The OGL and Raging Swan Press

I’ve received many questions in the last week about the leaked draft of the OGL 1.1 and its effect on Raging Swan Press.

I’ve attempted to set out my thoughts several times. Every time, my reply gets ever longer, and I get lost in the weeds. So, here’s the short version:

Version 1.1 as it stands—in particular, the deauthorisation of version 1.0a—is an existential threat to Raging Swan Press. I’d be clinically insane to sign 1.1 as it stands. Although it is only a draft, its existence has shaken my trust in the sanctity and permanence of the OGL to its very core.

Raging Swan Press is built on the foundation of the 1.0a OGL. Until WotC make a definitive statement about OGL 1.1, I don’t know where Raging Swan Press stands. I don’t want to stop publishing material for D&D and Pathfinder—they have been a huge part of my life, both personally and professionally—but I may have to.

I think it’s inevitable we’ll include more system-neutral products in our future release schedule. While many of our existing products are virtually System Neutral, in this new trust-light, potentially litigious environment, they will all have to be carefully reviewed if the worst comes to the worst and OGL 1.1 is the version WotC releases. That will inevitably affect our release of new material, which is far from ideal.

At the moment, though, we await a meaningful statement from WotC.

I’d love to know what you think, and I hope you’ll stick with Raging Swan Press as we navigate our way through this uncertainty.

As always, thank you for your support.