Open Game License and the d20 System

[Nato]

I have this eerie feeling that I may be opening a heated can of worms here...

I was looking on the Green Ronin site and reading briefly about this new thing they got called "M&M Superlink" which apparently lets people produce and publish material compatible with Mutants & Masterminds. This was intriguing to me. If you don't know, M&M is based largely on what is called the "Open Game License" (which is pretty much the d20 system). OGL is supposedly a standardized rules-base that allows publishers and game makers to tap into a larger network of players than if they were to make their own unique system with a much smaller network of players. A large part of WOTC's outlook on OGL/d20 is that diversity is harmful to the industry - that the more game systems out their the worse off the industry gets. They claim that if everyone uses one main system, in this case d20, both WOTC and companies using the d20 system profit in the long run. OGL/d20 rules are free to use, requiring no permission from WOTC or anyone to use. Any modifications one would make to the OGL system becomes part of the OGL, usable for free by anyone else at that point. It's likened to the Open Source software development circles, which OGL is apparently modeled after. It all gets very cloudy to me after a while of reading the large amount of legalese that goes along with it. Copyright confusion (to me anyway) comes in when mixing original work with Open Game content. All kinds of stuff that makes my head spin.

So I guess I could make a game using the d20 system for free, without having to pay a license to anyone or anything. But really, at this point it would seem that I'm not really offering a new game - just a glorified sourcebook that uses D&D rules. I kind of don't see the point. There's a Judge Dredd d20 game out there (haven't looked at in depth - just throwing it out as an example). But can you honestly call it a Judge Dredd game? Shouldn't it really be called playing D&D and using a Judge Dredd sourcebook?

And what if I modify the system? M&M doesn't use the d20 logo, but it uses a lot of the d20 source that is Open Game Content. However, they've altered and added a lot. Which part of that becomes OGL and which part do they keep? And what's to stop me from making my own supers game using OGL, and then making additional changes that would be similar but not identical to M&M's?

They say that having a lot of game systems hurts the industry as a whole. They say that having a lot of game publishers making different "games" that are all compatible and from the same source is good for the industry. I would think, that since they are all using open game content, and don't need anyone's approval, that this would just mean a bigger influx of sub-par, mediocre material from tons of publishers. How is that good for the industry?

Also, Open Game License is a concept that can go further than d20. Other companies could make their systems open content, which would allow other companies to produce materials compatible with that system. For example, evidently DOJ could make the HERO System into an OGL. Other companies could then use HERO as the basis for their own games. Eck.

WOTC claims that this may help the industry, and maybe so. I don't know. I haven't developed a definite stance on the matter at all. However, I'm leaning AWAY from likening the idea. Maybe that's because what I've seen about the d20 system in general doesn't appeal to me or interest me. I also have this nagging thought in my head that it's like the Star Trek Borgs trying to assimilate everything. I don't know. I solicit your thoughts on the matter.

Some Links (reading them in this order helped me make more sense of it all):

D20 System Concept
D20 System Definitions FAQ
Open Gaming Definitions
D20 System Reference Document

Shwew. This is what I get for reading late at night.

[Nato]

I can't stop writing...

I can also see how this could indeed be a win/win situation for WOTC and other companies. Having the d20 to use as the backbone of my game allows me to make money. At the same time it helps to grow the d20 user-base which helps all those who publish d20 materials, WOTC being no exception.

But I can also see how their will be more junk produced. So-and-so had a game system. Wanting to "cash-in" on the d20 popularity, they throw together a hastily devised d20 version of their game. Nevermind whether their game is suited to d20 or not. Maybe even nevermind altering d20 to make it more suitable to the game in mind.

But then again, any company that puts out something like that is most likely going to die anyway, if that is their design philosophy. So I guess the herd thins itself. (Is that an actual phrase or is lack of sleep getting to me?) Anyone who produces a good game based on d20, and actually produces a high-quality product, will probablly suceed. Which is good.

Dang. I'm going to sleep now.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Here are some of my own random thoughts about the whole d20/OGL issue. Take them for what they're worth; I don't know a lot about the business end of the RPG industry, so this is mostly based on "outsider" observations as a fan, and discussions I've had with people who have more insider information.

I think the concept's success has been a mixed bag.

There have certainly been some positive aspects of it. The d20 boom jumpstarted the industry a couple of years ago, and as they say, "a rising tide lifts all the boats." Renewed interest in pen-and-paper RPGs helps companies and systems other than WotC and d20 (to a point), even if WotC and d20 were initially responsible for the renewed interest.

Also, the ability to "license" d20 has enabled smaller publishers to more readily grab a piece of the D&D pie. For a while there (and heck, this may still be true), a small company could publish any kind of fantasy RPG sourcebook with a d20 logo on it, and be assured of making more money off of it than they would ever have made on any product of their own without the d20 phenomenon. To an extent, d20 is like free advertising for these companies. It enables them to attract the attention of D&D players (far and away the largest group of RPG players)... something they would really have to struggle to do in the absence of d20.

