So, the B*h*ld*r is no longer OGC...

[Terraism]

What is the topic question about? Why "So, the B*h*ld*r is no longer OGC..." What are you talking about?

About a week ago - give or take - when Wizards updated the SRD, they removed a squad of monsters from it - thus, they're no longer available to 3rd party publishers, by my understanding. They include the beholder, illithid, yuan-ti, umber hulk, displacer beast, and a few others.

 

[Kamard]

Thats odd. Smells like they removed the non-generic monsters.

 

[Michael Morris]

About a week ago - give or take - when Wizards updated the SRD, they removed a squad of monsters from it - thus, they're no longer available to 3rd party publishers, by my understanding. They include the beholder, illithid, yuan-ti, umber hulk, displacer beast, and a few others.

Good luck to them enforcing it since publishers can always opt to use any version of the SRD, not just the most recent one.

 

[kingpaul]

Good luck to them enforcing it since publishers can always opt to use any version of the SRD, not just the most recent one.

Not quite. Any publisher can use any version of the OGL; and, to my knowledge, there have been 2, 1.0 and 1.0a. The SRD is just the SRD. The removed monsters were originally in the draft SRD. A Gentleperson's Agreement existed which stated, more or less, that the publishers could use anything in the draft, but would immediately make changes to their products once the official version came out.

Now, it is my understanding that WotC is being very helpful here and allowing publishers to use the closed monsters, but you have to ask first, not just assume (and you know what happens when you assume).

IANAL & I am not an agent of WotC.

 

[Gez]

Good luck to them enforcing it since publishers can always opt to use any version of the SRD, not just the most recent one.

That's why you had those big huge ALL CAPS lines saying

THIS IS A DRAFT VERSION AND *NOT* RELEASED FOR PUBLIC USE UNDER THE OGL, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE IT, etc.

In other words, it was not a version of the SRD.

 

[Anubis]

Sounds like a bunch of BULL to me! Geez . . . They're always trying to pull this kinda crap . . . Well I'll say beholder and any of the others whenever I please! BEHOLDER BEHOLDER BEHOLODER!

I hate corporate bastards . . .

 

[Alchemist]

Just to point it out in case it's not immediatly obvious: nobody is preventing you from using the creatures missing from the SRD in your home game, or even talking about them. The sticky bit is if you were to want to publish products dealing with those creatures, and even then it's probably just a matter of asking permission.

I think we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the SRD and OGL *exist* and that fact is a boon for all of us even if a company dosen't want to share absolutely everything with other publishers. And if they were "always trying to pull this crap" we wouldn't have 3rd party publishers at all, as WotC wouldn't have made the step to open license in the first place.

 

[Tewligan]

My favorite mind flayer replacement

I'm a big fan of the cephalyx from Privateer Press' Monsternomicon. They dress head to toe in black leather, have these crazy-ass mechanical arms grafted to their bodies, and they bolt big brass helmets to the flesh of the people they enslave and dominate. They can fly (albeit slowly), so it's creepy to imagine them drifting majestically down a corridor toward you. Plus, their nickname is the "mind rapers". In your squiddy face, mind flayers!

 

[Steverooo]

Mind Filleters

'nuff said...

 

[Piratecat]

Sounds like a bunch of BULL to me! Geez . . . They're always trying to pull this kinda crap . . . Well I'll say beholder and any of the others whenever I please! BEHOLDER BEHOLDER BEHOLODER!

I hate corporate bastards . . .

Time to cut back on the caffeine, guy. Please don't swear on these message boards.

Remember, these "corporate bastards" have put a system in place that assures that D&D is never going to go away. Not only that, they're allowing 3rd party publishers to support it, and believe me when I say they didn't have to do that.

So a few monsters can't have books published for them. It isn't the end of the world, and nothing is stopping anyone from using them for home games.