Marshal PrC- Is WOTC lifting ideas

[Belen]

I find it interesting that WOTC is releasing the "Marshal" PrC and I will find it even more intrguing once I have read the stats. I wonder if they are stealing from Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion series. Moon's Marshal's sound strikingly familiar to the blurb on them on the EnWorld news page.

 

[James McMurray]

<sarcasm>
I think its obvious that they're stealing. I mean, heck, its not like somebody could come up with an idea for a battlefield commander on their own. And if they did, the odds of them actually calling it a "Marshall" have got to be slim. It isn't like battlefield commanders were ever called Marshalls before whoever it is wrote ewhatever that book was." And finally, to give auras that bolster allies? That's obviously a swipe. It isn't as if anyone would ever think to let a magical leader-type boltster their troops through magic.
</sarcasm>

You may want to think things through before you start accusing people of plagiarizing.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Whatever you say, Boltster.

 

[Piratecat]

James, sarcasm doesn't work well online; I'm not sure that was justified.

A few thoughts:

1. Using a fictional character or concept isn't plagiarizing. It's polite to credit it, depending on the amount of inspiration, but there is nothing unethical or immoral about this. Plagiarizism is the direct quoting of someone else's text without credit.

2. If it is a fictional concept turned into game terms, this wouldn't be the first time; for instance, TSR's 2nd edition psionics system is directly lifted from the books of Julian May.

3. As James said, that's a fairly common concept. Heck, auras and commanders were used in Warcraft 3.

 

[Belen]

Guess you need some glasses, mate. You missed the "I wonder." I did not accuse anyone, I only asked if anyone else thought that the material sounded familiar.

And it is quite possible for them to steal material. WOTC/TSR has done so in the past. I know of no historical basis for the class AND, the description sounds EXACTLY like Moon's Marshals. Therefore, it could be construed that they had lifted the material from her.

I have other reasons to wonder about the Marshal class, including and IDENTICAL PrC written nearly 3 years ago, so even if it is not Moon that they are stealing from, then it could be someone else.

Now, I have not/ am not saying that they stole anything. However, I am saying that the description sounds eerily similar and that they COULD be capable of plagarizing it.

 

[drnuncheon]

And it is quite possible for them to steal material. WOTC/TSR has done so in the past. I know of no historical basis for the class AND, the description sounds EXACTLY like Moon's Marshals. Therefore, it could be construed that they had lifted the material from her.

Well, considering that Moon pretty much stole the entire Paksenarrion world from D&D...

J

 

[NiTessine]

Just a note... it's not a PrC, but a core class.

 

[dagger]

Sorry if this is a hijack, but are these classes supposed to be compatiable with 3.5?

 

[NiTessine]

Sorry if this is a hijack, but are these classes supposed to be compatiable with 3.5?

Yeah, the Miniatures Handbook will be 3.5E.

 

[Belen]

Not sure I see how she stole anything from DnD. Her world was very unique, IMO.