Well, I didn't pose the question to get in an argument over the purity of Living ENWorld, and I am well aware of the rule, as I just purchased a 3.5 PHB to participate in this and other PbP Games. Furthermore, judges and participants alike are going to have a good while to think about this (as the boards will be going down tomorrow until further notice, according to Morrus' announcement).
But I'd like to make the case for these excellent supplements, so here's why I asked.
First, I'm not interested in writing, nor am I deeply familiar enough in the game itself to write, something just like this. Put simply, Wulf's better at this than I am, or anybody else I know is. These books are the real deal, tried and proven in many games, and it would work wonderfully in this game world. I'm accepting no imitations, and I wouldn't dare try to work around this by publishing a knockoff.
Second, the dwarven craftsmanship rules in particular seem to me to help balance the power of the proposed Trader PrC, and gives some of the impetus back to the rest of the PCs to manufacture the weapons we use in this world, instead of acting as middlemen to sell and buy them, and leaving the LEW staff to create them.
Specifically, the dwarven craftsmanship rules for HoHF: Dwarves allow dwarven craftsmen to build armor and weaponry with near-magical advantages (reduced check penalties, higher AC bonus, and whatnot) without having to burn a level or two as mages, or trusting their craft to some other PC's die roll. Other HoHF books for the other races give advantages and likewise help to flesh out the gameworld, such as elves and ley lines. More hooks, more flavor, more better.
Finally, it's Wulf, for dog's sake. He's one of us, he posts to this board, he's a cool guy, his products and his company broke through here, he's a mod, etc. His stuff is OGC already (it says so in the book), just like the SRD. So as long as the judges think it's good, and the DMs can use it, why not allow it?
I know there are drawbacks. They're OGC, but they're books, and so people, DMs, and judges interested in using the rule are going to have to own them already, buy them, or suffer the IC and OOC explanations of the people who do. That might be fun, if the information disseminates quickly enough, but it might not. I get that, and if this is shot down because of it, I understand. But it'd be really cool to have, that's all.
So I'll respect the decision of the people who originally built this environment, and run it daily, and I'll abide by that decision as my PC, Rurik, develops. I'm just hoping it'll work.
