So I am doing a side project to build a platform where different groups of people can play D&D 5e online. While looking for resources online, I stumbled across the OGL. Now the OGL has a lot of data but doesn't have the complete data (for eg, class archetypes are not present). Now I want to know if there is any way how I can use the data not falling under Open Game Content.
[RPG] How to make use of the material that doesn’t fall under the OGL
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Related Solutions
Probably not, but talk to a lawyer.
As written in the OGL 1.0a, the current license, this comes down to whether "maneuvers" count as product identity. Publishing under the OGL grants some permissions and incurs some restrictions in a way that's somewhat incongruous with normal copyright/trademark laws; "maneuver" isn't protected in those aspects (and likely couldn't be), but agreeing to the license adds some strictures.
Starting with the limitations on the use of product identity:
Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. [...]
If "maneuvers" are product identity, given that they do not appear in the SRD, you would not be permitted to use them or reference them, including but not limited to just indicating that you have new maneuvers that are compatible. Product identity is defined fairly broadly under the OGL:
"Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; [...] 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
There's no exhaustive list of what is or isn't product identity published by WotC which leaves this in a bit of a grey area, but as the OGL calls out "names and descriptions of [...] special abilities" as being product identity, my read is that maneuvers count as product identity. This would mean that you can neither use nor refer to maneuvers in content published under OGL (as long as "maneuver" is clearly referring to 5e maneuvers — use as a general term, not referring to the special ability, ought to be fine), with various hazy middle grounds. Anything more specific is likely the purview of an actual lawyer.
Best Answer
Sure there is—pay Wizards of the Coast to license that material.
The Open Game License is free, but only covers a subset of the game. Often it covers just one example of each kind of thing. In order to include the rest of the content, you need to license it from Wizards of the Coast—but they don’t offer it under the Open Game License, so you’ll have to get it under some other license, which won’t be free.
This is precisely what, for examples, Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 have done. They pay Wizards of the Coast some amount of money, and receive a license to include 5e content beyond what’s available under the OGL on their platforms. How much they pay, the exact terms of this license, are not public information. Wizards of the Coast does not simply have a store somewhere selling licenses of its content. Instead, those licenses and the associated licensing fees are negotiated between Wizards of the Coast and whoever is doing the licensing.
Notably, both Fantasy Grounds and Roll20 were existing, functioning platforms before 5e even existed. Part of the “payment” that Wizards of the Coast might demand may be some kind of assurance that your platform is going to be a real thing that people really use, because part of the value they derive from selling these licenses is the increased exposure of D&D via these platforms. So if you’re still working on the platform, they may not be interested in even negotiating a payment. Or maybe they are—again, these aren’t public details, so there’s no way for us to really know. There is presumably some amount of money you could throw at them to get them willing to pay attention even if they have doubts about your platform.