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• Mongoose Roleplaying Games

Traveller Open Content - New Programme on the Way!

• Thread starter MongooseMatt
• Start date Jan 18, 2023

• MongooseMatt

Administrator

• Jan 18, 2023

This is terrific news. By ORC are you referring to Open RPG Creative license such as the one Paizo Publishing has? How would this effect those publishers that create different versions of the Cepheus Engine? Would they be able to create a CE edition based upon the 2022 update SRD and then retail it on a storefront like drivethru? Or is it just for other types of content?  

Are you considering relicensing the existing SRD so that the Cepheus Engine could (potentially) be relicensed as well? Or is this just an SRD update and the intention is that CE products under the OGL 1.0a will be left to sway in the wind? E: I ask because I'm perfectly happy with what we have now (sans this licensing debacle), the current SRD and Cepheus Engine, and am not exactly interested in updated rules.  

How will the Traveller Open Content and TAS programmes differ?  

• Jan 19, 2023

Great news!  

alex_greene

So many questions ... I'll ask one. If it's set in the OTU / Charted Space / etc, with Droyne, Zhodani, Vilani and all our friends ... that's TAS, and anything else such as your own homebrew stuff (e.g. a whole different setting) ... that'd be the TOC license. Would that be the way you feel like you're heading?  

taosecurity

• Jan 20, 2023

regex said: Are you considering relicensing the existing SRD so that the Cepheus Engine could (potentially) be relicensed as well? Or is this just an SRD update and the intention is that CE products under the OGL 1.0a will be left to sway in the wind? E: I ask because I'm perfectly happy with what we have now (sans this licensing debacle), the current SRD and Cepheus Engine, and am not exactly interested in updated rules. Click to expand...

MatthiasDeWit

I also want to support relicensing the currect SRD so the Cepheus Engine can continue.  

alex_greene said: So many questions ... I'll ask one. If it's set in the OTU / Charted Space / etc, with Droyne, Zhodani, Vilani and all our friends ... that's TAS, and anything else such as your own homebrew stuff (e.g. a whole different setting) ... that'd be the TOC license. Would that be the way you feel like you're heading? Click to expand...

Banded Mongoose

This is great news. With my OSR projects on hold Traveller is something I’d like to support instead.  

Will this have any impact on Virtual Table Top content - i.e. the Mongoose Traveller 1 and Mongoose Traveller 2 rulesets for Fantasy Grounds? Currently the ruleset is vaulted making it impossible for a Referee to write their own Extension to provide custom features to players. Some rulesets available for FG (Savage Worlds, FATE Core, Starfinder, Pathfinder, all D&D versions, to name a few) make part of the ruleset available by providing what's called a PAK file in the global \ruleset folder. It would be a big boon to the FG VTT Traveller community, if we had a PAK file to code our own custom extensions. And it would allow someone to code an extension to properly support the Cepheus Engine. And on another VTT note, what about selling Custom Modules on the Fantasy Grounds Forge? A FG custom module could be equivalent to TAS, where the Referee is adding additional content to the existing Traveller Universe; currently a handful of these (mostly spacecraft deck plans) are free on the Forge. A custom module can also be a homebrew where the Referee is just using the ruleset to support a custom setting. Would the TOC allow homebrew setting modules to be distributed via the Forge and even charge $ for them ?  

• Jan 23, 2023

I sure hope Mongoose decides to do the right thing and support the hobby here. There are several Traveller books I've been looking forward to getting when I have a little more disposable income in the near future, but ... how Mongoose decides to treat the community is going to play a big part in my decision on how much money I want to give them. I'm not a mover or a shaker in the world, but I can and do vote with my wallet. And you know, I already have a physical copy of the Mongoose 2e2022 Traveller core book. I like what I'm seeing here and I want more of it.  

Zeropoint said: I sure hope Mongoose decides to do the right thing and support the hobby here. Click to expand...

Condottiere

Emperor mongoose.

I could be totally off with my impression, but it seems that Mongoose is going the socialist route with creating a workers' paradise, while Hasbro is choking on hyper capitalism. As I understand it, Dungeons and Dragons as a whole brings in about one hundred fifty megabux of revenue, and they need to make it breakthrough the gigabux barrier, per annum.  

• Jan 27, 2023

No. The socialist route would mean that you get paid for someone else's efforts. Hasbro is going the monopolistic totalitarian oligarch route. Davos style.  

Socialism means it works like insurance. Everyone pays in and it pays out as needed. It's not about getting paid for someone else's work. Mongoose is trending towards employee ownership, which is also not socialism, but it's definitely quite different from modern shareholder first capitalism.  

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons

It's a ceasefire. At some point management realized it could escalate to nukes.  

Thank God this mess is over. But the damage has been done already. The ORC license is still coming. And I expect that at least some people have at least tried a different system and don't plan to come back now. I don't know if we should praise WoTC for listening to their fans, or vilify them for creating this mess in the first place.  

I wonder how/if this changes plans to issue a new license and community guidelines around the Traveller 2e content? Regardless of all the other things going on, I'm looking forward to hearing more about this.  

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Traveller: Explorer's Edition

Traveller is the science fiction roleplaying game of the far future. The Traveller Explorers’ Edition is an introduction to the game for newcomers that provides all of the tools you need to create adventures or even an entire campaign. Create bold scouts and intrepid scientists who travel into the unknown aboard their trusty Type-S Scout/Courier, a rugged exploration ship perfect for the job.

