Things I LIKE about Mongoose

[Man-thing]

Excellent, I have that. I just haven't read far enough in yet.

 

[Mytholder]

OGL Horror (about the only thing in the book that wasn't copy and pasted from the d20 Modern SRD...)

Jeremy,
I've no problem with you pointing out that the Massive Damage sidebar was missing* at every possible opportunity, but the above's simply untrue. The classes, supernatural abiltiies, gming advice and settings chapters are entirely original to the book. The core mechanics (skills, feats, combat, equipment) are indeed derived from the Modern SRD, but the book is not a straight copy-and-paste.

*: There's an errata document up on the Mongoose site.

 

[Man-thing]

As a book in the OGL line shouldn't it have had that material. I thought OGL were designed to be a complete package so that I would need this book and that book.

If it was only new material that needed other books it would have been d20 Horror wouldn't it.

 

[Turjan]

As a book in the OGL line shouldn't it have had that material. I thought OGL were designed to be a complete package so that I would need this book and that book.

If it was only new material that needed other books it would have been d20 Horror wouldn't it.

No, that's just a question how you want to market the book, i.e., which license you want to use. The d20 license - its revision after the BoEF came out - contains some limitations that the OGL license does not have. As I heard that's the reason why Mongoose generally uses the OGL license. Nobody can come and make trouble with one of their books because of some "decency" paragraph or similar reasons.

 

[Man-thing]

My comments came from the original intent as listed on their site.

However, we decided not to stop there - as each rulebook is released under the Open Game Licence, we have decided to open them right up to other publishers. We are therefore offering a royalty-free, world-wide licence to existing publishers to use the CyberNet logo on their own publications, allowing them to take advantage of Mongoose Publishing’s own print runs for the Core Rulebooks by maintaining a solid identity with them.

I do understand that MGP uses the OGL also in the way you've stated. I think if they didn't we might not have got Gareth Hanrahan's Infernum:Book of the Damned. (oh, the indecency!)

 

[Samothdm]

No, that's just a question how you want to market the book, i.e., which license you want to use. The d20 license - its revision after the BoEF came out - contains some limitations that the OGL license does not have. As I heard that's the reason why Mongoose generally uses the OGL license. Nobody can come and make trouble with one of their books because of some "decency" paragraph or similar reasons.

The OGL license allows Mongoose (or any other publisher) to publish "character creation rules" and provide experience point tables and such. The d20 license does not allow the publisher to do that. That's the main reason why I think OGL Horror and the other Mongoose OGL books are just that - OGL. The idea is that with you wouldn't really need another book to generate a character and start playing.

 

[Gothmog]

Matt,

I can't answer for anyone else, but I can say that I've noticed a big improvement in Mongoose's books in the last 9 months or so, and I was a big fan even before that. Fact is, I have probably 80% of the D20 books Mongoose released (Quint series, Slayers Guides, Ultimate X, Classic Play, and Encyclopedia X), and I have enjoyed all of them immensely. I have found a great deal of material out of every book I can and have used, and my game has been better for it. Some people might complain about typos or editing, but I care about ideas and having a fun game- and for my money, Mongoose can't be beat in that regard. So don't let the naysayers, nitpickers, and disgruntled embittered folks get you down.

I've bought all of the Conan stuff so far, and its top notch. Also picked up the new Monster Encyclopedia and Infernum recently, and while I'm reading them right now, I am REALLY liking what I'm seeing. You guys branch out in directions other publishers won't go, and I applaud you for it. I especially liked the Book of Hell- one of the most interesting and best thought-out books I've seen in years. I'm eagerly awaiting the next Infernum book, and the Monster Encyclopedia volume II- so get 'em out to my grubby little hands!

 

[Turjan]

The OGL license allows Mongoose (or any other publisher) to publish "character creation rules" and provide experience point tables and such. The d20 license does not allow the publisher to do that. That's the main reason why I think OGL Horror and the other Mongoose OGL books are just that - OGL. The idea is that with you wouldn't really need another book to generate a character and start playing.

As Man-thing already said, this only one side of the medal. The latest version of the d20 license document contains the following paragraph:

"4. Quality Standards
The nature of all material You use or distribute that incorporates the Licensed Articles must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as community standards of decency, as further described in the d20 System Guide. You must use Your best efforts to preserve the high standard and goodwill of the Licensed Trademarks. In order to assure the foregoing standard and quality requirements, Wizards of the Coast shall have the right, upon notice to You, to review and inspect all material released by You that uses the Licensed Articles. You shall fully cooperate with Wizards of the Coast to facilitate such review and inspection, including timely provision of copies of all such materials to Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast may terminate this License immediately upon attempted notice to you if it deems, in its sole discretion, that your use of the Licensed Articles does not meet the above standards."

As you probably know, the cultural standards in this area differ vastly between Europe and the US. It's understandable that not everybody wants to test how serious WotC is with its option to terminate the license immediately, in their sole discretion, when they think their standards are not met. The following paragraph then describes that all product has to be destroyed in such a case.

In this light, the attempt to establish the OGL logo as a near equivalent to the d20 logo seems understandable .

 

[Mongoose_Matt]

As I heard that's the reason why Mongoose generally uses the OGL license. Nobody can come and make trouble with one of their books because of some "decency" paragraph or similar reasons.

And where exactly did you hear this from?

The reason we use OGL rather than d20 for a proportion of our products is so we can produce a complete game with character creation, XP tables, etc. . . The fact that we can be freer with art is neither here nor there.

This is why I like to actually answer questions, rather than let rumours gather

 

[KaosDevice]

The reason we use OGL rather than d20 for a proportion of our products is so we can produce a complete game with character creation, XP tables, etc. . . The fact that we can be freer with art is neither here nor there.

Which makes your use of D20 for Bab5 instead of OGL even more mystifying to me. That game would have kicked more tail then ten Jackie Chan films if you had went OGL with it and done your own thing from the start. I'm sorry, but I can't help but think that game would have been better for the OGl rather then the D20.