Charles Wright
First Post
All I can say is that Necromancer Games may have already Started Kicking around some things on the internet.
D&D 5E Necromancer Games - 3 5E books announced!
- Thread starter Charles Wright
- Start date
dd.stevenson
Super KY
That's a bold move. I can dig their style.
mach1.9pants
Hero
Holy shizbang!
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
Very bold and risky. However, the FGG/Necromancer team is one I trust to deliver.
mach1.9pants
Hero
Me too I'm an Undead Lord 
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
What I found interesting was the admission that the licensing for these books hasn't been finalized - that means that they could be OGL products the way The Wizard's Amulet is, or they could use whatever third-party license WotC is brewing up.
...that said, I noticed that the expected fulfillment date for this Kickstarter is November of this year. Given that (unless I'm misremembering) WotC said that third-party licensing will happen in early 2015, it seems likely that these books will have to be OGL (particularly since the Kickstarter page says they want these out the door as soon as possible, since a new edition is always hurting for support materials right at the beginning).
...that said, I noticed that the expected fulfillment date for this Kickstarter is November of this year. Given that (unless I'm misremembering) WotC said that third-party licensing will happen in early 2015, it seems likely that these books will have to be OGL (particularly since the Kickstarter page says they want these out the door as soon as possible, since a new edition is always hurting for support materials right at the beginning).
dd.stevenson
Super KY
About 24 hours ago, Mearls asked straight up on twitter whether people thought 5E should go OGL. This despite the fact that he supposedly had all these decisions worked out and was just waiting until 2015 to announce them.
To me, this brings to mind the events that unfolded between Clark Peterson and Wotc back at 4E's launch.
I might be wrong, but I do believe that this free pdf and kickstarter announcement are intended to force Mearls' hand: either he can launch 5E under the OGL before November, or he can allow the revived Necromancer Games label to unilaterally do their worst under the current OGL (as they apprently just did with the free pdf).
Charles Wright
First Post
Nope.
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
I don't know what's the deal with that date, but I don't think that it's possible. They haven't started writing the books and they even don't yet have finalized the authors. If you consider that the KS will run until early September, I really doubt that November is even remotely realistic.
RedShirtNo5.1
Explorer
That was my initial reaction as well. But it's possible if you consider the pdf of the monster book only. Overall formatting and descriptive text can be done in advance. Formatting for monsters can be taken from the starter set and basic. THey wait till MM is published in Sept. to check math and ensure they aren't duplicating monsters, proofread, release in Nov. That seems doable.
DaveMage
Slumbering in Tsar
They can pretty much start writing now, and since there's a whole lot of authors, they can parcel the adventure workload.
I'm guessing that many of the monsters are already created (from ToH complete or Tome 4) and they even indicated that the spells will be pulled from existing products and modified to fit 5E.
If they are done by Oct. 15 with the creation of content and they print in the USA, the end of November (for the Holiday season) is certainly do-able.
Besides, we all know Chuck and Skeeter don't sleep, so they have more time in the day than most of us.
Nikosandros
Golden Procrastinator
Fair enough. If they deliver in November, I won't certainly complain.
Warunsun
First Post
I am in on this kickstarter if for nothing else than to encourage third party support. Plus with such a long window of funding if legal issues come up around 5E release time they can cancel the kickstarter before funding occurs. I have to trust that they know something we don't.
caudor
Adventurer
I'm in on the Kickstarter too, and my hunch is that you are correct. The more third party, the better I think it will be for 5e adoption.
Okay, Cat's out of the Bag.
This is pretty accurate, although we have staggered planned completion dates for writing. The flagship brand-new content is the adventure book, and even there I think three adventures are conversions (Bill Webb's). This is also where the work is divided into workable chunks. The spells book will be conversions of existing creative work, and so will virtually everything in the monster book. A couple of new ones there, but mainly so I could nab illustrations for Cyclopean Deeps.
Everything (except the old monsters) will eventually also be done for Swords & Wizardry (our minimal-rules system) and for Pathfinder (complex-rules). 5th Edition is essentially the middle-complexity system that we want to support along what we see as a spectrum. We aren't abandoning either of the two other systems we work with.
But we think 5th edition has things to offer that aren't covered by the other 2 systems. No set of rules can be the grail for everyone, which is why we publish and adapt the same underlying adventures to more than one rules-interpretation.
Thus, November is definitely a workable goal.
Matt Finch
This is pretty accurate, although we have staggered planned completion dates for writing. The flagship brand-new content is the adventure book, and even there I think three adventures are conversions (Bill Webb's). This is also where the work is divided into workable chunks. The spells book will be conversions of existing creative work, and so will virtually everything in the monster book. A couple of new ones there, but mainly so I could nab illustrations for Cyclopean Deeps.
Everything (except the old monsters) will eventually also be done for Swords & Wizardry (our minimal-rules system) and for Pathfinder (complex-rules). 5th Edition is essentially the middle-complexity system that we want to support along what we see as a spectrum. We aren't abandoning either of the two other systems we work with.
But we think 5th edition has things to offer that aren't covered by the other 2 systems. No set of rules can be the grail for everyone, which is why we publish and adapt the same underlying adventures to more than one rules-interpretation.
Thus, November is definitely a workable goal.
Matt Finch
Charles Wright
First Post
Hey, that's not how this thread started! I think I've been Administrated! 
Similar Threads
