I've decided to write my own little GSL FAQ. Please remember, this is not legal advice - I'm not a lawyer! - and the items below didn't come from WotC, merely my own reading of the GSL and, to an extent, my own experience in publishing. However, there are some histrionics and rather bizarre claims out there regarding the new license, and I have seen all those below more than a few times; I apologise to those of you who think that the below items are obvious: you're right, they are. I also apologise if I've gotten anything wrong! But here goes:

WotC is trying to copyright X! They can't do that! They can't claim they own the word "demon" or whatever!

You're right. They can't copyright the word "demon". Fortunately for you, you can feel vindicated in the fact that they have neither done so nor attempted to do so. In fact, run a quick search for the word "copyright" on the GSL; you'll find four instances, not one of which is a copyright claim.

So that means I can use their "Defined Terms" however I like, right? Because WotC doesn't own them!

Again, you are right in that WotC does not "own" those words. Nowhere does it say they do. All they've said is "if you want to use our logo and stuff, you need to agree to use those words as defined in the core rules and not change that meaning".

The OGL is dead!

No, it's not. It never will be; it can't be. The OGL can not be rescinded; anything released under the OGL will remain Open Gaming Content forever.

What? I can't release software under the GSL?

Not under the GSL you can't, no. You couldn't under the old d20 STL, either. If you want to write software, you do it the same way as the rest of the world without a convenient GSL does: you use normal copyright law, and you don't use WotC's logo on it. And you definitely use a lawyer! In short: you don't release software under this license.

Yes, I know there was lots of software for 3E. Truthfully, much of it bore branding which was not legally allowed, but either flew under WotC's radar or they turned a blind eye to it. Very little of it bore the d20 logo, anyway, so wasn't governed by the d20 STL. Will WotC turn a blind eye still? Who knows!

The "no character generation" part of the license means I can't write a new class or race!

The "no character generation" part of the license is the same as the old d20 STL. It refers to (a) telling people how to generate ability scores; (b) telling people how to apply experience points and gain levels. It does not mean you can't create new classes, races, powers, feats, monsters or anything else. In fact, the official FAQ says that. Basically, it's there to stop you writing a competing game; you can write supporting supplements for 4E but you can't compete with 4E and still use this license. That's fair, right? WotC are saying "Hey, you can use this nifty logo free of charge, but don't use our own logo to compete with us - use it to work with us"

Aha! I have an ingenious idea! I'll just make two companies and circumvent the GSL/OGL exclusivity clause!

Ingenious or not, it's not new - people have been suggesting it since the GSL was first hinted at. It's not a great idea, though - first off, yes, you might get away with it; WotC might not notice, and if they did, they might not care. But they can rescind or change this license for any reason without notice; so if you try to weasel your way around clauses in the agreement, you might just annoy them enough to say: "Hey, we don't want to play with you any more. Stop using our license."

They're infringing on my "rights"!

Most often heard in the context of "they're trying to take away my right to use the OGL!" OK, first off: a license is not an Act of Parliament, a Sovereign Proclamation, a statute, a declaration of law, or a Bill of Congress; it does not remove rights. It's a contract - a mere agreement. They're not infringing on your rights; they're saying "Hey, do you like this nifty logo and stuff? If you think it will net you more sales, we'll let you use it! But in exchange for it, we ask you to voluntarily agree to not do certain things. As long as our agreement stands, you can continue to slap this lovely D&D logo on your books!"

A voluntary agreement does not restrict your rights; agreeing not to do something does not restrict your rights; agreeing to do something does not restrict your rights. If I offered to give you $5 to walk to the shop and buy me a sandwich, am I restricting your rights to stand in the corner and mope? No; you are agreeing to do something of your own free will.

Now I can't have a website under the GSL!

Well, no. But why would you want a website licensed under the GSL? You don't need the GSL to have a website - people have been managing that for years! Again, the point is not "WotC has made D&D websites illegal!", it's "You can't use this book publishing license with a website - it's a license for books." Just like the software restriction, above. Your website isn't part of your product.

Incidentally, remember that WotC will be issuing a "fan site policy" at some point, in which they'll specifically say what they're comfortable with people doing on the web; but, again, remember it's not a declaration of law, just a policy. The policy may have a logo and license, etc., attached, but that's unlikely; it's more likely to be a statement of intent from WotC and, just like every other of the 20 million fansites for every other game, movie, TV show, novel series, sport, etc., on the web, is governed by standard copyright laws.

So you're saying I don't need the GSL; I just need to obey copyright laws?

No, you don't need the GSL. But using it makes things a hell of a lot easier for you. Instead of muddling through copyright and intellectual property laws and risking screwing up and getting nasty letters from WotC, they've given you an easy-to-understand license whereby they give you permission to do a bunch of things with no risk of legal action. Think of it as a convenient shortcut of IP issues, coupled with a cool logo; it's a "safe harbour" where you know you're protected.

