State of The Tavern - Coming Up For Air & Is This Reality?

It's been a long couple of weeks, and I'm not just talking WotC's ability to literally burn off two decades of goodwill it has built with the gaming community in just over two weeks.

Yes, WotC's stupidity has cost me weeks of proper sleep, as I've been covering the fiasco pretty much daily over on The Tavern's Youtube channel, as well as keeping counsel with, and on occasions, providing council for, my publishing friends in the OSR and beyond.

Yesterday's piece of good news almost seems too good - OGL 1.0(a) is not currently being de-authorized (let's see how long that holds for), but the 5.1 SRD has now been released into the Creative Commons licensing scheme, and that's something WotC CAN'T suddenly change its mind about.

I haven't even mentioned events on a more personal level, most recently including daily, afternoon-long visits with a close personal friend of Rach and me who is on home hospice, and will be until... well, you know, the inevitable comes.

So, I've neglected some things, especially emails. Specifically, OSR Christmas gifts and some GCs from last Wednesday's live stream.

Rach and I have a livestream tonight at 8 PM Eastern. After the livestream, I'm poring a glass of red wine and delving into the email abyss. Hopefully, I'll come up for air sometime tomorrow ;)

Thank you for your infinite patience.

Tenkar

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar 

NEWS! OGL 1.0(a) is NOT being Revoked. 5.1 SRD is Released Under Creative Commons 4.0 International

I had plans for today, and they included catching up on emails, especially from OSR Christmas Day 12 and the Wednesday Night Giveaway. A small emergency last night, a scheduled doc appointment this morning, and obligations today that were related to last night's small emergency in addition to the totally unexpected OGL news today - including an extra video and tonight's scheduled but likely extremely lively livestream - means little will get done until tomorrow. I beg forgiveness. Now, onto the news! - Tenkar

When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey. Here's what you said:

• 88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
• 90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
• 89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
• 86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
• 62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.

These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons.

The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we're acting now.

We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.

We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.

You choose which you prefer to use.

This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use. We don't control that license and cannot alter or revoke it. It's open and irrevocable in a way that doesn't require you to take our word for it. And its openness means there's no need for a VTT policy. Placing the SRD under a Creative Commons license is a one-way door. There's no going back.

Our goal here is to deliver on what you wanted.

So, what about the goals that drove us when we started this process?

We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future. We still want to do that with your help. We're grateful that this community is passionate and active because we'll need your help protecting the game's inclusive and welcoming nature.

We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.

Here's a PDF of SRD 5.1 with the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We'll get it hosted in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there's no question.

SRD 5.1-CC

We'll be closing the OGL 1.2 survey now.

We'll keep talking with you about how we can better support our players and creators. Thanks as always for continuing to share your thoughts.

Kyle Brink

Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Deal of the Day - Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition (OGL Traveller)

Are you fond of the Traveller RPG? Warm memories of dying during character generation 40+ years ago? Interested in seeing what the core rules can become when given to the gaming community under an SRD and an OGL? Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition is what you are looking for.

Normally 9.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning @ 11 AM Eastern, Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition is on sale in PDF for 4 bucks.

Starships riding fire across the sky. Heroes and villains exchanging laser fire. Desperate spacers struggling against an alien monstrosity. Vast planetary vistas, flying cities, moonscapes, mad robots, and first encounters. In short: high-action science-fiction adventure that stimulates your sense of wonder. Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition puts you in the shoes of an adventurer visiting distant stars and encountering the unknown. Whether you are a seasoned player looking for a rules-light game, or a new gamer wanting to experience what science-fiction role-playing games are all about, Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition opens your way forward.

Cepheus Deluxe is a set of rules for playing classic science fiction games. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving actions, fighting other creatures, and engaging in space battles, generating worlds, handling the risks of interstellar speculative trading, exploring new worlds, and many other activities. While designed for fast, action-packed play rather than an accurate simulation of reality, Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition encompasses a wide variety of rules and materials for building a science-fiction universe and playing in it.

Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition draws its inspiration from old-school science-fiction roleplaying games. It shares many similarities with these games. Material from older rules sets and those created with Cepheus Deluxe: Enhanced Edition, the old Cepheus Light, the Cepheus Engine Core, and old-school sci-fi roleplaying games, are easily compatible with only a moderate amount of adjustment.

The future awaits!

What's new in the Enhanced Edition compared to the original Cepheus Deluxe?

• New and better layout.
• Full color book.
• Rules clarifications.
• Correction of all Cepheus Deluxe errata.
• Many more, high-quality, full color illustrations.
• Deck plans for all thirteen included star ships!
• And more!

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Kickstarter - D&Tea: A Great Infusion of RPGs and Tea

I didn't know what to expect when I saw this Kickstarter while conducting an "RPG" search, but I think Rach and I are going to back. We both love tea, and this could be the rare Kickstarter she doesn't give me a sideways glance for backing.

Alright, Rach is all it :)

Sample tea:

Genasian Seas is a blend of green and black teas: the paradox doesn't end there! This is a tea to warm and comfort your soul as you set out on voyages to unknown lands: be warned, however, though you thought you were sailing North the stars seem misplaced tonight. Are the stars that are wrong... or is it you? This sweet blend will draw you in with a siren's call. You may never see home again but you won't regret going on this journey.

Ingredients: Ceylon black tea, sencha green tea, papaya, strawberry, mango, marigold petals, hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hip, orange peel, cinnamon, rose petals

15 bucks for one 4 oz bag of D&Tea: A Great Infusion of RPGs and Tea, and it gets cheaper as you order larger quantities. I think we'll be in for a half dozen or so...

