D&D: WotC Updates SRD 5.1 With FAQ
WotC has updated its SRD site with a new FAQ about the OGL 1.0a, Creative Commons, and you. Come and take a look.
After unexpectedly releasing the entire 403-page System Reference Document 5.1 into a Creative Commons license, this past Friday, Wizards of the Coast updated its SRD page with the official Creative Commons document and an updated SRD 5.1 FAQ.
But do these FAQs contain a glimpse at walls being built around a garden? Or do they hint at a more compatible future? The answer might be both.
SRD 5.1 FAQ – Creative Commons, OGL, & More
image credit: Wizards of the Coast
The Systems Reference Document page got an update yesterday. Now it hosts two separate versions of the 5.1 SRD; one with Creative Commons, and one with the OGL. That way you can decide which SRD to use. As a part of the SRD update, WotC outlined the following:
- You may choose which license to publish your SRD 5.1 content under.
- Content you publish under OGL 1.0a must use its attribution terms as specified in the license.
- Content you publish under Creative Commons must use its attribution terms as specified in its SRD 5.1 preamble.
In a nutshell, either license is still usable. After all, WotC promised to leave the OGL 1.0a “as is, untouched.” That said, WotC did state that it expects most creators will switch to Creative Commons:
“Then is there any benefit to publishing my content under OGL 1.0a v Creative Commons?
We expect most creators will start using Creative Commons due to its benefits. Still, OGL 1.0a has been the means by which creators have published their D&D-compatible works since 2000. We want you to have the choice on which license to use.”
There are plenty of non-WotC games that have utilized the OGL 1.0a, for instance. So a creator using open-game content from outside the SRD would still want the OGL 1.0a.
WotC also made it clear that the SRD 5.1 is irrevocably available for the world to use:
“Once we made the SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license, the process is complete […] licensed content is irrevocably available for the world to use. We still own the content we put into SRD 5.1, but anyone can, at any time, use the content we make available under a Creative Commons license as long as their use follows the rules that Creative Commons spelled out in the license itself.
One D&D & the SRD
One big question that remains is what will One D&D use. Will the rules, similarly, be released via Creative Commons? Or will WotC move away from more open content for the latest edition of D&D? WotC has left the door open to the SRD, for purposes of compatibility:
“Will more content be added to the SRD?
The full 5th edition game and its expansions are available for use via the DMs Guild. New material will be added to the SRD if it is necessary to keep this document and its contents compatible with the latest D&D rules.”
If it’s necessary to keep the document compatible, new material will be added. Of course, the DMs Guild might be where WotC looks for the future of D&D. As outlined in this activity guideline section:
Whether or not the DMs guild is the largest network of D&D players is up for debate. But, anyone licensing with the DMs Guild Community Content Agreement does indeed go up through the DMs Guild. And may in fact be considered for publication by Wizards—though to my knowledge this hasn’t yet happened. And even if it did, that would be because the DMs Guild Agreement is more you licensing your work to WotC than the other way around.
But as WotC prepares for the Virtual Tabletop that will be the future of D&D, what will that look like? Will it be WotC-only products, or is there a virtual DMs Guild in the future?
2024 is going to be very interesting
