Black Flag Kobold Press' Black Flag System Reference Document Released

The System Reference Document--called the Black Flag Reference Document or BFRD--for Kobold Press' Black Flag roleplaying game system--launched as a reaction to the Open Gaming License crisis caused by Wizards of the Coast in 2022/2023--has been released under the Open RPG Creative (ORC) License, a viral share-alike license designed to replace the Open Gaming License.

A System Reference Document is a tool for third party developers, and contains the rules text that those creators are permitted to use, along with examples of how certain rules elements--such as subclasses--work.

The document includes lineages, heritages, classes, spells, monsters, and more.

The BFRD is the second major third-party 'alternate 5E' SRD to be released, following the Level Up: Advanced 5E SRD (A5ESRD) from EN Publishing.

Wizards of the Coast announced this week that the 2024 core rules of Dungeon & Dragons would be added to their own System Reference Document in 2025.

 

[dave2008]

How is it different though? I recognize the reality of the OGL is that people like Monte and Goodman can lock mechanics behind product identity and nobody will find it worthwhile to legally challenge, so they get away with it. But, that was never the intent. The OGL made the product identity provision for lore and names and general IP stuff, not the mechanics. So really, ORC is just making that more ironclad and not able to be abused. It really functions no differently than the OGL was supposed to.

This is what open gaming is supposed to look like. And yeah, if you don't like it, don't use it. I for one, welcome more games that aren't D&D derived into the marketplace anyway.

To be clear I am not familiar with ORC , so this all may be a misunderstanding of what I read posted here. If ORC is just covering mechanics, I have no issue with that. I thought the post that I initially responded too suggested that ORC was also giving away IP stuff: lore, names, etc. If that is not the case, my mistake and ORC is indeed following the intent of the OGL.

 

[Reynard]

To be clear I am not familiar with ORC , so this all may be a misunderstanding of what I read posted here. If ORC is just covering mechanics, I have no issue with that. I thought the post that I initially responded too suggested that ORC was also giving away IP stuff: lore, names, etc. If that is not the case, my mistake and ORC is indeed following the intent of the OGL.

Yes, the "virality" of ORC is limited to games mechanics (and whatever the publisher decides to add on tip of that).

 

[Reynard]

Paizo's business model is based on sales of adventure paths. From almost all pf1 players i met ( couple of dozen, more or less), there were only couple of them who bought any pf1 books ( usually core rulebook). Why pay for stuff if it's free online, legeal and easy to access?

This way, they gave enough so designers have tools to develop their own stuff, but not enough for cheap players to play full game for free.

So what your saying is that companies shouldn't bother building lines that people want to buy, they should just convince people they HAVE to.

Hmm. Doesn't seem sustainable.

 

[mamba]

Yes, the "virality" of ORC is limited to games mechanics

do they clarify what counts as ‘mechanics’? Are e.g. monsters, spells or subclasses mechanics?

 

[GrimCo]

So what your saying is that companies shouldn't bother building lines that people want to buy, they should just convince people they HAVE to.

Hmm. Doesn't seem sustainable.

No. I'm saying that srds which don't contain everything are more like demos. You get preview of how game works, how classes operate, but if you want full game, pay for it. If demo is interesting enough, people will pay for full stuff.

What is incentive to buy 40-50 euro book if you can have all the content from said book for free online in more practical format?

 

[Reynard]

do they clarify what counts as ‘mechanics’? Are e.g. monsters, spells or subclasses mechanics?

This should help: paizo.com - Community / Paizo Blog

If it has a mechanical expression in the game, it is Open. It's that simple.

 

[Reynard]

No. I'm saying that srds which don't contain everything are more like demos. You get preview of how game works, how classes operate, but if you want full game, pay for it. If demo is interesting enough, people will pay for full stuff.

What is incentive to buy 40-50 euro book if you can have all the content from said book for free online in more practical format?

I don't know. Ask.the companies that have done it successfully.

All the protests seem to come down to the same thing: we can't give it all away for free!

First of all, you aren't. You are giving away the bare bones mechanics. Your book, the art, the prose, the design: all that has value.

More importantly, especially for a company like Kobold who we know will continue to produce adventures and supplements, it shows a somewhat shocking lack of confidence in their own material.

 

[GrimCo]

I don't know. Ask.the companies that have done it successfully.

Which ones did it? Paizo? Aren't they doing the same with PF2? If there is any other that has srd with full game mechanics, i would be very grateful if you could point it out. I like free stuff.

All the protests seem to come down to the same thing: we can't give it all away for free!

First of all, you aren't. You are giving away the bare bones mechanics. Your book, the art, the prose, the design: all that has value.

Bare bones mechanics are enough to play the game. Book, prose, art has value, sure, but those are not needed to play the game. My group played pf1 for more than a decade without spending one cent on the books. Thx Paizo for giving away free game. If everything was not available for free, maybe we would spend couple of hundred euros for books. And my group isn't some outlier, it's norm in our local gaming community.

More importantly, especially for a company like Kobold who we know will continue to produce adventures and supplements, it shows a somewhat shocking lack of confidence in their own material.

Yes. But we all know that core rulebooks are where big chunk of money is. So they don't want their srd cutting into profit from that.

 

[Reynard]

Which ones did it? Paizo? Aren't they doing the same with PF2? If there is any other that has srd with full game mechanics, i would be very grateful if you could point it out. I like free stuff.

Off the top of my head, you have EN Publishings LevelUp as well as Fate having full SRDs.

Bare bones mechanics are enough to play the game. Book, prose, art has value, sure, but those are not needed to play the game. My group played pf1 for more than a decade without spending one cent on the books. Thx Paizo for giving away free game. If everything was not available for free, maybe we would spend couple of hundred euros for books. And my group isn't some outlier, it's norm in our local gaming community.

Look, if you don't find value in those other elements, you weren't going to buy the game anyway. Did you buy adventures or setting material?

Yes. But we all know that core rulebooks are where big chunk of money is. So they don't want their srd cutting into profit from that.

But it won't because the rules aren't the value.

 

[bedir than]

This should help: paizo.com - Community / Paizo Blog

If it has a mechanical expression in the game, it is Open. It's that simple.

The license clarifies that Reserved Material is that which is “…not essential to, or can be varied without altering…” the game. So if the baleful nature of the howl or the color of the light affects the gameplay, then it is Licensed Material. It is the intention of the ORC that Licensed Material is a broad definition that includes descriptive language supporting the mechanical nuts and bolts of game content (to include the above-mentioned baleful howl and beam of sickly green light). The exception here comes in the form of Reserved Material, such as including the name of a famous wizard (“Bimbol’s Bursting Bunion”)or the detail that a certain spell was originally developed by the Fell Brethren of Bonnie Burblestenn, etc.



So, yes, some things that common people would consider lore are considered Licensed Material in the ORC per their AxE.