But there's a double-edged sword there...

Because at the same time that Bob's RPG Company can now make books that D&D players will be interested in, so can John's RPG Company. And Jane's. And Jim's. And Mary's. And Mike's. And...

Now the struggle becomes getting noticed among the sea of d20 stuff that floods game stores every month. It used to be that D&D players wouldn't buy your book because it wasn't D&D-compatible. Now it's that they won't buy your book if they don't notice it among the crowd of D&D-compatible stuff. Almost no gamers can afford to buy all the d20 stuff that comes out now... it would cost several thousand dollars a year.

This flooding has also changed the way most game stores seem to operate. RPG books (at least for d20) are being treated more like magazines and less like books. When Reader's Digest or whatever comes out each month, your Friendly Local Newsstand gets several copies, sells them, and that's it. He doesn't reorder the March Reader's Digest... the April Reader's Digest is out now.

Game stores seem to be doing largely the same thing. The majority of d20 books come out, your FLGS orders a few copies, and when they're gone, they're gone. Unless you special order it, they're not going to restock it... there's too much new d20 stuff coming out all the time to worry about the stuff from two months ago.

It used to be that good FLGS's would stock whole game lines (or close to it). For example, back in the early 90's at the peak of the I.C.E. run with Hero, a good FLGS would have Champions on the shelf plus maybe the HERO System Rulesbook, Fantasy Hero, a bunch of Champions supplements, other Genre Books, etc. If someone came in and bought the last copy of Dark Champions, they'd reorder it and put another copy on the shelf. And they'd do the same with most or all of the "major" game lines.

This is impossible to do with d20.

At least, it's impossible to do if you view all d20 fantasy as part of the same "game line". So much d20 stuff comes out that almost no game stores would have the shelf space to keep all of it in stock. For example, Gold Rush Games recently released a d20 supplement called The Village of Briarton, a detailed fantasy village for dropping into a campaign. It's only been out for a few weeks, but they just posted this info on their web site:

"We've released The Village of Briarton in PDF format.
While some may question this move, the fact is that most of the initial print run have sold through to stores and, with restocking being limited to non-existant these days, we decided to release the book in PDF version now rather than waiting too much longer."

So I think the companies most helped by d20 are the ones that make "core" books that will be given long-term shelf space in the d20 "game line." Most d20 publishers have a small window of opportunity in which their product sells, and then it's all but forgotten amidst the next flood of stuff. If you happen to miss seeing it during the first month or two after its release, you'll probably never see it. But a few publishers make products that are enough in demand that they stay stocked on the shelves long enough to be noticed and re-noticed, ordered and re-ordered. They last long enough for the sluggish D&D player juggernaut to have plenty of time to see them and buy them.

And of course, which company benefits the most from this? Which company has absolutely no trouble getting long-lasting shelf space for their d20 products?

Wizards Of The Coast, of course.

There are a couple of others... Mongoose Publishing has their "Quintessential" line, and KenzerCo has the Kalamar products. But by and large, there's just an awful lot of noise, and it's hard to find the signal.

So naturally WotC would like us to believe that having multiple game systems is bad for the industry. Why? Because the single game system they want to see everyone use instead is their game system. You still have to buy the Player's Handbook from them.

I also don't believe their assertion that multiple game systems are bad for the industry. Why? Because people's tastes are different, and because gamers as a group are even more contrary than the populace at large.

That's why I think this is the perfect time for the HERO System to be making its big comeback. The d20 system has been out long enough now for people to have played a lot of it and (inevitably) for some of those people to grow restless and decide they want something different. The HERO System has a great opportunity to position itself as one of the primary alternatives to d20.

And I think DOJ and company are succeeding in doing exactly that. There are four local game stores that I check out periodically. All four of them are carrying the whole HERO System line (including re-ordering sold books to replenish the stock on hand). One of those four used to carry only four game lines: d20, GURPS, Rifts, and White Wolf. Anything else had to be special-ordered. Now they carry five game lines.

Okay, I'm not sure where I'm going with this now. I've started rambling. Guess I'll sign off. More later if insight strikes.

[Nato]

Good stuff Derek. Helped me to solidify my own thoughts and brought up some interesting new points.

One of the points you brought up...
"So naturally WotC would like us to believe that having multiple game systems is bad for the industry. Why? Because the single game system they want to see everyone use instead is their game system. You still have to buy the Player's Handbook from them."

