D&D 4E Un(der)served 4e Content Goldrush?

[breschau]

Green Ronin and Malhavoc aren't third party?

How does the second half of that sentence follow from the first?

I like there stuff, i.e. I've read some of their books.

I don't buy third party books, i.e. uh... I don't buy third party stuff.

 

[Greatwyrm]

You should be making money yourself off of ideas like that, not giving them away for free.

If I had a nickel for all the stuff I should be doing, I'd have my student loans paid off by now.

 

[JustinA]

I like the stuff Green Ronin puts out. Malhavoc kicks ass too.

But, I don't buy OGL/d20 books put out by third parties. And I won't. Ever.

Wait a sec. If you don't buy them, how do you know that they kick ass?

I've just never understood the attitude that says "90% of everything is crap, so screw it all". It doesn't matter whether it's D20 supplements or television or anime or comic books or whatever. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

But, with so many 3rd party publishers out there the only way to keep things consistent at the table is to buy them all and learn every variant possible out there, or ban them all.

I take the more reasonable and flexible stand that says, "If it's not in the core rulebooks, I need to approve it." This includes WotC's material, which certainly has plenty in the way of broken rules. This tends to Maximize the Awesome(TM) at my gaming table.

Of course, part of what makes this work is that I don't tend to outright nix anything. If a player comes to me with mechanics that are busted, I try to find a way for them to do what they want to do without the busted mechanic. This also creates an open atmosphere where players will say, "I want to do X." And even if we don't have a rulebook that allows for that, we'll find a way to make it happen.

Surprisingly, most of the stuff I need to change, I end up tweaking to be more powerful. For example, I remember working to make the 3.0 Dragon Disciple so that it was actually viable option for the sorcerer in my group.

Every so often I'll get the guy who wants his 1st level character to be able to leap 50 feet into the air and then apply falling object damage to his attacks when he comes back down to earth (to take one example from actual experience). But that's where the power of the word "no" comes in.

Justin Alexander
http://www.thealexandrian.net

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

At least after 3.5, I'd say the crunch put out by 3rd party d20 publishers was FAR less prone to outright broken exploits than WotC's own.

I've actually walked from D&D games over a '3rd party ban,' and in every case in which the GM relented, he discovering that what I wanted was invariably WEAKER than stuff he allowed without even blinking (like core 3.5 and its "balanced" cleric and druid).

 

[The Souljourner]

In another thread, I brought up Swords & Sorcery Studios' Creature Collection beating the 3e Monster Manual to market by being released the same day as the 3e PHB. I believe that this kind of thing can and will happen again with 4e's release.

Just for the sake of discussion, let's say the things we don't think will be in the initial core release actually won't be. Gnomes, bards, monks, psionics, druids - all of that stuff. Am I genuinely nuts to think that people won't be falling over each other to produce this stuff before WotC does? If some 3rd party publisher produced a monster book and psionics book on release day, wouldn't that be a huge sales opportunity?

Meh. most people don't buy non WoTC stuff, especially to replace official content (even if it's not out yet). For those who really want to play a bard or monk or Gnome, I'm sure they'll make their own rules.... why use someone else's unofficial imperfect class when you can use your own?

-Nate

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Meh. most people don't buy non WoTC stuff, especially to replace official content (even if it's not out yet). For those who really want to play a bard or monk or Gnome, I'm sure they'll make their own rules.... why use someone else's unofficial imperfect class when you can use your own?

And yet Necromancer Games has been able to churn out three or four volumes of Tomes of Horror, Green Ronin has three or four monster books, Privateer Press is on their second, and they're just the tip of the iceberg.

There are plenty of people who aren't "most people." And thank goodness for that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I like there stuff, i.e. I've read some of their books.

I don't buy third party books, i.e. uh... I don't buy third party stuff.

So, they kick ass, but you refuse to buy them?

Do you also enjoy sex but choose to remain celibate?

 

[frankthedm]

I'm in it to play D&D not some guy putting out books from his basement thinks D&D should be like.

:\ Was that not how D&D started?

Granted, the S&SS Creature Collection was a bit 'shoddy'.

 

[frankthedm]

why use someone else's unofficial imperfect class when you can use your own? -Nate

Because if the third party book saves me at least 3 hours worth of effort tweaking something, it was worth the cash for the free time it allowed me to keep.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Granted, the S&SS Creature Collection was a bit 'shoddy'.

I'm aware it got mixed reviews, although I liked it. Really, I was just trying to use it as an example of timing.