Dock your ship at advanced starports, visit strange worlds, encounter alien beings and animals, and take on the challenges that the galaxy sets before you.

The Explorer’s Edition provides all core game rules for Traveller, plus a universe creation system that allows referees to create new star systems on the fly for their players to visit and explore…

The universe awaits. Welcome to Traveller!

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Traveller Open Content - New Programme on the Way

• Thread starter Morrus
• Start date Jan 18, 2023
• Jan 18, 2023
• Replies: 50

Bravesteel25

Baronet of gaming.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the folks at Mongoose Publishing are top class because not only do they believe in ethical causes like open gaming, but they back it up with actions. Well done, Matt and team!  

Crusty Old Meatwad (he/him)

It is amazing the amount of long term damage WOTC has done to their RPG brand in such a short period of time. They had all the goodwill in the world going for them, probably the most they've had since the 1980s, and they set it all on fire in a matter of two weeks by not just initial incompetence but inability to get ahead of a PR disaster as it was happening. Which shows in this accouchement (Edit: meant announcement?) - Mongoose was a long time business ally publishing under their license, which not just benefitted them but also benefitted D&D. Because learning D&D meant you learned the basic mechanics of so many other RPGs like some of Mongoose's. And now that feedback loop is broken...for no good reason.  

Well, that was fun

Mistwell said: Which shows in this accouchement - Mongoose was a long time business ally publishing under their license, which not just benefitted them but also benefitted D&D. Because learning D&D meant you learned the basic mechanics of so many other RPGs like some of Mongoose's. And now that feedback loop is broken...for no good reason. Click to expand...

Mistwell said: Which shows in this accouchement [. . .] Click to expand...

Dungeonosophy

Morrus said: Mongoose Publishing has announced that the Traveller sci-fi RPG will be moving away from the Open Gaming License (OGL), and adopting Paizo's upcoming new Open RPG Creator License (ORC). View attachment 272966 ​ In light of recent events, Mongoose Publishing is going to be introducing a brand new Traveller Open Content programme, allowing gamers and publishers to build their own projects using the most recent edition of Traveller rules. We will be working with existing Traveller OGL publishers to build a new SRD based upon the Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022, using their feedback to ensure best utility, and a logo licence will be made available to clearly mark compatible products. At this time, we are looking to the ORC licence to maintain openness, now and in the future. The current TAS programme on Drivethru, which allows the publishing of material set in the official Charted Space universe, will continue to run separately, but alongside, Traveller Open Content. More news as it develops! Click to expand...

Morrus said: Mongoose wasn't using WotC's game system in any way AFAIK, just using the OGL as a tool to enable content sharing. Click to expand...

He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...

So good to hear! I wish I lived in the U.K. id consider a career change for Mongoose!  

Nice! I hope this will increase attention for Traveller a bit (the system is a bit crunchy for my taste, but Mongoose is putting out solid stuff for it, and there's a number of nice publications based on Cepheus, which might be interested in building again directly on Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition now).  

B/X Known World

Fantastic news.  

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Traveller: 3rd Party Settings

Michael has already shed some light on the various incarnations of the Traveller rules. The sheer number of different versions can be somewhat overwhelming. But once you settled for a given ruleset you face an even more daunting task: making yourself and your players familiar with the vast setting of Traveller. To my experience this is one possible point of failure when the scope of the setting encounters the expecations of the players for the first time.

The official Traveller universe The official “Third Imperium” setting for Traveller encompasses 11000 star systems, at least six major polities and a plethora of human and alien cultures. Most of those features are deeply rooted in classical science fiction literature of the 60ies to 80ies – but where this might be very rewarding to me – a SciFi nut for more than forty years – there is little to nothing to relate to for a younger prospective player.

Neither Star Wars features strongly in the original Traveller setting nor does Star Trek and those are probably the most popular SciFi franchises around. And who even remembers Firefly or Battlestar Galactica any more? Coming from the “mainstream of pop culture” the sheer bulk of background “stuff” of the Original Traveller Universe (OTU) without easily recognizable features like a mystical knightly order or a benevolent planetary federation often leads to dismissive reactions (tl;dr).

So how to make this game your own? There is – as always – more than one answer to this question. Michael asked me to take a look into a couple of Third Party Settings but there are also a couple of DIY approaches like “Proto-Traveller” (Michael already mentioned it before) to adapt Traveller for your own science fiction gaming needs.

The Traveller rules where originally meant to be generic RPG rules for contemporary or futuristic settings and Mongoose themselves willingly provided a handful.

One of the more successful attempts was 2300 AD (meaning it is still around in 2016) which is probably sufficiently known. But since 2300 AD is Mongoose’s in-house Alternate Traveller Universe (ATU) setting these days I won’t cover it here.

As mentioned above there are also a couple of DIY methods but those were not part of Michael’s request und would be beyond the scope of this post. Then there are those by third party publishers (3PP) like Spica Publishing ( Outer Veil ), Terra/Sol Games ( Twilight Sector ), Zozer Games ( Orbital 2100 ) and Gypsy Knights Games ( Clement Sector ). This list is neither representative nor complete those are merely the settings that caught my eye one way or another while I was looking for something new since the Spinward Marches and the Solomani Rim as well as the classic era had somehow lost their appeal.

