Hasbro and Wizards of The Coast Fumble Again With D&D 2024!
Why open-source gaming is best for everyone
In early January 2023, I wrote about how Hasbro and Wizards of The Coast (WoTC) fumbled while changing its Open Gaming License (OGL). They were preparing to rescind the previous license (1.0a) and update it with a more stringent version, dubbed 1.1. The new license was leaked online, and the role-playing world exploded.
The uproar concerned the proposed licensing terms, which reserved Hasbro and WoTC’s right to third-party content. In other words, under OGL 1.0a, third-party publishers and homebrew creators could sell game modules and content for Dungeons & Dragons. In the new version, those publishers and creators could have their work taken (a.k.a. stolen) at the whim of Hasbro and WoTC.
There are a ton of videos on YouTube that explain in greater detail the differences between OGL 1.0a and the now-rescinded OGL 1.1.
The blowback from this forced Hasbro and WoTC to abandon the new license and go into hiding for a while. Now, they’re back with a new edition titled Dungeons & Dragons 2024.
Dungeons & Dragons 2024
Dungeons & Dragons 2024 is being hailed as an update to the 5th edition, which was released 10 years ago. In one YouTube interview, the impetus for the change was to correct mistakes and polish the game.
I understand this completely because writing games and supporting documentation is never 100% right when released. Having the benefit of a long history and lots of community input to draw on is helpful to game designers in making the playing experience better. An update to “fix” the bugs can go a long way if done right.
Except this update is causing another uproar. This time it’s about D&D Beyond, their digital toolset for players and dungeon masters.
It appears that the 2024 upgrade to fix the bugs will affect D&D Beyond differently. It will destroy 2014 items in players’ accounts that are incompatible with the upgrade. So, instead of working around it, WoTC decided to just say, “Whoops, sorry, it’ll be deleted.”
This added insult to the injury from the OGL fallout, and players started to cancel their D&D Beyond accounts. The backlash was so severe that WoTC decided to reverse its decision.
Dungeons and Dragons is reversing its decision to remove the original 2014 spells and magic items from D&D Beyond with the release of its new 2024 core rulebooks. Though it originally intended to replace these D&D Beyond entries, Dungeons and Dragons will be keeping both in response to player feedback. — via MSN.
I don’t begrudge WoTC and Hasbro for looking into new revenue streams, but stop pissing off the community with these terrible rollouts.
The Way Forward — Open Source Gaming
As someone who works in the open-source technology world, I’ve seen the benefits that open-source can bring. On the contrary, I’ve also seen how open source is exploited by large corporations. That’s capitalism in a nutshell — figuring out how to make a buck off labor and then selling the product created by said labor to a waiting world.
We see it all over the digital world. Online games are rife with “in-app” purchases, subscriptions, and loot boxes. This method is a cash grab and has “trained” an entire generation of gamers to believe this is how to play games.
What if we were able to go back to a simpler time, a time when all you needed was a pair of dice or cards and your imagination? How expensive would that be in today’s money?
A good quality set of 10 dice is about $6 on Amazon. A deck of cards? That’s about $3. You could play a game with dice and cards or build one for free.
In general, many games are open-source — free to play and free to learn the rules. It’s the box sets, figurines, special cards, and books that are copyrighted and not open-source. This is exactly how WoTC has been making money with D&D.
The rules and mechanics were open-sourced in OGL 1.0a via the System Reference Document (SRD), which is free to download and use, but buying the books and merchandise was easier and neater. WoTC parlayed D&D into an open-source backbone with the OGL, creating an ecosystem of third-party publishers to build content faster and better than they could themselves.
Players, world builders, publishers, content creators, and everyone else just paid for the rules and loved their games until Hasbro and WoTC destroyed that goodwill.
After spending hundreds or thousands of dollars over the years, many players are starting to balk at the idea of shelling out a few hundred dollars for the new D&D 2024 rules, especially after the D&D Beyond debacle.
So how do you build that goodwill back? What do disaffected players and game masters do?
You either hold your nose and buy the upgrade, or you look for a true open-source game that has a strong community.
Rebuilding the D&D Community with True Open-Source System Reference Documents (SRD)
One way to rebuild the D&D community is by embracing true open-source System Reference Documents (SRD). These SRDs lay the groundwork for creating a game framework where the rules are free, and the content is developed by the community. The original OGL 1.0a allowed third-party creators to develop content and sell it without fear of corporate overreach.
The current D&D SRD is open-source but the community doesn’t trust the corporate overlords to keep doing the right thing. They’re waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop.
The OGL debacle left many people, publishers, and game creators frustrated. They didn’t like the fact that Hasbro could make a money grab on their hard work. So, the community splintered. Everyone agreed that something needed to happen, but what?
Pathfinder creator Paizo Publishing proposed and created their open-source license called the ORC license. Basic Fantasy RPG removed any references to the OGL and WoTC content, as well as Castles and Crusades content, and released a 4th Edition under a Creative Commons license.
The community is speaking and they’re not putting down their pitchforks. Hasbro and WoTC have, unknowingly, created a gaming revolution.
Leaving the D&D System: Embracing Old-School Rules (OSR) and Open-Source Systems like Basic Fantasy
For those who are tired of the corporate-driven direction of Dungeons & Dragons, leaving the system entirely and moving toward Old-School Rules (OSR) and open-source systems like Basic Fantasy is an excellent option. OSR games focus on a return to the simplicity of early tabletop RPGs, where imagination, creativity, and player agency were at the forefront.
Basic Fantasy is a prime example of an open-source, OSR-inspired game system that is free to download and easy to play. It uses mechanics inspired by early Dungeons & Dragons editions but has been streamlined for modern players. You can download the full rules for free, or, if you prefer, purchase physical copies at a nominal price.
By transitioning to OSR and open-source systems, players and game masters are no longer at the mercy of corporate decisions. Instead, they’re part of a community-driven effort to keep the spirit of tabletop RPGs alive. No more worrying about forced upgrades, disappearing content, or cash grabs. OSR systems like Basic Fantasy are built to be shared, expanded, and enjoyed without the influence of a corporate agenda.
The decision to walk away from the Dungeons & Dragons ecosystem is ultimately about taking control back. It’s about valuing creativity, community, and shared storytelling over profit-driven business models. Many players and game masters are already making the switch, finding renewed joy in tabletop role-playing with systems that prioritize their freedom to create and play without limitations.
Free Game Modules
Show me some love! I’ve been working on short D&D-type game modules that are Creative Common licensed and free for the past few years. I recently ported The Crypt of Zarathur to the Basic Fantasy RPG rule sets and you can get it on my Ko-fi Shop. Download them, play them, and let me know!
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