With all the kerfuffle going on about the new WotC OGL 1.1 and the possibility that the old OGL 1.0a will be revoked, rescinded, unauthorized, whatever by WotC, I have been thinking about how to proceed in the future without the OGL 1.0a or anything whatsoever from WotC.

I do not make game modules, adventure settings, or anything else intended to be used with any WotC products. My games are all free standing and already ‘mostly’ non-derivative of anything associated with the OGL 1.*, the SRDs, or anything from WotC… except for the monsters. In all my role playing games (RPGs) I use the Hit Dice Formula from the SRD 3.5.

But let’s backtrack a bit. You may be asking, “What the heck are all these acronyms about; OGL, SRD, WotC, etc.”

Let’s start with OGL. OGL stands for the Open Game License which was introduced in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (WotC — I killed two birds with one stone there!). So far there have been two authorized versions of the OGL; 1.0 and 1.0a. Both give the licensee the ability to use designated Open Game Content free of any royalty to WotC into perpetuity (Section 4 of the OGL 1.0a) in consideration for extending certain rights to WotC described in the OGL beyond that normally given by copyright laws and other intellectual property laws. The various versions of the OGL were clearly intended to be irrevocable as described in the document itself and in FAQs issued by WotC:

Q: Can’t Wizards of the Coast change the License in a way that I wouldn’t like?

A: Yes, it could. However, the License already defines what will happen to content that has been previously distributed using an earlier version, in Section 9. As a result, even if Wizards made a change you disagreed with, you could continue to use an earlier, acceptable version at your option. In other words, there’s no reason for Wizards to ever make a change that the community of people using the Open Gaming License would object to, because the community would just ignore the change anyway.

Archived FAQ from WotC

The Open Game Content that is referenced in the OGL are the SRDs (man there are a lot acronyms here; SRD refers to System Reference Document). WotC have created three primary SRDs covered by one or more of the OGLs:

• System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (covering the Third Edition),
• Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (covering d20 Modern, and
• System Reference Document 5.1 Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (covering the Fifth Edition).

Anything from these sources are available under and subject to the OGL 1.0 or OGL 1.0a.

Ok, I think that brings us to the current problem. WotC is supposedly issuing yet another OGL to cover its newest version of D&D; OGL 1.1. From what I have heard this OGL is the very opposite of an ‘open’ license and as such is a gross misnomer. In supposed leaks of OGL 1.1 WotC describes the old OGL as ‘unauthorized’. It is not clear what that means. Is it ‘unauthorized’ for those who accept and use the new OGL 1.1? Or is WotC trying to ‘revoke’ the old OGLs, and if so is this revocation only as to the future or retroactive? I do not know, and if WotC follows through with this I suspect the only way it will be solved is in the courts.

As such, I no longer feel very comfortable using the OGLs, SRDs, or anything else from WotC in the future. I believe my past works are protected by the clear language of the OGL, the written and published interpretation of that language by WotC, and the legal concept of ‘reliance’ which protects those who reasonably rely upon the words, actions, etc. of another.

So I am trying to figure out how to remove any content from future games that could be in any way interpreted as coming from WotC so that I can proceed without the OGL. Since most of my games are not set in the sword and sorcery genre I thought this would be easy. In the past WotC has declared that the Character Creation process, which is excluded from all the SRDs, is proprietary and protected property of WotC. Regardless of whether this claim is legitimate, accepting the OGL 1.* puts the user into the situation that this interpretation should be respected. Another area that WotC has suggested as ‘proprietary’ protected process is the use of the d20 (20 sided dice); which I believe is a ridiculous claim. None of my games use the Character Creation process since I do not particularly like it, so I seem to be good on that one. As for the d20s, just to be ultra cautious, I think I will convert any 1d20 rolls to 2d10 rolls (d10; ten sided die) which has the added benefit of creating a statistical ‘curve’ for results.

Easy Peasy — No more OGL!

Then I realized I have a much bigger problem; the Hit Dice Formula used to create, define, modify monsters in the D&D system. If there is something proprietary, unique, and potentially protected as a unique ‘process’ as intellectual property it is the Hit Dice Formula. How to do without it?

And again, what the heck is the Hit Dice Formula?

Here is the Hit Dice Formula as used in the SRD 3.*:

(X)d(Y)+(Z) X = Number of HD Y = Size of Dice (4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 20) Z = HD Bonus

From this formula the monster’s level (X), attack bonus (X), and hit points (X * Mean Value of Die + Z) are derived. Replacing it would be a monumental task. Or at least that is what I am thinking right now.

What to do? I think I have a lot more research on this matter.

UPDATE 09 JAN 2023: I think I have sorted out the issue of the Hit Dice Formula to my satisfaction. A mathematical formula cannot get copyright protection. It ‘might’ by covered as a ‘process patent’ but if so the time period has expired. So I don’t think I have anything to worry about there.