D&D 5E Goodman Games Announces 5e Modules

[Nikosandros]

They also can't reference 'Dungeons and Dragons' by name. (Which is why they are marketed as 'compatible with the 5th edition of the world's most popular game' or some such, rather than "Compatible with Dungeons and Dragons 5e")

I don't think that's true. If, for example, you look at cell phones, there are plenty of unofficial accessories that explicitly claim compatibility with a given brand and model.

 

[Scorpio616]

My concern is are they going to be any good?

The modules will probably have solid concepts and plot notions, but it would be pretty hard for them to be written with any real familiarity of the ruleset's potential, since the full ruleset isn't available to anyone outside of WOTC beyond licencee companies.

 

[Zarithar]

Awesome, hopefully they will also be available at PAX later this month

 

[Reynard]

I don't think that's true. If, for example, you look at cell phones, there are plenty of unofficial accessories that explicitly claim compatibility with a given brand and model.

I believe that stuff is explicitly licensed.

 

[Crothian]

The modules will probably have solid concepts and plot notions, but it would be pretty hard for them to be written with any real familiarity of the ruleset's potential, since the full ruleset isn't available to anyone outside of WOTC beyond licencee companies.

That's what I am afraid of and why I'm not buying any of them. I can screw up the rules on my own, no need to pay other people to do it for me.

 

[Maliki67]

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.

My thought exactly, while Goodman and Necromancer were two of my favorite 3E, 3rd party publishers I really don't care for how they are going about this, plus since they don't have the actual rules I don't have much faith in them producing a good product that is compatible with 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

 

[Maliki67]

After reading some more of this thread, I do see that Goodman will be offering free PDF updates as time goes on, which is a plus. Still I believe I will wait until the complete rules are out, and WotC decides how they are going to handle the licensing. Then if the good folks at Necromancer and Goodman produce 5E compatible products I will jump on them.

 

[Alphastream]

I agree. I want the companies I support to do this right. They should wait for a license. Moves like this make it more likely that there won't be a license, and it feels like a cash grab with little concern for the hobby or the customer.

 

[Ravenheart87]

So much fuss about the rules. I don't really care about adhering closely to the rules, balanced encounters and encounter building. If the modules are cool, then I'm in. And if I really don't like something, I'll change it. But then again, I'm not afraid to do some conversion and use old Judges Guild modules with new editions either.

 

[trancejeremy]

I don't think that's true. If, for example, you look at cell phones, there are plenty of unofficial accessories that explicitly claim compatibility with a given brand and model.

This is something specific to the OGL though. Part of the agreement in using the OGL is that you won't use any trademarks of others. From section 7 of it:

You agree not to indicate compatibility or coadaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction
with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark.

Then WOTC had a separate d20 Trademark license which allowed the use of the d20 logo, as well as saying "Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook.

Since this is using the OGL, they can't. But companies have been dodging this for quite some time now, usually just by referring to the edition number (or sometimes adding, "of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game", or "OGL"). Paizo puts a big "3.5" on all their Pathfinder stuff (or did).