My Thoughts on the OGL

Hey everyone, and I hope you are having a great Sunday. Well, here we are 15 days into the new year, and it's already been a tumultuous time for the D&D community. By this time, most, if not all, of you are aware of the proposed change to the OGL that many creators have used for over two decades, so I won't rehash that here. However, I do want to go on record stating I am heartbroken over the direction WotC has chosen and wholly disagree with it. Tearing apart a community is never the right course of action for any business, big or small.

In my journey as a map-maker, I have made many colleagues and friends in this community who have created businesses to help the TTRPG world grow and DMs run better games. The amount of hard work poured into each third-party product is incredible, from writers to game designers, testers, artists, map-makers, marketing, production, and support; each has worked tirelessly on their passions. This community is one of the strongest I've ever seen, and I am honored to be a part of it. To see it sundered is nothing short of devastating, and I 100% back all third-party content creators as they embark on their new journies. In the last year, I have backed tons of Kickstarters and purchased many third-party resources from other sites, including supporting many creators via Patreon. I believe in this community, giving back, and pouring our passion into our projects. It is clearly shown in the work that others have put out there how much this hobby means to them, as I continue to be significantly impressed by the imagination and creativity of others.

Even though my map-making does not fall under the OGL (I operate under the Fan Content Creation Policy), the changes still impact many of the third-party adventure writers I work with and, ultimately, many DMs as they explore other game systems. With that said, I am committed to our DM Andy Map community to finish the current projects in the works, such as Castle Ravenloft and the Interactive Tome of Strahd, in addition to creating version 2.0's of my older maps. After all, many DMs can still run games in the cold mists using other game systems should they choose to do so, and I want to make sure, no matter what game you choose to play, that you have battlemaps ready to be used to wow your players with!

You might have noticed other changes I've made on my page to rename some of my maps to generic Dark Fantasy names. With these proposed OGL changes, I'm not too inclined to use any IP-controlled language on a map unless it is a direct recreation of an existing piece of art from a published book (which will still fall under the Fan Content Creation Policy since I offer those maps free). It's clear how WotC feels toward content creators, and I need to ensure I've protected the maps I've created outside of any recreation of an already published map. Nevertheless, you may still find many familiar places to explore in the dark mists and many maps, which will still fulfill your needs, no matter what system you are playing. Unless I'm recreating a map that someone else has done, you will find me using my Dark Fantasy naming conventions (check out my map hub Dark Fantasy section for a list of maps that cover these areas).

The future of D&D is wildly uncertain at this time but what I am sure of is this; No matter what, our community of creators will continue to achieve great things! De-coupling from the OGL will bring fresh air into the TTRPG space, and we will see some incredible creations in the coming year for all of us to explore. After all, as devastating as a fire is, in its wake, it revitalizes many trees and plants to grow back stronger and healthier than before, and I think we will see the same thing in our space. I will continue making battlemaps to support your worlds and working with those creators I have collaborated with to continue making inspired creations. I believe in this community, and we have shown that our passion will not waver.

I look forward to sharing all of the exciting maps I have in progress as the gears of the DM Andy workshop continue to churn!

To all my friends, cheers,

DM Andy