Confusion over GSL and 4e

[Ranger REG]

However, the point of having a license in the first place, is to remove the need for a good lawyer.

Riiiiiiiight.

What I'm saying is that each time I hear the advice "go get a good lawyer", you could as well have said "shelve your plans, kill your imagination, and stick to your day job".

No, we didn't say that. Nor do WotC. It means that "if you follow the ground rules set by WotC, then put your imagination into making money for you." That also means that you're going into business, and no one sane enough to get into business blindly.

 

[Urizen]

I have a question.

Say, for example's sake I create a 30 level character class: the assassin.

I publish it, but then oh, 6 months later, WOTC releases a PHB III that features the assassin as a character class.

Am I suddenly in violation of the GSL?

 

[Ranger REG]

I have a question.

Say, for example's sake I create a 30 level character class: the assassin.

I publish it, but then oh, 6 months later, WOTC releases a PHB III that features the assassin as a character class.

Am I suddenly in violation of the GSL?

You shouldn't be. You might take some [idiotic] flacks from die-hard WotC loyalist fans who think WotC can make a better assassin class than you, but who says there can only be one assassin class for 4e?

 

[Urizen]

hehe.

My concern derives from the GSL, where section 4.1 says you cannot define or redefine anything in the SRD.

So If I created the "assassin," I suddenly might find myself in violation, because a product I published suddenly redefines the Assassin class they create.

It seems pretty tricky.

I also wonder How that will affect Goodman games' Forgotten Heroes: Fang fist and Song book, as the PHBII will have the Bard, Druid and Barbarian.

 

[CapnZapp]

It's likely as with any other aspect of publishing for fourth edition: you will simply have to live with the uncertainty.

WotC can shut you down at their leisure, but unless your business compete directly with one of their own drives, they're not likely to do so.

Just because you're in violation, that doesn't mean you will be stopped from selling your book. It does mean you will have to live with the threat of being shut down at any time, though.

 

[Starglim]

I have a question.

Say, for example's sake I create a 30 level character class: the assassin.

I publish it, but then oh, 6 months later, WOTC releases a PHB III that features the assassin as a character class.

Am I suddenly in violation of the GSL?

No, because you can show easily that you didn't use or attack WotC's intellectual property.

If WotC then proceed to add their new Assassin to the SRD, the picture becomes murkier, but on recent and present performance you have considerably more than 6 months before you have to worry about that.

 

[starwed]

If WotC then proceed to add their new Assassin to the SRD, the picture becomes murkier, but on recent and present performance you have considerably more than 6 months before you have to worry about that.

It's a pretty important question, though. It highlights the single biggest problem with the GSL: on the surface, it seems that what's prohibited can change at the whim of WotC. And this doesn't require some nefarious intent on the behalf of WotC, just the addition of new material to the SRD. It's an inevitable situation that somthing will be added which already has a GSL version.

 

[phloog]

From my limited reading of the GSL, that's exactly why I have no interest in getting involved. It can be changed any time, and your only option if you don't like any given change appears to be simply to stop publishing anything under the GSL and destroy anything you'd done to that point.

It's very much a model that says 'unless you think that you will generate all the profit you desire in the VERY short term (weeks not months), you're putting lots at risk'...you need to be confident that you can publish, sell, and profit before WOTC can (for reasons malevolent or benign) change the GSL in a way that destroys your ability to market your product.

 

[Morrus]

hehe.

My concern derives from the GSL, where section 4.1 says you cannot define or redefine anything in the SRD.

So If I created the "assassin," I suddenly might find myself in violation, because a product I published suddenly redefines the Assassin class they create.

It seems pretty tricky.

Just call it something else and avoid the problem completely. "Shadow Killer", "Sneaky Stabby guy", "Death Dealer", "Urban Ninja" - I'm sure you can come up with better names!

 

[Mercutio01]

Just call it something else and avoid the problem completely. "Shadow Killer", "Sneaky Stabby guy", "Death Dealer", "Urban Ninja" - I'm sure you can come up with better names!

I get what he's saying. If he releases a product with an "assassin" before Wizards does, and it's under GSL, the way it's currently worded, he'd either have to change the name (despite coming up with the product first and already having it in print) or else remove the GSL compatibility. The GSL effectively can retroactively claim a product violates the license.