Except for Twilight Sector they all have in common that they are well below the techological level of the “Third Imperium” setting, that there are no (playable) aliens and that Earth and its neighbourhood feature more prominently.

Twilight Sector Twilight Sector has a distinct feel of Transhumanism to it – PCs are either natural mutants (NMs) or genetically enhanced/modified humans (SIMs). That and the somehow surreal background – Earth is gone but there is a really good copy of it – drove me away from it. It is also the most technologically divergent 3PP setting I am aware of. The playstyle seems to focus on freelancers and explorers for hire in a gritty borderland region after a major conflict.

The setting’s worlds are properly described with emphasize on the main worlds but beyond the borders the map turns up blank which means the Referee has to create new challenges. A star atlas remedies this lack of information somewhat but only superficially. The setting provides a free introductory solo adventure and a free mini campaign complete with audio files for enhanced game experience.

Twilight Sector also provides a couple of starship and technology books as well as a campaign book. I am reluctant to evaluate the quality of the entire setting since I never went beyond the two gunbooks (Laser and Gauss Weapons which I can recommend wholeheartedly) and a couple of freebies since the basic asumptions (all SCs are Mutants, everything looks somewhat bleak) didn’t appeal to me. But apart from the gimmicks which are presented appealing and well structured there seems to be a lot of work in stall for the Referee allowing for great customization but requiring plenty of time. As of now Twilight Sector is tailored to the Mongoose Traveller first editon (MgT1) rules set and I have no knowledge whether that will change.

Orbital 2100 Orbital 2100 by Zozer Games is a rather low-tech (TL 9), hard-science fiction setting depicting a beginnig 22nd century in our own solar system. It is featured in this overview mainly because of the success of “The Expanse” TV show on SyFy and because proper “low-tech” settings are rare. Up to “The Expanse” I barely thought about playing in our solar system and I still can’t imagine how to convince my gaming group to join me. The voluminous setting book encompasses a carefully developed timeline, governments, factions, equipment lists, a comprehensive write up of the solar system, design sequences for launch vehicles and deep space craft and most importantly a customized character generation system. All that is needed is in this book, the scope of the setting by far less intimidating than the OTU. If you are interested in a more hard-science fiction style of play – this is probably worth a go. Zozer Games recently updated Orbital 2100 to account for the their decision to support the OGL versions of Traveller: Cepheus Engine (CE) or MgT1 respectively.

Outer Veil Outer Veil by Spica Publishing takes us to the middle of the 22nd century and back into interstellar space. Humans discovered some sort of FTL device enabling them to travel to the stars bringing their hopes, dreams just as well as their conflicts and problems with them. In some aspetcs Outer Veil reminds somewhat of 2300 AD light with a conventional jump drive. Every world beyond Medea (the first colony in the Alpha Centauri sytem) has to be considered a frontier world. International corporations wield at least as much power as governments do and often more. The setting conveys a mixed atmosphere of Wild Frontier and Cyberpunk offering itself for Firefly-like adventures. Many of the star systems depicted on the various maps remain unexplored leaving plenty of space for gaming groups to discover. Sentient life is yet unknown but ruins and artifacts clearly show that there are or at least have been star faring aliens. The writeups for key systems could be considered a bit too concise. But this might also be a chance for the enterprising, individualistic GM to leave his or her mark on the setting. A selection of starships provides transportation for the PCs and their opponents. They fit the “low-tech” profile (TL 9-11) of the setting yet their aesthetics remains debatable. the chapter on character creation expands and modifys the basic system from MgT1 to be more suitable for the Outer Veil. Last but not least the setting book offers a selection of patrons (contacts, potential employers or enemies), other NPCs and organizations as well as an introductory adventure. Besides a variety of adventures, career books and so on Spica Publishing also offers an entire, free campaign “Though the Veil” consisting of 10 linked adventure scenarios . If you don’t shun some work, would like to shape your own TU and like “Frontiersman” style adventures you might give Outer Veil a try.

Clement Sector The next and – for the time being – last alternative setting for Traveller is Gypsy Knights Games’ (GKG) “Clement Sector”. I kept it until the end since it is in some aspects different from the others discussed. There is for instance the sheer amount of material GKG already created for their “little corner” of the Milky Way: more than 40 sourcebooks, adventures, game aids, subsector books and shipbooks up to now. And they keep it coming – the sixteenth shipbook is scheduled for release for the latter third of November. Another aspect is the sense of familiarity Clement Sector provides – humankind spread over dozens of worlds and yet they still bicker and fight just like today.

New nations appeared, old ones reformed but still they are human – the potential is at your disposal. In fact I had to tell a couple of my players that I wasn’t ready to run a Clement Sector-based Traveller campaign because it felt “too close to home” for me.

Thousands of lightyears from Earth and until “recently” connected to Earth’s interstellar neighbourhood by some sort of wormhole Clement Sector attracted plenty of settlers from all over Earth and its older colonies. They made new homes which grew or even flourished. Then the wormhole collapsed, severing any connection to Earth thus creating a sandbox for the enterprising Referee. And only a fraction of the sector is explored. The current premise of GKG is that there are no (recent) sentient aliens whilst alien life exists in abundance.

