#open d&d

[dailyadventureprompts]

Alright, guess it’s time to address the apocalyptic legal elephant in the room:

For those who might not know, WotC plans were leaked to “update” the OGL in what is basically a scorched earth policy with regards to 3rd party material/creators in the hopes of cutting out the competition and forcing people to use their new products. 

As someone who lived through the 4th edition/pathfinder schism, the situation is laughably similar:  D&D is flourishing more than it ever has (thanks primarily to the OGL) but the execs at Hasbro want more of the money spent on the hobby to wind up in their pockets. Oblivious to the fact that the opensource nature of the game is what draws people to it,  they task the design team with creating a proprietary virtual tabletop through which they can sell d&d content without having to worry about books or pdfs being pirated. This rightfully outrages the fandom and burns every scrap of good will they had towards WotC, resulting in a dead edition that’s maligned years afterword as folks hop to the newer, easier game system. 

The thing that’s different this time is that the d&d playerbase has grown exponentially since the days of the first OGL, with 5th edition being the easiest version of the game to run/pick up and so many resources online, there’s almost no barrier to entry besides finding a stable/accommodating group.   Hell, with the explosive popularity of liveplay series you don’t even need to be actively playing in order to be in the fandom.  All of these people are networked together in a fandom hivemind spread across twitter/reddit/youtube and WotC just made an enemy of every single one of them with its shameless and destructive cashgrab.  No streamer or 3rd party publisher wants to give Hasbro 25% of their revenue, to say nothing of having their project “cancelled” if WotC sees it as a threat to any of their current projects ( see the huge number of spelljammer materials published after the company dropped the ball). 

It took about two years after the announcement of 4th edition for Paizo to come out with pathfinder, and I have no doubt the OGL leak kickstarted every major 3rd party publisher brainstorming some legally distinct version of the 5e ruleset. In the coming months I expect to see a number of these surrogate systems floating around the internet in much the same way that the onednd playtest content, but spurred on with the added “fuck you Hasbro” energy. After that, it’s only a matter of time till one of the big streamers picks up one of these systems and popularizes it, not wanting to pay the 25%tithe to WotC. Personally my money’s on Critical Role: they were one of the major factors in popularizing 5th edition and they’ve got the fandom pull to legitimize any claimant to the throne. 

To step away from playing oracle for a bit, I’d like to finish up this post by dunking on WotC:  

*ahem*

HOW FUCKING DUMB TO YOU HAVE TO BE TO TURN YOUR ENTIRE CUSTOMER BASE AGAINST YOU IN ONE NIGHT? This is some new coke/Reynolds pamphlet/invading Russia in winter levels of shooting yourself in the foot. Wizards was on shaky ground to begin with given that they’re coming off a series of notably disappointing products AND trying to launch a new edition/virtual tabletop/battlepass system, but to follow that up with a retroactive rules change that lets them outright steal from or shut down creators? It’s laughable.  Maybe, MAYBE they could have made this work if they were knocking it out of the park with new releases every year and cultivating a base of diehard WotC loyalists, but the fact of the matter is that aside from the brand name, the hobby has largely passed them by. Everything that Wizards does, from player options to settings to monsters to rules modules, someone else does better because they’re willing to take risks and put in the effort. Aside from the elegant simplicity of 5e’s base system, I can count maybe two pieces of actual game design (piety from Theros, ship combat from Saltmash) that I consider usable at my table, which is SAYING SOMETHING considering we’re nearing the end of the game’s ten year golden age. 

I know we’ll weather this storm, we always have, and regardless of what happens I still know my friends and I will enjoy gathering around the table and slinging dice even though we might not be playing “dungeons and dragons” in a couple years time.  I’ll keep my eye on the horizon, and let you know where I find safe harbour.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #dm advice #dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #one d&d #dapper digresses #ogl #ogl 1.1 #hasbro #critical role #open d&d #opend&d

[keplercryptids]

Paizo (the company behind Pathfinder) is collaborating with a bunch of TTRPG publishers to create a new open gaming license!

their site keeps crashing from all the traffic lol so here's the text of their statement:

For the last several weeks, as rumors of Wizards of the Coast’s new version of the Open Game License began circulating among publishers and on social media, gamers across the world have been asking what Paizo plans to do in light of concerns regarding Wizards of the Coast’s rumored plan to de-authorize the existing OGL 1.0(a). We have been awaiting further information, hoping that Wizards would realize that, for more than 20 years, the OGL has been a mutually beneficial license which should not–and cannot–be revoked. While we continue to await an answer from Wizards, we strongly feel that Paizo can no longer delay making our own feelings about the importance of Open Gaming a part of the public discussion.

We believe that any interpretation that the OGL 1.0 or 1.0(a) were intended to be revocable or able to be deauthorized is incorrect, and with good reason.

