#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE FOR FREE#
#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE HOW TO#
#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE LICENSE#

If you look at the 5E SRD closely, you’ll find it’s missing some things from the core D&D books. That includes the words 'Dungeons & Dragons,' 'D&D,' or 'Dungeon Master.' So that's why you often see people saying 'Game Master' or 'the world's greatest roleplaying game' on third-party material instead. Note that while WotC has been very generous with what they included in the 5E SRD, they did NOT include permission to use their trademarks.

#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE FOR FREE#

With the 5E SRD, WotC is letting us use the backbone of D&D totally for free under the Open Game License.

The 5E SRD is the most important Open Game Content, in fact, since it's the core rules of D&D that would otherwise be WotC's sole copyright to use. The 5E SRD is a subset of D&D rules that Wizards of the Coast has given anyone permission to use for free under the OGL. Anything in the OGC is free to use as long as you properly credit and cite the original publisher and abide by the OGL’s rules.Īn example of Open Game Content you can use in your writing is the all-important 5E Systems Reference Document (5E SRD). It's the open-source world of D&D material. OGC is a 'body of work' that many creators have contributed to over time. Next, let’s go into what Open Game Content (OGC) is. You can find a copy of it as the first page of the 5E Systems Reference Document (I'll explain what that is in a moment). You should absolutely read the Open Game License - it’s short. You have to do this and abide by the rules in the OGL even if you publish something entirely free of cost. When you publish third-party D&D material, you must include a copy of the OGL in it, plus a few other things you add to the “legal stuff” page of your document (more on that later). It contains 15 provisions that explain the rules surrounding what D&D material you can use in your published work.

#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE LICENSE#

The Open Game License is a short contract Wizards of the Coast created. Refer to it if you get acronymed out of your mind - happens to the best of us. I'm about to explain everything, so keep scrolling for the info drop.Ī quick note, I made a glossary of key terms at the end of this article. So! To start, all the third-party D&D material you publish must be OGL-compliant, meaning it only uses game material that's been released under the Open Game License (OGL). It also has to follow the rules set out in the OGL.Īlready confused? Me too. You should absolutely consult with a lawyer if you have any questions, and you should not take this article as evergreen - laws can and do change, so make sure you do your due diligence if you have any doubts. Just be forewarned that these rules don't apply to publishing on DMs Guild.ĭisclaimer: I'm not a lawyer or anything official like that, so please know all of the following is not legal advice. I’m focusing on those who want to publish 100% independent, third-party stuff for this primer.

#DND 5E DMG SUPPLEMENT GUIDE HOW TO#

In this article, we'll talk about how to publish D&D adventures legally with the Open Game License (OGL) and 5E Systems Reference Document (SRD). I hope I can help clarify some of this and make it much less painful, scary, and off-putting. Welcome to this primer on how to publish D&D material as a third-party writer while remaining lawful good.

Dnd 5e dmg supplement guide