You can't copyright rules mechanics!

This is the one I hear most often; and yes it's true; and no, it's not relevant. I hear it about the GSL, I heard it about the OGL. I think it gets posted because someone snoops around on a copyright-related website, finds this little gem and then gleefully posts it. Unfortunately, it has nothing at all to do with the GSL, or the OGL, or the d20 STL or any other license. Y'see, as I mentioned above, the license is not a statement of copyright; it is a contract. An agreement between two parties; it doesn't steer anywhere near copyright issues: in fact, that's the whole point of it! If the person you're discussing the GSL (or the OGL or the d20 STL) starts twittering on about copyrights, feel free to exit the conversation, because it's a totally different one to the one you're having and not related to the licenses at all - and, to boot, is a sign that they likely haven't read the licenses they're complaining about.

WotC can revoke the license at any time!

Yes. Yes, they can. That is, unfortunately, a risk you have to take if you use the GSL: unlike the OGL, it is revocable, much like the d20 STL was.

But what does that mean? Well, as you know, the d20 STL has been revoked; third-party-publishers have been given a 6-month grace period to sell off backstock, at which point they will not be able to sell products released under that license. In practice, that means taking the d20 logo off the books, along with a couple of lines of compatibility text. So a revocation of the GSL, while inconvenient, isn't quite as drastic as you may think at first: you'll need to remove some brand-related stuff, but by-and-large you should be OK. You should be aware that there's no "open" SRD this time round, though, so you'll have to be careful about general copyright issues - but a general copyright discusison is far beyond the scope of this FAQ, and it's what you should be hiring a lawyer for. For print publishers with large stock, this could prove to be a problem; for PDF publishers, it's more just an inconvenience - but a surmountable one.

WotC's own products violate the license!

Ah, one of the more silly things I've heard people say. Granted, not that many people say it, but I have heard it. WotC doesn't need a license to use its own property; it can do whatever it wants with its own stuff. And can attach any conditions it likes when it lends its stuff to someone else. It's not in violation of the license because it doesn't use the license.

Let me start off with the standard disclaimers. I'm not going to go into detail here. I'd like to; we've got lots of cool ideas in the works, and I'll admit that I never liked the eladrin until we hit on our current story for them. But this isn't the place for those details, all the more so because until the 4E Eberron books go to print, anything could change. Even with the limited level of detail I am going to provide, this is not canon. And even if it was, don't let that stop you from doing your own thing. If you think it's cool to turn the Aereni into eladrin, do it. If you want to give the eladrin a floating cloud continent, do it. WE aren't going to do either of those things, but hey, knock yourself out. But if you are interested in canon, I'd keep an eye on DDI. We've already seen the warforged; if the full Eberron eladrin story is going to come out early. I'd expect it to be there.

Anyhow, let's talk races.

Warforged. The warforged have just gotten a full player-race treatment in Dragon, complete with flavor, racial feats, paragon paths, and equipment. So warforged are good to go.

Shifters. The Monster Manual provides basic info on the Longtooth and Razorclaw shifters. It's enough to make shifter PCs, and I've got one in one of my games right now. It works fine. Hopefully the shfiters will get a similar DDI treatment to that of the warforged, and you'll see feats that capture a broader range of their old abilities. But even without all the bells and whistles (and who among us will bell the shifter?), they are a playable race as stands.

Changelings. Likewise, the MM gives basic changeling (well, doppelganger) data. The default is +2 Int/+2 Cha - IE, great fey warlock - but as a house rule, I've allowed changelings to go +2 Dex/+2 Cha as their ability modifiers. I've always seen them as more rogue than wizard. They're fairly straightforward as written, but I'd hope to see a DDI article to give them more depth (or write one - I did write The Complete Guide to Doppelgangers, after all!).

Now, a question that's come up with the relationship between changelings and doppelgangers. As stands, they are two words for the same thing. It's basically a level of trust and hostility. I'm worried that a doppelganger has replaced the mmayor; while Dek the changeling is a decent fellow, even if that gray skin is creepy. Use the word you want to use. As a random factoid, the original Eberron proposal didn't actually have changelings; it just had doppelgangers as a base race, using a Savage Species-style level progression to gain access to their full abilities. Changelings came out of the desire to just have a simple, LA +0 race. So the current model is actually closer to the original. I'd like to see some racial feats and paragon paths that draw out some of the old doppelganger ideas we all remember, but there will be time for that.

Kalashtar. Not happening any time soon. If you want kalashtar NPCs, I'd look at the psionic abilities of the mind flayers and gith for ideas. But at the moment, they aren't around for PCs.