An exception to this rule exists with a variety of uplifted animals either from Earth (Apes, Bears, Dolphins etc.) and from Clement Sector worlds (Kraken and Yeti). There also genetically modified humans called Altrants. They can provide for the sense of wonder or strangeness you might miss, I suppose. Bottomline – the Clement Sector setting provides the most extensive and elaborate ATU I am currently aware of. It offers readily useable materials with its subsectors, shipbooks and plotbooks yet there is plenty of space for your own developments. And still there is more – and that is the other, perhaps the main reason why Clement Sector is different from the other settings.

As Michael mentioned in his last two Traveller posts Mongoose Publishing decided to ablish its OGL policy. For Gypsy Knight Games this became a real game changer. The new Traveller Aids Society program would have meant the loss of intellctual property on every last bit published under its tutelage as well as a reduction of returns. This would have been a desaster. So they pulled out. First they revamped their entire product line to conform to the OGL version aka the Traveller OGL System Reference Document but then some big opportunity presented itself… Samaradan Press released the Cepheus Engine . Instead of revamping once again GKG decided to make the big jump and adopted the Cepheus Engine to their setting and published their own rulebook.

Except for Psionics (which don’t exist in the setting), dedicated rules for alien species and ship building rules (there already was a setting specific book avaliable) this volume contains anything you need to play. From a cost-value perspective you could purchase the rule book, the setting book and even “Anderson & Felix Guide to Naval Architecture” (the aforementioned contender to Mongoose’s “High Guard”) as well as the Cepheus Engine SRD (to fill any gaps) and still save some money. You just don’t get the full colour stuff of MgT2. If this is important for you should turn to Mongoose’s line of products. Hence, one may conclude hat there are plenty of alternatives to the Original Traveller Universe.

There are even some more, detailing Far Future Enterprises’ “Referee’s Preserve” in Foreven Sector (see Jon Brazer Enterprises “Foreven Worlds” oder DSL Ironworks “The Bastards of Foreven”, currently under rerview). You will still have to look around for what suits your style of play best and as always make the setting your own.

May your travels be exciting!

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Helge Hudel

Helge is just an ordinary guy with a slightly obsessive dedication for Traveller in many of its variations.

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Thanks for your post, my friend.

My pleasure.

Now there is Sarah Newton’s Mindjammer setting for Mongoose Traveller 2, being released by Modiphius.

Indeed and the volume looks awesome (>320 pages full colour goodness) but at the time of the writing of this post the thoughtcast version of the book had just been sent to backers. So I neither had had the time read it nor didn’t I want to comment on an unfinished product. Mindjammer has a totally differnt scope than the other settings – it is a fully realized Transhumanism setting which has far reaching consequences on PCs, adventures and campaigns.

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Traveller by mllaneza

Introduction.

World sizes are explained in Book 3. World sizes also assume that the world has normal (Earth) density; different densities of worlds are possible through the use of a density constant K (determined by the referee; mentioned in Book 2). When a density constant K is in use, multiply the world size by K to determine the true gravity factor, and use that in determining load sizes.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Deal of the day - cepheus deluxe (ogl traveller).

Today's Deal of the Day is Cepheus Deluxe , which draws its core from the Mongoose Traveller OGL . From what I've seen, the Cepheus Engine is widely supported and is compatible with much of the Traveller material available.

Until tomorrow morning at 11 AM Eastern, Cepheus Deluxe is on sale, marked down to 4 bucks from 9.99.

Cepheus Deluxe is a set of rules for playing classic science fiction games. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving actions, fighting other creatures, and engaging in space battles, generating worlds, handling the risks of interstellar speculative trading, exploring new worlds, and many other activities. While designed for fast, action-packed play rather than an accurate simulation of reality, Cepheus Deluxe encompasses a wide variety of rules and materials for building a science-fiction universe and playing in it. Cepheus Deluxe draws its inspiration from old-school science-fiction roleplaying games. It shares many similarities with these games. Material from older rules sets and those created with Cepheus Deluxe, the old Cepheus Light, the Cepheus Engine Core, and old-school sci-fi roleplaying games, are easily compatible with only a moderate amount of adjustment.

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From the land of Geek

Mongoose is in talks with Cepheus Engine publishers over Traveller license concerns

January 24, 2023 by Andrew Girdwood Leave a Comment Links may earn commission

There’s concerns Cepheus Engine publishers have a bleak future as and when Wizards of the Coast deauthorises the OGL.

How are they connected? Cepheus Engine was originally based on the SRD of Mongoose’s first edition of Traveller, which was licensed under Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License.

As WotC seems intent on deauthorising that OGL, Mongoose has announced a new Traveller Open Content program .

On their forums, Mongoose said they’d worked with Traveller OGL publishers on a new SRD and build that on the Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 .

The news was warmly welcomed at first; however, several Cepheus publishers expressed concerns after a while. John Watts of Independence Games said;

Well, as it stands now, the Cepheus Publishers are in a position where the big decision is now on Mongoose to make. In short, if you want the Cepheus publishers (including myself) to survive, the best way for you to help us in these negotiations is to go somewhere that Mongoose will hear you (the Traveller Discord, Mongoose’s forums, CoTI, social media) and tell them that you want them to allow Cepheus Engine to continue without caveats. Without being forced into costly rewrites to go along with MgT2e.

