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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Particle_Man" data-source="post: 1139194" data-attributes="member: 892">So it seems that there are multiple versions of "official".1) Whatever the DM says.2) Whatever the DM and players agree to.3) Whatever is allowed in GenCon tournaments/Living Greyhawk, etc.4) Core Rules (PHB,DMG,MM)5) Core Rules plus other wotc D&D books.5a) Core Rules plus other D&D books (for the Kingdoms of Kalamar special case -- still the only non-wotc "official" D&D setting, I think -- I mean, they paid to put that on their books, right?).6) Core Rules plus other D&D books plus some magazines like Dragon, Dungeon, etc.Dragon magazine may be official by 1 or 2, but is not official by 3 or 4 or 5.  By definition, it is official by 6.  (But I wonder if the latter is trading on the fact that Dragon used to be owned by wotc, and tsr before them).Other 3rd party stuff may be official by 1 or 2, but is not official by 3 through 6.  And if one invents a new definition of official to include 3rd party stuff, then I fail to see what could count as unofficial on such a definition.I think the main relevant distinctions should be what the DM wants and what the players and the Dm can agree to.  That said, if I heard a DM say "official rules only" my first instinct would be that he meant either 4 or 5.  And if I were going to run a campaign that had only the most play-tested rules, then I would mean 4.  But I would probably say "core rules only" rather than "official rules only".As it happens, I like adding stuff as I see fit.  The BoED looks interesting to me.I guess the upshot is that "official" is best defined relative to a context (Living Greyhawk?  Joe's campaign?).  Otherwise, it doesn't carry much meaning.  No offense to anyone, but there is no way I would let anyone freely pick and choose out of all the 3rd party/dragon magazine articles to find the most powerful feats/prestige classes/etc. just because it said "official".  That would be far too unbalancing, particularly if they meshed in odd ways with each other.  I would, however, be comfortable with "core rules only" as it is unlikely that there is much that is THAT unbalanced in the basic three books.And I think that Wotc Customer Support's reputation is still smarting after the Sword and Fist: Halfling Outrider "Don't worry, it's meant to have no BAB" debacle.  But they likely have gotten much better and smarter since then.</blockquote>

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