Gnomes. They're still in Zilargo, and their knack for stealth is a boon for agents of the Trust. The MM entry is works just fine. I let 'em spend feats to be able to use prestidigitation or ghost sound, because to me those are a big part of Zilargo (and it lets a Trust agent whisper a warning into the ear of a would-be criminal... steering them from an unwise course so you never have to get into conflict). But that's a me thing - I'm not saying it's balanced, and I'm certainly not saying it's going to be in the 4E Eberron books. In any case, I've got a gnome wizard in one of my games, and he's been having a fine time.

Half-orcs. Right now, there's no rules for half-orcs. You can take the kalashtar route and hang back from making half orc PCs. You could make your own half-orcs. Or you could make a "half-orc" by using a human or an orc, and simply describe the character as showing clear signs of his heritage - if human he may have grayish skin, prominent teeth, etc. Looking specifically to a human, use his ability bonus on either Strength or Constitution; use his racial feat on something like Toughness or Power Attack; and use his racial skill training on something like Intimidate, Athletics, or Nature. Bingo - half-orc.

I believe that covers the OLD races. Looking to the new races...

Tieflings. I can't talk about the full history of the tiefling in Eberron - it's just not the right time. I know that's frustrating for those of you planning to make tiefling characters, but you'll have to come up with your own story (there's certainly a lot of good ideas out there) or be a tiefling of mystery. However, what I can do is point back to what's already been said in 3.5 sources. Tieflings do exist in Eberron. They're rare in the civilized world, but not unknown. And they are most common in the west - notably Droaam and the Demon Wastes.

Dragonborn. Novels and such have already pointed to the presence of dragonborn in Argonnessen. However, Argonnessen is going to remain as mysterious and offlimits in 4E as in 3E, which means you aren't going to have a steady stream of PCs from Argonnessen. "Oh, yeah, I was hangin' with the Conclave the other day, and one of the Eyes of Chronepsis, she says 'Wasssup!', and I say..." No no no. But where dragons have ventured beyond Argonnessen, you might find dragonborn. That's all I'll say for now - but the point is that you do have dragonborn in Khorvaire, albeit in small numbers. One of the PCs in my playtest game (and bear in mind, this is before I even started talking with WotC about Eberron 4E, so don't take this as official) is a dragonborn paladin of the Blood of Vol, whose ancestors fought alongside the original Emerald Claw in the war in which the line of Vol was erradicated; his ancestors immigrated to Lhazaar and later to Karrnath along with the elven exiles. Again, don't expect us to suddenly say "Karrnath is crawling with Vol-loving dragonborn" - but it's an example of how you could find a few around.

Eladrin. We're standing by what we said in 3.5: Eladrin are denizens of Thelanis. Again, there's a big story here we'll reveal in time, but for the moment, just bear in mind that Thelanis is one of the easiest planes to move to and from. Obviously you've got the Twilight Demesne in the Eldeen Reaches, but any manifest zone will do when the time is right. Perhaps you came during the Last War and lost your heart to a human, or simply to their cause. Perhaps you are an exile, doomed to wander the mortal realms until you can solve an unsolvable riddle or find the livewood staff holding the soul of your betrothed. Perhaps you are a trickster wishing to test your wiles on tyhe dull-witted people of Khorvaire. There's lots of options to choose from... and while we have other things in the shadows, none of these would contradict the larger scheme. As with the Dragonborn and Tieflings, eladrin aren't common in Khorvaire, but neither are they unknown - though you'd probably end up being mistaken for an elf most of the time.

Now, I know lots of people expected us to make the Aereni into the eladrin. Why didn't we? Well, if it was our intention, we could have made the Aereni and Tairnadal separate races in the first place; goodness knows 3.5 had enough elven subraces, and we kept them one race under that. The difference between the Aereni and the Tairnadal is supposed to be purely cultural. They share common ancestors, and have taken different paths to compensate for the tragic loss of those ancestors. The Aereni now seek to preserve their heroes through necromancy; the Tairnadal, through martial and religious devotion. But both stretch back to the same roots... and as has been noted in a few places, it's possible for a youth from the south to head north to join the Tairnadal, or for a Tairnadal to turn his back on his people and join the Aereni. The eladrin are similar to elves, and their may be good reason for that - but they are a different race, while the Aereni and Tairnadal are simply different cultures.

Now you may be saying "But the elf makes a great ranger, while the eladrin is clearly an awesome wizard - aren't the Aereni all about magic?" The Aereni ARE accomplished at the arcane arts, sure. But you don't HAVE to have a +2 racial Int modifier for that to be the case. When it comes to min-maxing, it's not the best choice. But hey, while you might not be able to match that tiefling wizard in terms of pure Int, with your Wisdom and Dexterity modifiers, you can excel at your wand or orb mastery.

