Open by Design

ORC License

20 Below is released under the ORC License on purpose: we want everyone to be able to create content for 20 Below, not just play it. Write your own adventures. Design your own setting. Publish a supplement and sell it - without asking permission, and without paying a fee for the mechanics underneath. The system is the foundation; what you build on it is yours.

That's not just a nice sentiment - the ORC License makes it a legal guarantee. The core mechanics (the roll, the Attributes, the Skill and Gift/Boon/Flaw systems) are Licensed Material, free for anyone to build on, remix, and publish commercially, forever, irrevocably. A short list of specific creative content - the 20 Below name, individual Gift/Boon/Flaw flavor text, the apps themselves - stays Reserved. Everything else is open.

What's Open vs. Reserved

Open - Licensed Material

The core mechanics: the 2d10 roll, Difficulty, Advantage/Disadvantage, the five Attributes and their sub-stats, Ki, combat resolution, and the Gift/Boon/Flaw/Skill systems themselves - their point costs, structure, and how they resolve. Build a genre book, a setting, a full commercial product on top of this, freely.

Reserved - Not Licensed

The title "20 Below" and its branding; the specific names and flavor text of individual Gifts, Boons, and Flaws already published; the 20 Below Character Creator and Desktop apps (source code, design, implementation); and any genre or setting content - like Backwater Static - not expressly released as Licensed Material.

The Legal Text

20 Below Core Rules by Feralucce Savage is released under the ORC License, a perpetual, irrevocable open license for tabletop game mechanics.

ORC Notice
This product is licensed under the ORC License located at the Library of Congress at TX 9-307-067 and available online at various locations including azoralaw.com/orclicense and others. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein.

Attribution
This product is based on the following Licensed Material: 20 Below Core Rules, Copyright © 2026 Feralucce Savage.
If you use this Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit it as follows: [Title of Your Work], based on 20 Below Core Rules, Copyright © 2026 Feralucce Savage, available at github.com/feralucce/20_Below.

Reserved Material
Reserved Material elements in this product include, but are not limited to: the title "20 Below" and all associated logos and branding; the names, flavor text, and narrative descriptions of individual Gifts, Boons, and Flaws (the Gift, Boon, and Flaw systems themselves - their point costs, structure, and resolution mechanics - are Licensed Material); the 20 Below Character Creator and 20 Below Desktop applications, including their source code, design, and implementation, which are separate copyrighted works not licensed under the ORC License; and any genre, setting, or supplemental content not expressly published under this notice.

Expressly Designated Licensed Material
None at this time.

Questions about what you can build, or want to talk about publishing something for 20 Below? Source and full history at github.com/feralucce/20_Below.