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Bundle of Holding - Advanced Adventures MEGA (OSRIC/AD&D 1e)

When I returned to the DM's seat 11 years ago, I wanted to use a familiar system. So, I used AD&D 1e, but with the OSRIC rulebook, which is simply a much easier-to-reference version of 1e. I also purchased a number of Advanced Adventures from Expeditious Retreat Press, and I was very pleased with the content I received from Mr. Browning and Company. A few years later, I was able to snag the first score or so in hardcover collections. Seriously, good stuff.

One of the current bundles over at Bundle of Holding is the Advanced Adventures MEGA Bundle:

For just US$9.95 you get all twelve titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $70) as DRM-free ebooks, including the first ten AA modules – from #01: The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom through #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude – and we add the 2009 bestiary Malevolent and Benign I and the free OSRIC rulebook. For a list of all the modules with links to their sales pages on DriveThruRPG, see the first book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #01-10."

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $35.79, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with thirty-four more titles worth an additional $210: all 33 remaining Advanced Adventures modules from #11: The Conqueror Worm through #43 The Warrens of Zagash, and hitting many highlights of the AA line including #15: Stonesky Delve, #23: Down the Shadowvein and #24: The Mouth of the Shadowvein, and both White Dragon Run scenarios. (For the list and the DTrpg links, see the fourth book entry below, "Advanced Adventures #11-43.") We also include the 2018 Malevolent and Benign II monster manual.

 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

OSR Christmas - Day 12 Gifting

I apologize for the delay in getting to the Day 12 of OSR Christmas, but the gaming world was rocked by the OGL 1.1/2.0 leaks and the accompanying reactions, both public and private. I've been sitting at my desk for 8 to 12 hours a day since the end of two weeks ago nearly, fielding phone calls, video calls, PMs, and recording videos (sometimes multiple times per day), and I'm only now beginning to catch my breath. Yes, I still have emails to answer from last week.

The following are the gift receivers from Day 12 of OSR Christmas. If you see your name below, you are being gifted. Email me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing with "OSR Christmas" in the subject. Digital gifts need an email, and physical gifts need a mailing address. Note, the two packages shipping from The Tavern likely won't go out until next week.

So, without further delay, the gifts (and those being gifted) in today's OSR Christmas Day 12 mix are:

$10 DTRPG Gift Certificate, donated by The Tavern - Worldwide - Mark

OSR Refrigerator Magnet, donated by Thadeus Moore - Worldwide - PSFam

Shadowdark PDFs, full set, donated by James Mishler Games - Worldwide - Johnathon

Arduin Map - Physical, donated by Emperors' Choice Games- Worldwide - Brian S

Arduin Grimoires 1 – 9 – Emperors Choice - US Only GMJasonGURPS

Endless Encounters PDF (choice of B/X or 5e), donated by Pacesetter Games - Worldwide - Rob

The Haunted Ruins - Physical, donated by Wizard Tower Games - US Only - Jeremy "frothsof" Smith

Hyperborea – Print Set from Kickstarter, Standard Cover with Damaged Players’ Book ($90 value before postal damage - thank you US Postal Service– The Tavern (US Only) - Christopher Stodgill

Random Box of Goodness from the Tenkar Game Collection - priceless ;) - (US Only) - RhinoDino1973

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Wake me when it's my turn to roll....

I will freely admit I have kind of lost interest in the whole Ha$bro OGL debacle because, well because I am a bit jaded and I think everything Ha$bro is doing going forward is self-serving and an attempt to placate the masses while still getting what they want. I don't believe for a minute that they actually give a shit what the player base thinks, especially the like of use over here in the OSR. Those surveys.....nobody is really reading them. A few might make their way out of marketing and onto the desk of someone with power, but those will be hand-selected to reinforce what that person wants to see.

"Chris, you're so wrong......Ha$bro doesn't want to lose money on D&D..." 

Yeah....I've worked for a few larger corporations in the past, pretty far down on the food-chain mind you, and from my experience, the good idea fairy rarely makes a visit, but dumb-assed ideas will have an inordinate amount of resources thrown at it until those that executed the idea are no longer around. A lot of companies will "step over a dollar to pick up a dime" and even a few screwed-up P&L statements won't get the point across.

Actually, and this is probably a bad analogy, but bear with me here.....this whole shebang really reminds me of a shitty GM. Now I'm speaking generically, but I'm recalling an actual bad GM I had.

So Ha$bro has this game they don't consider sacred, but they do figure they can do whatever the fuck they want because it's the only game in town (or so they think). Oh....they also have their own PC at the table and want the best of everything for themselves. If you come up with a good idea, they're going to steal it and use if for their PC. If you make too much noise about how they're running the game then you can just fuck right off. They'll tell you that there was a meeting and "everyone" decided they'd rather not game with you, but you'll both know that it's just the GM making that call. The GM, and by extension the GMPC, is infallible it doesn't take long to realize that sitting at this table may have its moments, but at what cost?

I do understand that this OGL, or more importantly the future of the Old OGL, is important, but it's way above my head to do anything about it, but I hope that those that can do something about it (i.e., have resources and clout to do so) kick Ha$bro's ass. I'll "speak" with my wallet, but I don't think for second Ha$bro will listen to my whispers.....

Is anybody else like, "Wake me when this bullshit is over and it's time for me to roll some dice."?