Lone Wolf Prepping to bring D&D 5th Edition to HEROLAB!

Lone Wolf Development, the makers of the popular Hero Lab character generation software which already covers a wide range of games, has just announced that it is already preparing its software for D&D 5th Edition. While no license exists, their statement (below) indicates that they are fully expecting one and that they are confident enough that they have already started work.

[lq]Proceeding under the assumption that a license will allow us to support D&D 5th Edition, we’ve been making significant preparations within our products.[/lq]

Since the release of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition this past summer, users have been asking if we will be supporting this new edition in our products. To clear up any speculation, we wanted to clarify our official position.

Supporting D&D 5th Edition will require a license of some sort from Wizards of the Coast. While we haven’t signed a license at this time, indications are that Wizards of the Coast will soon release an “open” (OGL or SRD) license for D&D 5th Edition, just like they did a decade ago for D&D 3rd edition. An open license like this would allow other publishers to use selected content from the new edition in their products. If that occurs, we will fully support D&D 5th Edition within both Hero Lab and Realm Works, to the extent that any license allows.

How likely is it that Wizards of the Coast will release an OGL or SRD license for D&D 5th Edition? No formal announcement has been made. However, multiple public statements from members of the D&D design team have indicated plans for portions of D&D 5th Edition to be made available under the OGL in some form.

Proceeding under the assumption that a license will allow us to support D&D 5th Edition, we’ve been making significant preparations within our products. If an OGL license is announced, we’ll be as ready as possible to get the OGL content to our users. Obviously, it will take some time after any formal announcement to finish up our work and make sure everything we have is in compliance with any license, but we’ll be working as quickly as possible to get everything into our users’ hands.

When we have more information about 5th Edition support, we’ll let you know!
​

 

[MagicSN]

Btw my own implementation of hero lab datafiles for 5e is nearly finished (phb finished, dmg around 60 percent). Got the ok of hero lab guys that i can - assuming a fitting ogl arrives - give it to people even if the have their own official
Implementation. Oh I would have hoped WotC to
have an as open attitude as lone wolf!

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I think one thing to consider is that Lonewolf already had a stable relationship with WotC from their 4e support.

Do they? I always thought the only "relationsship" was the separate, non-LoneWolf scraping tool that enabled you to scrape the contents off DDI using your own account. I could be wrong, but that isn't what I'd call a stable relationship...

 

[talsharien]

This is nice, but I agree that Herolab's pricing can get expensive fast. Also--while OGL level stuff is always nice---I am a big time Forgotten Realms fan and WoTC rarely lets those type of datasets get produced by 3rd party digital game aides.

Would still prefer an officially licensed product.

Also---though Herolab is a pretty good Chargen, its interface can be clunky at times. Creating a magical item for your PC can be confusing and has a steep learning curve.

Has anyone tried their 'Realm Works' campaign manager? Never tried it, but it's entry price point ($50), is a bit steep---assuming it doesn't come preloaded with any campaign datasets.

We've waited too long for a great digital game aide---WoTC is just... ugh...

Yes, I have Realm Works and it is superb, allows you to load Hero lab files straight in, audio files maps e.t.c. The Player edition enables you to share content with players as well. I would now be lost without it.

 

[Nikosandros]

Do they? I always thought the only "relationsship" was the separate, non-LoneWolf scraping tool that enabled you to scrape the contents off DDI using your own account. I could be wrong, but that isn't what I'd call a stable relationship...

You are correct. Lone Wolf never had any license for 4e, what they have is exactly what you described.

 

[thundershot]

Yes.... This is what I've been waiting for!

 

[Nylanfs]

PCGen can already support it, we just haven't talked about it much. There's one user that already has a close to complete gamemode & dataset. So we're just waiting on the license also.

 

[Newtonian]

Hmm? Morningstar is for Pathfinder, not D&D 5E.

This isn't explicitly true. We're in a similar position Lone Wolf is–in that we're waiting on word about the OGL. The advantage we have is that our tools are already built and ready to release.

 

[lkj]

This isn't explicitly true. We're in a similar position Lone Wolf is–in that we're waiting on word about the OGL. The advantage we have is that our tools are already built and ready to release.

Hey Newtonian-- Does this mean that you'd consider launching the app under a 5e OGL regardless of the outcome of the kickstarter? Obviously this is dependent on the terms of the license and such. But just curious. Also, are you only referring to the iOS when you say the tool is built and ready to release?

AD

 

[jrowland]

Hmm? Morningstar is for Pathfinder, not D&D 5E.

Wouldn't an OGL allow Morningstar (or whatever the parent compnay is) to make something similar?

i.e. Hero Labs is planning on supporting 5E through an unannounced OGL. Morningstar could be planning the same.

 

[Newtonian]

Hey Newtonian-- Does this mean that you'd consider launching the app under a 5e OGL regardless of the outcome of the kickstarter? Obviously this is dependent on the terms of the license and such. But just curious. Also, are you only referring to the iOS when you say the tool is built and ready to release?

AD

That's correct. The iOS version is ready to go. Web and Android need some refinement on the interface, but the rules are about 90% there.

As far as how related releasing it is to the outcome of the kickstarter...I'm being honest when I say I have no idea. I don't know what January looks like, yet.