Forked Thread: Everybody happy now? - Reprinting Monster Stat Blocks

[Herremann the Wise]

Forked from: Everybody happy now?

My only gripe - if it can be called that - is not being able to reprint monsters in adventures, but it's such a mild gripe to me that it's hardly worth mentioning.

In terms of reprinting Monster Stats.

I was just wondering how publisher's were looking to get around this in terms of printing adventures (or even if they are looking to). Why was this kept in the GSL (what do WotC fear those who sign the GSL doing with these)? It just seems like an annoyance for 3PP's to deal with. Are there any major ramifications of this that have not yet been realized?

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Desert Hare]

I can understand WotC not wanting another company to put together a compendium of creatures to compete with their own Monster Manuals.

However, would it have been so difficult for them to include a clause in the GSL that allows the rprinting of monster stats, but limits this to only being reprinted in modules?

 

[malraux]

Plausible, if I'm allowed to reprint monster stats of everything in the SRD, I can sell my own MM. I, as a non-lawyer type, can't think of any other major reason to keep that in there.

 

[caudor]

This is something I've been confused about. Let's say I want to make a variation of the Guardian Mummy (let's call it an Avenging Mummy).

The primary differences are that the new mummy is one level lower and causes a different disease instead of mummy rot.

Can I make an entirely new stat block since this is a new monster? Short of that, can a make a partial stat block referring only to parts differing from the original mummy guardian?

Key question for publishers: How different does a derived stat block need to differ from the original stat block to be acceptable? i.e. just a different level or just different powers or some variation thereof? What if only the STR is different?

 

[Asmor]

Well, from a business stand point it makes a lot of sense. At the very least, I'm sure things like d20srd.org, as incredibly useful as the site was, amounted to a lot of consternation.

And that's to speak nothing of the publishers which actually repackaged and sold the SRD, in not just PDF forms but in print as well.

It's not ideal, but I can't think of a better option. How are you supposed to define a 'module?'

 

[catsclaw227]

This is something I've been confused about. Let's say I want to make a variation of the Guardian Mummy (let's call it an Avenging Mummy).

The primary differences are that the new mummy is one level lower and causes a different disease instead of mummy rot.

Can I make an entirely new stat block since this is a new monster? Short of that, can a make a partial stat block referring only to parts differing from the original mummy guardian?

This is legal, as far as I know. You can make up another monster type of an existing monster, change some stats and print the whole thing.

Clark alluded to this with his "Magic Missile" repurposed as "Magic Missile [Classic]"

 

[pawsplay]

The main problem with creating custom monster variants is that some of the abilities you might want to reuse might not be in the SRD.

 

[Thasmodious]

The clause also prevents a product like World's Largest Dungeon from basically including a free copy of the MM with the purchase of the mega-module.

 

[Jack99]

The main problem with creating custom monster variants is that some of the abilities you might want to reuse might not be in the SRD.

Then call the power something else and keep the mechanics. Pretty sure they can't keep you from using mechanics like 1d10 + 7 thunder damage and push target 4 squares, since they are in the GSL.

But IANAL

 

[defendi]

I'm doing the 4e version of Final Redoubt's first adventure, The Throne of God, right now. I have to change most of the monsters for the setting anyway, for instance both undead and hobgoblins have something called the Infernal Taint in The Echoes of Heaven. So this makes for monster stat blocks that are similar to the ones in the MM but different enough that I have to redo them completely. I could rewrite the few powers I want to be identical, but I want to adhere to the spirit of the law as well as the letter. They gave me the license after all.

So I have about seven powers which are straight from the MM (like the hobgoblin's resilience and phalanx powers). These are in the stat blocks referencing the MM (not defined or rewritten to be identical mechanically with different text), but I also put in a sidebar in Act One telling GM's to begin their prep here. In this box I list all the powers references from the MM in a convenient block. This allows a GM to take five minutes and copy the powers out of the MM or print the refereneced monsters from the DDI.

I think this is the best of both worlds. The GMS have a minimal amount of prep they have to do out of the referenced books. I don't violate the letter of the license, and yet I maintain the spirit of the license by still insuring that they have access to the MM.