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Dungeons & Dragons

Breaking News: D&D continues support of Open Gaming License (OGL 1.0), releases their core rules SRD under Creative Commons

January 27, 2023 by krisis Leave a Comment

Huge news breaking in the past hour: In a totally shocking reversal, D&D and its parent companies Wizard of the Coast and Hasbro have abandoned plans for a restrictive update to the Open Gaming License (OGL) that would revoke the existing OGL v1.0. Even more shocking, they have released their “System Reference Document” for free under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License!

Image by ScalyDragon from Pixabay

I first wrote about these changes and the depressing effect they have on TTRPG creators and players alike a few weeks ago.

The OGL v1.0 is the license that allows 3rd-Party creators to publish products that use the rules and core concepts of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

Now, D&D has gone beyond re-affirming their support for that license by offering free and irrevocable access to their entire 5th edition core ruleset – called the System Reference Document (SRD) under Creative Commons.

The now freely-available information not only includes rules of play, but standard spells, and classic D&D monster state blocks. You can access the massive 400+ page document here.

This is a massive shift, not only compared to the proposed restrictive OGL v1.2, but compared to what anyone imagined was possible a few months ago.

In the words of D&D executive producer Kyle Brink from his announcement post:

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.

Of course, many 3rd Party producers have already announced creating their own open gaming platforms, like Paizo and Kobold Press. However, D&D has undercut those plans by making the 5e rules available in Creative Commons in perpetuity. That changes the playing field for smaller creators, who can continue to create content that will sell to 5e fans with total security.

Gizmodo has more context on this breaking news story.

Filed Under: games, news Tagged With: Dungeons & Dragons, Open Gaming License, TTRPG, Wizards of the Coast

The D&D Open Gaming License / The Dangers of Playing with Other People’s Toys

January 13, 2023 by krisis 1 Comment

This week everyone is talking about Dungeons & Dragons, but it’s not for a good reason.

Last week, a revision to the longstanding D&D “Open Gaming License” leaked. I’ve written about the OGL before, but in short it’s the persistent legal agreement that allows independent creators to use the core rules and concepts of D&D to create their own 3rd party material. While that ostensibly exists for people who want to sell their own 3rd-party D&D supplements, it also acts as a safety net for anyone homebrewing their own content.

Many outlets have written at length about the newly-drafted version of the OGL – i09 reporter Linda Codega broke the story at Gizmodo last week. The draft institutes a number of restrictions, including tightening the ability to distribute digital content, enforcing royalty-sharing on big earners, and instituting some potentially-invasive rights to reproduce creator content.

Understandably, both creators and players are in an uproar – after all, every D&D player is also a co-creator of their campaign’s story! Even if they never intend to publish or profit from their storytelling contributions, there’s a pervasive feeling of “this affects all of us” solidarity from the D&D community.

Another reliable leak mentioned that D&D owners Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and Hasbro would be looking at digital DNDBeyond subscription cancellations as an early metric of the community’s response to the OGL changes. A leak coming from within the DNDBeyond team makes a lot of sense. WotC and Hasbro bought DNDBeyond last April from Fandom for $146 million dollars. The DNDBeyond team don’t have a long-term allegiance to the Hasbro corporate overlords and they are watching the stellar good will they’ve amassed as a community platform being quickly eroded by this decision.

As the DNDBeyond team may have feared (but also secretly wished for), this new leak immediately lead to a cascade of hundreds of players posting proof of their subscription cancellations on DNDBeyond forums and on Twitter.

I was one of those players.

Tomorrow is my bi-weekly D&D date with my best friends from the states and I am currently the Dungeon Master of our campaign. That means today ought to be spent finalizing maps and building out potential encounters for my custom campaign that has taken a hard left turn from the official campaign in Storm King’s Thunder.

Instead, I’m spending the day wondering if it’s worth putting in the effort to tell stories in a fictional world that is just another capitalist playground. [Read more…] about The D&D Open Gaming License / The Dangers of Playing with Other People’s Toys

Filed Under: essays, games Tagged With: bowie, capitalism, Dungeons & Dragons, ethical consumption, friends, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Open Gaming License, Rick & Morty, The Beatles

D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: ZineQuest 2022, Cute Creatures Compendium, US National Park maps, & more!

