In the

open gaming Open gaming is a movement within the tabletop role-playing game (RPG) industry with superficial similarities to the open source software movement. The key aspect is that copyright holders license their works under public copyright licenses that per ...

movement, a System Reference Document (SRD) is a reference for a role-playing game's mechanics licensed under the

Open Game License The Open Game License (OGL) is a public copyright license by Wizards of the Coast that may be used by tabletop role-playing game developers to grant permission to modify, copy, and redistribute some of the content designed for their games, not ...

(OGL) to allow other publishers to make material compatible with that game.

History

The first SRD was published in 2000 by

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidia ...

(WotC) and is based on the third edition of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

''; it was revised following the release of ''D&D'' version 3.5 in 2003. That SRD allowed for third-party publishers to freely produce material compatible with ''D&D''. It also formed the basis for independent role-playing games from other publishers, such as ''

Mutants & Masterminds ''Mutants & Masterminds'' (abbreviated "M&M" or "MnM") is a superhero role-playing game written by Steve Kenson and published by Green Ronin Publishing based on a variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed t ...

'' and the ''

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game The ''Pathfinder Roleplaying Game'' is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that was published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The first edition extends and modifies the System Reference Document (SRD) based on the revised 3rd edition ''Dungeon ...

'', among others. The 4th edition of ''D&D'', released in 2008, was not licensed under the OGL, but under the more restrictive Game System License. Subsequently, the 4e System Reference Document is quite different. Instead of the full texts of the OGL-licensed rules, the 4e SRD presents only lists of concepts and tables from the 4e rulebooks that may be used in a compatible product. The 5th edition of ''D&D'' was released in 2014. A new OGL-licensed SRD based on 5th edition was released in January 2016, and updated to version 5.1 in May 2016. Some other game systems, such as ''

FATE Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...

'', the

Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties ''Traveller'', '' Judge Dredd'', and ''Parano ...

editions of ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. It was first publis ...

'', '' Traveller'', and ''

Zweihänder Grim & Perilous RPG The ''Zweihänder'' () (German 'two-hander'), also ''Doppelhänder'' ('double-hander'), ''Beidhänder'' ('both-hander'), ''Bihänder'' or ''Bidenhänder'', is a large two-handed sword primarily in use during the 16th century. ''Zweihänder'' s ...

'' have also released their own mechanics under distinct OGL-licensed "System Reference Documents".

References

{{d20 D20 System