I've never understood why all these d20 games say that they require the PHB. In fact, that's something that has really turned me off to buying a potential game. I've got no problem with d20 as a system per se, but I have no interest in D&D and don't want to buy that PHP. Now if the SAS d20 was self-contained I would have bought it. But I didn't and now couldn't care less. Anyway, I thought most of d20 was Open Game Content, which can be used for free and modified freely. So why do so many d20 "games" require me to get a D&D PHP? Do they not include the the rules so as to save space? Or does WOTC mandate that only a certain amount of d20 can be printed in one's d20 RPG?

It does certainly seem like something WOTC might do, make the d20 system - as far as compatibility goes - freely available in order to ensure on going sales of their own core rule books. But to my understanding, any and all of the d20 system found in the System Reference Document could be used and printed. What gives?

[Arkham]

Originally posted by Nato

You still have to buy the Player's Handbook from them."

I've never understood why all these d20 games say that they require the PHB.
<snip>
he rules so as to save space? Or does WOTC mandate that only a certain amount of d20 can be printed in one's d20 RPG?

It does certainly seem like something WOTC might do, make the d20 system - as far as compatibility goes - freely available in order to ensure on going sales of their own core rule books. But to my understanding, any and all of the d20 system found in the System Reference Document could be used and printed. What gives?

Ok, here's the deal.

The d20 license and the OGL are two seperate things.

The Everything in the SRD is Open Game content.
Which means if you include the OGL text in your book
and mark a certain percentage of material as Open Game
content, then you are free to use it.

The d20 license only says you can use the d20 logo.
That is it. That is the entirety of the benefits. And for
that you can still include Open Game content.

The problem with the d20 license is that it requires you
to not include character creation rules, or rules for
advancement.

This is why the Everquest RPG main book has different
character creation rules, and has the OGL, but does
_NOT_ include the d20 logo.

Note: IANAL. I have just been following this OGL thing
for a few years now with interest and this is my best
( if very summerized ) interpretation of what I have read
from various WotC sources, and industry folks on the
Enworld boards.

[Tasha]

I believe that you cannot reprint (From PHB) any rules for creating Characters. WoTC doesn't want to lose any PH sales to competing products using their intellectual property.

Also has it occured to you that another reason for OGL is Legal costs. Before OGL TSR regularly sued other publishers who made "Compatable but unofficial" products. I am sure that WoTC realized that they couldn't really stem the flow of products from other publishers for their game. So they made the OGL rules to control what could and couldn't be used by another publisher. They also didn't have to deal with approving "Official Licences". Totally Win-Win for WoTC.

I agree with Derek, The amount of sheer crap that is published under OGL is a real turn off. Even the Quintessential _______ Series is only mediocre at best. I bought lots of OGL stuff when 3rd edition came out, but a couple of years later, I hardly buy anything.

One good thing about OGL is that when someone publishes a "SourceBook" that more of the pagecount can be dedicated to the game world/ genre instead of reprinting the rules. It was something that was really annoying about hero during the 3rd ed Champions days. That 75-80% of a book would be reprinting the core rules and that only a small portion of the book would be about the genre. Some companies do this even today. I just purchased Vampire- Victorian era. It it a fairly thin book for a hard cover and I thought that meant the author actually spent time talking about the time and feel of the campaign. So the book is actually reprinting the same stuff about the vampiric clans with some victorian veneer. They take a whirlwind apporach to the era without talking about what the people were like and how some of the history would change their world view. Just a huge disappointment.

SO much for that rant...

No OGL for Hero. That is fine with me. I want quality for my money, and so far Hero has provided that in droves.

Tasha

[Derek Hiemforth]

Originally posted by Tasha
No OGL for Hero. That is fine with me. I want quality for my money, and so far Hero has provided that in droves.

Hear, hear!

DOJ's approach (from what I know of it from their own documents, and what I can infer) seems smarter to me. Keep control over your own product identity and intellectual property, but be open to others making quality products using it. If someone you trust to make a quality product approaches you about licensing your system for an interesting product, you can say "yes," and do it with a reasonable license fee; without greedily trying to pinch every penny you might possibly scrape up from the deal. But if someone wants to make a cheap product that you don't want your game associated with, you don't have to let them.

The best of both worlds.

[TheEmerged]

Something else to throw in the pie: WotC can change the SRD any time they want. This recently created a problem for many publishers when WotC suddenly decided that Illithids and Slaad's weren't SRD content anymore.

[JohnTaber]

Hi Gents,

I'm not sure if anyone brought this up but I have seen the opposite effect as well. I hear this a lot as I am the "Hero Preacher" in my little gaming clique...

"Well I know d20, and there is every genre for d20 now, so why should I buy Hero and have to learn something different?"

Flooding the market with d20 does have that effect too. It gives gamers a reason NOT to try something different. I even read messages on our personal clique message board where the d20 folks are deciding how to change/alter/tweak the rules to make them more flexible or work better...everytime they reach a decision I jump in with..."you know Hero does that better...here is what they do" or simply, "you know...that is how Hero does it." It's frustrating that I can't convert these folks...I always get the same answer..."but we all know d20"... I'm not sure that feeling would be so strong if all those d20 genre books did not exist.

