Dungeons and Dragons just released a new draft for its Open Game License for One D&D. The OGL 1.2 draft was released as a part of Dungeons and Dragons’ response to controversy surrounding the future of third-party creators in the famous TTRPG.
Recently, Dungeons and Dragons opened a dialogue with players who were upset over leaked documentation indicating Wizards of the Coast was implementing draconian changes to the OGL. It apologized for the overreach and outlined the ways it hoped to do better by its players.
Now, Wizards of the Coast has released the official documentation for the OGL’s next draft. Notably, Dungeons and Dragons is fully licensing all the game’s mechanics to players for content creation through Creative Commons. It removed license-back ownership, royalties, and revenue reporting requirements found in the leaked D&D OGL 1.1, but reserves the right to revoke the license if people create harmful, discriminatory, or offensive content.
The OGL also now covers virtual tabletop content as well. Virtual maps, character sheets, and mechanics are protected by this new agreement. However, it seems this protection does not extend to replicating things not found within the game itself. Examples of forbidden content include creating animations for spells like magic missile or making custom tokens using Dungeons and Dragons’ specific depictions of monsters like an owlbear.
This level of transparency seems to be an improvement from the last couple of weeks and shows Wizards of the Coast is willing to listen to players. Many consider a license through Creative Commons as the best possible outcome given the circumstances. This OGL draft is clearly labeled as unfinished, and Dungeons and Dragons players are encouraged to provide feedback via a survey being made available soon. This survey will be open until February 3, after which Dungeons and Dragons will revise and republish a new draft and continue the process until it is satisfied.
That said, some players still have concerns over the new Dungeons and Dragons OGL draft. While a clear improvement from early drafts, players are suspicious of certain aspects of the license, such as the ability to revoke it for offensive content–a rule that could theoretically be used to police any content Wizards of the Coast doesn’t like. The VTT section seems to be especially restrictive, and many think Wizards of the Coast is trying to corner the market for Dungeons and Dragons' own in-development VTT client in the future.
Likewise, the line between game mechanics, which can’t be copyrighted, and intellectual property like a specific design of owlbear is difficult to discern, and many wonder if this license actually gives anything to players at all. Nevertheless, it is clear Wizards of the Coast is committed to replacing the old OGL with a new one, in spite of the more than 20,000 players who have signed a petition to preserve the original Dungeons and Dragons document.
Dungeons and Dragons is available now. One D&D is in development.