We have a leaked version of what may be OGL 1.1 - OGL 1.1 isn't the "leaked license" which suggests that it is final.

@NautArch It seems that at least the numbers are real, as per Kickstarter's head on the matter

Five years in the making to now have to put my project on hold and rewrite everything because somebody at WotC got greedy. This is beyond bad luck. What a way to start 2023...

@T.Sar Please remember that this is unreleased. Yes, the community is up in arms as they should be, but don't give up when nothing official has even happened yet. These answers are all temporary until the true OGL is released and we can freak out appropriately.

@NautArch I have a pre-print work that was set up to be sent to the graphic in the next few days. I had to scramble to put everything on hold because of this uncertainty. This would be my first venture into self-publishing, with an honestly way too large project for the little team I have. We spent five years doing worldbuilding, rule-testing, and what not, just to WotC going out and saying "btw we now own everything you ever made" even before I could announce my project. What I want the most right now is to go back and rip off D&D from it just to be safe. Never again working with WotC.

@T.Sar That seems to be the decision others are making based of what they know right now, but I'm just saying making decisions off of speculation may cause you more pain than necessary. Knee-jerk reactions, especially in business, are not a good idea.

@NautArch I know it's all unreleased, but that this kerfuckle is happening in the first place shakes all the faith I ever had on them. Going with D&D 5e instead of PF was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, and now I regret it dearly.

Take a breath! We seriously don't know if anything of this is actually going to drop or if it's even legally defensible. This was what I was worried about keeping this question open - it's creating actual stress for those reading it as "this will absolutely be happening".

@NautArch It's hard to not be stressed about. I'm always on top of D&D stuff, and wherever I look now I can only see the world in flames. Almost all the content creators that I follow are pointing to this being Doomsday. My team is in panic, since this work is deeply personal for all of us. It's.. a difficult start of an year. But yes, I'll try to take breath.

@T.Sar I'd also HIGHLY recommend talking to a lawyer when it's time.

Leet me put it this way...

For our project to be ready by our desired launch window (august, 2023), we need to put it to print in the next few weeks

Printing takes a lot of time, and money, and logistics

WIth this licensing issue, we can't print, since if we decide to go ahead with idea of the OGL 1.0a license, we won't be able to sell

More so, some of our content is in such nature that WotC absolutely won't give us the 1.1 license

even if we wished to do so, because we won't

We had all the legal bases covered for the 1.0a OGL

Now, this is just.. uncertain.

If I publish now, and they change the license later on

like they want to do

They'll just.. own my IP

with everything it has

It's.. a hard feeling. Spending five years working on different places, pantheons, map-making, rule-testing, creature-crafting

making what, honestly, should have been an stand-alone RPG to begin with

And just wasn't because we thought that 5e was a safe move to broaden our audience

But now, it appears to be anything but a safe move

I'm sorry if it feels ranty

but I'm in panic over this

It's a lot of work to re-do

it's a lot of money to spend, again, and money that I don't have

Sure, I can open up a kickstarter to gather funds for a re-do of everything into a new system or whatever

But the feeling is still terrible

And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one stuck on this mess

I would bet my pants that the guys at Drop Dead and other 3pp are just as worried as me

sigh

sorry.

I'm ranting far too much. I shouldn't be venting on you

I need to figure out what I'll do

Aaand now my question is closed.

Great.

For a good reason. Good, stackable answers aren't going to be available until the OGL 1.1 is available for review, and the legal details of it are affirmed. It can re open after that.

I feel a sharp psychic pain for the backstab that you've just been given, though. The suits at Hasbro are for sure Lawful Evil.

@T.Sar I totally feel your pain, but this question really isn't ready for the stack. You want and need a real answer, but you're asking for answers on something that isn't yet real. That's not going to help you - and more importantly, you're actual need is much greater than something the stack can help you with. You're going to need a lawyer and make some big decisions.

Just saw the news that doppelgreener posted in the regular chat. It appears that the backlash has the suits at WoTC, and maybe at Hasbro, rethinking. Maybe.