MoonlightMaps
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An update on my Encounters/Adventures
🕑 Added 2023-01-18 12:09:58 +0000 UTCGreetings Worldbuilders!
I'm sure by now most of you have seen the recent dramas surrounding Wizards of the Coast (WotC) and their leaked changes to the Open Game License (OGL) - I won't go into the hard details of what the OGL, or SRD, mean as you can find that elsewhere, like this dedicated website by our Creator Guild - https://www.opendnd.games/).
TL;DR /skip to the end - Encounters are on hold until we know what's going on with WotC's new rules
What does this mean for you?
The fact that you're here supporting a 3rd party creator means that this will likely affect you quite a bit. Any DnD creators that you support that rely on the use of the OGL will very likely have to either pivot into a different game system, carefully create agnostic content that is vaguely 5e compatible without being '5e', or (very unlikely) sign a business ending deal with WotC to continue creating 5e content. 3rd party 5e content that you use, or have previously used, (like adventures, magic items, subclasses, INCLUDING Kickstarter books like Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting, Drakkenheim, Steinhardt's Guide, or Griffon's Saddlebag, etc) will not be psosible to be made in future. Not for 5e/D&D anyway.
What does this mean for me?
I'm very fortunate that my core business (battle maps) is not affected by any changes WotC may inflict on the world, as they are completely agnostic (can be used for any purpose/game you could think of) and don't rely on any content WotC own or previously made available.
This does, however, affect my Encounter line of creations and future Kickstarters.
My weekly Moonlight Encounters are now on hold. I hope I can create these again in the future, as I think they offer a great amount of inspiration to go alongside my weekly maps, but right now it's not possible until we know what WotC are going to do with the OGL. The existing almost 100 encounters are still accessible to you all (as they're already published) but I cannot offer them as an ongoing reward for supporting my Patreon. I am considering making all encounters open for the public, as I would rather thave them used by the community than locked away (details of that coming soon).
I'm thankful that my Kickstarter 'ATLAS' (https://atlas.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders) was published before this upcoming change by WotC, because a LOT of the ATLAS content wouldn't be possible to create now (Encounter card decks, Monster card decks, Monster Tokens...I think..., Adventures, DM screen...).
I'm sure I can find other things to create to go alongside my maps...I'm one of the lucky few creators who CAN. This is a very difficult time for many. And not just for the creators that you see, but their employees who may very soon have no job.
What can you do?
Many things, actually -
Sign the open letter and join more than 66,000 others - https://www.opendnd.games/
Cancel your DnDBeyond subscription. WotC insiders (heroes) have told us that all WotC care about is their DnDBeyond subscribers, and the best way to get WotC to hear you is to cancel your sub (download your extra characters and content to make sure you have copies of it all, it will also only delete these things on your renewal date). Around 50,000 of the community have already unsubbed, which forced WotC to make a statement, pledging to think about the OGL changes. If we all continue to unsubscribe we will hopefully force them to reconsider their changes.
Use the hashtag #OpenDnD in your social media posts, and let WotC know that this is not acceptable (please DO NOT hassle WotC or DnDBeyond employees - insiders have told us that WotC staff are very much against these terrible changes, and they're almost solely forced down by Hasbro who own WotC).
I'm sure this is very frustrating for many of you, and you can be assured that the community is right there with you.
We are stronger together, in an open gaming community.
Happy gaming!
Ollie (Moonlight Maps)
Comments
JanxSpirit
Not at all related, but I wanted to give you a shoutout for your pricing change. I have never been a fan of the per release system, I see the benefits, but I personally don't like the variance from month to month. That was why I discontinued a while back, and the change is why I came back. Your work is top notch.
Moonlight Maps
Hi Keven, thanks for your kind words. I'd be nothing if it wasn't for this wonderful community and creators, it's very much worth saving!
Keven Sutton
Thank you for your work, and for your wholehearted support of fellow creators.