We were there.

Paizo owner Lisa Stevens and Paizo president Jim Butler were leaders on the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards at the time. Brian Lewis, co-founder of Azora Law, the intellectual property law firm that Paizo uses, was the attorney at Wizards who came up with the legal framework for the OGL itself. Paizo has also worked very closely on OGL-related issues with Ryan Dancey, the visionary who conceived the OGL in the first place.

Paizo does not believe that the OGL 1.0a can be “deauthorized,” ever. While we are prepared to argue that point in a court of law if need be, we don’t want to have to do that, and we know that many of our fellow publishers are not in a position to do so.

We have no interest whatsoever in Wizards’ new OGL. Instead, we have a plan that we believe will irrevocably and unquestionably keep alive the spirit of the Open Game License.

As Paizo has evolved, the parts of the OGL that we ourselves value have changed. When we needed to quickly bring out Pathfinder First Edition to continue publishing our popular monthly adventures back in 2008, using Wizards’ language was important and expeditious. But in our non-RPG products, including our Pathfinder Tales novels, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and others, we shifted our focus away from D&D tropes to lean harder into ideas from our own writers. By the time we went to work on Pathfinder Second Edition, Wizards of the Coast’s Open Game Content was significantly less important to us, and so our designers and developers wrote the new edition without using Wizards’ copyrighted expressions of any game mechanics. While we still published it under the OGL, the reason was no longer to allow Paizo to use Wizards’ expressions, but to allow other companies to use our expressions.

We believe, as we always have, that open gaming makes games better, improves profitability for all involved, and enriches the community of gamers who participate in this amazing hobby. And so we invite gamers from around the world to join us as we begin the next great chapter of open gaming with the release of a new open, perpetual, and irrevocable Open RPG Creative License (ORC).

The new Open RPG Creative License will be built system agnostic for independent game publishers under the legal guidance of Azora Law, an intellectual property law firm that represents Paizo and several other game publishers. Paizo will pay for this legal work. We invite game publishers worldwide to join us in support of this system-agnostic license that allows all games to provide their own unique open rules reference documents that open up their individual game systems to the world. To join the effort and provide feedback on the drafts of this license, please sign up by using this form.

In addition to Paizo, Kobold Press, Chaosium, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games, and a growing list of publishers have already agreed to participate in the Open RPG Creative License, and in the coming days we hope and expect to add substantially to this group.

The ORC will not be owned by Paizo, nor will it be owned by any company who makes money publishing RPGs. Azora Law’s ownership of the process and stewardship should provide a safe harbor against any company being bought, sold, or changing management in the future and attempting to rescind rights or nullify sections of the license. Ultimately, we plan to find a nonprofit with a history of open source values to own this license (such as the Linux Foundation).

Of course, Paizo plans to continue publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder, even as we move away from the Open Gaming License. Since months’ worth of products are still at the printer, you’ll see the familiar OGL 1.0(a) in the back of our products for a while yet. While the Open RPG Creative License is being finalized, we’ll be printing Pathfinder and Starfinder products without any license, and we’ll add the finished license to those products when the new license is complete.

We hope that you will continue to support Paizo and other game publishers in this difficult time for the entire hobby. You can do your part by supporting the many companies that have provided content under the OGL. Support Pathfinder and Starfinder by visiting your local game store, subscribing to Pathfinder and Starfinder, or taking advantage of discount code OpenGaming during checkout for 25% off your purchase of the Core Rulebook, Core Rulebook Pocket Edition, or Pathfinder Beginner Box. Support Kobold Press, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Roll for Combat, Rogue Genius Games, and other publishers working to preserve a prosperous future for Open Gaming that is both perpetual AND irrevocable.

We’ll be there at your side. You can count on us not to go back on our word.

Forever.

anyway as a personal note, i am in the process of switching to Pathfinder 2e as my main ttrpg system and am really liking it so far! and paizo as a company doesn't make my blood pressure go up the way wotc does.

please support non-d&d game publishers, right now and forever!

#open dnd #opendnd #open d&d #pathfinder 2nd edition #pf2e #ttrpg talk #should i have a wotc tag #pathfinder #paizo #long post

[knightofburgers]

Nerds Will Defeat WotC

#wotc #ogl #dnd #d&d #wizards of the coast #hasbro #open gaming license #opendnd #open dnd #dungeons & dragons #dnd 6e #open d&d #fuck wotc

[thenerdyindividual]

Y’ALL WIZARDS OF THE COAST WALKED IT BACK

“However, it’s clear from the reaction that we rolled a 1. It has become clear that it is no longer possible to fully achieve all three goals while still staying true to our principles.”

