Dungeons and Dragons players are calling attention to how Wizards of the Coast's planned licensing changes contradict the Player's Handbook. Recent leaks revealed that Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro plan to alter the longstanding OGL licensing agreement, which creators and fans fear could stifle third-party support of the pen-and-paper game. In a push for community support against the plan, Dungeons and Dragons players point to the Player's Handbook as justification for leaving the OGL unchanged.
The OGL, for the past 20 years, has allowed Dungeons and Dragons third-party content creators to own and profit off their work without the involvement of Wizards of the Coast. A leaked version of what Wizards of the Coast named OGL 1.1 makes some significant changes to the agreement. Notably, it charges royalties for revenue over $750,000, allows Wizards of the Coast to end any license for any reason, and perhaps most significantly, grants Wizards of the Coast a "non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royale-free license to use of" any OGL-licensed content.
The Player's Handbook is the first Dungeons and Dragons material that any player is likely to read. It contains everything players need to know to start playing. It's not a license, of course, but it represents Dungeons and Dragons in a way that the OGL doesn't. Now players are calling attention to the Player's Handbook's first page, or more specifically a letter from Dungeons and Dragons writer Mike Mearls.
The note from Mearls reads as follows. "Above all else, D&D is yours. The friendships you make around the table will be unique to you. The adventures you embark on, the characters you create, the memories you make - these will be yours. D&D is your personal corner of the universe, a place where you have free reign to do as you wish. Go forth now. Read the rules of the game and the story of its worlds, but always remember that you are the one who brings them to life. They are nothing without the spark of life that you give them," with the emphases added by players. The message is clear. Players believe Wizards of the Coast's changes to the OGL are the antithesis of the philosophy driving Dungeons and Dragons.
Wizards of the Coast has not commented on the most recent leak surrounding these planned changes to the OGL. It has previously, at the very least, said that Wizards of the Coast will be sharing more soon regarding the OGL. Wizards of the Coast may be hoping that anger will diminish over time and that it can make the OGL change later on.
For the time being, Dungeons and Dragons players aren't calming down. There are #opendnd hashtags spreading across social media, calls to unsubscribe and boycott Dungeons and Dragons Beyond, recommendations for other pen-and-paper games, and much more. Wizards of the Coast may soon realize the real meaning of waking the dragon. The Dungeons and Dragons community is understandably very protective of what they've created.