The publishers have already done everything they can. If you want us to survive, your voice will need to be heard. It really is that simple.

Mongoose has been quick to respond and, on their forums, said ;

We are still talking to the Cepheus publishers, but have already told them that if WotC removed OGL1.0a with immediate effect, we would support Cepheus legally and indefinitely. There is thus no time pressure and discussions continue.

On a Save Cepheus Reddit thread , Mongoose Matt, the company owner, added;

As things stand, we have told the Cepheus publishers that, in the event that WotC nuked the OGL1.0a and everything published under it tomorrow, we would cover their work, legally and indefinitely. Everything else is up for discussion.

At the start of our conversations with the CE publishers we made it clear that we knew both parties were starting from two different positions and that we were looking to find a path that ran between the two of them. We are all Travellers at the end of the day,

We have recently laid out another set of proposals to the CE to be discussed. Still waiting for feedback but it seems some are positive, some are on the fence and one is dead set against them. So, we keep talking to find a way through – however, our offer to cover their work means there is no time pressure and we can talk things through properly. There is no need to resolve this overnight.

Earlier this week, Alegis Downport commented;

Where does this leave publishers such as Independence Games, Stellagama, Moon Toad Publishing and Zozer? Upshot is at time of writing, we don’t know. Rocky Mountain Navy posted an article earlier this week ‘ The Open Death of Cepheus Engine ’, highlighting where Mongoose is looking to produce a license allowing publishers to utilise material based on Traveller Open Content. I don’t know how much this will be like the MGT2e / TAS license which I suppose you could call a precursor to WotC’s OGL 1.1. This license allows your published content to be considered for reuse as Mongoose’s and they can use it without recompense to you.

Importantly, there have been requests not to pester Marc Miller, the lead designer of the first Traveller. The debate is between Mongoose and the licensees.

Do you have extra insight on this article? Please scoll down to the comments and share your knowledge.

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Why less Traveller clones and variants?

• Thread starter Wart
• Start date Sep 27, 2016
• Tags classic traveller old-school roleplaying traveller

Active member

• Sep 27, 2016

So, D&D retroclones, OSR-type variants, and other games using the OGL are thick on the ground, from Swords & Wizardry to Godbound to Mutants & Masterminds. This we all know. Thanks in part to Mongoose putting out their edition of RuneQuest on an OGL basis, there's also a healthy ecosystem of RQ/BRP-derived systems out there - Legend, Mythras, Clockwork & Chivalry, OpenQuest, and so on. The other classic RPG that Mongoose put out on an OGL was Traveller - but that doesn't seem to have had the same treatment. I'm vaguely aware of a few clones and the like out there, but nowhere near even the proliferation that RuneQuest has had (even when you discount Legend and Mythras as artifacts of the licence being lost by Mongoose and Design Mechanism successively). Why do people think that is the case?  

SimonJester

Hacking time....

I'm just going to leave this here, if that's okay?  

BlackHat_Matt

SimonJester said: I'm just going to leave this here, if that's okay? Click to expand...

Kiwi Game Designer

The Singularity System is a Traveller clone/OGL derivation? Cheers, Cam  

TrustScience

Cyborg princess.

Cam Banks said: The Singularity System is a Traveller clone/OGL derivation? Click to expand...

Ynas Midgard

Validated user.

I keep track of the D&D-esque side of things almost on a daily basis, but I'm completely unaware of any Traveller-based games (even though I imagine there are a couple). Could someone sum them up? Mere titles would suffice, I can do my research from there.  

The only full-on retroclone I'm aware of is "Cepheus" . Other games aim to provide updated rules for a Traveller-like experience, such as Thousand Suns, Stars Without Number, or (to some degree) StarCluster. Funnily enough, there seems to be more of porting other rulesets (d20, GURPS, HERO) to the classic Traveller setting of the Third Imperium or something very like it, than reproductions or optimisations of the original rules, as you have with D&D. I can't think why that is.  

traveler has a few judge dread 2300 ad babylon 5 traveler and a few others but there are not a ton of them  

Kinetic Energy Weapon

Do you really need retroclones when the original is still in print?  

Neo•Geo Fanboy

jimthegray said: traveler has a few ... babylon 5 traveler and a few others but there are not a ton of them Click to expand...

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TSR veteran Jim Ward, creator of  Greyhawk Adventures and Metamorphosis Alpha , co-writer of  Deities and Demigods  and founder of  Fast Forward Adventures , has passed at the age of 72. He will be dearly missed. 

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Wargaming, Boardgaming, & Roleplaying

TTRPG Roll 23-7: WotC gets Creative but will Mongoose follow? Traveller RPG & Cepheus Engine in the balance

The big news yesterday is that Wizards of the Coast through D&D Beyond announced a new “draft” Open Game license (OGL) v1.2 . I strongly encourage all to follow the link to the draft document and look at it for yourself. While many people may see this as a win, I remain pessimistic for the future of open content Traveller roleplaying games and especially the Cepheus Engine System .

Why am I pessimistic? I am pessimistic because OGL 1.2 still “deauthorizes” OGL 1.0a which means a new Open Game License is necessary. It also more clearly defines a very narrow definition of Open Content. I am not convinced OGL 1.2 is the right new license.

