D&D 4E 4E Clone under OGL - How Hard Can It Be?

[4SRD]

Hi forum,

There has been a lot of talk about keeping 4E alive regardless of WotC support, and the idea of a 4E retro clone (forward clone?) has been kicked around several times. So why not go ahead and do it? As the great 20th century philosopher Jeremy Clarkson likes to say: "How hard can it be?"

All we need to do is rebuild a few dozen classes, several hundred feats, and over a thousand powers... with Wiki magic and the power of the Interwebs, that should be done in... I don't know, a year?

If you want to be one of the few, the proud who saved 4E from a cold, lonely death inflicted by an uncaring corporate [1], come here:
http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/4SRD:Main_Page

[1] Joking. Wizards of the Coast is an awesome company. No really.

 

[Pour]

I think the main hurtle in any endeavor to keep 4e communal and supported is to keep its online fan base collected. The 4e community here, on the WotC boards, and on RPGNet are a precious and invaluable resource. They would update the wikis, test and critique new products and support, come up with ideas and actually design said support, and guide new people just entering the community.

That's what I've been trying to accomplish, at least in part, with Fourth Party, creating a place where new fan products can be designed, but, more so, a place where we can gather as a community and sustain the 4e presence into tomorrow.

My biggest difficulty is that with all the talented and creative people in this community (you know who you are!), so few actually step forward to heartily contribute. It's hard not having a professional's time to invest. I still think that as a community we have a deeper understanding of the system, what it needs, and where it can go than even the professionals. I really do.

I'm hoping as the 5th Dawn nears, these uncounted champions will flee in fury and abject terror to the protective caves of Fourth Party and 4SRD to construct their great monuments and temples in the name of 4th Edition. Yeah...

 

[TheVoiceOfReason311]

I'll definitely pitch in with this once I've got some free time in about 6 weeks. I can't think of anything, off the top of my head, that would particularly difficult, just massively time consuming.

Also, I'm new here! And an idiot for not joining, or at least lurking earlier...

 

[Arlough]

So, are we talking about recreating what we have now, what it was to begin with, or taking the core of the system and building new off of that given what we have learned over the years?

 

[Tony Vargas]

Could we use radically different approaches than 4e, since just ripping 4e would be a copyright issue.

For instance, in d20, classes have spell lists drawn from a common pool of spells. Could we give classes power lists drawn from a common pool of powers instead of giving each class it's own list? That would reduce the create a thousand powers (without duplicating any names not in the SRD!!) burden?

 

[Morrus]

I'm not sure I see the advantage. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use your 4E books?

 

[Tony Vargas]

I think the idea is to have a basis for producing new stuff going forward.

3.5 continued to prosper because 3rd parties could continue putting out material for it under the OGL. The GSL for 4e is not so permissive, so even if 5e sucks and people want to keep playing 4e, it will be 'illegal' for anyone to support them with new supplements or possibly even adventures unless done very 'generically.'

 

[4SRD]

So, are we talking about recreating what we have now, what it was to begin with, or taking the core of the system and building new off of that given what we have learned over the years?

All of the above

However, the low-hanging fruits should be done first. So right now, try to clone 4E in its original (PHB) form + errata first. If someone wants to start with Essentials that's fine too.

As for alternative rules and improvements, we can implement them as long as they are small. For example, giving Rogues a Dex-based melee basic attack is a small change. They should be marked as "different" though.

As for big rewrites, such as kicking out the entire feat system, changing the ability score bonus to score-10, removing daily powers entirely, or switching to armor as DR, that's not the focus right now. Once we have a useable base, we can think about adding our own "Unearthed Arcana" alternative rules.

[MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION]: You could, but they don't contain errata and alternative rules, and they can't be used (easily) as the base for your own RPG project.

 

[C4]

Hi, 4SRD!

Might I interest you in the Complete 4th Edition?

So right now, try to clone 4E in its original (PHB) form + errata first.

Check. Also, I've got everything up to Essentials.

As for alternative rules and improvements, we can implement them as long as they are small. For example, giving Rogues a Dex-based melee basic attack is a small change. They should be marked as "different" though.

Check.

And check for all current errata.

Long live 4e!

 

[4SRD]

Might I interest you in the Complete 4th Edition?

I'm aware of your project, of course.

You're doing a great job, but the material you are using is not 100% Open Gaming Content. This puts a number of limitations on it that I'd like to avoid. For example, you can't just post it anywhere on the Internet, and you can't publish a new RPG based on it.

But I think there are a few areas where we can work together, and I'm looking forward to that.