403-Page Dungeons & Dragons Game System Now Under Creative Commons License • TechCrunch

It’s now official: Dungeons & Dragons is licensed under Creative Commons. This makes the popular tabletop role-playing game “freely available for all use,” Dungeons & Dragons executive producer Kyle Brink wrote in a blog post today.

Just a few weeks ago, this result would have seemed impossible. About a month ago, Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) – the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and a subsidiary of Hasbro – sent a document with a new open gaming license (OGL) to the main content creators of Dungeons & Dragons Dragons, asking them to sign what they called “OGL 1.1.” The existing OGL, which had been in effect since 2000, allowed third-party creators to use the vast game system to sell their own spellbooks, mods, virtual tables (VTTs), and other content that helped the game grow. . the mega-success it is today. But certain terms in the updated document would have made it impossible for these independent companies to continue operating. Some creators leaked the document in protest, exposing its predatory terms that would stifle the prolific fan community. More than 77,000 creators and fans have signed an open letter against the changes, and some have gone so far as to cancel their subscriptions to D&D Beyond, an online platform for the game. 1″, or in other words, that they had screwed up very badly.

Last week, fans were pleasantly surprised when Brink announced that the company was planning to release game material under a Creative Commons license, a complete reversal of the original, restrictive plan. Today, after receiving feedback from over 15,000 fans, Dungeons & Dragons officially released the game system under this lenient license, in all 403 pages of glory.

The company even raised concerns about the impact of last week’s initial Creative Commons proposal on VTTs, or software that allows users to play TTRPGs remotely. Now, WoTC has even rolled back those stipulations, while keeping the original OGL in effect.

“This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use,” Brink wrote in today’s blog post. “We do not control this license and cannot modify 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 an ATV policy. Place the [Systems Reference Document] licensed under Creative Commons is a one way door. There is no turning back.”

It turns out that fan communities can accomplish a lot when they come together. Just ask Ticketmaster.