D&D5e Basic Rules

I am not sure why the Basic Rules are not included with Roll20 as standard? They are freely available for use as long as you're not reselling them so there is no reason really why they cannot be included with the SRD rules on Roll20. Link direct from Wizards of the Coast <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules" rel="nofollow">https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/basicrules</a>

A team member can probably answer this better, but the documents are different, created for different purposes and covered under different licensing agreements. WotC says of the SRD: The Systems Reference Document (SRD) contains guidelines for publishing content under the Open-Gaming License (OGL). Whereas the BR is a document created for players, to give the a taste of the rules. Although anyone can use it, it cannot be used to develop other products.

I thought the Basic Rules were a subset of the SRD. Some specific examples could help. Is there something in the Basic Rules that is not in the 5e Compendium here on Roll20?

There are five backgrounds in the BR, whereas the SRD has only Acolyte.

Ah. Thanks for the info, Keith!

From what I can work out. The SRD is intended for people (publishers) to make their own content using the Dungeons and Dragons 5e Framework. The Basic Rules include more flavour. The Basic Rules are available for anyone to use for free (and not to make money off of) and are a bit more limited in what they contain (they are a taster of the Players Hand Book. However they do contain enough different content from the SRD that when combined both work very well. The main reason for including the Basic Rules is to encourage more people to play D&amp;D5e and thus making it more likely that they will then purchase further products like the PHB, Xanathars Guide etc. There is less covered in some parts of the Basic Rules than others but in other parts of the Basic Rules there is more than the SRD. Both documents really should be used alongside one and other.

There might be licensing issues with adapting the work into the Roll20 system.

This is one of the reasons I don't use Roll20 as much as I would otherwise. It's just a pain to custom-make Backgrounds from scratch that are supposed to be free with Basic Rules.

JW said: This is one of the reasons I don't use Roll20 as much as I would otherwise. It's just a pain to custom-make Backgrounds from scratch that are supposed to be free with Basic Rules. This has nothing to do with Roll20. The Basic Rules and The SRD are entirely different publications. You cannot produce third party content with the Basic Rules. From the intro to each: Basic Rules The Basic Rules is a free PDF. Anyone can download it from our website. We want to put D&amp;D in as many hands as possible, and a free, digital file is the best way to do that. SRD The Systems Reference Document (SRD) contains guidelines for publishing content under the Open-Gaming License (OGL). If you are using the PDF of the basic rules, you are golden. If you are using a product that is built from the Basic Rules and they do not have a specific licensing agreement from WotC, it is illegally produced.

I just realized I'm probably repeating some stuff I said earlier, but this discussion is a month old... :)