D&D comes to Middle Earth (from Cubicle 7)

I have high hopes that the 5E OGL will really start to open up the game...and this would seem to qualify! Very excited for this.

 

[Morrus]

It's not merely a logo issue.
I think the questions are:

- how much the 5e SRD will limit their work or how much it will force them to work more, only to design something already existing?

- Can they omit some rules from their book, implying that players can find them in the original D&D (without quote directly the D&D books, because OGL does not allow it), or must they rewrite all the missing rules only to give players a whole standalone book?

If it's a setting book, it won't have rules from the PHB in it - it will require the use of the PHB. I'm not expecting a standalone game here. The PHB has the core rules; this will be a setting for D&D.

 

[Reynard]

If it's a setting book, it won't have rules from the PHB in it - it will require the use of the PHB. I'm not expecting a standalone game here. The PHB has the core rules; this will be a setting for D&D.

It will be interesting to see which they go with. A setting books with a little crunch here and there will produce a very different ME experience than a ground up 5E powered/compatible full game design.

 

[SilentWolf]

If it's a setting book, it won't have rules from the PHB in it - it will require the use of the PHB. I'm not expecting a standalone game here. The PHB has the core rules; this will be a setting for D&D.

That's really interesting.
I really hope that's possibile!!

I'm really curious, however, to see how they manage to refer their books to the D&D ones, without writing in any place the D&D name and without using sentences like "Read Dungeon Master Guide, page **, section Example".
OGL don't allow neither. That's the problem, as you maybe know better than me.

In addiction, they can't also declare officially that their books are compatible or co-adaptable to D&D IP (section 7 of the license).

It means they need to only imply the D&D rules references, without directly mention them.
I really hope that they manage to find a way!
A direct D&D LotR setting would be wonderful.

I'm really curious to read more news about this!

 

[Morrus]

That's really interesting.
I really hope that's possibile!!

I'm really curious, however, to see how they manage to refer their books to the D&D ones, without writing in any place the D&D name and without using sentences like "Read Dungeon Master Guide, page **, section Example".
OGL don't allow neither. That's the problem, as you maybe know better than me.

In addiction, they can't also declare officially that their books are compatible or co-adaptable to D&D IP (section 7 of the license).

It means they need to only imply the D&D rules references, without directly mention them.
I really hope that they manage to find a way!
A direct D&D LotR setting would be wonderful.

I'm really curious to read more news about this!

OGL publishers have been doing it for 16 years now. It's really not a problem.

 

[Gadget]

I can't say I'm so cavalier as Morris is about this. OGL publishers have been doing it for sixteen years, but not under this particular OGL and not with this SRD. I was hoping for a bit of mechanics to go along with this book to make it more Tolkienesque, not merely 'Just another setting book'. Not being able to tweak the game rules much (or having to reinvent the wheel) does lesson my initial enthusiasm a bit.

 

[SilentWolf]

OGL publishers have been doing it for 16 years now. It's really not a problem.

Thank you for the clarification.
I was not completly aware of that.

Not being able to tweak the game rules much (or having to reinvent the wheel) does lesson my initial enthusiasm a bit.

With the 5e SRD they can freely tweek the game, but they must "reinvent the wheel" when they need to use rules that are not covered in the SRD. Or they need to know how to refer to the original D&D 5e rules, without mention the D&D trademark, the D&D books and/or the compatibility with this last ones.

That means they can freely give players new rules (and a 5e LotR conversion needs much of them), tweek the SRD ones and that they must only imply the product compatibility, informing the players only indirectly about that they can use D&D books to find other rules.
The biggest limit is about experimenting with the rules not covered in the SRD. In this case, they need to reinvent the wheel. They can only imply - without clearly writing it - that their rule can be played with the already existing D&D 5e Rules. But if they need to reuse some rule not covered in the SRD to build new ones, they cannot.

In the case of a LotR setting, I think this will not represent a big problem. Cubicle 7, however, need to know very well how to move trough the legal issues represented by the 5e SRD and the new OGL.

 

[Morrus]

I can't say I'm so cavalier as Morris is about this. OGL publishers have been doing it for sixteen years, but not under this particular OGL and not with this SRD.

Yes, under this particular OGL. It's the exact same OGL.

I was hoping for a bit of mechanics to go along with this book to make it more Tolkienesque, not merely 'Just another setting book'. Not being able to tweak the game rules much (or having to reinvent the wheel) does lesson my initial enthusiasm a bit.

The OGL is designed to tweak the game rules. There is no part of the OGL which says you can't tweak the game rules. Mutants & Masterminds used the OGL to 'tweak' the 3.5 game rules; result: totally different game. Heck, Fate uses the OGL; the license doesn't even mention game rules. If your worry is about them not being able to make new game rules or tweak existing ones, don't worry. That's exactly the primary purpose of the OGL.

 

[Morrus]

Thank you for the clarification.
I was not completly aware of that.

Assuming you're being sarcastic, then you know it's a trivial barrier, and won't present even the slightest obstacle to this project. Those 16 years have oiled that process to a fine-tuned legally-perfect mechanism. The OGL and various SRDs are so familiar to people that they're putty in their hands.

Don't worry. There's not even minor speed bump here.

 

[SilentWolf]

Assuming you're being sarcastic, then you know it's a trivial barrier, and won't present even the slightest obstacle to this project. Those 16 years have oiled that process to a fine-tuned legally-perfect mechanism. The OGL and various SRDs are so familiar to people that they're putty in their hands.

Don't worry. There's not even minor speed bump here.

No, I'm not sarcastic.

Only in this last two years I've started to dig seriously into the OGL and SRD question. Until a few years ago, I've never considered this topic. Now I can say I have learned something about the legal issues, but I'm unaware about how companies have managed the legal limits until now.
That's why I thought it would be more difficult for Cubicle 7 to design a D&D setting without directly refer to D&D material. Especially considering the difference between the D&D 3.x SRD and the 5e one.

Happy to know the problem it's smaller that I thought.

 

[Reynard]

To game this out a little, I think an OGL version will look like this:

Characters: a discussion of appropriate SRD character races and classes and some new setting specific subclasses, subraces and background.

Magic: an overhaul.

Equipment: a brief discussion regardibg money systems and equipment that is not available.

Inspiration: how to makes goals, flaws etc... fit the setting.

Monsters: a list of what fits from the SRD and a few new/restatted creatures.

Magic Items: similar to monstrs since there are a fair number of them in the books.

New Rules: we will see a portof some of the most interesting and ground breaking TOR rules. It will also directly address the core D&D daily action economy.

Thoughts?