D&D 3E/3.5 4e Crunch, 3e Flavor

[Epic Meepo]

In reading the hints designers are dropping regarding 4e, I'm noticing that they have been making some rather substantial changes not just to the rules of the game, but to the story elements of the game: races and classes are being reshuffled or dropped altogether; old planes of existence are being dropped or consolidated; monsters are being re-imagined.

There are plenty of other threads discussing the pros and cons of these various changes, so I don't want to debate that here. Instead, I want to ask the following.

Are third party publishers likely to publish any of the following products:

1) An OGL version of the PHB with gnomes instead of eladrins and tieflings; druids instead of warlocks and warlords; and a return of the spells that get dropped in 4e?

2) An OGL version of the DMG that brings back the Elemental Planes, the Ethereal Plane, and any magic items that get the boot?

3) An OGL version of the MM that just recreates the 3.5 MM with 4e stat blocks, ignoring all of the 4e changes made to the appearance and fluff of the monsters?

Personally, I have a hunch that all of the above are inevitable (though, as others have pointed out, they will be minor compared to systems that are to 4e what Arcana Unearthed and Iron Heroes are to 3e). What does the rest of the ENWorld community think?

 

[WyzardWhately]

Seems like too much of a niche product, to my mind. 3E flavor, while popular, was not in and of itself so screaming awesome that a lot of people (who probably already have the 4E books) would pay for a sort of rules-updated retro-clone. I have very little doubt that if the book is OGL there will be alternate versions of the game. Just as we had Conan, Iron Heroes, Monte Cook's various alternates, etc.

 

[The Little Raven]

Personally, I think all of the above are inevitable, but that's only a hunch.

Why? There was no "2e with 3e rules" PHBs, MMs, or DMGs when 3e came out and added stuff and changed things, so why would there be one now? Really seems like a waste to me, and I don't see a publisher opting to do that. I see the potential for more things like Arcana Evolved than a 3ePHB 2.0.

 

[Epic Meepo]

The reason I was speculating in the first place...

There was no "2e with 3e rules" PHBs, MMs, or DMGs when 3e came out and added stuff and changed things...

True, but there was no 2e SRD for publishers to play with.

So I guess what ultimately lead to my wild speculation is the existence of an SRD. There has never before been a new edition of D&D published while an SRD for an old one exists. And who knows what will happen once there are two SRD's of different editions in existence at the same time?

Among other things, my hunch in the OP is based on the existence of the White Wolf imprint, Necromancer Games. Their tagline: "3rd Edition rules, 1st Edition feel" (presumably, soon to be "4th Edition rules, 1st Edition feel"). At some point, a big publisher like White Wolf decided 1e nostalgia would sell a few books. So what would they have done if there were a 1e SRD?

But I do agree that alternate systems like Arcana Unearthed and Iron Heroes are going to be the priority alternative-to-4e systems with the third party publishers. We already have a precedent for that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, Necromancer is doing the MM you want, but the planes are WotC IP, so you're out of luck there.

 

[TerraDave]

3rd edition had flavour? Who knew?

But actually, I see EMs point. I am sure 3rd party publishers will cater to these "gaps" (Necro has already made promises). But I also think Wizards will as well: gnomes as pcs, druids, etc, we will see. Probably alternate planes stuff. With 10-12 books a year to fill up, it seems almost guarenteed.

 

[ThirdWizard]

We'll see 5e, 3e flavor in 20 years when we can be all nostalgic about it.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Well, Necromancer's motto is "Third edition rules, first edition feel"

I can pretty much imagine that will change to "Fourth edition rules, first edition feel"

But third edition feel? No thanks... Not even second edition has that many fans

 

[GAAAHHH]

Well, Necromancer's motto is "Third edition rules, first edition feel"

I can pretty much imagine that will change to "Fourth edition rules, first edition feel"

But third edition feel? No thanks... Not even second edition has that many fans

I like second edition.

 

[Odhanan]

I like second edition.

Me too. My least favorite of (A)D&D's rulesets, but not bad, really.