As D&D’s OGL Remains in Question Major RPG Publishers Announce Their Open Gaming Plans
As D&D’s OGL remains in turmoil, Major RPG publishers Kobold Press, MCDM Studios, and EN Publishing announced ‘Open Gaming’ plans.
In the wake of D&D’s OGL turmoil, several major RPG publishers have announced new systems or other future plans for the coming days. Yesterday, Kobold Press, MCDM Studios, and EN Publishing made announcements regarding either new systems entirely or plans to change existing works.
These announcements come after almost a week of silence from Wizards of the Coast, whose proposed OGL 1.1 kicked off the wave of community uproar. Though their methods vary, one fact unites these three entities: a desire to keep gaming open and accessible for all to use.
The #OpenDnD movement is only part of the larger picture. Many designers agree that systems are at their best when anyone can play with them and build off of them. All three have plans for an open license of their own.
Kobold Press Raises Their Flag For Open Gaming
Kobold Press made their announcement in the form of a blog post titled Raising Our Flag. In it they reaffirm their commitment to open gaming, as well as announce the fate of their current projects:
“Kobold Press has been and always will be committed to open gaming and the tabletop community. Our goal is to continue creating the best materials for players and game masters alike.
This means Kobold Press will release its current Kickstarter projects as planned, including Campaign Builder: Cities & Towns (already printed and on its way to backers this winter).”
They also confirmed they will be working with virtual tabletop partners to maintain support for their upcoming projects.
However, Kobold Press also announced a new “core fantasy tabletop ruleset” code-named Black Flag.
Black Flag will be available, open, and subscription-free for any who choose to use it:
As Dungeons & Dragons moves toward the 50th anniversary of the game, foundational changes are afoot in the tabletop roleplaying game arena. While we wait to see exactly what shape the Open Gaming License might take in this new era, Kobold Press is also moving forward with some clear-eyed work on keeping the 5E rule set available, open, and subscription-free for those who love it: the Core Fantasy experiment. To receive future announcements and to register to playtest this ruleset, please sign up using this form.
When the new Open Gaming License and an updated System Reference Document are made public, Kobold Press will review the terms and consider whether they fit the needs of our audience and our business goals.
Keeping the 5E rule set available and open is a lofty goal, but a doable one.
Learn more about ‘Black Flag’ here.
MCDM Studios Gets Cinematic and Tactical
Meanwhile, MCDM Productions, the studio behind Matt Colville’s Kingdoms & Warfare and Strongholds & Followers 5E mega-hits on Kickstarter, announced their plans to develop a new tabletop RPG system during one of Matt Colville’s streams.
Though the system is as yet untitled, Colville said it will be “cinematic and tactical” while promising to use lots of “weird dice.” To be clear, though, this new unnamed RPG has been in the works for a while — Colville said development on the system had been planned for this year for a while now. It’s not in response to the OGL 1.1 changes, those rather moved up the timetable, but this system had been coming for a while. The announcement comes during what Colville calls “an interesting time” to be in the tabletop space.
Accompanying the new game will be an “aggressive open game license” so that anyone can make content for the new game. Because, as Colville says, he isn’t in the business of making DLC for “the Seattle company” but rather “for your game.” Colville believes RPGs are more like folk traditions than systems.
Alongside this new system, MCDM Productions announced that Flee, Mortals! will continue as planned.
EN Publishing Levels Up A5E and Open Gaming
Meanwhile, EN Publishing, which develops the What’s Old Is New (WOIN) system as well as the recent Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, announced their plans and commitment to Open Gaming.
So what are we doing re #opendnd? Still having crisis meetings but our thoughts are along the lines of (a) de-OGL-ifying Level Up and movingto a true open license; would need work but luckily we didn’t use SRD text we wrote our own (b) investing more in WOIN our in-house system.
— EN Publishing | EN World Live (@enpublishingrpg) January 10, 2023
Their plans, while still in the works, including removing content that would fall under the Open Gaming License from Level Up, which as the tweet points out is doable, since the core rules for Level Up don’t use the SRD text.
WOIN, on the other hand, would only need a new starter set and an open license. EN Publishing also moved up their release timetable for the digital release of the Dungeon Delver’s Guide, publishing it two days ago in the midst of the OGL uncertainty.
These are surely just the first few announcements we’ll see along these lines. Open Gaming, as a concept, seems here to stay, regardless of what happens to the license that started it all.
What do you think?
