I was thinking about this and it got me wondering. The d20 licence is going away, we know that. D20 licence indicated compatability as long as you didn't publish CharGen and followed a few other rules. Well what's to stop a 3rd party publisher now, since there is not d20 licence, from reprinting the entire SRD plus slightly modified CharGen rules and advertising it as being compatable with 4E. It could be cheaper then the 4E core book since there's no built in development cost and could save money on art too.
So what's to stop someone from doing exactly that ... unless the OGL isn't exactly "open" anymore? Is this the $20 million reason why Paizo hasn't comitted themselves to 4E sight unseen like Goodman has? Thoughts?
Well what's to stop a 3rd party publisher now, since there is not d20 licence, from reprinting the entire SRD plus slightly modified CharGen rules and advertising it as being compatable with 4E.
Nothing. Look at the OSRIC material that came out to be backwards compatible to 1E. (Though I believe that not everyone thinks that was a sound idea.) Whether it's a good idea or not remains to be seen. Crappy rulesets don't sell well. Even a well-done ruleset won't sell like D&D itself. It's a 400 pound gorilla.
Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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People basically do sell the SRD. Creative Mountain sells a pdf bundle of the SRD for $10. I believe its full of bookmarks and such to make it more user friendly. As has already been mentioned, they can't just go out and add the xp tables or anything like that to the document.
But, there's nothing stopping someone from cheaping out and printing the SRD, which includes the epic rules, most of Unearthed Arcana, and the XPH for free.*
*plus the cost of printing.
Namely the Experience Tables, award formulas, etc.
Essentially the core mechanics.
or those as well,
Partly because they haven't released it - or do you mean the OLD OGL? That license remains in effect for as long as they wish to defend it.
I don't mean right this very second, I mean when it comes out. What's to stop Paizo from publishing Pathfinder RPG with everything you need to play the game right inside. 3E had the carrot of having the d20 licence that stopped them from doing that. That's gone.
Odds are, if the new OGL/SRD differs at all from the old d20 one, it will be more strict, giving Hasbro greater oversight on what "competitors" publish.
I don't know about oversight, but I'm willing to bet that the new OGL says something to the effect of "you cannot publish character generation or advancement or ... while using this licence." Effectively, what I'm asking is does anyone believe that someone can come up with their own True20 type variant system from OGL 2.0?
As has already been mentioned, they can't just go out and add the xp tables or anything like that to the document.
Yes they can; they just can't call it d20. Muntants & Mastermind, OSRIC, True20, Traveller20 and plenty other are all OGL games that have XP and chargen rules in them but don't carry the d20 label on them. What I am saying is that what if WotC eliminates that possibility in the 4E OGL; what if there is no way for games like that to exist in the 4E OGL?
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License
Reading this, WotC can update the license to 2,0a 3.75b or whatever edition, I can still publish under this license.
Heck I can reconfigure 4.x open content into a 3.x format with this license.
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Heck I can reconfigure 4.x open content into a 3.x format with this license.
This idea had also occurred to me. With all of this debate about 3.5 vs 4.0 and various "core" classes and races missing from the 4.0 PHBI, and new races (Tieflings, Dragonborn) and classes (Warlock) becoming "core" - if these became OGL, then someone could ret-con them into 3.5. Sure, without talent trees and racial feats etc, they'd be somewhat different beasts than their 4.0 counterparts, but I'm sure some players would enjoy some 4.0 flavour without abandoning their 3.5.
I can still publish under this license.
Fair point. But what if 4E isn't OGL; what if its SOGL (Semi-Open Game Licence), a totally difference licence as far as the legal system is concerned. :P ;)
EDIT: Yes, I am being a brat, I know. Thank you for reminding me.
I can still publish under this license.Fair point. But what if 4E isn't OGL; what if its SOGL (Semi-Open Game Licence), a totally difference licence as far as the legal system is concerned. :P ;)
EDIT: Yes, I am being a brat, I know. Thank you for reminding me.
You consult your lawyer before you publish your "forwards-compatible" content. There's enough in the 3.5 SRD that's going to remain the same. Or, depending on the wording of the license, part of your book uses the old SRD and part the new.
Must...resist...random....speculation....
We've been told the OGL is changing. It seems unlikely they would change it and keep it basically the same so the new one will be either (A) More restrictive or (B) Less restrictive. Seeing that recent actions have been to make things more restrictive - killing Dungeon & Dragon, killing Code Monkey, delaying the release of the OGL (even if unintentional) - I'm guessing More Restrictive OGL.
Let's get really speculative:
Software: WotC has never liked OGL software. They want all of us paying them a monthly fee, not using some other software, so the new OGL will completely eliminate software.
Monsters: WotC has said that the new Monster Manual will be missing core monsters and they will appear in later Monster Manuals. Are they going to allow someone else to come in and publish those missing monsters before them? I'd think not. So some restrictions on creating monsters.
Classes: Ditto the Monster Manual argument. PH1 is going to be missing some standard classes. So maybe restrictions on splat type books.
If I want to be really conspiracy-minded, I might say that the new OGL is only going to allow adventures. That's a market that WotC doesn't really like and are happy to let others deal with. They'll keep software, monster manuals, and splat books for themselves.
If I want to be really conspiracy-minded, I might say that the new OGL is only going to allow adventures. That's a market that WotC doesn't really like and are happy to let others deal with. They'll keep software, monster manuals, and splat books for themselves.
WotC is doing an adventure push with 4E. Heck they have Dungeon so they're "supposed" to be publishing adventures. I think they did 1 in the past month.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Yes they can; they just can't call it d20. Muntants & Mastermind, OSRIC, True20, Traveller20 and plenty other are all OGL games that have XP and chargen rules in them but don't carry the d20 label on them. What I am saying is that what if WotC eliminates that possibility in the 4E OGL; what if there is no way for games like that to exist in the 4E OGL?
Yeah, you can make new xp charts/systems, but you can't take the actual D&D xp tables, which I thought was your point.