#d&d #d&d 5e #d&d 5th edition #dunegons and dragons #dungeons and dragons 5e #dungeons & dragons 5e #open d&d #wizards of the coast #wotc

[craigofinspiration]

Hasbro, probably

#dnd #opendnd #open game license #d&d #open d&d #dnd ogl #ogl #dungeons and dragons #dnd memes #wotc #wotc ogl #hasbro #one dnd #dnd beyond #wizards of the coast

[skecn]

Yep....

#open d&d #dungeons and dragons #wotc ogl

[entwifeexperience]

I debated about sharing this, despite signing it, both because of still shaking the twitter mentality and shame, and because fuck Hasbro/ WOTC and a lot of the issues in/ around D&D, but it is a reality that many wonderful people make a living and are able to fund their indie work by making #DnD stuff. No one has to like it, but it's true, and while we should be working to combat the ubiquitousness & monopoly of one game and massive companies, but that is an ongoing and slow process.

If everyone drops D&D and Hasbro support that's great, but very unlikely to happen, and, even if it does eventually happen as a result of their constant disrespect to creators and marginalised people (despite snail's pace improvements lapped by 3rd party work that should be more recognised), and unbridled greed, the money won't magically appear in creators' pockets overnight or even necessarily at all.

Please remember this is not about D&D or Hasbro or Wizards of the Coast. Honestly, they can all go fuck themselves & don't deserve a penny from anyone & should suffer from their greed & hubris.

This is about the creators who have worked so hard, only to see it stolen from them and impossible to continue to work.

Don't hate the players/ creators, don't even necessarily hate the game, hate the greedy capitalist fucks ruining lives & hobbies.

#DnD #D&D #OGL #OGL 1.1 #TTRPG #OpenDnD #Open DnD #Open D&D #OpenD&D

[shardbinder]

Question for the TTRPG side of Tumbler,

Would you guys like to see the dice i make ajd plan to sell on etsy before i put them up?

#my art #dnd dice #diceset #pathfinder #pathfinder dice #open d&d #d&d #dungons and dragons #ttrpg #seriously I'm curious

[taaroko]

Wait a second...did we just win?

#open d&d #collective action

[disdudedraws]

Vaille Sommers, a Tabaxi champion fighter!

With a gun. If the DM gives you a gun you have to use a gun.

I wrote way too much about the character you can check out here~

Eight winters ago, in the land of Sadako, the crew of the navy vessel Light's Beckon found themselves a new cabin boy.

The small tabaxi was frail, and unobtrusive, and in his ten years of age he'd hardly spoken a word more than “Yes sir,” or “No sir.” Ordinarily, such a child would not be permitted to go on such a voyage, at least not without permission from a guardian. But the little kitten had no parents or siblings, and Light's Beckon happened to be short of men to clean the floors.

For over a year past that, Vaille cleaned the floor dutifully, almost mechanically. He never spoke up or out of turn, and it was impossible to tell if anything you said to him took root – he just gave the same, quiet, thousand yard stare whether you were bringing him a feast or threatening to toss him overboard.

But one thing did catch his attention, betrayed his inner self. When the navy vessel set siege to a pirate vessel, he was always listening from his hiding place below the deck. Tabaxi have very good ears, and to him, a sea battle was like an orchestra. The muskets were like cellos, the screams of dying men, a chorus singing out their souls, the clashing of steel, the strings of violins.

These battles brought fear and horror to his young heart. But they always tempted his curiosity and drew out his inner artist. What was it like, to be in the grand concert of war? Maybe in another world, little Vaille would have made himself into a performer, one who sang his heart out on a real stage.

But one day, the pirates got on board.

He watched crewmembers fall beside him, and the blood painted musket at his feet was his only defense against the encroaching threat. He'd never fired before, but he knew how to adapt. In that moment, he leveled his new gun and took his first life, played his first note from a cello.

The world was a stage he'd only ever watched from below – but for once, in that moment of blood and tears, agony and terror, he was a singer, a dancer, a player.

Next battle, he took the musket again, not out of desperation, but out of need. The captain wasn't pleased to see this, but couldn't waste men escorting a child away. The captain got to be Vaille's first audience – he got to watch as Vaille managed to pull off two more kills with his musket.

He gained a rank after that, a badge. It wasn't a glamorous one, but it was one he was happy with. The show would go on.

To count the lives he took would be to count the beats of a heart, the footsteps of a dancer. But it was enough that, at the age of sixteen, he'd earned himself enough rank and money to buy a boring, quiet house on the port, to get a perfect, boring, well paying, meaningless job in the city.

It wasn't so bad at first. But then, the shakes began. How could a master performer like him go without his cello? Without his gun, he felt like a drinker without ale, a gambler without dice. He needed to shoot. He needed to play.

