSL, but released earlier and with friendlier provisions than its 4E counterpart.

I also expect software apps to be specifically excluded from any 5E publishing license, and a more traditional commercial license to be put in place to allow 3PP's to add their data to the digital tools. If this doesn't carry a fee, I'll be very surprised.

 

[wedgeski]

That's debatable. I personally think Pathfinder was so successful simply because it was basically D&D 3.75 and not a 4th edition that people had to completely re-learn, as well as discard all their 3.x books.

Totally agree.

Beyond that, Paizo wins customers because their products are just so high quality. If Pathfinder was based on The Spawn of Fashan and not 3e, they'd probably still have made a big dent in WOTC's sales of 4e, simply because WOTC puts out a lot of mediocre products (at least they did in the 3e era, and I have no reason to believe they changed).

Totally disagree. If Pathfinder was its own, unique system, I'm sure Paizo would still be recognised as a high-quality outfit, but they'd have a much smaller market share than they have now.

 

[Yora]

I don't see how an SRD could be more cropped down than the one for 3.5e and still work. The Unearthed Arcana, ELH, and psionic stuff of course. But you need to give other publishers enough material to work with to make their products recognizable and compatible with D&D. Which means basic races, classes, abilities, spells, equipment, and creatures need to be included in a license that states what stuff you can reference and reprint.
Or you have to allow them to directly mention there core rulebooks and the D&D brand so publisher can say "Everything as in the D&D rules, except as printed here". Which in 3rd Edition was a big no.

 

[Kzach]

If they play the "we don't allow anyone to participate" game again, the D&D brand is pretty much done for.

Heh, I recall a similar thing being said about Apple after the clone-crisis. Closing up third-party options didn't seem to hurt them...