Reading the WotC announcement, they are trying to frame OGL 1.2 as a win for gamers and content creators:

“So, we’re doing two things:

• We’re giving the core D&D mechanics to the community through a  Creative Commons license , which means that they are fully in your hands.
• If you want to use quintessentially D&D content from the SRD such as owlbears and magic missile, OGL 1.2 will provide you a perpetual, irrevocable license to do so.”

Core Mechanics

“The core D&D mechanics, which are located at pages 56-104, 254-260, and 358-359 of this System Reference Document 5.1 (but not the examples used on those pages), are licensed to you under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). This means that Wizards is not placing any limitations at all on how you use that content.”

While this sounds like a major victory, what WotC has really done is taken Section 1.(d) of OGL 1.0a and moved that part—and only that part—to a Creative Commons license. For reference:

“OGL 1.0a, 1.(d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity.” 

As Kit Walsh over at the Electronic Frontier Foundation pointed out in the article “Beware the Gifts of Dragons: How D&D’s Open Gaming License May Have Become a Trap for Creators,” the game mechanics may actually not be copyrightable:

“Copyright grants an author a limited monopoly over their creative expression. It doesn’t cover bare facts, mere ideas, systems, or methods. But it does cover the creative way that a person expresses facts, ideas, and so forth, provided that the expression has sufficient creativity. A roleplaying game book often includes both a description of a mechanical system and creative, fictional elements.

When describing a noncopyrightable game mechanic, I might do it in a dry, noncopyrightable way, or I might do it in a creative, copyrightable way.”

In many cases, a system reference document (SRD) is a “dry” presentation of game mechanics; is it even copyrightable? WotC pushing for an “open game” license is in many ways an effort to discourage you from finding that answer!

Another major part of the Preamble is the deauthorization of OGL 1.0a:

“ NOTICE OF DEAUTHORIZATION OF OGL 1.0a . The Open Game License 1.0a is no longer an authorized license. This means that you may not use that version of the OGL, or any prior version, to publish SRD content after (effective date) . It does not mean that any content previously published under that version needs to update to this license. Any previously published content remains licensed under whichever version of the OGL was in effect when you published that content. “

In OGL 1.2, WotC has backed off on forcing all content created with OGL 1.0a to convert to OGL 1.2. That’s good…but OGL 1.2 still ends further “development” of any OGL 1.0a-based content. WotC is very specific in saying, “ you may not use that version of the OGL, or any prior version, to publish SRD content after (effective date) . ” OGL 1.0a is dead and any product created using OGL1.0a is effectively “frozen.”

What WotC has done is more clearly define that game mechanisms—and only game mechanisms—are sharable under a Creative Commons license. Going ahead, other new creative content will need to be created using OGL 1.2 or declared what was previously called “No Open Content.” Many RPG publishers, especially those who are licensed to use IP, do this anyway (see Free League Publishing’s Blade Runner Roleplaying Game or Green Ronin’s The Expanse Roleplaying Game amongst many). Other creators might use a Community Content Program like the Travellers’ Aid Society (TAS) run by Mongoose …but there are major strings attached like surrender of IP and royalties.

1. LICENSED CONTENT

(a) Content Covered

• (i)   Our Licensed Content. This license covers any content in the SRD 5.1 (or any subsequent version of the SRD we release under this license) that is not licensed to you under Creative Commons. You may use that content in your own works on the terms of this license.
• (ii)   Our Unlicensed Content. Only Our Licensed Content is licensed under this license. Any other content we release or have released is not licensed to you under this license.
• (iii)   Your Content. This is your creative contributions to your works that are not Our Licensed Content or Our Unlicensed Content. This license permits you to combine Your Content with Our Licensed Content and distribute the resulting works as authorized by this license.

WotC introduces a new term here, “Our Licensed Content.” The definition makes it clear that “Our Licensed Content” covers all the parts of the SRD that are NOT released under the Creative Commons License, i.e. the parts of the SRD that are not “the core D&D mechanics.” It is difficult to be sure what this means because the page numbers referenced do not line up with the 5.1 SRD that is currently online . What I suspect is that the sections covering “Using Ability Scores” and “The Order of Combat” will be released under the Creative Commons license…but not much else. The present SRD is over 400 pages and WotC states only about 60 pages of the new document (no less than 359 pages long) will be licensed under Creative Commons.

The phrase “Our Licensed Content” goes hand-in-hand with “Our Unlicensed Content” which appears to cover copyrightable and trademarked items previously found in OGL 1.0a 1.(e) and (f):

“(e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content;”

“(f) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor.”

The meaning of “Our Unlicensed Content” becomes more clear if you look at the questions in the Virtual Tabletop (VTT) Policy in the WotC draft documents. For example:

“ May I make my VTT Owlbear token look like the one from the Monster Manual?

No. We’ve never licensed visual depictions of our content under the OGL, just the text of the SRD. That hasn’t changed. You can create a creature called an Owlbear with the stat block from the SRD. You cannot copy any of our Owlbear depictions. But if you’ve drawn your own unique Owlbear, or someone else did, you can use it.”

I have issues with other parts of OGL 1.2, like the “perpetual, irrevocable” part. In section 9.(d) WotC gives themselves an out that was not in OGL 1.0a:

“(d)   Severability. If any part of this license is held to be unenforceable or invalid for any reason, Wizards may declare the entire license void, either as between it and the party that obtained the ruling or in its entirety. Unless Wizards elects to do so, the balance of this license will be enforced as if that part which is unenforceable or invalid did not exist.”

