On RPGs and Where to Publish

by Travis Legge
Throughout this class you will learn a number of techniques for creating, refining and
delivering a quality tabletop RPG product. Once you have a finished product in hand, what
do you do with it? In my 15 or so years working in the self-publishing end of the tabletop
role-playing game industry, I have amassed a bit of experience in this regard, which I am
happy to share with you.

In this post I will give a very brief overview of a number of marketplaces that carry RPG
products as well as my personal experiences and observations on these markets. This
course is merely an introduction to these markets and I would highly encourage you to do
additional research before committing to any course of action, and of course, read any
agreements and terms of service before you sign up for a service.

As of this writing, the most popular tabletop game system on the market is Dungeons and
Dragons 5th Edition. There are effectively three approaches you can take to publishing
games using this system. There seems to be a lot of confusion around this, but I promise
you it is not nearly as difficult as it may seem at first glance. The three methods of publishing
using the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition System are:

Dungeons and Dragons Community Content: Dungeon Masters Guild

Open Game License: Commonly referred to as the OGL.
OGL Community Content: the Slarecian Vault for Scarred Lands, Canis Minor for Pugmire.
The basic differences of these methods are broken down in FAQs, which can be found
below:

Dungeon Masters Guild:

https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024677993-Getting-Started-on-Dungeon-
Masters-Guild
OGL: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd
Slarecian Vault:
https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000698086-Slarecian-Vault-FAQ
Canis Minor:
https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000125666-Canis-Minor-FAQ
Dungeon Masters Guild
Let’s look first at the big one. The Dungeon Masters Guild. This is hands down the easiest of
the group to process, the easiest to publish at, and in many ways the least restrictive. It is
important to note that content you publish under this system may ONLY be published via
https://www.dmsguild.com/

Basics
To publish your work at the Dungeon Masters Guild, follow the process laid out at
https://support.dmsguild.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024677993-Getting-Started-on-Dungeon-
Masters-Guild

Permissions
The Dungeon Masters Guild license permits you to publish work that is setting neutral. This
means the work does not contain setting specific elements. These are generic fantasy tales
set in generic fantasy settings such as “a village,” “the forest,” or “a swamp.” This also
includes generic fantasy concepts such as spells, feats, classes, and monsters, that do not
include some reference to a specific setting. All of these things are allowed on the Dungeon
Masters Guild.

The Dungeon Masters Guild license also permits you to publish work that uses the settings
of Eberron, the Forgotten Realms, and Ravenloft. This allows you to draw from all setting
and system information regarding these settings from the current and all previous editions,
though what you publish must conform to the 5th edition rules.

Your Intellectual Property Rights

The FAQ states, “Wizards does not own any of the unique IP that you create in your
publications. Wizards does own the IP that they contribute, plus the DMs Guild agreement
will grant Wizards and other DMs Guild authors a license to use your IP.

That said, if your work merits incorporation into canon, Wizards will contact you about
purchasing your IP outright.”

What this means is that if you create a Wizard named Blinky McScuzzlefort and in an
adventure you create for the Dungeon Masters Guild, you have Blinky McScuzzlefort get
kidnapped by Mind Flayers (A Wizards of the Coast IP property) that you own Blinky
McScuzzlefort and Wizards keeps ownership of Mind Flayers. If Wizards wants to later use
Blinky McScuzzlefort in a book they create called “Blinky McScuzzlefort’s Guide to Stuff”
they have to purchase that intellectual property from you in order to do so. This seems to
confuse a lot of people, but it is really that simple.

Additional Rules to Remember

Logos and Art: You must place the DMsGuild logo (available on the site) on your cover. You
may not use any other logo or branding on the cover, though it may appear elsewhere inside
the document. You must have legal permission to use any art you use in your book. This
seems like a no-brainer, but people seem to keep making the mistake, so I’ll repeat: YOU
MUST HAVE LEGAL PERMISSION TO USE ANY ART YOU USE IN YOUR BOOK!

Don’t fret, though. The Dungeon Masters Guild provides a fair amount of free stock art,
which you have permission to use. You can also purchase other stock art from various
online marketplaces, or even use creative commons art, but be sure you read any license
agreements before purchasing or downloading. It is very easy to “think” you have the right to
use something. Don’t think. Know.

Legal Text: It is required. You must include it. I’ve seen dozens of products get taken down
and have to be redone because the legal text was missing.

For your convenience, I am placing it here:

“DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon
ampersand, Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, D&D
Adventurers League, all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective
logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. All characters
and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast. This material is
protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or
unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the
express written permission of Wizards of the Coast.

©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA.
Manufactured by Hasbro SA, Rue Emile-Boéchat 31, 2800 Delémont, CH. Represented by
Hasbro Europe, 4 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB11 1ET, UK.”

Content Requirements: Simply put, Wizards of the Coast wishes to protect its brand and
prevent any unsavory or offensive content from being associated with Dungeons and
Dragons. To that end, they offer the following, also from the FAQ:

“Neither your Work nor any promotional material, including blog posts or press releases,
may contain racist, homophobic, discriminatory, or other repugnant views; overt political
agendas or views; depictions or descriptions of criminal violence against children; rape or
other acts of criminal perversion; or other obscene material without the express written
permission of Wizards of the Coast in a document separate from this License.

Illegal and Infringing content is not allowed. It is the content creator’s responsibility to ensure
that their content does not violate laws, or copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights.

Create, don’t copy. We reserve the right to stop publishing and selling your work if we think it
goes against the spirit of the Dungeon Masters Guild program. All authors should
respectfully use the content originally created by Wizards of the Coast or other Dungeon
Masters Guild creators. For example, if a Dungeon Masters Guild author releases a trilogy of
adventures, and another author takes those three adventures, compiles them, and
republishes them as a single collection, without substantive original additions or changes,
then we would stop publishing and selling that collected work because it adds no value to
the Dungeon Masters Guild community content. It’s simply one author copying another
author’s work and looking to make a royalty on it.”

