WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

Hundreds of game publishers sigh in relief as, after extensive pressure exerted by the entire open gaming community, WotC has agreed to leave the original Open Gaming License untouched and put the whole of the 5E rules into Creative Commons.

So, what's happened?

• The Open Gaming Licence v1.0a which most of the D&D third party industry relies on, will be left untouched for now.
• The whole of the D&D 5E SRD (ie the rules of the game less the fluff text) has been released under a Creative Commons license.

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons

Over the past few weeks you, the community, have made your voices heard. And we’ve listened. OGL 1.0a will remain untouched AND the entire SRD 5.1...

www.dndbeyond.com

WotC has a history of 'disappearing' inconvenient FAQs and stuff, such as those where they themselves state that the OGL is irrevocable, so I'll copy this here for posterity.

When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey. Here's what you said:

• 88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
• 90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
• 89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
• 86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
• 62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.

These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons.
The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we're acting now.

1. We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.
2. We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.
3. You choose which you prefer to use.

This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use. We don't control that license and cannot alter or revoke it. It's open and irrevocable in a way that doesn't require you to take our word for it. And its openness means there's no need for a VTT policy. Placing the SRD under a Creative Commons license is a one-way door. There's no going back.

Our goal here is to deliver on what you wanted.

So, what about the goals that drove us when we started this process?

We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future. We still want to do that with your help. We're grateful that this community is passionate and active because we'll need your help protecting the game's inclusive and welcoming nature.

We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.
Here's a PDF of SRD 5.1 with the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We'll get it hosted in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there's no question.

• SRD 5.1-CC

We'll be closing the OGL 1.2 survey now.

We'll keep talking with you about how we can better support our players and creators. Thanks as always for continuing to share your thoughts.

Kyle Brink
Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

What does this mean?

The original OGL sounds safe for now, but WotC has not admitted that they cannot revoke it. That's less of an issue now the 5E System Reference Document is now released to Creative Commons (although those using the 3E SRD or any third party SRDs still have issues as WotC still hasn't revoked the incorrect claim that they can revoke access to those at-will).

At this point, if WotC wants anybody to use whatever their new OGL v1.x turns out to be, there needs to be one heck of a carrot. What that might be remains to be seen.

Pathfinder publlsher Paizo has also commented on the latest developments.

We welcome today’s news from Wizards of the Coast regarding their intention not to de-authorize OGL 1.0a. We still believe there is a powerful need for an irrevocable, perpetual independent system-neutral open license that will serve the tabletop community via nonprofit stewardship. Work on the ORC license will continue, with an expected first draft to release for comment to participating publishers in February.

Over 1,500 Publishers Support Paizo's Upcoming Open RPG Creator's License

Paizo has revealed some of the 1,500+ tabletop RPG publishers who have expressed an interest in their new Open RPG Creator's License (ORC), describing the group as the 'ORC Alliance'. The license itself is still being worked on, so these 1,500 publishers have not actually seen it or signed...

www.enworld.org

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Without being too optimistic about what the licensing around the next edition looks like, this is exceptionally good news.

I also appreciate that this announcement doesn't include any of the "you win and we win too" crap. A direct, clear "we heard you and we're listening". Well done.

-rg

 

[Scribe]

Yeah. It's absolutely wild.

But it's also a calculated risk. Literally the entire industry rallied against them. The saw the industry fracturing and splintering. They saw the potential end of their dominance. So they release the 5.1 SRD as CC-BY4.0 and hope that people will continue to make products for their game and system. Because if all those 3PP that have kept WotC dominant over the years with the endless stream of supplements were to suddenly dry up, WotC would actually have to compete against not just one Pathfinder, but dozens. No way WotC wins on quality there. No way.

Yeah. It's absolutely wild.

Or the news broke out of the niche bubble and got so wide that investors started making phone calls.

My trust in WotC is dead and buried. I hope people keep experimenting with different games and system and I hope that this doesn't stop all the really interesting sounding products that were announced as a result of these shenanigans.

Future of the ORC? Future of Project Black Flag? Future of the MCDM RPG? Future of the C7d20 system? And all the rest.

I still want to see those come to fruition. My fear is this just knee-capped all those projects.

All of this.

 

[Horacio]

I can't believe it but it's true ...
Incredible enough...
5.1 SRD in Creative Commons...

 

[Umbran]

Wow. That's....total victory. And for those who say they needed to make an OGL 1.0b to make it irrevocable, the Creative Commons release does that better anyway.

I said it because I didn't expect they'd want to use Creative Commons.
I am happy to find I was wrong.

And, overall, WOO-frelling-HOO!

 

[Staffan]

What WotC can do now that would still be evil:

1) GSL 2.0 for all OneD&D content which is as draconian, or more, than what we've seen.

Personally, I'd be perfectly OK with them doing that. I mean, it would be kind of stupid, but they've never promised to release future products under any kind of open license. My main issue with this whole hoopla was that Wizards were trying to break a promise they made. If they want to shoot themselves in the foot going forward, that's on them.

 

[Lanefan]

This also means that ONE DND will NOT be compatible with 5e.

Evidence of whether or not this is to be the case will come over the next few playtest drops. Stay tuned...

 

[MarkB]

This also means that ONE DND will NOT be compatible with 5e.

That is certainly a path they could take, if they feel like building a whole new edition. But at least it won't affect any existing or currently-planned publishing projects.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I wonder if the reveal that Pathfinder selling through something like 4+ months of stock in the past week pushed WotC over the edge.

Edit: 8 months

 

[overgeeked]

View attachment 273985

Legit.

Swiper no swiping.

 

[SoonRaccoon]

Just because I can...

Owlbear
Large monstrosity, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 59 (7d10 + 21) Speed 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
20(+5) 12(+1) 17(+3) 3(−4) 12(+1) 7(−2)
Skills Perception +3
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 13 Languages —
Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Keen Sight and Smell. The owlbear has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or smell.
Actions
Multiattack. The owlbear makes two attacks: one with its beak and one with its claws.
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) piercing damage.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d8 + 5) slashing damage.


This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at Systems Reference Document | Dungeons & Dragons. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at Creative Commons — Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0.

Someone else wanna do Magic Missile? ;-)