While I totally agree that hateful and harmful content does not belong in our hobby, I am also very hesitant to agree to WotC defining hateful content or conduct without any legal recourse to dispute their independent accusations:

“6.(f) No Hateful Content or Conduct. You will not include content in Your Licensed Works that is harmful, discriminatory, illegal, obscene, or harassing, or engage in conduct that is harmful, discriminatory, illegal, obscene, or harassing. We have the sole right to decide what conduct or content is hateful, and you covenant that you will not contest any such determination via any suit or other legal action.”

Cepheus Engine on OGL 1.2?

How could the draft OGL 1.2 map to Cepheus Engine? I’m looking at Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition released by Stellagama Publishing in December 2022 . The only portions of CEDE declared “Product Identity” are the Introduction text, Appendix B, and the text of the Open Game License. If I had to make a call, I would say the chapters on Basic Rules, Personal and Vehicle Combat, and Space Combat are “core mechanics” and could be licensed using Creative Commons if the OGL 1.2 approach is used. The balance of CEDE (excepting Product Identity) would be “Our Licensed Content” per OGL 1.2.

Mongoose Traveller Open Content Program

On Wednesday, January 18, Mongoose Matt of Mongoose Publishing announced a new Traveller Open Content program.

As I noted in TTRPG Roll 23-6 , my concern here is that “new SRD based upon the Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022.” In 2016 Mongoose published Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition (MgT2e) which essentially “forked” the Traveller RPG community into two SRD’s; the older MgT1e (spiritual successor to Classic Traveller that evolved into Cepheus Engine) available under OGL 1.0a and a new MgT2e SRD that was declared No Open Content.

Frankly, I am skeptical of Mongoose Publishing’s motives in this situation. With the deauthorization of OGL 1.0a, any new products created cannot use the Cepheus Engine SRD. Mongoose, on offer, seems willing to release a new SRD as long as it is based on their (now) closed MgT2e SRD. If gamers and creators accept this offer all older OGL1.0a material is frozen and new content is limited to using the a “new” Traveller Open Content SRD. The MgT1e/Cepheus Engine fork is buried and only the MgT2e fork is carried forward.

Mongoose also dangled the incentive of placing the SRD under Piazo’s Open RPG Creative (ORC) to encourage accepting this new program. From what I read between the lines across the interwebs is that ORC is more a repository for game mechanics than a replacement for OGL 1.0a. Indeed, I would venture to say WotC could put their game mechanics into ORC and it would not change the legal restrictions of their OGL.

Interlude – What is ORC?

Jim Butler, President of Piazo, described ORC in a recent interview:

Jim Butler:  It is a license framework that will allow creators and publishers to deposit their own game mechanics into it for use by other creatives in the hobby, and allow creativity to be unlocked across multiple genres, expressions, and media. It is a safe harbor where those with new ideas can access engines with installed player bases for mutual benefit.

It’s important not to confuse the license framework (which both the OGL and ORC are) and the game mechanics within the System Reference Documents (SRDs) contributed to it. The ORC will tell publishers all of the legal steps they have to follow (like the OGL does now). The SRDs will provide the open game mechanics that can be used by anyone participating in the Open RPG Creative (ORC) license.

The only way that I see Cepheus Engine surviving is for a replacement of the Traveller /Cepheus Engine OGL 1.0a SRD to be released in total under a Creative Commons license much like Evil Hat Productions does for FATE . This, of course, requires the copyright holders, Mongoose Publishing and Mark Miller at Far Future Enterprises, to agree. Mongoose seems to be showing that they are not open to this approach as they are only willing to offer up a “new” SRD based on their forked version.

Unless Mongoose changes their position, gamers and creators using Cepheus Engine will either have to adopt the MgT2e 2022 Updated Core Rulebook—under terms dictated by Mongoose—or die. I look forward to seeing how this develops…but I ain’t holding my breath either.

***UPDATE***

It just came to my attention that Piazo announced that Mongoose Publishing has officially joined the ORC Alliance . In fact, Piazo claims the ORC Alliance is over 1,500 strong. What I don’t see are more details as to what the ORC is; the above interview remains my best insight (as poor as it is).

Finally, this Toot(?) from Mastodon pretty much sums up how I see the whole “core mechanics” Creative Commons copyright license:

Feature image courtesy RMN

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2 thoughts on “ ttrpg roll 23-7: wotc gets creative but will mongoose follow traveller rpg & cepheus engine in the balance ”.

• Pingback: TTRPG Roll 23-8: Unlocking Code Warriors (Nerdburger Games, 2023) – Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer

WotC is still not offering anything. Only negotiating how much they are taking from the RPG community. Spokesman Brink is – to borrow a quote from my DM – “a dude from predatory online games, like Candy Crush if you look at his work history. No history in TT RPGs”

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Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia

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Why were so many metro stations in Moscow renamed?

Okhotny Ryad station in Soviet times and today.

The Moscow metro system has 275 stations, and 28 of them have been renamed at some point or other—and several times in some cases. Most of these are the oldest stations, which opened in 1935.