Beyond that, however, in my opinion the Aereni aren't the best wizards in the world. They're good at the arcane arts. They've developed impressive stuff. But in my opinion, they're stuck in a rut; they haven't really accomplished much NEW magically over the last few thousand years, especially when you set them next to the achievements of the Twelve. Airships! Warforged! Eternal Wands! And that's just in the last century. Elven magic is ancient and impressive - but innovation is not their strong suit. On the other hand, the Aereni have one innovation no one else has matched: the creation of a true divine force, in the Undying Court. It is this power that has allowed them to hold off the might of Argonnessen; and so it is the field of the divine where their true power lies. That means it's their clerics you should really watch out for... which means Wisdom, and that elves have.

Which is a long way of saying the Tairnadal have great rangers, the Aereni have mighty clerics, and the elf race works for both - and that's how we're leaving it!

And at this point, I'm going to sign off for at least a few days. I know that you'd all like more information on this and other topics, but frankly, I have paying work I need to get to! Obviously there's lots of questions remaining, such as how to handle dragonmarks. That one isn't a question I can answer for you right now, but I've seen lots of people developing homebrew ideas on the WotC boards and elsewhere, so if you need dragonmarks now see what people have come up with. The word is that the artificer will be in DDI next month, and hey, my article on Mordain's domain should be coming up on Dragon any day now - so enjoy those, and good luck overcoming the obstacles that remain in your way!

In 3E, in absence of magic, it takes a long time to recover hit points. Per page 146 of the 3.5 PHB, 8 hours of sleep allows you to recover one hit point per character level. Full bed rest doubles this. And long-term care from a trained healer can double it again. So there is a clear reason for an injured person to go to a Jorasco healing house; with proper treatment, he can get back 4 hp/level per day.

In 4E, in absence of magic, a PC recovers all of his hit points with an extended rest. Heal is used to treat disease, but this is the closest equivalent to "long-term care". Unless you create rules for it, a PC will never NEED to go to a Jorasco house for extended care - unless he has a disease.

With that said, it's actually trivial to CREATE something like a broken bone in 4E by treating it like a disease; I've done just that, in an adventure involving a shipwreck where a number of NPCs were comatose and required long-term care. It would be something like this:

Broken Arm
Level 12 disease
Special: Cannot be cured by the Cure Disease ritual
Endurance improve DC 28, Maintain DC 18
1. The victim is cured.
2. Initial Effect The target can make no use of the injured arm. This will prevent the use of a two-handed weapon or both weapon and shield. The character suffers a -1 penalty on Acrobatics, Athletics, and Thievery checks.
3. The infected break becomes painful. Increase the skill penalty to -2. The victim cannot use the arm.
4. Gangrene begins to set in. The victim cannot use the arm; increase the skill penalty to -4. The victim loses one healing surge that cannot be regained until he is cured; each subsequent failure causes an additional loss. If the victim begins the day with no healing surges, he dies.

Now, I'm not going to defend this particular example. I'm literally making this up off the top of my head, and I've got better things to do than to debate the DC of a break (and I'm no doctor - though I did once get invited to join a heart practice). The idea behind the high Improve number but low Maintain is to create a condition that takes some time to heal (especially without treatment) but that isn't likely to get worse. Another option would be to set the Impove DC even higher, but have it drop by one with each failed Endurance check - so the PC WILL eventually save, but it takes time.

In any case, yes, you could create broken bones in 4E. The disease system is actually a handy way to do it. But the point is that the mechanics of 3E provide PCs with a clear use for a house of healing: long-term care to regain hit points. The rules of 4E remove this with the full recovery of hit points after a single rest. My point is that this should not be saying that everyone in the world recovers from all harm after a good night's sleep, and there's good business in healing.

"We’re extremely excited to have both analog and digital components come together for D&D 4th Edition," said Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager for D&D. "Through the free beta period, we encourage fans to help us make improvements to the suite of digital components offered through D&D Insider."

The client-based applications, including the D&D Character Builder and D&D Game Table, will not be part of the initial beta release period, but will be added as they become available.

After the initial beta period concludes, Wizards of the Coast will offer a special introductory price for a limited time. "When the special introductory price period comes to an end, the regular price of $14.95 per month for the entire suite of components goes into effect," said Rouse. "And, as we’ve previously announced, there will be discounts based on longer subscription commitments."

Check out the latest installment of Ampersand for more details.

It all starts with the switch from preview content and 3.5 content, to all-4th-Edition all-the-time in our online magazines, Dragon and Dungeon. New articles, features, and adventures will roll out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then the entire month’s content will be collected into a full-sized digital magazine. Between the two online magazines, that’s the equivalent of an extra full-sized D&D game supplement every month—and that’s just for starters! D&D Insider will eventually also include an ever-expanding suite of player and DM tools, a game table, and other features that make it a compelling destination for all D&D fans.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to the initial rollout…

D&D Insider’s free beta period coincides with the launch of 4th Edition. You get to try out the first digital components without paying the subscription fees, and you can provide feedback to help us improve your experience. The initial rollout includes Dragon and Dungeon online magazines, and the D&D Rules Compendium. This powerful online resource for players and Dungeon Masters alike will be updated with each new D&D release (whether it’s an analog game product or a digital magazine), making it the place to go in order to find what you need, when you need it.

