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The situation isn't entirely comparable. Because Pathfinder is under the OGL, people can already write and sell things for Pathfinder. D&D doesn't have an OGL, so the DM's Guild is their way of allowing not-explicitly-licensed things to be compatible with D&D.
Now, of course, the OGL doesn't allow you to write and sell things set in Golarion. (There are fan/community things that allow publications such as Wayfinder and the Pathfinder Chronicler to exist, but that content has to be free if online, and in print must be sold either at cost, or given away with a donation requested whose amount is at the discretion of the donor. This also allows the Pathfinder Wiki and lots of other fan web pages.) But, still, the OGL difference means that the situations are extremely different.
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The situation isn't entirely comparable. Because Pathfinder is under the OGL, people can already write and sell things for Pathfinder. D&D doesn't have an OGL, so the DM's Guild is their way of allowing not-explicitly-licensed things to be compatible with D&D.
Now, of course, the OGL doesn't allow you to write and sell things set in Golarion. (There are fan/community things that allow publications such as Wayfinder and the Pathfinder Chronicler to exist, but that content has to be free if online, and in print must be sold either at cost, or given away with a donation requested whose amount is at the discretion of the donor. This also allows the Pathfinder Wiki and lots of other fan web pages.) But, still, the OGL difference means that the situations are extremely different.
FWIW, D&D does allow publishing under the OGL. Many 3PPs are using it. Although, the 5E SRD has less of the rules than the 3.5 SRD does so you need to take care as to what is allowable.
Here is WotC's opinion as to the pros and cons of using the OGL vs using DMs Guild.
Personally, I think the main downside of the DMs Guild (as a publisher) is that you give up your rights to distribution of the material.
What is Dungeon Masters Guild?
I'm guessing it's a 5e thing if it uses DM?
It's an online store where you can upload 5E material. DrivethruRPG and wizards take a cut each (60% all up I believe, but I haven't actually used it, so I could well be misremembering that).
The big upside is that it allows you to use some of WotC's IP - specifically the Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft at the moment (although that might be expanded later).
It can also be 'generic' material.
In answer to the OP, I think it's very unlikely they'll do something analogous in the short or medium term..
The closest thing is The Community Use Policy which provides a way for fans to use some of Paizo's IP (provided it's not for sale and the person using it isn't in the publishing business) and they provide avenues for people to get published via PFS scenarios and their annual Superstar competition.
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That is interesting.
I guess the Realms already has an incredibly messy continuity so they won't feel the need to protect the setting and Ravenloft is all pocket dimensions.
I imagine a lot of adventures which try to define vague parts of Golarion, like someone dropping a colonial invasion of Arcadia (with colonists as good guys) and if that is successful then it hampers/muddies Paizo's attempts to define the region.
I can also picture lots of world-shaking events which are fan-serving but upset the world (slaying rovagug, PCs become noble rulers of Cheliax, rune lords team up to fight PCs, Geb and Nex and Jtembe (sp?) return as lich servants of Zon-Kuthon, PCs slay Razmir...)
(60% all up I believe, but I haven't actually used it, so I could well be misremembering that).
Its 50%. 25% goes to DriveThru, WotC gets 25% and the publisher gets 50%.
The nice thing about it is:
- being able to make something in the Forgotten Realms or any other setting they allow.
The downsides are:
- lower pay per product,
- you lack a whole lot of the back end programming helps you reach customers that is the real advantage of DriveThruRPG over a site like Paizo or OpenGamingStore,
- you can't sell the product on any other website (including your own),
- everything you make is 100% open content, and
- you can't convert what you create to another system.
That last point is the most important to me. If Paizo did that with Pathfinder and I had to use it (the way it is for Traveller), I'd immediately stop publishing for Pathfinder. I haven't made a profit off any of Pathfinder products for quite some time. Where I make my money is converting it to another system. If they set it up like Wizards did for 5e where there's an OGL option and an inworld option for a smaller percentage, I don't believe I'd use it. I'd have to see a much larger amount of sales for that to happen.
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...I haven't made a profit off any of Pathfinder products for quite some time...
This is a real shame, as your Pathfinder products are consistently some of the best 3PPs released. :(
...I haven't made a profit off any of Pathfinder products for quite some time...This is a real shame, as your Pathfinder products are consistently some of the best 3PPs released. :(
The problem with a lot of 3rd party content is that many people have as their sole outlet for Pathfinder play, PFS, where you're basically not allowed to make use of 3rd party content.
With Jon Brazer's output,some of it is personal. I'm not really big on having players play half-faerie dragons,for instance.
This is a real shame, as your Pathfinder products are consistently some of the best 3PPs released. :(
Thank you. I really appreciate it. The good side of this is that you know we love every single one of our Pathfinder releases we do. When we release a Pathfinder product, you know it is because we love the idea so much, we have to do it and do it well.
With Jon Brazer's output,some of it is personal. I'm not really big on having players play half-faerie dragons,for instance.
*chuckles* This really is our defining creation, isn't it?
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With Jon Brazer's output,some of it is personal. I'm not really big on having players play half-faerie dragons,for instance.*chuckles* This really is our defining creation, isn't it?
Half faerie dragons, you say? You've gained one sale from this thread, at least.
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Half faerie dragons, you say? You've gained one sale from this thread, at least.
Wahoo!!!
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I am seeing a lot of excitement around the Dungeon Master's Guild. The fact that fans are able to sell in game world products is spurring this growth, I believe.
Will Paizo be doing something similar for its IP?
Is "selling" the right word?
I'm quite excited by the idea of putting stuff up on their site for general consumption, and being able to play around with their IP. The free bits and pieces - artwork and the like - are a nice touch.
I've had *zero* involvement with 5th edition up to this point, so I don't imagine anything I could put up there would be any good, and I certainly wouldn't be charging for it. Anything of mine would join the large amount of free stuff already on there.
This is completely different to if Paizo did it for Pathfinder. There are plenty of Pathfinder products available already, most of them modestly priced. Flooding the market with lots of amateur free and nearly free products wouldn't be in anybody's best interests, in my opinion.
Also, Paizo has already given away pretty much all of their rules material. If they give away the setting material as well, what have they got left?
EDIT - and I'd certainly not be putting up any of my IP (such as it is) on any such site. (The fact that nobody else would be interested in it is neither here nor there. They may be bad ideas, but they are mine!)