Wizards of the Coast/Kenzer & Company License Agreements Expiring

[Wraith101]

Ooh, calling the new version "Advanced HackMaster" would be very, very cool.

Ooooooohhhhh, yes. yes it would. Great idea!

 

[3catcircus]

One question (ok maybe several):

I recently (April timeframe) purchased a bunch of the available KoK pdf and print products available on the Kenzer site. While I like print products, pdf are more convenient for me.

I inquired as to whether the non-pdf KoK products would be offered as pdf. Kenzer's Art Director/Editor/Writer/Convention Manager (won't mention his name unless its ok to do so) stated that there were no plans to do so in the "near future (emphasis mine). Does this mean that they *will* be offered as pdf after the license expires?

KoK products after the license expires won't have the logo. I assume they will be OGL-only when it comes to using anything from "core" D&D? If so, what happens if/when D&D goes to 4th edition (I am assuming 4e will be similar to SWSE)? Will Kenzer be able to offer a "converstion" document without getting into problems with WotC?

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

FUDGE no, but OSRIC, yes,

I think the main reason that FUDGE jumped into my mind was that it was one of the considered rulesets being bandied around for HackMaster before it was finalized.

Really, the options are wide-open for HackMaster's future. I really like the idea of a "Basic" HackMaster and an "Advanced" HackMaster.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Eh...Kalamar is a very boring setting with little to offer over the mainline D&D settings. The Kalamar CS was the first and last thing I ever purchased for Kalamar. The fact that they were forcing me to purchase the setting and a player's guide sucked donkey nuts. I want my rules bundled with the book rather than we forced to consult two books to make it useful.

Man...I really quite liked (and like) the Kingdoms of Kalamar setting. Not a lot of Fantasy Superheroics going on, but it held together really well as a consistent setting (which mightn't be important to everyone, but lack of such verisimilitude in a setting eventually drives me crazy).

That said, I'm relatively certain that the D&D logo never sold me on a single one of their products.

 

[SWBaxter]

That said, I'm relatively certain that the D&D logo never sold me on a single one of their products.

I'm guessing it made it easier to get product into FLGSes early on, which certainly helped sales. So while the D&D logo may not have sold you directly on any product, it probably had something to do with the product being there for you to buy.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

This does not even account for how poorly they marketed the Necromancer adventures and how difficult it was to be found in gamestores.

Ummm.... hello?

Was never our job. We were simply a production/shipping partner.

If you read the original press release I think that's clear.

Marketing didn't figure into it. Hell -- we can't even market our own stuff.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

Ooh, calling the new version "Advanced HackMaster" would be very, very cool.

Hmmm....

Note to self. (scribble scribble).

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

Hey Jolly,

Are the old HM books still going to be available through print-on-demand? How about .pdf? Or will the ending of this license prevent you from continuing to sell material made under that license after a certain point in time?

HM books based on AD&D material were (and are) prohibited in electronic form.
However those books based original material can (and have) been posted as pdfs if they're OOP.


As far as the rest of our HM inventory/books we have a sell-off period. So they'll be available still for a few months. There's demand for the material so what doesn't sell off should find it's way in the distribution channels.

We'll continue producing original HackMaster material after that.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

How can they publish Hackmaster if they loose the license to D&D. Isn't it very close

KenzerCo owns Hackmaster and all original material/rules presented in it. What we don't own is any original/hacked material taken from AD&D.

Can't really say more on the subject I'm afraid.

 

[bolen]

Will your wild west game be out for Gen Con?