OpenD6 Excitement Abounds

[ArmoryDave]

Hello to everyone,

Let me introduce myself a little first by saying that this is my first post on the forums, and I am glad to be here.

I have played WEG games starting with Star Wars back in the early 1990's, and I absolutely love the D6 system. My D6 Fantasy and Space books have been valuable assets to my rpg experiences over the past few years as well. It's my all time favorite system.

I have, as you may guess, only recently come back to the WEG website and started poking around enough to learn about the new OpenD6. I am very excited to learn all about the new licensing opporunities, but even after reading just about every thread pertaining to OpenD6 I am still a little confused about how it is going to work.

I have read that it is using the OGL and an STL. I thought that OGL was no longer offered or in effect, having been replaced by Wizards' GSL, which is highly more restrictive?

Perhaps I could use a point in the right direction for the status of the OGL as pertains to new uses, or maybe a quick explanation of how the OGL now works and how it works with an STL? I'm a little new to that concept.

Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction!

Glad to be part of the WEG community.

[nairobie]

this (http://www.earth1066.com/D20FAQ.htm) might help you with some question about ogl. the actuall 1.0a license which can be found here (http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/ogl.html) really not that interesting to read but i thought id include it. the licence will still be valid, just wotc wont be putting out a new version of it, they still uses it for 3.5. here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080502) is a faq on the gsl, takes up some points with compability with the ogl and such.

hope that answers some of your questions. if not il try try again

[ArmoryDave]

Thank you for the information. I had not come across that FAQ on the OGL.

So let me see if I get this straight:

The OGL was created by Wizards to allow anyone to make games using an open license, with the original system of use being directed towards D20 3.5.

However, anyone who owns the IP to a rules system (other than 3.5, as it was just the first example of a system to be used under the OGL) can make a STL that uses the OGL to make it an open license.

Is that pretty much the situation?

[nairobie]

yeah thats pretty much it. a wile sins i read the license and to early to do so now but i think there is a part in it that covers just that question.

[hellsreach]

Thank you for the information. I had not come across that FAQ on the OGL.

So let me see if I get this straight:

The OGL was created by Wizards to allow anyone to make games using an open license, with the original system of use being directed towards D20 3.5.

However, anyone who owns the IP to a rules system (other than 3.5, as it was just the first example of a system to be used under the OGL) can make a STL that uses the OGL to make it an open license.

Is that pretty much the situation?

The OGL itself is a but more than a boilerplate license. Interestingly, the OGL license is itself open. Of course, if the OGL were itself just a boilerplate license, that would be fine. It would save people a bit of time typing a new license, but it is actually more. The OGL itself allows other OGL material to be used and, for lack of a better word, blended with other material covered under the OGL, making for a great big matrix of game material. So, material created for Fate, or 3.5e D20 can be brought over to OpenD6 without any licensing or copyright issues. You could use any text in, say, SotC that is not specified as Product Identity, restat it for D6, drop in your D6 game and distribute it freely or commercially as much as you so desire.