What is the relationship between Dungeon Masters Guild and Wizards of the Coast

[mikelibrarian]

I see that they are selling PDFs of 3.5 books that aren't available on the Wizards of the Coast site. Are they licensed to do this or are they just selling scans without compensating the publisher or creative teams?

[thorr-kan]

I see that they are selling PDFs of 3.5 books that aren't available on the Wizards of the Coast site. Are they licensed to do this or are they just selling scans without compensating the publisher or creative teams?
Ask DriveThruRpg.com. DMsGuild.com is their website.

[AmberVael]

Without getting into specifics: close. OneBookShelf, the company behind DMsGuild, Drivethrurpg, and others, has a lot of special allowances from WotC (at least for DMsGuild).
You'd have to ask them for more detail about 3.5 books, but if they're selling them, WotC knows. I find the idea that they're selling back alley scans to be pretty laughable.

But lastly, as someone in the industry - legit or not, I doubt most of the creative team sees any profits from sales anyway. Flat rates are more commonly offered to contributors than royalties.

[Glimbur]

The Dungeon Masters Guild is a collection of people who for one reason or another maintain dungeons. They can be proving grounds for tests of adulthood, vaults to protect sealed items, or even menageries. Membership has an annual fee but they also organize classes on dungeon management and audits of dungeons. Some kingdoms require membership if you own a dungeon.

The Wizards of the Coast is a group of arcane spellcasters. It started on the shores of the ocean but members are worldwide now. They trade spells, warn about bad customers, and so on. A much more informal network, with no dues required or even a central authority. They don't want to take sides on the Law/Chaos or Good/Evil arguments so someone claiming to be a certified Wizard of the Coast is probably trying to scam you. It's a meaningless title.

Some Dungeon Masters hire Wizards of the Coast for contract or long-term spellcasting.