August 2, 2022 by krisis 1 Comment

Image by ScalyDragon from Pixabay

It’s time to roll a saving throw against Kickstarting, because I’m back with another weekly review of Dungeons & Dragons and 5e-Compatible projects on Kickstarter – including Kickstarter’s ZineQuest 2022!

There have been twenty-four 5e-Compatible projects launched in the past week, which is double the pace of any weeks I’ve covered in the past month! That’s because we’re in the middle of ZineQuest 2022 – a special Kickstarter-sponsored initiative to encourage creators to create small-scale, zine-sized RPG campaigns.

Just taking a peek at all of these Kickstarter campaigns took a while! From those two dozen projects, I’ve picked nine to cover in this post that tickle my fancy the most or fit my digital-first campaign the best – several of which are part of ZineQuest.

  • The Bloodbay Abduction – Adventure Zine – for DnD 5E – $2 – A solid seaborne adventure for ZineQuest!
  • Cute Creatures Compendium, by Catilus – 40+ adorable deadly creatures
  • Deep & Dangerous 5e – A terrific micro-setting with classes and creatures
  • Joshua Tree: A 5E Park – Digital maps based on US National Parks
  • The Oddity Offprint, No. 1 – 5 goofy monsters for ZineQuest!
  • One-Hour RPG : The City Watch (A Zine Quest Project for 5e) – 50+ pages of 10 one-shot drop-ins for $4!
  • 🎭 Roles & Rolls 🎲: Giant Expansion Books for DnD 5E – 4 books packed with options at $6 each
  • Stranger Sights: Challenges for 5e and Advanced 5e – 40 kinds of terrain and 50+ monsters to populate it with

Here are the other 15 projects launched since my last post:

  • The 5E RPG maps – Pay what you want!
  • Assassins, Rogues and Outlaws
  • Blackmore: a high fantasy Rock & Roll zine for 5E & OSE – Very cool, check it out!
  • Catpocalypse Meow: 5e
  • Crazy Farm – A 5e DnD Zine Quest 4 Adventure Module
  • Darkness Reigns: The Chronicles of Shadaryn Campaign Setting
  • Battlezoo Eldamon Monster Training & Year of Monsters (5E/PF2) – Brings Pokémon mechanics to D&D!
  • GEAS: Broken Gods – A New RPG adventure series for 5e DnD
  • Inventory of Improving Items
  • Lost in the Dark: Solo-play 5E RPG Zine
  • A Multiverse of Subclasses
  • Ritual Cuts #1 – Shattermage
  • A Shadow over Odir – A Coastal Mystery Adventure for 5E
  • Tomb – A Dungeon Crawl For 5e
  • The Traveler’s Guide to the Goblin Fells
  • XENOZINE ISSUE 2: Enemy Within

For projects with a scope that extends beyond being a single adventure or specific topic like “wands”, I review them based on the 9-point criteria I established in “What makes a good Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition official release or 5e-Compatible supplement?”

Want to catch up on other currently-running campaigns? Here are all of the other XX campaigns currently-running on Kickstarter, all of which I’ve covered in depth on past posts in this series.

  • 3 Projects from the 26 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Reviewed:
      • 5e D&D – Adventure Journal, Character Sheets & Planners – Reviewed! A cool physical artifact to track your character.
    • Plus:
      • Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt: A 5e Supplement
      • Twilight Fables
  • 11 Projects from the 19 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Brave: Guide to the shattered
    • Calls To Action: Extraordinary Party Backgrounds for 5e – 3 Days Left!
    • D&D 5E Modules: Tomb Raiders of Orek / Into the Royal Tombs – 9 Days Left!
    • The Dark Nun’s Church, a D&D 5e Adventure – Cool first time campaign!
    • Druid Wild Shape Reference Deck
    • A Guide to Guilds For D&D 5E – 9 Days Left!
    • Maps & Monstrum Compendium – 9 Days Left!
    • Quick 5e Side Quests – 1€ – 3 Days Left!
    • Rings of Protection – 1 Day Left!
    • Shipwrecks of the Astral Sea
    • Whisper & Venom: Dark Fantasy Adventure for 5e and OSE
  • 6 Projects from the 12 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • The Courts & Kingdoms Tavern: 5e Drunken Supplement – 4 Days Left!
    • Customizable, Comprehensive DND 5E Character Journal – 6 Days Left!
    • Hag Mag: A Terrible RPG Adventure Setting for 5E – Check this out! 3 Days Left!
    • Humblewood Tales – Sequel to a cool campaign setting. 9 Days Left!
    • Monstrous Personas for 5th Edition Roleplaying – Unusual Concept! 3 Days Left!
    • Til Death Do Us Part: Adventures With Heart For 5E – Great value! 3 Days Left!

