This Wiki is an independent reference for Fifth Edition Fantasy Roleplaying rules published under the terms of the Open Game License Version 1.0a (see the Legal link on the sidebar). All rules on this site are freely available thanks to the OGL, though we encourage you to buy the original products (and any supplements you'd enjoy) as a way of supporting the many people who worked to create this content. You can find their books online or by ordering through your Friendly Local Game Shop.
Why Host This Wiki?
There are many reasons for hosting a wiki with free rules content in it.
First, websites enable accessibility for people. The internet can structure and link rules text in a completely different way from PDFs or physical books, and that can be handy if you want to search for a specific type of content or reference something in-game.
Wikis also enable access for people who can't afford to buy all of the products or who want to examine the rules in detail before they purchase something.
Second, well-supported websites are excellent for growing and supporting communities. They allow for rapid deployment of errata and author's notes in a format most people will check and use, and they make it easy to share content with friends.
Finally, this wiki has a minor use as an anti-piracy measure. While some people will probably share pirated copies of rulebooks no matter what else happens, the fact that rules content is already available for free in a broadly accessible format means there is minimal incentive to pirate copies.
Is This Legal?
Yes! As noted at the top of the page, this website mainly hosts content released under the terms of the Open Game License Version 1.0a. The short explanation is that this publishing license allows us to freely host and share certain game content as long as we follow the terms of the license.
That said, not all of the content on this website is open game content. For example, the art generally belongs to publishers and is only used with explicit permission from them. This wiki is fully committed to upholding all licensing terms and intellectual property rights, and because it does so, the site itself is legal.
What Are The Policies For Hosting New Content?
This wiki typically waits at least 2 weeks after content is published before hosting it on the site. While this period isn't required by any licensing agreement, it's broadly considered polite to wait a few weeks after products come out before hosting them for free. This gives early buyers a chance to enjoy the content before others and avoids undercutting initial sales.
How Can I Support The Spheres 5E Wiki?
The best way to support the wiki is by purchasing products through the affiliate links that product images have. These links will take you to DriveThruRPG, a major online retailer for game products. The wiki receives a small commission at no additional cost to you when you purchase something on DriveThruRPG after going through one of our affiliate links. Those commissions help pay for server costs.
What Is The Advertising Policy?
The Spheres 5E Wiki mostly avoids advertising, except for products whose rules are available on this site. The ads on rules pages help note which products the rules are from, but they are not advertisements as most of the internet uses them. Rather than being generated by algorithms, these are static images hosted on the wiki and individually hyperlinked to product pages. While this isn't automated, it means that external websites aren't adding a bunch of unverified code to the Wiki, either. (This is also why antivirus software may not block them - the code simply doesn't look like ads that should be blocked.)
On rare occasions, the Spheres 5E Wiki may host temporary ads for special projects, usually those by companies whose work is hosted on the Wiki. These can be for Kickstarter campaigns, etc., and are individually chosen because of the likelihood that they'll be interesting and relevant to some visitors.
Where's The Search Bar?
There isn't one. This wiki uses a content-based navigation system. The search system this wiki's host uses isn't particularly good for the way content is organized on this site, so it's frankly easier to just learn what's content pages exist and navigate that way. If you're not sure where something is, just ask on the Drop Dead Studios Discord server and someone can point you to it pretty fast.
If you want to use an outside search engine like Google, you can add the syntax "site:spheres5e.wikidot.com" followed by your search terms to find content that way.
Who Runs The Wiki?
Rednal (Discord username) is the primary wiki administrator. Among other things, he is also a published writer with Drop Dead Studios (creator of the Spheres of Power and Spheres of Might systems). Other staff members may also be allowed to create accounts.
Unlike some wiki systems, the Spheres 5E Wiki does not have open membership. This means that all edits to the wiki (including errata and notes) come from trustworthy and verified sources, and therefore can generally be taken as official author statements.