13th Age SRD Update, and Some Guidance on Game Aids

The 13th Age SRD is out and available here.

A lot of fans are taking advantage of the Open Gaming License (OGL) to create and share 13th Age game aids to help players and GMs at the table. Which is great! However, a few of them copy and paste significant portions of text from the book, which isn’t an option under fair use, the OGL or the Community Use Policy.

So how can we help you make cool and useful things that comply with the OGL? Ultimately the solution will be the game’s System Resource Document (SRD) which Fire Opal Media is working on now.

We have some decisions to make about what we’ll include in the SRD and what we won’t. Our goal is a document which will be much leaner and streamlined, focused on the mechanics from the 13th Age core book. More than anything it must be useful for designers and people creating reference documents.

Between now and when the SRD is released we ask that you put any projects on hold (such as power decks) which use too much text from the book. How much is “too much”? Our rule of thumb is that the amount would be more than is permitted under fair use as described on the linked page.

Once the SRD is available — and we don’t have a set date yet — you’re free to use the text from that document to create your cool and useful thing. If you can’t wait that long, you have three options:

1. Make it using minimal, fair use-sized excerpts from the book.
2. Make it however you want, but only use it privately for your own home campaign – don’t share it online.
3. Make it, rewrite the text completely to create an original OGL work that uses the ARCHMAGE Engine mechanics, and do whatever you like with it. If you want to advertise its connection to 13th Age you can use the ARCHMAGE Engine logo on the cover and say that it’s “13th Age compatible.” You don’t have to get our permission at any stage of the process – just do it.

Until the SRD comes out there’s going to be a lot of gray areas, but we’re happy to work with you to resolve them. We’re supremely grateful for your enthusiasm for our game.