The 5E OGL

I suppose when I think about it, I support the 5E OGL version of the rules more than I do the official D&D 5E or D&D One versions. I love the OGL; this is a license for creators to play, create their own games, build their own adventures, and play in this beautiful sandbox of creativity called the OSR.

A few 5E clones are already in the OSR, I love them, and these are my 5E systems of choice.

I want more games to go fully independent of the 5E core books and plant a million seeds of games and imagination worldwide as a common language for that game version.

I don't want to support a version of the game where an official OGL never gets released, the license forbids you from selling anywhere else than a company portal, or the game gets tied down by legal language that people cannot create new things.

I want the game to be free for everyone to use and imagine worlds with.

I don't want it to turn into Madden or Diablo Immortal, something that perpetually siphons money from its players. And you bet there are many executives looking at those "platforms" and drooling about how they could monetize D&D's massive player base.

So while I play Level Up Advanced 5E and Low Fantasy Gaming, I don't currently play One D&D or Original 5E. Not until I know more, and they have given us reassurances and released the final OGL of the game, and I know that is a long while off, but I support the OSR options today to help ensure they will be around tomorrow should the worst case come true.

And I hope it doesn't.

But this is the "game industry" and "big tech" platforms we are talking about, and Hasbro is a billion-dollar Wall Street company. To put blind trust in them - just off of hype and marketing videos - is foolish.

And a promise to release a without-strings OGL version of One D&D would be a massive step in the right direction for everyone supporting 3rd party publishers and creating books for the game we love. I know it is early, but for the publishers making books for 5E, this would be a massive help since much of their work is planned and created over months and years, not a few weeks. These publishers could afford to keep writers and artists employed during the transition.

But I can't go wrong supporting the OGL version of 5E since this will be around forever.

And if the worst happens, this will be the only 5E version of the rules in the open gaming space.

But I will still have my incredible 5E OSR clones to have fun with, support, and enjoy.