> Utter, David
>
> Stupid question moment, but I thought the point of open gaming was so you
> could play 'without the book', so to speak.
No. Open Gaming is the brainchild of Ryan Dancey, VP for Wizards of the
Coast. He developed the concept and sold it to the rest of the Wizards
execs as a way to maximize the sales of their most profitable products while
still reaping the benefits of a rich and diverse product line.
The purpose of 'Open Gaming' is to be able to share rules between open games
without getting sued over copyright violations. Whether or not such a suit
would have merit is another issue entirely, and the OGL is designed to
sidestep that question without answering it. It gives third parties
permission to create add-ons and even whole games based on Open Gaming
rules, which is the key to Ryan's plan.
The System Reference Document ('SRD') is an Open Gaming product produced by
Wizards of the Coast. It contains most of the core rules from the 3rd
Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, albeit in a stripped-down form. You can use
that document to create derivative products that are 100% compatible with 3e
D&D without violating Wizards' copyrights on the 3e D&D rulebooks. However,
since the OGL prohibits the use of third-party trademarks, you can't tell
anyone that your work is D&D compatible without using a separate license.
The purpose of the d20 System license is to promote Wizards' core products -
the PHB especially and the DMG and MM less so. It does this by allowing
Open Gaming material to bear a badge that identifies it as compatible with
D&D - the d20 System logo and trademark. I promotes the sale of core
products by preventing d20-branded Open Gaming material from including
rules on character creation and level advancement. That leaves plenty of
room for small-press publishers to create supplements, modules, expansions,
campaign settings, etc. without cutting into Wizards' core business of
selling big shiny hardback books.
Though this effort was based on maximizing profits rather than altruism, I
see nothing sinister going on at Wizards regarding Open Gaming. I think it
is a great concept, and that many, many small-press publishers can
capitalize on a market segment that Wizards finds undesirable.
-Brad
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