[Monolith]

Basically, due to the fact that M&M was written as an OGL game, anything in the book not considered IP/PI can be used by anyone else. All the M&M Link logo does is allow publishers to say their product is "compatable with M&M." You could still use any of the non IP/PI material in M&M to create your own game (you do need to give credit) but you cannot say it is "Compatable with M&M" without violating their trademarks.

So Monolith Games can create Mega-Mutants Superhero RPG using the OGL in M&M (and giving credit to M&M) but I cannot say "Compatable with M&M" without asking permission to use their logo. But if I do not want to say "Compatable with M&M" on my book anywhere I do not even need the logo or permission. I can just use there material; though it is considered professional to ask to use the material first.

[Monolith]

Originally posted by Derek Hiemforth
DOJ's approach (from what I know of it from their own documents, and what I can infer) seems smarter to me. Keep control over your own product identity and intellectual property, but be open to others making quality products using it. If someone you trust to make a quality product approaches you about licensing your system for an interesting product, you can say "yes," and do it with a reasonable license fee; without greedily trying to pinch every penny you might possibly scrape up from the deal. But if someone wants to make a cheap product that you don't want your game associated with, you don't have to let them.

I definately agree with Derek here. Also, DOJ's license requirements do not appear to be that stringent. It seems like anyone with a desire to publish quality material (and some cash to do it) could easily pay the royalties due.

While the OGL has been good for many of the 150 publishers making d20/OGL material, WotC now finds themselves as a minority d20 publisher in the business. WotC's 2 products a month puts them below both White Wolf and Mongoose. Where once WotC's hold was near-absolute, now they have to fight for business in the market they created. I would hate to see DOJ fall into that same category.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Originally posted by JohnTaber
"Well I know d20, and there is every genre for d20 now, so why should I buy Hero and have to learn something different?"

Why should you ever go to Red Robin instead of McDonalds? McDonalds serves many kinds of hamburgers too, and they're cheaper, faster, and probably closer than Red Robin.

Why should you ever dine at a fine resturant instead of the greasy spoon around the corner?

Why should you ever see a movie in the theater when renting a video is so much cheaper?

Why should you buy a BMW when a Hyundai will also get you from point A to point B?

It's all about quality.

[Chris Goodwin]

Originally posted by Nato
I've never understood why all these d20 games say that they require the PHB.

I haven't looked at the d20 license lately, but I believe that it requires games created using it to say "Requires the Player's Handbook." I know that d20 license games aren't allowed to print information on how to create characters or how to advance levels.

Originally posted by John Taber
"Well I know d20, and there is every genre for d20 now, so why should I buy Hero and have to learn something different?"

Easy answer. d20 is not a system; d20 is a brand. Pick up, for example, D&D3, d20 Star Wars, d20 Modern, and, say, SAS d20. There's not really a cohesive system you can point to at the core and say "That right there, that is d20." You may as well be learning a new game when you pick up another d20 book, even though it requires the Player's Handbook.

You only have to learn one system with HERO.

[Chris Goodwin]

Originally posted by Monolith
While the OGL has been good for many of the 150 publishers making d20/OGL material, WotC now finds themselves as a minority d20 publisher in the business. WotC's 2 products a month puts them below both White Wolf and Mongoose. Where once WotC's hold was near-absolute, now they have to fight for business in the market they created. I would hate to see DOJ fall into that same category.

WotC is doing something the others aren't, namely making the rules. Every d20 product sold by a third party is another book that the customer will have to buy from WotC.

I don't think WotC is worried at all and they're certainly not fighting for business.

[MarkusDark]

Also realize that in all stores, there is a limited amount of shelf space. The more D20 stuff there is, the less room they have for other products.

As for Derek's comment about quality - it isn't like buying a hundai over another type of vehicle. Because all of them use the gas/brake/steering wheel system. To use your analogy - it would be like choosing between an automatic and a manual transmission - and for those who don't know how to drive stick (non-hero players) which type would you pick?

One of my current players never played Hero. Even with our helping him, he had a hard first couple of sessions. Then he ran a D&D game and laughed as he saw me not working with the 'target of opportunity' or the 'move back 5 feet to avoid an attack' thingy. He said it was fun watching someone having as hard of a time with a system as he did with Hero.

Now, take that person and offer him ANY genre in Hero or in D20 - which do you think they'll choose?

Oh, and before the "Yeah, but your player is playing Hero now" comes up, he is playing because #1 it is with old friends and #2 it is the story that he likes. If he had his choice, he would pick d20 in a second.

Still, though, Hero works extremely well with its current system. Let others attempt to make d20 games and let the customers be the judges.