Our future and the non-OGL (Patreon)

Hello, amazing Patreon supporters, followers, and the internet. This is Derek Ruiz, the mind behind Elven Tower and Dungeon Vault Magazine.

I'm assuming you are aware of the recent debacle with the OGL 1.1/2.0 and how that affects 3rd party publishers. The conditions in both leaks, and even today's announcement and giving WotC the benefit of the doubt are not convenient for us or any other creator that values their efforts and creations. Stuff like this is why I stopped publishing in the DM's Guild as all I posted there I could not control anymore. That is the moment the magazine was born, actually.

So, I won't abide by WotC's terms. Even if they are redacted and made "benign". As of today, they claim the right to de-authorize past licenses so any terms may be changed at a later date. The OGL is no longer a safe harbor for creators like myself. Thus, off with the OGL but that also means off with 5e's SRD.

What Happens Now?

Well, since I won't be allowed to use the 5e SRD unless I accept the new license when it rolls out, I have to look somewhere else. There are two important factors here, the rules and the license.

The Rules. We commit to creating more medieval fantasy adventures and content. As you know, rules-stuff are kept to a minimum in our creations so not much is going to change. But we still need a system. I've been homebrewing a system for my home games that attempts to capture the things I love the most in TTRPGs. I know... another fantasy heart-breaker. I know the feeling. But I got little recourse here and it also serves me well to finally start working on publishing my own system.

I cannot say much of it now since it is in early development. But it is a rules-light, procedures-heavy medieval fantasy RPG. It shall have detailed rules for the three pillars of TTRPGs, combat, exploration, and social interactions. It is built on the frame of B/X D&D but I have changed it so much that it is a different game altogether. It is fast and brutal. It has progression but no HP bloat. It has player options but little room for min-maxing and fast character-generation.

Already you'll see snippets of it in our adventures since you'll start seeing different terms like (Burglary check) instead of (DC 12 Thieves' Tools check). Or having a (Will save), instead of a (DC 14 Wisdom save). It should be easy enough to port to whatever system you are currently using since I'm focusing on keeping stuff as usable as possible. That said, I deeply apologize for changing terms like that but I won't be able to use 5e's SRD when the new license rolls out. I hope that you understand why this happens and that, later on, when I have more to show about my homebrew system, that it also brings a spice of creativity to your game and that maybe some of you can try it out and adopt it.

The License. Yesterday, Paizo made a grand announcement for a new license they are dubbing ORC. They are spearheading a movement of open-game content that is not beholden to a single system or company. It all sounds good but the license is not ready yet, nor have I read it. So maybe I'll use it, who knows... For now, I am looking at Creative Commons but I might change my mind later on. My works and Dungeon Vault Magazine starting now are going to use the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA and I abandon the use of OGL in any form whatsoever.

Final Words

As always, the stuff I create, maps adventures, and GM stuff, would not be possible without the direct support of you who subscribe to Patreon, follow my stuff, interact on social media, and purchase directly on other storefronts. I thank you wholeheartedly because you fill my life and that of my family with joy and the opportunity to earn my livelihood from the creative space.

I am a small creator and the support of such an awesome community of hobbyists and gamers is integral. Once again, sorry for the sudden changes and I hope you understand why I have to take steps to ensure I can keep going forward.

Greetings,
Derek Ruiz