Wizards Archives - POCGamer

Tag Archives: Wizards

What’s Up With Wizards and the OGL?

Posted on 28/01/2023 by Graeme Barber

Wizards made a big announcement. They’re moving the entire 5.1 SRD to CC-BY 4.0 International, and the OGL 1.0a is being left as is. They say they listened. They say they heard the fandom. They say they heard the creatives. People are now celebrating this as a definitive victory. Public and vocal support for things like the in-house system by Kobold Press or the ORC licence being spearheaded by Paizo is waning where it isn’t being drowned out by celebratory noise. But if there’s one thing the army has taught me is invaluable after a serious event, it’s an After Action Review. So let’s dive into what happened, what the fallout is, and how things are developing.

NOTE: Posts from Wizards on D&D Beyond are linked using the current links. They may have been edited since their initial releases. Where mentioned, I am referring to the initial release content and not the “oops, we should change the wording and tone” updates.

Real Talk About Wizards

Posted on 13/01/2023 by Graeme Barber

Wizards broke radio silence and released a saccharine, disingenuous statement on the leaked OGL 1.1 and the public response to it. Time to talk about the reality of Wizards, and the reason behind the OGL.

What Happened? Writing for Wizards Part 2

Posted on 23/03/2021 by Graeme Barber

The last post explored the stages of the writing process for work-for-hire freelancers at Wizards, based on my experience with it in 2020. This post is going to delve into my specific experiences and the differences between the Book of Cylinders that was submitted in the final draft and the Book of Cylinders that was released on March 16th. Bear in mind, this entire post is no-names, no-packdrill.

What happened? Writing for Wizards Part 1

Posted on 23/03/2021 by Graeme Barber

As you may have noticed, I did not get the “good ending” in terms of writing for the latest release from Wizards, Candlekeep Mysteries. In fact, things went so sideways that I respectfully requested my name be removed from future printings because what went in as a final draft and what came out in release were so wildly different that I do not want my name associated with the product. So consider this post and the next as a PSA for people aspiring to write for Wizards.

Wizards, Business, and Diversity

Posted on 23/02/2021 by Graeme Barber

Wizards of the Coast has just announced the release of a Ravenloft campaign book, much to the excitement of the internet. This came with a lavish release article by Polygon, citing the reimagining and the diversity of writers that expanded the Domains of Dread. And it’s no mild expansion, it claims to have 30 settings and 30 villains. Combined with the recent Unearthed Arcana release, it seems like they’re finally making good on their promises of diversity, right? Well, sort of. On the front of it, it all looks good. But looking back over the history of D&D, and how Wizards have evolved in their curation of worlds, the picture takes on a different meaning.