Is any part of this book Open Content?

So I learn about this book just in time for it to become unavailable. D'oh!

Is any part of this book Open Content?

I have it, boxed up, around my house... if I can dig it up I'll let you know what it says.

I had a thread on ENWorld s few years ago comparing the various Mass-Combat system / Kingdom rulership systems.... Birthright for AD&D 2nd Edition, Dominions in D&D/BECMI, Fields of Blood, Empire D20, and one from Mongoose whose name escapes me.. Book of Strongholds, I think.

Fields of Blood compared favorably. The only issues I saw were these:

1) Because the hex size on the map was smaller than a Birthright Domain (by about 1/4 the area, 1/2 the distance across), and because the maintenance costs of a domain added up quickly after 7 hexes, it could be problematic to manage a significant size of Domain this way.

In comparison, the hexes in the Kingmaker AP rules are exactly the same size. Jon Brazer Enterprises has a book that expands on those, as well, but I have a quibble as they use a different measurement for size, which may have repercussions (or not, depending on how much of a stickler you are).

2) While there is allowance and coverage for organizations of Religious, Arcane, Mercantile, and Criminal natures.. they are "add-ons" or "accessories" to the Realm they live in, rather than stand-alone poilitical players.

Say, Urath and R_Chance, how would you say the mass combat system in this book stacks up next to the one in Kingmaker and the Jon Brazer book?

Say, Urath and R_Chance, how would you say the mass combat system in this book stacks up next to the one in Kingmaker and the Jon Brazer book?

Eric, I don't have the Kingmaker / John Brazer books. I have WotCs Heroes of Battle, Fields of Blood and Cry Havoc! by Swords and Sorcery / Malhavoc. So I can't help you there. Although I may pick up the John Brazer book now :)

I started out with Chainmail (before D&D) and liked the 0E Swords and Spells and 1E Battle System because they pretty much reproduced D&Ds mechanics / magic etc. for miniature combat. After looking over fields of Blood and Cry Havoc I went with Heroes of battle not because they were bad, but because a role-playing encounter solution was better for my players (who were mid-level at the time). They're at the stage where I might be looking for a more strategic system now, so we'll see.

To answer the OP, Fields of Blood does not have the Open Gaming License in it and does not directly reproduce OGL materials. It does not have the typical declaration of "Product Identity" vs. "Open Content" either. It also has a "No part of this work may be reproduced..." notice. I would assume it's closed content.

Cry Havoc by Skip Williams from Malhavoc does have the OGL in the back. It also has the declaration of product identity and open content. If you're looking for open content mass battle stuff, there you go.

Eric Hinkle wrote:

Say, Urath and R_Chance, how would you say the mass combat system in this book stacks up next to the one in Kingmaker and the Jon Brazer book?

Eric, I don't have the Kingmaker / John Brazer books. I have WotCs Heroes of Battle, Fields of Blood and Cry Havoc! by Swords and Sorcery / Malhavoc. So I can't help you there. Although I may pick up the John Brazer book now :)

I started out with Chainmail (before D&D) and liked the 0E Swords and Spells and 1E Battle System because they pretty much reproduced D&Ds mechanics / magic etc. for miniature combat. After looking over fields of Blood and Cry Havoc I went with Heroes of battle not because they were bad, but because a role-playing encounter solution was better for my players (who were mid-level at the time). They're at the stage where I might be looking for a more strategic system now, so we'll see.

To answer the OP, Fields of Blood does not have the Open Gaming License in it and does not directly reproduce OGL materials. It does not have the typical declaration of "Product Identity" vs. "Open Content" either. It also has a "No part of this work may be reproduced..." notice. I would assume it's closed content.

Cry Havoc by Skip Williams from Malhavoc does have the OGL in the back. It also has the declaration of product identity and open content. If you're looking for open content mass battle stuff, there you go.

Thank you very much R_Chance for your swift reply. This has saved me a lot of emails. I do believe Cry Havoc is obtainable at my local gaming store so I will look into that one.

Thank you very much R_Chance for your swift reply. This has saved me a lot of emails. I do believe Cry Havoc is obtainable at my local gaming store so I will look into that one.

No problem. Looking back, iirc, there was some commentary then about Eden Studio's decision to keep Fields of Blood closed content... can't rember for sure though. At the time, as a consumer, it essentially didn't matter to me on more than a philisophical level. Strikes me as a bad idea for a 3pp, but to each their own. Good luck with Cry Havoc Matt.

Say, Urath and R_Chance, how would you say the mass combat system in this book stacks up next to the one in Kingmaker and the Jon Brazer book?

The rules in Kingmaker are a fraction of the size of the content of Fields of Blood... on the order of 1/10th.

JBE expanded on them for their book, but still, the exploration rules that are not a part of Fields of Blood consume a sizable chunk of that expanded space. Fields of Blood has, then, more content and detail than JBE's Kingmaker-based rules.

JBE's complete book is 52 pages overall in PDF... Fields of Blood is 178.

Thanks for the response, Urath. I'll be keeping my eyes open for Cry Havoc.