Are WotC Sticking Their Dicks in a Blender with the new OGL?

With the leak of what might be the new not quite Open Game License version 1.1, Wizards of the Coast appear to be trying to force the genie back into the bottle. 

At this link you can read the full text, and hopefully you'll have enough legal knowledge to pick through it without straining you eyes or brain. http://ogl.battlezoo.com/

If you want to here some perspective from a contract lawyer check this out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDuHjpwx5Q4

Among the things controversial about the leaked OGL 1.1 are WotC's attempt to retroactively invalidate earlier versions. I'm no lawyer, but this sounds like a very difficult, if not a legally enforceable trick to pull off. Were they to call the next edition 6th edition and applied the new license to it and any editions going forward, it would likely work without a problem, but they aren't planning to call 6th edition 6th edition.

Further, they reserve the right to take a creator's material and resell it themselves without compensating the creator, who also is on the hook for destroying existing inventory. If you crowd-funded the project and are about to ship to backers when that letter arrives, you and your backers are fucked in so many ways.

Then there are royalty tiers that are damned expensive. Most creators don't have a profit margin even approaching the 20 to 25 percent cut WotC is asking for.

They have VTTs (virtual table tops) in their sights as well. Now that they are building their own after acquiring D&D Beyond, they are going to interfere with what these other VTTs can use of the game. Since I use Vorpal Board with my Dwarven Forge terrain while I DM, this won't impact me unless I play in someone else's game.

We already have some idea where Kobold Press stand on the issue. They announced today that they will be developing their own Fantasy TTRPG system. https://koboldpress.com/raising-our-flag/

I can't wait to find out what WotC told Critical Role regarding profiting from D&D. What CR says back could be even more interesting. Critical Role can be directly credited with driving some of the increased popularity of D&D over the past few years, as well as Stranger Things (will they go after the show as well?). Trying to cut a leg off of a cash cow that it still producing is a damned fool idea.

Since the launch of 5th edition Wizards of the Coast have generated a hell of a lot of good will among the public and fan base. Now they're looking to piss in everyone's cereal bowl. That's a dick move Wizards. There's a very good chance it will hurt rather than help your bottom line.

Vorpal Board - Covering More Square Footage With The Camera

When deciding to get a Virtual Tabletop to play remotely with my friends from other states, the choice was narrowed almost by default to Vorpal Board. As I use many sets of Dwarven Forge terrain and really love to show them off, a live visual stream was a no-brainer.

There are some great reviews and tutorials for using VB with terrain, but most of them seem to have the same thing in common, the small display area coverage of the camera on the arm. Reviews and how-tos seemed to indicate that the most likely display area was about 2 feet by 2 feet or 4 square feet. After playing around with the space I had available for use, a solution occurred that has led to an increased display area, well within the reach of the 49 inch camera boom VB offers.

My computer desk happens to be the only reasonable option to run sessions from since others would require negotiating for dining room table use for a few hours, and constantly tearing down and resetting the terrain. The lower deck of the desk is 46 inches wide by 23 inches deep, with half of that taken up by my computer gear. The upper shelf is 46 inches wide by 11 inches deep. So far it sounds like there's not much display space, but stick with me.

The available half of the lower deck allows me to comfortably use about 20 inches by 16 inches, and room to build two or three levels high (maybe more with limitations). The upper shelf narrowness is solved by using Gator foam core boards in thicknesses from 1/4 inch to 2 inches depending on build plan. The foam core boards are 12 inches by 8 inches, or 6 inches by 4 inches. The boards make it possible to increase the shelf width to a supported 16 inches. 

I also have available for occasional use for space a small folding snack tray that can sit beside me to the right, in line with the available desk space. The tray adds over another foot and a half square of horizontal space and some vertical levels.

Most of the reviews and how-to videos showed the placement of the camera boom to the side of the build area, but in this situation that was far too limiting. It is situated almost in the center front of the desk which allows it to span the entire length and height of the currently described display base with range for more.

So far this area has proven to be quite nice and allowed for multiple small vignettes to share it. I however have bigger plans that require new wall shelves above and to the side of the desk. 

In come two 36 inch by 12 inch wall mounted shelves with heavy duty brackets to feel safe loading up the terrain above everything else. This proved to be a bit of an investment, around $90, but will give at least another 6 square feet (more with foam core boards involved) to play with. 

Altogether the display area is approximately 15 square feet compared to the estimated 2 foot by 2 foot shown and discussed in videos. It will be a lot easier to have various scenes prepared for my Ptolus campaign with all of this space. If your situation permits, you could further surround yourself with shelves adding even more playable space.

It is now possible to have the city and sewers on the top level, dungeons on the desk shelf and below, plus still have room for some smaller special environments.

The key to giving yourself more terrain coverage is entirely down to where you situate the camera arm.

So how am I liking Vorpal Board? It's proving to be an excellent choice for my remote gaming purposes.

A quick note on lighting issues with multiple levels above lower ones. Before the new shelves I could turn on the overhead light, a lamp across the room, and pull aside the curtains to let in daylight (I play early where I live). Now there is the issue of some light being blocked from above. No problem, the powerful LED multi-colored lighting (tealight sized) pods I have can be Blu-tacked under the top shelf and set to whatever color mood lighting I want in the dungeon. The actual amount of blocked light turns out to be minimal once the shelves were in place.

Vorpal Board

Just signed up for Vorpal Board virtual table top. The plan is to use this to run my new campaign group through adventures using the live streaming features and my Dwarven Forge terrain. 

Drawbacks to other VTTs include the amount of time it takes to artistically design maps and other materials to import, or to find some that are close enough to what you want, especially for homebrewed campaigns. That isn't as big a problem when dealing with published campaigns that make their maps compatible with whatever Virtual Table Top you are using, assuming you use one they make their stuff compatible with. 

Vorpal Board overcomes that issue by using your phone camera to display maps or terrain. Users of detailed terrain will be pleased that they can continue to use it and their miniatures even when the game is being played remotely. 

So far, during our testing it was discovered that players can upload things to the viewing area. This needs to be changed to let the host toggle that ability on or off to avoid having unrelated or unwelcome material tossed up on the screen. With limited screen real-estate, limiting crowding is important.

Also the host needs to be able to mute individual players. Someone like me with hearing loss might want to focus on an individual for a moment to make sure I don't miss something important. Also, if a player starts piping in distracting sounds it can be muted for however long is necessary. 

One feature that works great for playing board games is the ability for players to flip over face down cards on the screen. This is problematic for role-playing however since the DM may be keeping prepared elements concealed to prevent spoilers. A toggle off/on option is needed.

While those items might seem to indicate negative aspects, they really aren't a big issue when dealing with friendly and reasonable adults. Hopefully your game group fall into that category.

Something that is a big issue for me is the Mouse-Wheel Mayhem. Vorpal Board unfortunately allows anyone to use their mouse wheel to resize the screen. This would be fine if it only affect the individual user's screen, but no, it affects EVERYONE'S screen. This causes the images on the screen to also be displaced requiring you to arrange them again. Pain in the ass.

Don't let these issues dissuade you from giving Vorpal Board a try. The creators are working to address a lot of the things brought to their attention and I will absolutely be bringing these to their attention.

That said, I look forward to getting going with my new campaign using Vorpal Board.