The politics of place names

The first station to change its name was Ulitsa Kominterna (Comintern Street). The Comintern was an international communist organization that ceased to exist in 1943, and after the war Moscow authorities decided to call the street named after it something else. In 1946, the station was renamed Kalininskaya. Then for several days in 1990, the station was called Vozdvizhenka, before eventually settling on Aleksandrovsky Sad, which is what it is called today.

The banner on the entraince reads: "Kalininskaya station." Now it's Alexandrovsky Sad.

Until 1957, Kropotkinskaya station was called Dvorets Sovetov ( Palace of Soviets ). There were plans to build a monumental Stalinist high-rise on the site of the nearby Cathedral of Christ the Saviour , which had been demolished. However, the project never got off the ground, and after Stalin's death the station was named after Kropotkinskaya Street, which passes above it.

Dvorets Sovetov station, 1935. Letters on the entrance: "Metro after Kaganovich."

Of course, politics was the main reason for changing station names. Initially, the Moscow Metro itself was named after Lazar Kaganovich, Joseph Stalin’s right-hand man. Kaganovich supervised the construction of the first metro line and was in charge of drawing up a master plan for reconstructing Moscow as the "capital of the proletariat."

In 1955, under Nikita Khrushchev's rule and during the denunciation of Stalin's personality cult, the Moscow Metro was named in honor of Vladimir Lenin.

Kropotkinskaya station, our days. Letters on the entrance: "Metropolitan after Lenin."

New Metro stations that have been opened since the collapse of the Soviet Union simply say "Moscow Metro," although the metro's affiliation with Vladimir Lenin has never officially been dropped.

Zyablikovo station. On the entrance, there are no more signs that the metro is named after Lenin.

Stations that bore the names of Stalin's associates were also renamed under Khrushchev. Additionally, some stations were named after a neighborhood or street and if these underwent name changes, the stations themselves had to be renamed as well.

Until 1961 the Moscow Metro had a Stalinskaya station that was adorned by a five-meter statue of the supreme leader. It is now called Semyonovskaya station.

Left: Stalinskaya station. Right: Now it's Semyonovskaya.

The biggest wholesale renaming of stations took place in 1990, when Moscow’s government decided to get rid of Soviet names. Overnight, 11 metro stations named after revolutionaries were given new names. Shcherbakovskaya became Alekseyevskaya, Gorkovskaya became Tverskaya, Ploshchad Nogina became Kitay-Gorod and Kirovskaya turned into Chistye Prudy. This seriously confused passengers, to put it mildly, and some older Muscovites still call Lubyanka station Dzerzhinskaya for old times' sake.

At the same time, certain stations have held onto their Soviet names. Marksistskaya and Kropotkinskaya, for instance, although there were plans to rename them too at one point.

"I still sometimes mix up Teatralnaya and Tverskaya stations,” one Moscow resident recalls .

 “Both have been renamed and both start with a ‘T.’ Vykhino still grates on the ear and, when in 1991 on the last day of my final year at school, we went to Kitay-Gorod to go on the river cruise boats, my classmates couldn’t believe that a station with that name existed."

The city government submitted a station name change for public discussion for the first time in 2015. The station in question was Voykovskaya, whose name derives from the revolutionary figure Pyotr Voykov. In the end, city residents voted against the name change, evidently not out of any affection for Voykov personally, but mainly because that was the name they were used to.

What stations changed their name most frequently?

Some stations have changed names three times. Apart from the above-mentioned Aleksandrovsky Sad (Ulitsa Kominterna->Kalininskaya->Vozdvizhenka->Aleksandrovsky Sad), a similar fate befell Partizanskaya station in the east of Moscow. Opened in 1944, it initially bore the ridiculously long name Izmaylovsky PKiO im. Stalina (Izmaylovsky Park of Culture and Rest Named After Stalin). In 1947, the station was renamed and simplified for convenience to Izmaylovskaya. Then in 1963 it was renamed yet again—this time to Izmaylovsky Park, having "donated" its previous name to the next station on the line. And in 2005 it was rechristened Partizanskaya to mark the 60th anniversary of victory in World War II. 

Partizanskaya metro station, nowadays.

Another interesting story involves Alekseyevskaya metro station. This name was originally proposed for the station, which opened in 1958, since a village with this name had been located here. It was then decided to call the station Shcherbakovskaya in honor of Aleksandr Shcherbakov, a politician who had been an associate of Stalin. Nikita Khrushchev had strained relations with Shcherbakov, however, and when he got word of it literally a few days before the station opening the builders had to hastily change all the signs. It ended up with the concise and politically correct name of Mir (Peace).

The name Shcherbakovskaya was restored in 1966 after Khrushchev's fall from power. It then became Alekseyevskaya in 1990.

Alekseyevskaya metro station.

But the station that holds the record for the most name changes is Okhotny Ryad, which opened in 1935 on the site of a cluster of market shops. When the metro system was renamed in honor of Lenin in 1955, this station was renamed after Kaganovich by way of compensation. The name lasted just two years though because in 1957 Kaganovich fell out of favor with Khrushchev, and the previous name was returned. But in 1961 it was rechristened yet again, this time in honor of Prospekt Marksa, which had just been built nearby.

Okhotny Ryad station in 1954 and Prospekt Marksa in 1986.

In 1990, two historical street names—Teatralny Proyezd and Mokhovaya Street—were revived to replace Prospekt Marksa, and the station once again became Okhotny Ryad.

Okhotny Ryad in 2020.

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