As other components become available, including client-based applications such as the D&D Character Builder and the D&D Game Table, they will be added to the mix. I’ll talk more about these digital offerings in my next column.

When the initial beta period comes to an end, subscription rates will go into effect. Initially, we’re going to roll out a special, limited-time introductory pricing offer. Those who get in on the ground floor will be able to take advantage of some great deals to gain access to D&D Insider and all its great features. After this introductory period, the regular subscription pricing that we’ve previously announced will go into effect: $14.95 per month, with discounts for longer subscription commitments.

So, get ready to sign up for your free D&D Insider beta account. Read the articles, use the material, experiment with the Rules Compendium—and provide us with the feedback we need to make these components even better.
Online Magazines

With the launch of D&D 4th Edition, the analog products and the digital offerings combine to make for a more intense and extensive D&D experience. This is initially most clearly seen in Dragon and Dungeon online magazines. If the analog book product is the first disc in the two-disc DVD that is D&D, then the online magazines are the bonus disc. The book (say, the Player’s Handbook) is the movie, the feature film. Dragon and Dungeon, then, are the extras—the deleted scenes, the documentaries, the alternate endings, the commentaries. Of course, this is just an analogy, the reality is even better.

Each online magazine includes material written by a combination of my in-house design and development staff, well-known freelancers, and talented newcomers from among the D&D fan base. That material is then subjected to the rigorous development process that all of our analog products go through, a process headed up by Mike Mearls and the D&D developers. When we reveal an article or an adventure, it stands side-by-side with our analog products as official, fully developed D&D canon.

Both magazines have been artistically redesigned to mirror the look of the 4E analog products while maintaining a magazine feel. In their new format, every article can be downloaded as a PDF or opened in a browser window for immediate viewing. Then, an issue’s worth of content is compiled into a collected PDF.

Dragon will be the place for players and DMs to find behind-the-scenes features, design and development secrets, product expansions and extras, and new rules mechanics. Dragon content also focuses on adding new elements and options to your game. We’re even going to use Dragon to show off new classes and races before they appear in a future Player’s Handbook, basically revealing them in playtest mode so that you can help us get them ready for wider distribution. That’s one of the perks of being a D&D Insider—you get to help shape the future development of the game.

Dungeon will be mostly the purview of Dungeon Masters, featuring side treks, adventure hooks, and full-length adventures to supplement our analog adventures and your own creativity. The goal of Dungeon is to make the DM’s life easier. I’ve seen some of the stuff that Chris Youngs has planned, and I can’t wait to try it out on my gaming group.

What you’ve seen since the announcement has been just the tip of the iceberg. The magazine content has been geared toward teasing and previewing the upcoming edition. When the new edition arrives, everything changes. The magazines take on all the depth and crunch we’ve been promising, and the cycle of D&D 4th Edition really kicks into high gear. It’s a cycle of analog products complemented by digital offerings that, in turn, influence organized play and are reflected in a vibrant community that provides feedback and suggestions—that leads to the next analog product, and the ongoing cycle of 4th Edition.

This is the vision I pitched three years ago. This is the vision that my team and the support teams throughout Wizards have been working to bring to fruition. This is the vision that’s about to become reality… at least, the first stage!

I can’t wait.

Keep playing!

--Bill Slavicsek

A. It’s not a “poison pill.” It’s a conversion clause. The D&D 4E GSL applies to fantasy-based products. The d20 GSL, which will come out at an undetermined point in the near future, will be for non-fantasy genres such as Modern, Future, etc. Publishers will be able to decide on a product line by product line basis which license will work best for them.

Q. Does the GSL contain provisions to prevent a secondary, sister or subsidiary company being created in order to distribute products under the OGL?

A. There are no restrictions prohibiting the formation of partnerships or subsidiaries, however companies will be bound by the product line declaration under the Game System License.

Q. How much of WotC's IP is made available via the GSL? Creatures such as beholders and illithids were not available under the old licensing structure. Will they be available under the new structure?

A. All of those details will be released when the license becomes available on June 6.

Q. What products would WotC like to see come out of the third party publishers that they are not currently interested in producing themselves?

A. The easy answer is we want to see quality products that support 4th Edition D&D. I’m guessing you want specific examples, right? The GSL is designed for publishers to make Adventures, “Fluff,” Campaign settings, Alternate Classes, Races, Monsters, Paragon Paths, Epic Destinies, and other creative supplemental products.

Q. What are WotC’s main goals regarding the GSL? Do you believe that third-party products will drive sales of the D&D core rulebooks?

A. The goals with the GSL include supporting our product line, growing the industry, and supplying consumers with a rich offering of RPG products meant to be used with the 4th Edition of D&D . And, of course, we want to drive sales of the D&D core rulebooks.

