New OGL games based on 3.5?

[Joe Sala]

In his famous post, Clark says that "The market for 3E is not there". And I really believe him.

But do you think we'll see new OGL games based on d20/3.5? I don't mean generic games like Pathfinder or True20, but books with a setting, like Conan, Etherscope or M&M. Do you think there's still a market share or companies will start creating their own systems again?

 

[Darrin Drader]

In his famous post, Clark says that "The market for 3E is not there". And I really believe him.

But do you think we'll see new OGL games based on d20/3.5? I don't mean generic games like Pathfinder or True20, but books with a setting, like Conan, Etherscope or M&M. Do you think there's still a market share or companies will start creating their own systems again?

I think this is not just entirely possible, but probable. The types of games you describe are licensed games and the company producing them has to decide between three possibilities: go with the D20 system using the OGL, go with another house system, or create an all new system. The least preferable option in most cases is going to be creating a new system because it requires a lot more work. A house system is fine if you have one available and it suits the genre you're trying to design for. The final option is to use an open system, and there are only a few of those. The D20 system that is available under the OGL is one of the most popular RPG systems ever, so I would expect most companies to look at that possibility, regardless of what decision they ultimate make.

 

[Voadam]

In his famous post, Clark says that "The market for 3E is not there". And I really believe him.

But do you think we'll see new OGL games based on d20/3.5? I don't mean generic games like Pathfinder or True20, but books with a setting, like Conan, Etherscope or M&M. Do you think there's still a market share or companies will start creating their own systems again?

I think we will continue to see OGL d20 variants because the d20 rules are available freely under the OGL and many people into game design will be familiar with them. But I expect it will predominately be pdfs due to market factors.

Mongoose's OGL runequest rules are also open and available freely on an srd but I don't think as many people are familiar with it and so we won't see as many stabs at using those rules to create games or setting material.

 

[RFisher]

A house system is fine if you have one available and it suits the genre you're trying to design for.

There’s a good chance the d20 system doesn’t fit your genre either.

A lot of the games based on the d20 SRD changed and tweaked so much that they took as much development as a fresh system would have.

The final option is to use an open system, and there are only a few of those.

• d20 (3.0, 3.5, and Modern)
• The Action System
• True20 SRD
• Mongoose RuneQuest SRD/GORE
• Mongoose Traveller SRD
• Fuzion
• Fudge/Fate
• OSRIC
• Labyrinth Lord
• Mutant Future
• Basic Fantasy
• Wushu Open
• Risus (?)

I dunno. Seems like a decent number of options. And I think there are many more than what I could come up with off the top of my head.

 

[Psion]

A lot of the games based on the d20 SRD changed and tweaked so much that they took as much development as a fresh system would have.

Yup.

The days for "baby steps" from the d20 core system are passed. We may see new d20 derivatives, but they may be so far from D20, you may not recognize much about them as compared to a mere 2-3 years ago.

 

[pawsplay]

People are still writing for Fuzion. Anything is possible.

 

[Mark]

I think people will write material and release it under the OGL for as long as there are people who would wish to utilize it.