OGL
Next, we will take a look at the OGL. This publication method opens you up to a far wider
array of potential publishing outlets, including DriveThruRPG, Amazon, and Kickstarter.
Each of these sales outlets has pros and cons, which I will briefly touch on in this section.

Basics
The basics of the OGL are detailed in the document itself. The Open Game License is
ultimately a legal document that gives you access to utilize anything designated as Open
Game Content for the creation of your own games, provided that you designate the systems
of those creations as Open Game Content as well. This may seem a little confusing, but is
outlined in greater detail below.

Permissions
The OGL allows you to use the full text of the SRD 5.1 as the basis for your product. You
can, in fact, include the full text of the SRD 5.1 In addition to other text you create, should
you choose (I don’t recommend it.) You can use any original setting or content you create,
as well as any setting you obtain the legal permission to use via licensing agreements. You
can then go on to publish this content at a number of outlets. The SRD 5.1 (Including the
OGL) can be downloaded at
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

This allows you to publish your work at DriveThruRPG, a popular digital marketplace that
carries RPGs from hundreds of publishers, systems and settings. Getting set up there as a
publisher requires a few steps beyond what is necessary for publication at the Dungeon
Masters Guild. Full details can be found at https://www.drivethrurpg.com//join.php

You can also publish through Amazon’s KDP program, which gives you access to the
world’s largest digital marketplace. However, that means you have to get noticed in the
world’s largest digital marketplace. Setting up your account to publish via Amazon is, in my
experience, a painstaking process, which you can learn all about at:
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200620010

You can attempt a Kickstarter but running a successful Kickstarter for ANY project is a
complicated process that requires a significant amount of research that goes far beyond the
scope of this class.

In short, you are free to publish an OGL product pretty much anywhere that allows you to
publish your own original content.

Your Intellectual Property Rights

This is the part of the OGL that new creators seem to find the most challenging. When you
publish under the OGL, you effectively split your content into two types, which you must
clearly designate in the title or legal page of your text.

The first type of content is Open Game Content, which is game systems, rules, numbers,
stat blocks, etc. This is effectively added to the SRD in terms of ability for people to draw
from and use in their own publications. It becomes open source. Anyone can use it, so long
as they follow the guidelines laid out in the Open Game License.

The second type of content is Product Identity. Product identity is generally Proper Nouns,
setting elements, trade dress, storylines, and other non-system items, which you retain
ownership and copyright over. Others using the Open Game License can reuse your Open
Game Content, but they cannot use your Product Identity.

Additional Rules to Remember

Read the License: The Open Game License is a legal document. You need to read and
understand it. If you do not understand it, consult an attorney before you use it.

Declare Your Product Identity and Open Game Content: I’ve seen this get missed. A lot. You
need to clearly indicate what items are Open Game Content and what items are Product
Identity.

Include the License: A copy of the license must be included in your book. You must also
update the Copyright notice at the end of the License to include your book as well as any
other sources you pulled Open Game Content from. If you, for example, took the stats from
a “Stabby Goblin” from the “Guide to Critical Misses” you would need to include the copyright
notice from the “Guide to Critical Misses” in your Open Game License copyright notice. This
includes any references the “Guide to Critical Misses” includes in their copyright page as
well (though you do not need to duplicate sources. Each source of Open Game Content only
needs to be listed once, regardless of how many sources draw from the same source. Five
OGL books will all refer to the SRD’s copyright info, but you need only include it once.) This
can lead to lengthy copyright notices. That’s normal.

OGL Community Content

Some programs offer community access to their intellectual property. This functions like a
hybrid of the Dungeon Masters Guild’s access to intellectual property and the system
restrictions (and freedoms) of the OGL. Two examples of this are the Slarecian Vault and
Canis Minor both by Onyx Path Publishing.

Basics
Both of these programs basically allow you access to Onyx Path Publishing’s Product
Identity for creating Open Game License compatible materials and selling them under the
circumstances detailed in the program. These programs do not alter the scope or focus of
the Open Game License in any way, and all the rules of creating content under the Open
Game License apply. However, when creating through these programs, you are being
granted a license to use the Product Identity designated within the programs. You may then
publish your work at DriveThruRPG under the appropriate Community Content program.

Your Intellectual Property Rights

These community content programs each list specifics regarding the Product Identity you are
allowed to use and the ramifications of publishing under these programs. The Slarecian
Vault FAQ, available here, explicitly states that Onyx Path owns the content you create
under the Slarecian Vault. This is not the place to publish ideas that you wish to retain
ownership of. You won’t.

The Canis Minor FAQ, available here, makes the same stipulation. In effect, you are using
their Product Identity to contribute to their Product Identity. This is something to be aware of
and create accordingly.

Additional Rules to Remember

Read the FAQ: The FAQ for these programs (and similar programs from other publishers)
are generally very well laid out. Read them and abide by them.

Ask Questions: Most programs like the ones mentioned above are run by responsive
companies who are more than willing to answer specific questions. If you are having a hard
time making sense of a component of the program, simply ask via email. Reach out to the
company.

Original Systems and Settings

When publishing an original system and setting, one not tied to anyone else’s intellectual
property, using no licenses, and comprised entirely of your own original work, you can
publish via DriveThruRPG, Amazon, or Kickstarter as described in the OGL section above.
Again, I stress READ THE FINE PRINT, pay attention to FAQs and terms of service. Ask
questions. Build relationships with the services you engage on your road to self-publishing. It
seems like a lot of work because it is, but in the end, I think you will find it is worth it.

Break a leg. Preferably someone else’s.