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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Wizards of the Coast has released the System Reference Document, the heart of the three core rule books that constitute Dungeons & Dragons' 2024 gameplay, under a Creative Commons license. This means the company cannot alter the deal further, like it almost did in early 2023, leading to considerable pushback and, eventually, a retreat. It was a long quest, but the lawful good party has earned some long-term rewards, including a new, similarly licensed reference book. [...] Version 5.2 of the SRD, all 360-plus pages of it, has now been released under the same Creative Commons license. The major change is that it includes more 2024 5th edition (i.e., D&D One) rules and content, while version 5.1 focused on 2014 rules. Legally, you can now design and publish campaigns under the 2024 5th edition rule set. More importantly, more aspects of the newest D&D rule books are available under a free license: - "Rhythm of Play" and "Exploration" documentation - More character origins and backgrounds, including criminal, sage, soldier, and the goliath and orc species. - 16 feats, including archery, great weapon fighting, and seven boons - Five bits of equipment, 20 spells, 15 magic items, and 17 monsters, including the hippopotamus There are some aspects of D&D you still can't really touch without bumping up against copyrights. Certain monsters from the Monster Manual, like the Kraken, are in the public domain, but their specific stats in the D&D rulebook are copyrighted. Iconic creatures and species like the Beholder, Displacer Beast, Illithid, Githyanki, Yuan-Ti, and others remain the property of WotC (and thereby Hasbro). As a creator, you'll still need to do some History (or is it Arcana?) checks before you publish and sell.

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As the red ribbons were tied around the papal bedroom door, actor John Lithgow's character in the Oscar-nominated movie Conclave looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

The Duchess of Sussex, 43, took to the stage at the TIME100 Summit on Wednesday, where she candidly told the audience that her eldest underwent something pretty monumental.

Jay-Z's accuser - who says Jay-Z and Sean ' Diddy ' Combs sexually assaulted her when she was 13 - identifies herself as Jane Doe in court documents.

A concerning air quality mystery has broken out, as the city was reportedly blanketed with toxic chemicals - although not everyone is convinced that the emergency actually took place.

Discord CEO and co-founder Jason Citron is stepping down from his leadership role at the company and being replaced by Humam Sakhnini, a former executive from Activision Blizzard. "Citron will remain on Discord's board of directors, and fellow co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy will continue acting as the company's chief technology officer," notes Engadget. From the report: There's an important financial context to Citron's move. The New York Times reported in March that Discord was meeting with investors to take the company public. Sakhnini has experience acting as a leader of a public company. He was also the President of King Digital -- the creator of Candy Crush and other popular mobile games -- after the company was acquired by Activision Blizzard. A veteran executive could be a natural fit to usher Discord to an IPO. Citron didn't deny the plan when VentureBeat asked if the company would go public: "As you can imagine, hiring someone like Humam is a step in that direction." "From the very beginning, our mission has been about bringing people together around games," Citron said in a statement. "It's a mission I've dedicated my career to, and I'm confident that passing the torch to Humam is the right evolution for Discord's future." While initially pitched as a way to talk to friend's before, during and after playing games, Discord has morphed into a much larger and more general social platform, serving "more than 200 million monthly active users worldwide," the company says.

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Fans rushed to Instagram to share their love for it

The son of former Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 74, showed a remarkable act of forgiveness toward his father after he was convicted of fatally shooting his mother Sheryl, 65, on Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE BY MIKE KEEGAN: Mail Sport understands that Elland Road bosses harbour reservations that the former Norwich City boss is the man to ensure top-flight survival.

Davion Only captured hearts around the nation in 2013 when he made a plea in front of church congregation for a family to 'love him forever.'

Americans considering vacations to a popular Caribbean island won't be able to plan through popular websites amid a landmark court ruling declaring bookings illegal.

Teresa Isabel Bernal, 33, was was arrested and charged with recklessly causing bodily injury to a child after the Christmas party at Jones Elementary School in Tyler, Texas.

Jessica Orton Lyman, 44, and her son Eli Painter, eight, were found with fatal gunshot wounds amid a gruesome scene inside their home in Saratoga Springs on March 28.

Elon’s not the only one sounding the alarm over the AI giant’s cash grab

A group of AI heavyweights and ex-OpenAI staffers are urging the attorneys general of California and Delaware to block the ChatGPT shop's latest restructuring into a for-profit corporation. …

The actor, 47, gets a grilling about claims he sent his son to private school in ITV 's new show The Assembly.

A young Kansas business owner changed an elderly woman's life after he got a call from the city about her overgrown lawn. 'Never in a million years, did I think this would happen,' Beth said.

Meta has expanded both the feature set and availability of its Ray-Ban smart glasses. Notable updates include live translation with offline support through downloadable language packs, the ability to send messages and make calls via Instagram, and conversations with Meta AI based on real-time visual context. The Verge reports: Live translation was first teased at Meta Connect 2024 last October, and saw a limited rollout through Meta's Early Access Program in select countries last December. Starting today it's getting a wider rollout to all the markets where the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are available. You can hold a conversation with someone who speaks English, French, Italian, or Spanish, and hear a real-time translation through the smart glasses in your preferred language. If you download a language pack in advance, you can use the live translations feature without Wi-Fi or access to a cellular network, making it more convenient to use while traveling abroad. Meta also highlighted a few other features that are still enroute or getting an expanded release. Live AI, which allows the Meta AI smart assistant to continuously see what you do for more natural conversations is now "coming soon to general availability in the US and Canada." The ability to "send and receive direct messages, photos, audio calls, and video calls from Instagram on your glasses," similar to functionality already available through WhatsApp, Messenger, and iOS and Android's native messaging apps, is coming soon as well. Access to music apps like Spotify, Amazon Music, Shazam, and Apple Music is starting to expand beyond the US and Canada, Meta says. However, asking Meta AI to play music, or for more information about what you're listening to, will still only be available to those with their "default language is set to English."

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Andrew Paul Hewitt, 52, was filmed making the gesture towards Warrington Town player Bohan Dixon after he celebrated his team's opening goal against Chester FC.

Lib Dem run Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council confirmed there will be no official event held in the harbour town of Poole to mark the historic anniversary on May 8.

Carlos Santana will miss a further show this week after he suffered a frightening health scare which saw him hospitalized.