GSL FAQ up

[pawsplay]

Q. Why are there two different licenses?
A. The D&D 4e GSL is specific to the Dungeons & Dragons brand. The d20 GSL allows for non-fantasy genres. Both licenses tie to the 4th edition rule set.


What exactly does this mean?

 

[Green Knight]

Q. Why are there two different licenses?
A. The D&D 4e GSL is specific to the Dungeons & Dragons brand. The d20 GSL allows for non-fantasy genres. Both licenses tie to the 4th edition rule set.


What exactly does this mean?

They're going to be putting out a new D20 Modern and making a GSL for it, too.

 

[tenken]

Q. Why are there two different licenses?
A. The D&D 4e GSL is specific to the Dungeons & Dragons brand. The d20 GSL allows for non-fantasy genres. Both licenses tie to the 4th edition rule set.


What exactly does this mean?

As best I can guess, it means that if you want to produce a fantasy product, you tie it into D&D or you use another system. If you want to produce some other genre, you can use the GSL.

 

[pawsplay]

They're going to be putting out a new D20 Modern and making a GSL for it, too.

That's not exactly what it says, though. D20 Modern isn't a non-fantasy RPG, it's a modern RPG. I guess my question is whether the SRD and the allowed stuff will just be different, or if there will some kind of clause forbidding you from making a swords-and-sorcery RPG with the GSL. And if so, how do you define "fantasy RPG?"

 

[Kishin]

FAQ Link

The Poison Pill Rumors are wrong

You mean the people who said wait and see were right? Shock and awe.

That's not exactly what it says, though. D20 Modern isn't a non-fantasy RPG, it's a modern RPG.

Modern = Non-fantasy RPG.

 

[am181d]

That's not exactly what it says, though. D20 Modern isn't a non-fantasy RPG, it's a modern RPG. I guess my question is whether the SRD and the allowed stuff will just be different, or if there will some kind of clause forbidding you from making a swords-and-sorcery RPG with the GSL. And if so, how do you define "fantasy RPG?"

They're releasing the 4e D&D GSL this year to cover fantasy products that use the Dungeons & Dragons core books. They'll be making a separate more-generic d20 GSL down the road, presumably using some new iteration of d20 Modern as the base product.

 

[jedrious]

You mean the people who said wait and see were right? Shock and awe.



Modern = Non-fantasy RPG.

true but not entirely acurate

modern is a non-fantasy, but all non-fantasy is modern

historical is non-fantasy but not modern
sci-fi is non-fantasy but not necessarily modern

 

[Spinachcat]

What is non-fantasy?

This is a tricky question. Let's look at some games...

Gamma World...non-fantasy? Are mutations fantasy?

Shadowrun...non-fantasy? What is Guns + Magic?

World of Darkness...non-fantasy? Are Vamp powers magic?

Dark Heresy...non-fantasy? Are psionics fantasy?

I suspect WotC will not try to define non-fantasy. Instead they will create a definition of "D&D related Fantasy" which are based on the core tropes of D&D. However, that won't be easy either.

 

[Kishin]

What is non-fantasy?

This is a tricky question. Let's look at some games...

Gamma World...non-fantasy? Are mutations fantasy?

Shadowrun...non-fantasy? What is Guns + Magic?

World of Darkness...non-fantasy? Are Vamp powers magic?

Dark Heresy...non-fantasy? Are psionics fantasy?

I suspect WotC will not try to define non-fantasy. Instead they will create a definition of "D&D related Fantasy" which are based on the core tropes of D&D. However, that won't be easy either.

Let's not get into semantical debate over the term 'fantasy', please. There's enough of that clogging up the internet. Its clearly implied what they're doing here.

 

[malraux]

true but not entirely acurate

modern is a non-fantasy, but all non-fantasy is modern

historical is non-fantasy but not modern
sci-fi is non-fantasy but not necessarily modern

But the ruleset that d20 modern covered was adaptable to historical settings and future settings.