On behalf of Russell Morrissey and all of EN World, thank you for the opportunity to hold this interview.

Q) Many questions have been raised since the announcement last week. I think the one question everyone wants to know is: is the limitation the GSL places on publication of OGL based products limited on a "per company" basis or a "per product" basis? That is, is the effect merely to limit re-issuing the same product, or is a company that publishes a GSL product thereafter limited in their ability to publish any OGL products?

A. The restriction is on a per product line basis.

Q) How does this pertain to a company's catalog of existing OGL-based products? For example, if Necromancer Games publishes a Tome of Horrors 4e, would they have to stop selling their existing 3e OGL products via RPGnow?

A. Publishers will be able to continue to sell their backlist under the OGL. If those products had the d20 system logo on them there will be a 6-month sell off period after which they will not be able to use the d20 system logo.

Q) Can existing OGL products be updated to the GSL and what are the restrictions, if any?

A. Existing OGL products can absolutely be converted to 4e GSL products, so long as they adhere to the terms of the GSL. In fact, we want to see publishers update their popular product lines to 4e.

Q) What branding opportunities does the GSL offer publishers? Does it allow use of the new d20 logo; or does it allow access to Dungeons & Dragons specific branding?

A. There will be a compatibility logo. Embedded in this logo is a version of the new D&D logo and copy stating compatibility. This compatibility logo is permissible for use on product and marketing materials. There will be restrictions on placement and maximum size allowed.

Q) A six-month "sell-off" period has been mentioned with reference to stock carrying the old d20 logo. Is the d20 STL actually going away, or does this sell-off period apply only to those who adopt the GSL?

A. The d20 STL will be terminated. There will be a sell-off period of six months for products produced under the d20 STL. This is true for both pdf and print products. We’re estimating our own backlist stock to be sold through within 3 to 4 months, so allowing six months to other publishers feels fair. Allowing 6 months for pdfs is really pretty generous and we are already in conversations with publishers and PDF sellers like DrivethruRPG.com and RPGNow on how they can make these changes as easy as possible.

Q) Is the new GSL an open license?

A. We are not classifying the GSL as “open” as defined under the open source movement. It is a royalty-free license for permissible usage of specific D&D 4th Edition content including terms, tables, and templates. There is a significant amount of “openness” to the license and we wanted to provide ease of use and low barriers to entry while still maintaining control over things like the D&D Trademark. The GSL is designed to work with the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

Q) Is WotC planning on providing an easily available, downloadable copy of the rules available both online and off without a fee?

A. No. Anyone wishing access to the rules will need to purchase the core rulebooks. The GSL SRD will have a list of the terms, tables, and templates available for use under the GSL and will be available for download at no charge with the GSL itself.

Q) Are there any "types" of product prohibited by the GSL? For example, the old d20 STL prohibited the inclusion of character generation or advancement, meaning that a standalone game could not be created, while the OGL alone did not. Does the GSL contain these restrictions? Are any other types of product restricted?

A. Most of what was in the d20 STL has been pulled into the GSL. For example, no product can describe a process for creating a character or applying the effects of experience to a character. The new license is meant to work with the core D&D rules. The final details will be announced when the license is released in June.

Q) Are products required to adhere to any 'community standards' clause, or anything similar?

A.. Yes. The community standards that were in the d20 STL are now wrapped up into the GSL’s.

Q) Is the GSL a perpetual license, or is it revocable by WotC for reasons other than violation?

A. The Game System License Is revocable as it is tied to the D&D trademark and other intellectual property. Because of this Wizards needs to maintain control of the license.

Q) Why is October 1st the selected date for release of third-party materials, as opposed to, say, GenCon, which would be a far more useful launch date?

A. Our initial intention was to have third-party materials ready for release at GenCon, however there is no way that anyone could develop a true quality product in the short time between now and GenCon. We think that October 1st is more reasonable, and will also allow publishers to take advantage of holiday sales.

Q) Will any third-party publishers be permitted to release product under the GSL prior to October 1st?

A. No. October 1st is the permissible on-sale date for all third party publishers.

Q) Is there anything that you wished we’d asked that we haven’t?

A. You didn’t ask about my 4E character.

I wanted to take a few moments to clarify what I said at GTS last week. In regards to campaign settings, our goal for this edition is to make each setting we release unique and exciting on its own while still making it usable in any D&D campaign. Now, what exactly does that mean?

You wouldn't believe how many times over the years I've heard people say "I play in [insert favorite campaign setting here] so product X is of no use to me," or "I only play Core D&D (whatever that means) so I can't use that [insert campaign setting here] product." I plan to change that under 4th Edition by getting the word out that it's okay to mix and match. Go ahead. Get peanut butter in the chocolate. Some of the best campaigns I ever ran or had the pleasure to play in had a little bit of [insert campaign setting here] mixed with a smattering of [insert other campaign setting here] and combined all that with homebrew ideas to create something totally new and different.

