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[nordic-the-dm]

[nordic-the-dm]

So, what is the OGL and why are DnD creators thoroughly screwed?

Tumblr has not been doing a great job at talking about this, but:

With OneDnD, Wizards of the Coast has decided to update the Open Game License (OGL). Said license is what allowed people to create homebrew DnD content and sell it, and even larger companies to use certain sorts of content. Pathfinder, for example, is built on said OGL. This also allows streamers and artists to exist and benefit from said content.

With OneDnD (sometimes called “dnd 6e”), WOTC wants to create a much more restrictive OGL, which will, amongst other things:

Make WOTC take a cut for any DnD-related work (according to Kickstarter, a whole 25% of the benefits)

Let WOTC cancel any project related to DnD up to their discretion

Let WOTC take ANY content made based on their system, and re-sell it without crediting you, or giving you a single cent

And most importantly, revoke the old OGL, which will harm any company or game system that used it as a base, such as Pathfinder. And it means they GET ownership over any homebrew content you may have done for 5e in the past!

It’s important to note that OGLs are supposedly irrevocable. They were planning to use it for OneDnD initially, but they want to apply it retroactively to 5e, somehow. Which is illegal, but lawyers have mentioned there’s a chance they may get away with it given the wording.

This means that anything you make based on DnD (A homebrew item? A character drawing? Even music, according to them?), can get taken and used as they deem appropiate.

These news come from a leak of the OGL, which have been confirmed by multiple reputable sources (including Kickstarter, which has confirmed that WOTC already talked with them about this), and was planned to be released next week.

So, what can we do?

Speak against it. Share the word. Reblog this post. Let people know. Tumblr hasn’t been talking much about this matter, but it’s VERY important to let people know about what is WOTC bringing. 

Boycott them. Do not buy their products. Do not buy games with their IP. Do not watch their movie. CANCEL your DnD Beyond subscription. (Btw, they ARE planning to release more subscription services too!). They do not care about the community, but they care about the money. Make sure to speak through it. 

And maybe consider other TTRPG systems for the time being, Pathfinder’s Paizo has been much nicer to the community, their workers are unionized and are far more healthy overall

[nordic-the-dm]

Hey nerds! Take a minute and read this if you agree that creativity is one of the pillars of D&D. If these changes go through, the corporations will be able to crush all those independent creators who push the game into new realms of weird and awesome. This world is all about freedom, is it not?

[nordic-the-dm]

would you still love me if i was a wyrm

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Every time I try to reference a movie in D&D I call it a puppet show. If I reference a famous singer I call them a bard. My favorite thing is if I reference a place, I just put the word "Fantasy" in front of it.

[nordic-the-dm]

Magic fact: wizard council has finally started a potion bottle return program that pays per bottle, but there’s an aftermarket of goblins sorting through them to find slightly more valuable bottles to sell in their local markets

[nordic-the-dm]

Absolutely obsessed with this decedent slut

[nordic-the-dm]

spells that should be available at the discount spell shop:

water walking: the nearest bucket grows legs

summon skeleton: it’s inanimate. just some bones

shock: the spellbook is just full of dirty jokes

detect life: detects bacteria

shadow shape: your shadow takes on an interesting new shape

divine intervention: the nearest bush catches fire

mark: summons a guy called mark

[nordic-the-dm]

A lot of folks can’t wait for Van Helsing to show up in Dracula Daily because they want to see people’s reactions to the original inspiration for this or that anime character.

I can’t wait for Van Helsing to show up in Dracula Daily because he’s the original inspiration for American schlock horror’s Monster-Hunting Priest archetype – even though he’s technically not a priest in the source material – and therefore the ultimate progenitor of the Dungeons & Dragons cleric, and once you see him a great many things about why clerics are Like That come sharply into focus.

[nordic-the-dm]

My vampire cowboy world 🦇🌵

[nordic-the-dm]

I don’t think we talk enough about how, despite the presence of multiple globes, PotC takes place on a flat earth, ice wall included.

[nordic-the-dm]

Art by Yuri Hill

[nordic-the-dm]

shawty got them evil bottom jeans

[nordic-the-dm]

Idea for a dnd oneshot type campaign

• the whole setup is taken wholesale from the pseudo-historical romance novel genre. You know which ones I mean: the "you can't kiss a girl to make her stop yelling at you, you creep", "anatomy doesn't work that way", "oh lord somebody get me some brain bleach" type.

• so you have the stock characters: some kind of "roguish" duke or something who is entirely too used to women falling all over themselves for him, and some slightly sheltered heiress who prefers books to suitors. And if this were one of those novels, steamy times would be afoot. EXCEPT:

• the heiress wasn't kidding when she said she prefers books. She's actually getting very tired of the same archetype of guy showing up and trying to seduce her. It's getting ridiculous.

• she hires the party for one specific purpose: break up the "romance" by any means necessary, but don't let anyone know she hired them.

• the name of the game, basically, is How Many Romance Novel Tropes Can You Avoid/Sabotage In One Go?

• in essence, it is some dubiously Regency-inspired era, the air is cold, the ballroom is packed, and you are a horrible saboteur.

[nordic-the-dm]

just a little tiefling boy raised on a mountain by a gaggle of nuns 🥺

[nordic-the-dm]

I like this example of how you can treat a high roll like a success without letting players achieve the impossible.