D&D and OGL 1.1 – the decision that almost changed tabletop gaming forever
You might not have noticed but something a little while ago caused a massive outcry in the tabletop RPG community. Early January 2023, a document was leaked online showing that D&D publisher Wizards of The Coast had plans to overhaul its Open Gaming License, which has remained virtually unchanged since its publication in the year 2000.
For over 20 years, this gaming license has allowed third-parties other than Wizards of The Coast to make and publish their own tabletop adventures using official D&D systems, rulesets, spells, etc. And it was a hit; another one of the most popular tabletop RPGS called Pathfinder found its beginning this way. Likewise, homebrew campaigns that became massively successful online, like Critical Role, have spawned their own little content bubbles that have drawn in a completely new generation of tabletop RPG fans.
But, with a new gaming license (OGL 1.1 and 1.2), both new and old fans alike were about to receive some very dire news indeed. We spoke with Edwin Nagy, a managing partner, and Anthony Pryor, a freelance writer/developer, from Frog God Games in the US about what kind of effect this has had on third-party publishers like them.