He didn't return to the navy – their performances were too methodical, too calculated. But others desired his steady aim and artistry. People who were willing to pay much, much more for a well placed bullet.

So with shaking hands and the choice to throw aside his morals, Vaille Sommers set out to play again.

#dnd #drawing #digital #digital drawing #digital artwork #artwork #art #digital artist #digital art #dnd5e #dnd oc #dnd art #dnd character #open d&d #tabaxi #dnd ocs #oc artist #oc artwork #oc #original character

[madzapan]

I don't normally Serious Text Post, but if Wizards of the Coast thinks they're about to get away with revoking the open game license for D&D, I wish them a very Die By Getting Chewed Up By Homebrew Monsters

Please sign the Open D&D letter below to help make your voice heard - at the time of posting this, it already has 70,000 signatures.

(for those who are as of yet blissfully unaware, Hasbro and WotC are trying to revoke the rights of third-party creators for D&D content, and to take a massive cut of their livelihoods)

#open dnd #open d&d #dnd #d&d #wotc #wizards of the coast #hasbro #dnd 5e #d&d 5e #ogl 1.1

[keplercryptids]

"we wanted the ability to prevent the use of D&D content from being included in hateful and discriminatory products" you mean like your own??? literally, the most d&d content that includes hateful and discriminatory products is being published by wotc!!! this is a PR nightmare for them lmao

#open d&d #should i have a wotc tag

[biwizard69]

I am so disappointed in Wizards of the coast right now

I thought they were better than this

#open d&d #dnd stuff #wizards of the coast

[leidensygdom]

So, what is the OGL and why are DnD creators thoroughly screwed?

Tumblr has not been doing a great job at talking about this, but:

With OneDnD, Wizards of the Coast has decided to update the Open Game License (OGL). Said license is what allowed people to create homebrew DnD content and sell it, and even larger companies to use certain sorts of content. Pathfinder, for example, is built on said OGL. This also allows streamers and artists to exist and benefit from said content.

With OneDnD (sometimes called “dnd 6e”), WOTC wants to create a much more restrictive OGL, which will, amongst other things:

Make WOTC take a cut for any DnD-related work (according to Kickstarter, a whole 25% of the benefits)

Let WOTC cancel any project related to DnD up to their discretion

Let WOTC take ANY content made based on their system, and re-sell it without crediting you, or giving you a single cent

And most importantly, revoke the old OGL, which will harm any company or game system that used it as a base, such as Pathfinder. And it means they GET ownership over any homebrew content you may have done for 5e in the past!

It’s important to note that OGLs are supposedly irrevocable. They were planning to use it for OneDnD initially, but they want to apply it retroactively to 5e, somehow. Which is illegal, but lawyers have mentioned there’s a chance they may get away with it given the wording.

This means that anything you make based on DnD (A homebrew item? A character drawing? Even music, according to them?), can get taken and used as they deem appropiate.

These news come from a leak of the OGL, which have been confirmed by multiple reputable sources (including Kickstarter, which has confirmed that WOTC already talked with them about this), and was planned to be released next week.

So, what can we do?

Speak against it. Share the word. Reblog this post. Let people know. Tumblr hasn’t been talking much about this matter, but it’s VERY important to let people know about what is WOTC bringing. 

Boycott them. Do not buy their products. Do not buy games with their IP. Do not watch their movie. CANCEL your DnD Beyond subscription. (Btw, they ARE planning to release more subscription services too!). They do not care about the community, but they care about the money. Make sure to speak through it. 

And maybe consider other TTRPG systems for the time being, Pathfinder’s Paizo has been much nicer to the community, their workers are unionized and are far more healthy overall

#dnd #wotc #wizards of the coast #open gaming license #ogl #dnd5e #dnd 5e #homebrew #ttrpg #pathfinder #dungeons and dragons #d&d

[usopps-froggy-hat]

he’s been single-handedly keeping the jorts and flip flops industries alive

#one piece #luffy #monkey d. luffy #one piece opening #op fashion #ep. 1089 #egghead #egghead arc #final saga #one piece screenshots #one piece screencaps #one piece anime #op anime spoilers

[beif0ngs]

ONE PIECE EGGHEAD OPENING ✖ TITLE CARDS

#One Piece #opgraphics #Straw Hat Pirates #Monkey D. Luffy #Roronoa Zoro #Nami #Usopp #Sanji #Chopper #Nico Robin #Franky #Brook #Jinbei #Jewelry Bonney #*mine #seriously can't get over how pretty the animation is in the new opening!! #the art direction the animation style and the COLORSSS!!! #like everything about it is just so f*cking good #and Jinbei's smile in that first title card is SO cute uwu #he and Sanji are bonding over their Hawaiian shirts!!