So under 4th Edition, we're making every product look like a core product. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide releasing in August, for example, is a separate and unique setting on one hand, while being totally core D&D on the other. That means you can play a strictly Forgotten Realms campaign, or you can borrow the bits you like best to use in whatever D&D campaign you're playing in. This has always been true, but you wouldn't believe how many players were reluctant to cross the streams like that. I say cross away! (At least as far as your personal campaigns are concerned.) Why not use the best ideas, powers, feats, monsters, villains, and plot hooks from any product -- regardless of the campaign world your game is set in?

This means we won't be producing campaign lines, per se. For the Forgotten Realms, for example, you'll get the Campaign Guide, Player's Guide, and an adventure as physical products, as well as our ongoing line of bestselling novels, and plenty of ongoing support via D&D Insider. If a product idea comes along later that makes sense, we'll do it, but there won't be an ongoing regular release schedule of Forgotten Realms game products. Why not? Because every D&D product we do is a Forgotten Realms [or insert your favorite campaign setting here] game product. This is a subtle but significant change in philosophy geared toward making all players D&D players. It just makes the products and the brand stronger if every player is using the same material.

This is significantly different than what has occurred in the past. We won't be making the mistakes of line proliferation that helped sink TSR, and we won't be actively segmenting our audience. Instead we'll be providing all kinds of options and ideas through the core line of D&D RPG products. It's all D&D, all the time.

The model described above will be used every year, and we'll focus on a different campaign setting. Next year, we'll give this treatment to Eberron. After that? Well, we'll be exploring the best worlds from our vault, as well as creating new worlds as warranted. I can't guarantee which worlds will see this treatment as of yet, but chances are that your favorite campaign setting is on my list for consideration. And for all of them, in addition to the physical products we do, you'll see novels and novel lines (as appropriate), and ongoing support that continues to explore the worlds through D&D Insider. This plan makes D&D stronger, without sacrificing the heart of any campaign setting.

We’re going to give publishers a sell-off period where they’ll have until the end of 2008 to move through any stock that they have in their warehouses. Once it’s at distribution or in retail, the product can continue to sell through in its natural progression. We’re not going to ask publishers to recall that product and destroy it. But any excess inventory that they may happen to have in their warehouses at the end of ’08 would need to be destroyed. Any subsequent reprints they can still publish through the Open Gaming License, they just have to remove the d20 system trademark logo. That would include both PDF and physical product that continues to be sold after 2008.

On the OGL, you said it applies to material that was released under that license, what material specifically was released under that license?
A number of publishers, including Wizards of the Coast, released content as Open. For us it would be, what we call our Systems Reference Document, which is 3rd Edition (and 3.5 update) D&D rules as well as rules for Modern roleplaying. That System Reference Document, as Open and released under the license, continues to exist in the gamer community.

If I have this correctly, the d20 product that’s currently out there can continue to be sold, it just has to change the logo from d20 to something else?
Those will just revert back to publishing under the OGL.

What’s going to happen to the d20 mark?
We’ll continue to use that as a house organ mark, so it will show compatibility between our products, so any products we release under the Dungeons and Dragons line, Star Wars Saga Edition line, or any modern setting, it would bear that mark and it shows compatibility between miniatures, tiles, book products, that they use the d20 system.

Will retailers be able to continue sell old product with the d20 mark after the end of this year?
Absolutely. We’re not going to recall, or ask publishers to recall any of that product, so it will naturally move through that channel.

So there is no analogous d20 mark?
The license will be similar to the d20 System trade mark. There’s two licenses under the games system license. There’s a license for D&D roleplaying, and what we’re going to allow publishers to do under that license is actually show compatibility with D&D 4th Edition. They will have a little slug that’s a D&D logo with some compatibility text. Something to the effect that this product is compatible with the 4th Edition D&D roleplaying game.

Under the Modern license, there will be a license for non-fantasy roleplaying settings. The details of that haven’t been released yet. We don’t have a product line that that will support, but in the coming weeks we’ll be talking about plans for late 2009 and 2010 where we’ll be refreshing the d20 Modern or the Urban Arcana setting.

When D&D 4th Edition was announced last year, some publishers were going to be allowed a buy-in to get early access to the material. Did that happen?
No. We had some delays with the drafting of the game system license. One of those delays was adding this new alternate Modern roleplaying license. Our original intentions were that in February publishers would be able to buy a Games System License developers kit for $5,000 that would give them early access to the rules and an exclusivity window for publishing that would last through the end of 2009. The license would turn on in August at Gen Con and they would be able to sell from August to December. Because of the delays in drafting the license, that plan just didn’t make sense. We abandoned the phase one plan for the GSL and moved directly onto phase two, which was opening the system to everybody and that will happen on June 6th when we release 4th Edition, and those publishers will be able to start selling their products starting October 1st.

