4e D&D GSL Live

[proto128]

What kind of corrective action, or severity thereof, can/will WotC take for infractions? Like, can they revoke my use of the GSL if I leave out the ampersand when referencing the core books in one of my products, or is there 'wiggle room'? Is there a warning system, "three strikes you're out" or zero tolerance policy?

Also, how much of a monster's stat block needs to be change in order for it to be printable in a third-party product? If I outfit a band of orcs with falchions instead of greataxes, for instance, would that be printable?

Too many questions. I'm simultaneously excited and frightened by the GSL.

 

[Alzrius]

If what you say turns out to be correct, then I can't see any publisher ever wanting to create anything for 4E, since the life expecancy of any product is essentially determined by the whims of WotC. You might have 5 years, you might have 5 weeks. Not worth the investment of time and money.

Quoted for truth. This goes double in cases of converting an OGL product to a GSL product. Doing so doesn't just mean that you stop selling the entire OGL product line - it means you stop selling the entire OGL product line forever, since that (and several other parts of the GSL) survive the termination of the License. For example:

I believe in people's IP rights. Nevertheless, I have no intention of being a contracted, occasionally paid snitch a la 10.3.

This part would be true even after the GSL was terminated. Since 10.3 doesn't specify that it's only in relation to GSL-based items, you'd be forced to help protect WotC's IP rights forever.

 

[jgerman]

What kind of corrective action, or severity thereof, can/will WotC take for infractions? Like, can they revoke my use of the GSL if I leave out the ampersand when referencing the core books in one of my products, or is there 'wiggle room'? Is there a warning system, "three strikes you're out" or zero tolerance policy?

Also, how much of a monster's stat block needs to be change in order for it to be printable in a third-party product? If I outfit a band of orcs with falchions instead of greataxes, for instance, would that be printable?

Too many questions. I'm simultaneously excited and frightened by the GSL.

They can do whatever they want. They don't have to be consistent either, they could revoke your license while allowing someone else to retain theirs for the same "offense".

They don't even need a reason. Keep in mind, if you accept the GSL you are playing in their sandbox Personally I'm not sure it's worth it. It should be an interesting week.

 

[arscott]

No Mordenkainen, No Tenser, No Beholders, No Yuan-ti.

And no Succubi? Seriously?

I'd hoped that this sort of silliness would end. It doesn't do any favors for WotC--It encourages 3rd party books to diverge more from WotC's assumed world--And that probably draws customers away from WotC's splatbooks.

Interesingly, it seems like the gods are almost up for grabs. You can't reference their names, but you can reference their alignments and areas of influence, as listed on page 62.

So your product could talk about "The evil god of war and conquest", or "The unaligned goddess of law and civilization".

 

[Kez Darksun]

Heavily dependent on Pathfinder getting it -right- from the fan's POV, and others joining in with them rather than competing.

One risk is that every single 3rd party house will put out its own 'Pathfinder' like version of 3.5, leaving fans with a thousand different games to choose from.

At that point, any sane fan will go with 4E even if they don't like it...

My point was, that upon seeing the restrictive nature of the GSL, my reaction was to go check out what new is being done under the OGL. Paizo just happened to be in the process of an open, free, alpha of their Pathfinder RPG, which made it all the more interesting to me given my currently limited gaming budget after purchase of the 4th edition gift set.

Whether or not Pathfinder is all that its supporters hope it will be, I don't know. All I know is I am more likely to consider new products for 3.5 than I was before I saw how restrictive the GSL is.

 

[Shroomy]

Other than the missing demons and devils, there is nothing in the GSL that we hadn't heard about before or were expecting (at least the big stuff, I guess the lack of full stat blocks for MM monsters is kind of surprising) so I'm not sure why some of us are acting so surprised.

In any case, the GSL seems to indicate a clear road-map for 3rd party publishers going forward. Anything OGL that is still selling well, don't convert it and keep it completely separate from your GSL products. Keep your print runs relatively small and then concentrate on .pdf sales; perhaps take your own IP and sell systemless supplements outside both the OGL and GSL. Whatever you do, don't try to straight up convert older D&D IP that hasn't been published by WoTC yet; in fact, if you're going to remotely go down this path, borrow a concept from WoTC and use noun-noun names or use something really obscure (don't use bard, use awesome lutemaster or dread skald...). If you don't want to follow these provisions, get a lawyer and try to get a separate, side agreement from WoTC.

 

[Chibbell]

So what exactly does 5.5 mean about websites, minis and the like?

Do they mean that you can't license a website, interactive product or minis? Or do they somehow mean you can't use a website, build an interactive product or sell minis that are associated with your licensed product?

I can't imagine that they would try to keep you from having a website. On the other hand, I can see them trying to keep publishers from playing in the online software and minis realm.

 

[Emirikol]

And no making derivative games. So Mongoose couldn't, for instance, make a new edition of Conan that uses the 4e style of powers and class progression. .

Thank Crom for that!

jh

 

[Kishin]

What's weird to me is that they included the languages as 4E References...

 

[am181d]

I can't imagine that they would try to keep you from having a website. On the other hand, I can see them trying to keep publishers from playing in the online software and minis realm.

You can't have a website that's a GSL product. This does not stop you from selling GSL products through a website.