Could someone please explain (summarize)

[SableWyvern]

I may well be wrong, but I believe that Kalamar being official basically means that it can have the actual d&d logo on it, whereas most 3rd party stuff is only allowed d20 at most.

 

[Wicht]

I may well be wrong, but I believe that Kalamar being official basically means that it can have the actual d&d logo on it, whereas most 3rd party stuff is only allowed d20 at most.

That's really all it means

 

[Psion]

The OA I saw I thought had a L5R sidebar in one of the first pages. If they sold it back to AEG that kinda makes some sense, because I thought Magic / Creatures of Rokugan were published by AEG...

Okay, to be clear:

OA was printed first, and WotC struck an agreement with AEG that they would sell the rights of L5R to AEG, but wanted the rights to include some Rokugan material in OA. (Someone mentioned Rokugan is the "official" OA setting... that's not quite right. It is presented more as an "example" setting, and there is a lot of material in OA that does not apply to L5R).

AEG then printed Rokugan, a more complete book for the setting, but still builds on (and in some cases, redefines) material in OA. Creature of Rokugan and Magic of Rokugan are supplements for the Rokugan setting.

 

[Rune]

I may well be wrong, but I believe that Kalamar being official basically means that it can have the actual d&d logo on it, whereas most 3rd party stuff is only allowed d20 at most.

There's more to it than that, actually. Kenzer & Co. have to get all of their rules-oriented Kalamar information reviewed, revised, and sanctioned by WotC. That's why the Kalamar Player's Handbook took so long to be released. It's practically all rules (as opposed to the Campaign Sourcebook, which is practically no rules). WotC took forever to okay it; they were also working on errata for the three core books and okaying material for the SRD at the same time.

 

[castlewalls]

harn related

go to www.columbiagames.com for harn & www.warflail.com & www.swordsandshields.org for more info on harn D20 & CC2 add-ons for making Harnic styled maps. Warflail also has Harnlink which is just about every harnic link there is worth going to. -Jim

 

[Lady Dragon]

As to The Legend of The Five Rings ownership.I beleive WoTC still actually owns the property they have just leased it to AEG.

The reason I say this is because on page 2 of the newest book(The Way of the Ninja) it says: Legend of the Five Rings,the empire of Rokugan,and all related marks are TM and c 2001 Wizards of the Coast,Inc. a subsidiary of Hasbro,Inc.

It says a lot more but that is the important part.

As for the other questions Ravenloft is being leased by WW.

Kalamar is only leasing the name D&D from WoTC.They do however get to use all D&D material not just the OGC.

Harn is still made by Columbia and they do have at least 2 d20 products out right now.

Dragonstar is a fantasy world with sci-fi technology.Think of Dwarves,elves and dragons with Laser-cannons.

As for the other settings Dragonlance will be done by Sovereign Press,There are rumors that AEG is going to do Darksun.And I'm sure the rest will turn up eventually either By WoTC or in the form of leases like Ravenloft and Dragonlance to various third party companies.

Planescape does get an occasional book such as Manual of the planes,Lord of the Iron fortress and Bastion of Broken Souls they just don't call it planescape anymore.

Call of Chthulu is much better that Dragon Lords of Melnibone

 

[Morrus]

There's more to it than that, actually. Kenzer & Co. have to get all of their rules-oriented Kalamar information reviewed, revised, and sanctioned by WotC. That's why the Kalamar Player's Handbook took so long to be released. It's practically all rules (as opposed to the Campaign Sourcebook, which is practically no rules). WotC took forever to okay it; they were also working on errata for the three core books and okaying material for the SRD at the same time.

Although various pepole at WotC have responded to this with comments along the lines of "Really? First I've heard of it. Kalamar's certainly never been within 10 feet of my desk".

Kenzer's license to use the D&D logo was the result of an event some time back; they ended up with the license after an "issue" was settled. That's not to say it's not good, of course (from what I've seen, it is) but I think people extrapolate the implications of that license far further than is the reality.

On the other settings:

1) Ravenloft, as mentioned above, is licensed to Arthaus (an imprint of White Wolf). They have a whole line planned.

2) Dragonlance is now licensed to Sovereign Press (http://www.enworld.org/d20reviews.asp?sub=yes&where=publist&which=Sovereign+Press), owned by Weiss (or Hickman - one or the other...). The Dragonlance Core Book is slated for Fall 2003.

3) Dark Sun - there are [privately confirmed] rumours that WotC and AEG have undertaken negotiations to publish Dark Sun. I don't know how that's going.

 

[Voadam]

Although various pepole at WotC have responded to this with comments along the lines of "Really? First I've heard of it. Kalamar's certainly never been within 10 feet of my desk".

Kenzer's license to use the D&D logo was the result of an event some time back; they ended up with the license after an "issue" was settled. That's not to say it's not good, of course (from what I've seen, it is) but I think people extrapolate the implications of that license far further than is the reality.

Well the Kenzer people have stated on these boards that under the terms of their license they have to get everything approved by WotC before they can publish material under the D&D brand so it goes through both their own in house quality control and a second round at WotC.

 

[CRG]

Kalamar:

I was mostly curious about the "Core Rulebook IV" on the front cover and the implications of that. Do most folks take it as canon, or is it really just some sort of "we did this together" concession?

Dragon Lords of Melnibone:

Thanks for the insight - I didn't think that CoC could possibly be worse but its nice to hear the confirmation. I can't say how disappointed I am in DLoM.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm guessing the vast majority don't take it as any more official than any other d20 product. At least, I don't.