Green Ronin has unveiled their licensing scheme for True20, their own variant system. It’s OGL-based, yay!
Man, check out the long ol’ list of OGC sources in their Section 15! That’s pretty cool actually. That’s open gaming at work!
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Tag Archives: RPG
D&D Fourth Edition License Unveiled!
After much hullabaloo, the open licensing for D&D Fourth Edition (4e) has been unveiled – kinda.
D&D 4th Edition Game System License
Wizards of the Coast is pleased to announce that third-party publishers will be allowed to publish products compatible with the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition game system under the new Dungeons & Dragons 4E Game System License (D&D 4E GSL). This royalty-free license will replace the former d20 System Trademark License (STL), and will have a System Reference Document (SRD) available for referencing permissible content.
20-point Letter of 4e Protest
There’s a hilarious open letter “from a gnome and a half-orc” airing their grievances about D&D 4e! Read it here.
Stars Who Love D&D
Since we RPGers are desperate for the validation of “cool” people who play D&D, here’s the ultimate! Britney Spears has coded messages about D&D and Gary Gygax’ passing in her new single, “Piece of Me!” Read all about it.
Three Games I’ve Avoided
Well, to be fair and balanced, now I’ll vent some bile at some non-D&D games. I own literally thousands of RPG products and will play nearly anything, but there are three pretty major games/game systems that I’ve avoided like the plague. And the reason why boils down to the general player base for those games. Some games have better or worse mechanics etc. – FUDGE dice are the worst idea ever – but that doesn’t spur active avoidance in me. I’ll go as crunchy as GURPS or as light as a pure storytelling game. But here are the three big problems for me…
World of Darkness. I am happy there’s a game for out there for goths experimenting with their bisexuality but that’s not me. I don’t want to hear a cute little story about how your cat Crowley was trying to drink from the chalice while you were trying to get your pre-game blessing done (true story). I avoid life situations that would tend to get you in jail/in trouble and the average WoD group rings all kinds of alarm bells for me. (I’m sure many WoD players don’t fit this mold, but the crowd of black-and-hat-wearing teens choking the sidewalks outside every con I’ve ever been to do. And why always outside the con out on the street? Not enough allowance for actual admission? Clove cigarette smoking not allowed inside? What?)
A Rare Bit of Wisdom
Paizo Publishing decided that they shouldn’t trademark the term “Adventure Path” and instead let it be a common-use term. And also they have enough claim to it that they can almost certainly prevent anyone else from trademarking it. Look, you don’t have to be a proprietary ass to be a game company! They explain on their forums in this thread. Good job guys!
More 4e Suck
As I was afraid of. Here’s a preview of the Succubus and Malebranche from 4e. Like “marking”, they’ve layered up the malebranche with a bunch of powers that are very hard to describe or explain from a true role-playing point of view – what do these mean in the game world? They’re just ‘move the minis’ powers.
(r) Besieged Foe (minor; at-will)
Ranged sight; automatic hit; the target is marked, and allies of the war devil gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls made against the target until the encounter ends or the war devil marks a new target.
(r) Fiendish Tactics (minor; recharge 5 6 )
Ranged 10; affects up to 2 allied devils of the war devil’s level or lower; each target can take a move action or make a basic attack.
I can explain a charm, a teleport, a fireball. But now everything has random powers designed not to make sense in a RP setting but instead to maximize things minis can do on a game board.
And malebranche were always horned devils – now they’re “war devils.” Why? Is that a kewler name? What in the world is the motivation to change things like that? And the language they speak – “Supernal.” May as well call it “teh ghey.”
I like the sidebar of “pit fiends through the ages,” the progression is telling. 1e, 2e, 3e, “Miniature,” and 4e. I guess 4e really is a post-minis game.
OK, I’m officially off any semblance of a fence – 4e sucks donkey balls.
Scrabulous?
There’s a legal case brewing that might have implications for the RPG world. For a long time, RPG companies have held people who wanted to make compatible products at bay with legal threats; even though the rough consensus is “you can’t protect game rules” there hasn’t been clear enough case law to make it “safe enough” for people to bother.
However, now there’s a big test case – with Hasbro involved no less – where they’re suing an online game called Scrabulous that uses the same rules as Scrabble.
If Hasbro etc. loses, this means that there’s a lot clearer protection for other people – for example, for people or companies to make D&D compatible products without having to deal with Hasbro/WotC’s ideas of how that should happen. Check out the linked article for some legal analysis from an IP attorney.
Third Runelords “Stone Giants” Session Summary Posted
Our brave party forges deeper into the Fortress of the Stone Giants in Paizo’s Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
This time, my character Valgrim the Summoner finally gets to bind a demon! Frequently talked about in D&D but infrequently done, binding a demon to your will has its pros and its cons. He got a bar-lgura (from Fiendish Codex I), or as my party calls it “The Hellutang!”
And we get a little too much excitement – after a boring fight with redcaps, and our dragon shaman browbeating a kobold barbarian into joining us, we meet Xanesha the lamia matriarch for the last time! Ravno the Varisian takes his revenge on her for her abduction of his sister – but perishes himself in the process.
All of this and more awaits you – here’s the newest summary!
Posted in session summaries
Tagged 3.5e, adventure path, D&D, rise of the runelords, RPG, RPGs, runelords
Eldritch RPG Web Site Live
The Eldritch RPG Web site is live and the game should arrive soon.
The Eldritch designers responded to a bunch of my questions about the game on the Goodman forums – why a new system, why not OGL, what the target feel is…
So far I like what I’m hearing. Looking at their DM’s screen and character sheet downloads is probably the best view into the rules. I like the skill successions. I’m not as thrilled with the acronym-heavy approach that makes it sound like Palladium.
Innovative new game or D&D/Palladium FRP heartbreaker? Can’t tell until we get a chance to play it!
Second Runelords “Stone Giants” Session Summary Posted
It’s a bit late, but here’s the newest Rise of the Runelords session summary; the second game session of the fourth (of six) chapters overall, as we approach the Fortress of the Stone Giants!
Part III is happening today. I will be binding a creature from the outermost Hells and forcing it to serve me by helping to slay whatever weird semi-giant is in charge of all this nonsense!!!
Posted in session summaries
Tagged 3.5e, adventure path, D&D, rise of the runelords, RPG, RPGs, runelords
Intergalactic Cooking Challenge
I was just in my FLGS and saw this, it looks hilarious! It’s an indie game (originally a 24 hour RPG) in which the PCs are engaged in comedic Iron Chef-like antics with aliens.
Intergalactic Cooking Challenge
I’m glad it was in the store – RPGs are fringe enough; people who rely on Lulu or whatever instead of putting their books in game stores – sorry, but I’ve never bought a POD without looking at it and not sure I ever will. Of course I’m not a big fan of buying PDFs either, unless it’s something I can’t lay my hands on otherwise (like the list of things I bought at RPGNow recently) or unless I can check it out first (not that I’d know how to lay my hands on RPG PDFs for free…).
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