WotC does not own the concept of elves, dwarves, or dragons. Nor the concept of dice. D&D is a strong franchise, but the merchandise and rulesets are hardly ne

WotC does not own the concept of elves, dwarves, or dragons. Nor the concept of dice. D&D is a strong franchise, but the merchandise and rulesets are hardly necessary to play the game. To play RPGs, even practically-D&D-in-all-but-name, all you need is dice and paper. Nerds are wont to roll their own. I may not be a regular guest feature in the HBR, but it seems like common sense even to me that this is a strategically, financially dangerous path to take given their customer base.