D&D 5E Goodman Games Announces 5e Modules

[Psikerlord#]

I am in Sydney Australia, if I could buy these as PDFs I would snap them up at $10. Alas, they appear to be print only... cmon devs, release your modules as PDFs too!

 

[Reynard]

Awesome news. I'll definitely be picking these up at GenCon next week.

 

[sidonunspa]

I find it rather disappointing that they are doing this, when they have their own game to support.

Kind of hilarious - they rely on third parties to support their RPG, while they chase the 5e money...

Apparently you have no idea how to run a profitable production business..

Paradigm use to support 3.5 with it's main fantasy line Arcanis (which now has it's own system) while publishing and supporting Witch Hunter: The Invisible World, which used it's own system (and is now out in it's 2nd edition)


Now, I have to admit... what they are doing is kind of ballsy

we have no idea how WoTC is going to act to people using the old OGL to produce new 5e material

 

[Boarstorm]

No OGL, no problem.

 

[Reynard]

we have no idea how WoTC is going to act to people using the old OGL to produce new 5e material

Did they respond in any way to the 4E third party products?

 

[sidonunspa]

Did they respond in any way to the 4E third party products?

No because the 4e "ogl" (I forget what they called it) possessed a "poison pill" which allowed WoTC to pull the license at any time, on a case by case bases... that kept most companies from publishing 4e material.

In essece, At any moment, WoTC could say "sorry, you can't sell that book anymore...and no, we don't care that you printed 5,000 of them." it presented too much of a risk.

by the time 13th age was out (pushing the envelope) 5e was already in production, as such 13th age was not seen as a threat to the future product line.

5e possesses a way for them to make some money, quick money at that... they will sell out at GenCon. They can print 1,000 of each and be sure to run out of them before convention end. |

I think Goodman is producing a cheap product, using the old OGL, to test the waters. I think they want to see how far they can go before they get a S&D letter from WoTC.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I think Goodman is producing a cheap product to test the waters, I think they want to see how far they can go before they get a S&D letter from WoTC

I doubt they'd sell this product without WOTC's permission. That's way too big of a legal risk. It's likely they already have a closed door deal with WOTC that says they are allowed to publish this. Obviously WOTC is willing to negotiate with individual companies to allow them to publish 5e material without having a broad OGL.

 

[sidonunspa]

I doubt they'd sell this product without WOTC's permission. That's way too big of a legal risk. It's likely they already have a closed door deal with WOTC that says they are allowed to publish this. Obviously WOTC is willing to negotiate with individual companies to allow them to publish 5e material without having a broad OGL.

After some conversations I had with some <retracted> developers at Origins I don't think so...

there are quite a few companies considering going "necromancer games", using the old OGL to create new content... much like 13th Age used the OGL to create a 4e like system.

I guess we will see once the adventures are published..

 

[Agamon]

Cool. These don't look nearly as gonzo as the DCC RPG adventures, and first that seemed unfortunate. Then I realized I can always convert DCC RPG adventures if I need to. I'm guessing these will more like the original DCC adventures, so sounds good to me.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Did they respond in any way to the 4E third party products?

Wait, there were 4E third party products?

While I'm all for 3rd party support of the new edition, I'm not going to be buying either Goodman's or Necromancer's early offerings, for the simple fact that they are so early.

Much of the first 3E material that went out was sub-par for the simple fact that companies hadn't really gotten a handle on the rules yet. This was especially evident in material that actually came out before the core rulebooks or so soon thereafter as to be practically concurrent. Most of the development for those products was done before the rules were really fully understood or even available. Or, in some cases, products had the feel of being created for a completely different system then adapted to 3E at the last minute. Iron Kingdoms was a prime example of a setting I really, really liked, but found the understanding of the 3E rules (or, I suspect, their adaption) by the writers to be horrible.

I mean, really, WotC will be presenting their plans for 3rd party after all the books are out. Part of this delay is them still working out the details internally, but it's also been stated as a quality concern, wanting to make sure everyone understands the game before diving in with new products. They're obviously willing to work with 3rd parties, having some key products for the new edition launch produced by another company. Why the need to jump the gun? Because you can?

Plus knowing the legal hoops these guys are jumping through to do this via the original OGL is somewhat of a turnoff to me as well. Take that big banner on the Goodman products: "Fifth Edition Fantasy". Ugh. It makes this conversation happen in my head:

Publisher: "So, you, uh, going to get buy our Fifth Edition Fantasy books? Know what I mean?"
Me: "Fifth Edition of what?"
Publisher: "Oh, you know. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge."
Me: "Well, I suppose I do."
Publisher: "Right, right. Say no more, say no more. Wink, wink."
[Awkward pause]
Publisher: "So, you, uh, have you ever played Fifth Edition?"
Me: "Yes, I have."
Publisher: "What's it like?"

I suppose it's a savvy move from a marketing perspective for these companies, since we're all talking about them. But a product that's pretty much the equivalant of being a "First!" post in a comment thread is not enough to get me interested anymore. I'm going to be cutting back on book purchases for this edition, and will be paying close attention to buzz and reviews of 3rd party products. You better demomstrate both quality content and execution for me to hand you my money this time.