Do you have an upcoming 5e-Compatible Kickstarter project? I’d be happy to check out your sample pages, give you comments on your planned campaign page, or highlight your project in a future post. Just leave me a comment below or reach out to me @CrushingComics on Twitter. [Read more…] about D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: ZineQuest 2022, Cute Creatures Compendium, US National Park maps, & more!

Filed Under: games Tagged With: 5e Compatible, Dungeons & Dragons, kickstarter, TTRPG Tuesday, TTRPGs

D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: The Midnight Ball, GrymWyrd Tales, & TheoryCraft character journals!

July 26, 2022 by krisis 1 Comment

Image by ScalyDragon from Pixabay

It’s time to don your armor, because I’m back with another weekly review of Dungeons & Dragons and 5e-Compatible projects on Kickstarter – including the very ooky Midnight Ball and GrymWyrd Tales!

I’ve now covered every D&D project on Kickstarter for a whole month. In that time, I’ve figured out some things – including that it’s no fun to scour a campaign page only to discover it’s poorly-planned, badly-edited, unreadable in layout, or even covertly racist – and to then write about it.

I don’t want to punch down on first-time creators or highlight creators whose work I’d never endorse.

Starting with this post, I’m no longer reviewing every new project on Kickstarter each week – only the ones that look interesting to me or that I think are worth recommending!

This week there’s just five new projects, of which I review three below:

  • 5e D&D – Adventure Journal, Character Sheets & Planners – Reviewed! A cool physical artifact to track your character.
  • GrymWyrd Tales – Volume 1: Siblings – Reviewed! A great value for bringing mature horror to your party.
  • The Midnight Ball – Recommended! A creepy, role-play-heavy mansion mystery.

Also new on Kickstarter this week are:

  • Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt: A 5e Supplement
  • Twilight Fables

For projects with a scope that extends beyond being a single adventure or specific topic like “wands”, I review them based on the 9-point criteria I established in “What makes a good Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition official release or 5e-Compatible supplement?”

Want to catch up on other currently-running campaigns? Here are all of the other 24 campaigns currently-running on Kickstarter, all of which I’ve covered in depth on past posts in this series.

  • 12 Projects from the 19 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Brave: Guide to the shattered
    • Calls To Action: Extraordinary Party Backgrounds for 5e
    • D&D 5E Modules: Tomb Raiders of Orek / Into the Royal Tombs
    • Dalor’s Guide To Devils & Demons – HIGHLY Recommended! 6 Days Left!
    • The Dark Nun’s Church, a D&D 5e Adventure – Cool first time campaign!
    • Druid Wild Shape Reference Deck
    • A Guide to Guilds For D&D 5E
    • Maps & Monstrum Compendium
    • Quick 5e Side Quests – 1€
    • Rings of Protection – From a creator I dig!
    • Shipwrecks of the Astral Sea
    • Whisper & Venom: Dark Fantasy Adventure for 5e and OSE
  • 7 Projects from the 12 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • The Courts & Kingdoms Tavern: 5e Drunken Supplement
    • Customizable, Comprehensive DND 5E Character Journal
    • Hag Mag: A Terrible RPG Adventure Setting for 5E – Check this out!
    • Humblewood Tales – Sequel to a cool campaign setting.
    • Monstrous Personas for 5th Edition Roleplaying – Unusual Concept!
    • Til Death Do Us Part: Adventures With Heart For 5E – Great value!
    • Treasure Hoard: Volume 1 – HIGHLY Recommended!
  • 5 Projects Covered in the 5 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Curse of the Chupacabra: Epic Horror Adventure For 5e & OSR – 4 Days Left!
    • A Folklore Bestiary for 5E and OSE – Recommended! 2 Days Left!
    • The Lost Message (5E)
    • The Rumor Broker’s Ledger of Names: An NPC Compendium
    • Skwirl’s 5E Wild Shape Cards – Recommended! 6 Days Left!

Do you have an upcoming 5e-Compatible Kickstarter project? I’d be happy to check out your sample pages, give you comments on your planned campaign page, or highlight your project in a future post. Just leave me a comment below or reach out to me @CrushingComics on Twitter. [Read more…] about D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: The Midnight Ball, GrymWyrd Tales, & TheoryCraft character journals!