Why did you change the way you are branding your own vs. other people’s products?
It’s my understanding that the d20 mark was supposed to be the next best thing to having the D&D logo if you were a third party publisher. I think in the early stages that d20 mark really did stand for not only a symbol of compatibility but a symbol of quality, but not everyone released high quality products. I think over time the mark lost the equity that it once had. We actually started to see publishers stop using the mark. Although the intentions were correct, it never really panned out as conveying that the product is not D&D but it’s the next best thing. So it made sense to change directions on that.

So now you’ll just communicate that it’s compatible rather than on the quality?
Yes.

You’ve had a lot of interest in the new launch at the show?
Yes, we’ve had a lot of activity at our booth. We had a seminar on Tuesday where we talked about some of our launch plans and product offerings. People were literally piling out the doors. We had to add a second session today for the people who weren’t able to fit in the room yesterday.

Everyone is really excited about 4th Edition. I think it’ll be a real invigoration for the hobby for the summer. We’re seeing tremendous preorders. We’re seeing a lot of excitement on the message boards, so we’re really looking forward to the release of the product.

We’re going to have D&D Game Day, which will be happening on June 7th, the day after the release of the three core rule books. Our goal is to have, simultaneously, 3,000 stores across the world running D&D 4th Edition events. We’re already seeing a lot of interest from the hobby stores that are ordering the kits, and they’re going quickly. Retailers who haven’t ordered yet should get a hold of the folks at the RPGA to order your game day kit.

The roleplaying category has been slipping a little in the last few years. What does the 4th Edition mean to the macro trends in the market?
It’s going to be like 3rd Edition was; another point of reinvigoration of the category. With the release of 4th Edition, not only do we see a lot of old hobby gamers coming back to stores, but it’s a great opportunity to reach the next generation of gamers. Through our efforts in D&D Insider we have a great opportunity to reach out to that MMO playing younger gaming generation.

There’s a lot of great MMO games out there. I play them. I’m a big fan of World of Warcraft, and I think younger players that enjoy that experience would enjoy D&D, and in many ways 4th Edition is allowing us to give them some of the themes they’ve become used to in computer-based games. D&D Insider allows us a chance to deliver the D&D game system in a familiar format. For examples, with D&D Insider, character creation is a much easier process. Also we’ve streamlined the game. We’ve made the game play quicker around the table. There’s more action, less of the game stoppers--down times whether to have to stop to look up a rule in book or having to stop because your party members ran out of spells and it’s time to stop and rest. We wanted to take some of those show stoppers out of the game. Also we wanted to make the dungeon master’s job easier (make it easier for them to run a campaign), because DMs are the life blood of D&D. They’re the folks who hold the game groups together. If we make the job easier, it’ll be easier to recruit new DMs and we know that we can grow the hobby.

What kind of ad support have you got behind the launch?
We have a pretty significant campaign, with print, online as well as some TV advertising. We’re actually filming a TV spot in Seattle. You may have seen the Beholder at Gen Con last year made an appearance in Seattle. The shoot is a very fun, tongue-in-cheek, taking this obviously very fake monster (it’s absolutely huge, it’s 13 feet tall), and driving it around to generically iconic locations so the Beholder is at a city bus stop, it’s going to go to a coffee shop, a games store, the beach, a farm and even makes an appearance at the roller derby and makes a big payoff for the spot: “On June 6th, 4th edition will be everywhere.” This will be running on some cable networks including G4 and Sci Fi.

The first part of our marketing efforts in print, online and TV are meant to migrate that existing D&D player to 4th Edition. They’re really low hanging fruit. They’re already playing the game, they’re familiar with it. Then as we get later in the year, we’ll start to reach out to a broader audience for the acquisition marketing. That will mostly be a print and online campaign. We may revisit TV at that point.

Can you talk about how big a spend or how many impressions in terms of the TV campaign?
Our total marketing spend is about $2.5 million for the launch of 4th Edition. That would be all the media combined plus our Game Day event.

Where’s the online advertising going to appear?
It’s going to be on a lot of hobby gaming sites, places like EN World, ICv2, trade outreach as well as consumer outreach. And then as we get farther into the year and into that acquisition push, we’ll go broader, looking at some of the younger skewing sites, gaming sites as well as lifestyle sites.

I would say this year more than ever we’re putting a greater focus into online advertising. Not only does it allow us to reach a broader audience and a global audience, but we’re seeing the venues for print advertising dry up. There are still some core hobby publications, but we’re seeing that we have to reach into some of the broader publications, starting with looking at Geek and some of the computer gaming magazines. But, as you get into that broader reach the cost per thousand goes up quite a bit. A big push this year for online, but we’ll certainly have some print efforts.