OSR [4e] OSR Clone

Zardnaar

Legend
You can't use Dragonborn, Warlords, Tieflings etc as they are not covered.

The OSR products often use their own xp tables, and a lot of terms are OGL. To be safe you have to use terminology from 3E or your own. Fighter, Cleric etc are fine, Warlord is not. You probably can't use the 4E round structure either and power source s would also be iffy.

The OSR games are not that pure in terms of the original work. They focus more on the playstyle.
 

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Sacrosanct

Legend
Couldn't you make a clone and release it on DM's Guild to avoid the hassle of sticking to the OGL since the DM'sGuild allows a lot more IP usage?
 

Tony Vargas

Legend
Based on what I've seen at Enworld ... aren't they [Warlords] always? :)
Nothing escalates a thread
to edition war defcon1 like the prospect of someone, somewhere, someday possibly being allowed to play an official 5e D&D Warlord, even if there's only a remote hypothetical possibility that it might not suck. Heck, Warlord discussion needed their own hazardous thread containment forum, here, for a while, so virulent was the reaction against even discussing such a possibility.

::shrug::

The net effect that they're also keeping it out of any OGL (and thus in "carefully guarded IP?"), though, seems odd. It must be a coincidence: there's no reason to want to keep something as generic as "Warlord" out of the open-source-wilds, when so many much more distinctive things, like the afore-mentioned Dragonborn and Tieflings, have been released.
 
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gyor

Legend
Change warlord to Commander, it's a better name and a more accurate discription of the actual class which often isn't being played as someone who is an actual warlord.

Tiefling and Aasimar are so public at this point they are safe, even Pathfinder uses them.
 


GreyLord

Legend
Warlord should not be a problem in my opinion. Many OGL products have classes that have similar or the same name as D&D. WotC can copyright the Warlord as a specific thing, but the actual Word Warlord should be able to be used in an OGL product.

Obviously, just as with the other classes (and this would apply to ANY class) it cannot be a copy and paste job and must be original and in accordance with the OGL.

As Warlord as a description of a military leader has been in use for over a millennia, I do not see a difficulty in using it in the same context as it's dictionary definition for a class that operates as a leader. It should be fine using it as a class name in relation to the dictionary meaning which WotC cannot copyright (unless they take a LOT more than simply one small group to court).

If people still feel it is problematic we could change it's term to Military officer or Regal, Noble, or something else.

HOWEVER...what I do not see being able to be done is to have the classes of Avenger, Invoker, or Warden be classes that are even similar to those in the PHB 2 as there is no historical context in the way the D&D made them as classes as far as I'm aware of.

We could have it as a Witch hunter, Avatar and Nature-born or something of the like instead, but those specific names as classes as described are specifically D&D with no historical aspect. I'm open to other names for them.

Tiefling and Dragonborn also cannot be utilized. I'm more likely to go with the term of Dragonmen or Dracs or Dracomen instead for Dragonborn...Tieflings on the otherhand...unsure.

We could call them infernals though that term has been used in D&D previously, but for something else...so unsure on that (have to check with my legal sources in that regard). We could just straight up call them Half-Devels or something of a similar line. Open to suggestions.

No Goliaths, Deva's or shifters either. Perhaps Half-Giants, Angel reincarnates, and Wolfman/Catman or something similar to those. Once again, open to suggestions.
 

GreyLord

Legend
In light of other OGL changes, probably will have to have alignment on the two axis of Law/Chaos and Good/Evil. People will be able to combine each as they desire.

However, an emphasis will be given in regards to the ultimate good leaning towards the ultimate evil, which will have a few additions to the general 4e Alignment scale.

Instead of

LG>G>UA>E>CE

It will go more

Lawful Good
Good
Unaligned
Lawful Evil
Chaotic
Chaotic Evil

Also, will be travelling overseas and will be gone for the next week or two (which should give me a decent amount of time to work on the 4e clone if I bring a few core 4e books with me)...as well as off and on throughout the next month. Should have a LOT of time to work on this stuff, but won't be here as much for the next few weeks.

Might stop by the booth at the Expo if I'm in the area and get the time...encourage others to do so too if they can!!!
 

Charlaquin

Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
I’m all for the idea of a 4e clone, but there is a lot of armchair lawyering going on in this thread that I personally would not put a lot of stock in. If you’re serious enough about this that you think getting a C&D from WotC is a realistic concern, and you’d actually be willing to fight it in court, then you should probably talk to a real lawyer in meatspace about it.
 
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