Filed Under: games Tagged With: 5e Compatible, Dungeons & Dragons, kickstarter, TTRPG Tuesday, TTRPGs

D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: Dalor’s Guide to Devils & Demons, Maps & Monstrum, Rings of Protection, & more!

July 19, 2022 by krisis 1 Comment

Image by ScalyDragon from Pixabay

It’s time to roll for initiative, because I’m back with my weekly review of all of the new Dungeons & Dragons and 5e-Compatible projects on Kickstarter, including the delightfully quirky Dalor’s Guide To Devils & Demons!

This is my ongoing attempt to get my arms around the zeitgeist of what people are creating for 5e, plus find all the coolest, most-useful, and weirdest 5e-Compatible projects!

For projects with a scope that extends beyond being a single adventure or specific topic like “wands”, I review them based on the 9-point criteria I established in “What makes a good Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition official release or 5e-Compatible supplement?”

For the second week running, there have been 12 new 5e-Compatible projects launched in the past seven days – all of which are reviewed below!

  • Brave: Guide to the shattered
  • Calls To Action: Extraordinary Party Backgrounds for 5e
  • D&D 5E Modules: Tomb Raiders of Orek / Into the Royal Tombs
  • Dalor’s Guide To Devils & Demons – HIGHLY Recommended!
  • The Dark Nun’s Church, a D&D 5e Adventure – Cool first time campaign!
  • Druid Wild Shape Reference Deck
  • A Guide to Guilds For D&D 5E
  • Maps & Monstrum Compendium – Check this out!
  • Quick 5e Side Quests – 1€
  • Rings of Protection – From a creator I dig!
  • Shipwrecks of the Astral Sea
  • Whisper & Venom: Dark Fantasy Adventure for 5e and OSE

Plus, there are another 21 campaigns still running that I’ve covered previously!

  • 12 Projects from the 12 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Arcanis 5E Campaign Setting Runic Edition
    • The Courts & Kingdoms Tavern: 5e Drunken Supplement
    • Customizable, Comprehensive DND 5E Character Journal
    • Hag Mag: A Terrible RPG Adventure Setting for 5E – Check this out!
    • Humblewood Tales – Sequel to a cool campaign setting.
    • Iron Kingdoms: The Nightmare Empire – 2 Days Left!
    • Monstrous Personas for 5th Edition Roleplaying – Unusual Concept!
    • The Oracle RPG Magazine – Dungeon Delving – A high-quality monthly D&D magazine!
    • SideQuests 7: Easy Adventures for 5E Dungeons & Dragons – Check this out! 5 Days Left!
    • Til Death Do Us Part: Adventures With Heart For 5E – Great value!
    • Treasure Hoard: Volume 1 – HIGHLY Recommended!
    • Unholy Plague
  • 9 Projects Covered in the 5 July 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Post
    • Curse of the Chupacabra: Epic Horror Adventure For 5e & OSR – Check this out!
    • A Folklore Bestiary for 5E and OSE – Recommended!
    • The Haunted Pass
    • Loot Lemmings: A 5e Drop-and-Play Adventure – 5 Days Left!
    • The Lost Message (5E)
    • Palace of the Golden Princess #1 – 2 Days Left!
    • The Rumor Broker’s Ledger of Names: An NPC Compendium
    • Skwirl’s 5E Wild Shape Cards – Recommended!
    • Wyrdwich Council: A New Way To Play D&D 5e – Now with Print-On-Demand! 4 Days Left!

If any creators of those projects happen to swing by: congratulations on your awesome work! I might have a few critiques about your campaign page, but I’m just one DM and player with opinions. Your labor of love is still an impressive effort.

Do you have an upcoming 5e-Compatible Kickstarter project? As I continue this pilot series over the next few weeks I’d be happy to check out your sample pages or give you comments on your campaign page. Just leave me a comment below or reach out to me @CrushingComics on Twitter. [Read more…] about D&D 5e-Compatible Kickstarter Round-Up: Dalor’s Guide to Devils & Demons, Maps & Monstrum, Rings of Protection, & more!

Filed Under: games Tagged With: 5e Compatible, Dungeons & Dragons, kickstarter, TTRPG Tuesday, TTRPGs

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