the Jester
Legend
Yeah, and it's a shame. I love the work Necromancer did in 3e and am very disappointed that we (probably) won't see any for 4e.
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Whatever happened to Necromancer Games?
- Thread starter Whizbang Dustyboots
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billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
Well, the ball's in WotC's court if they want to change the license again, but since I suspect Clark's objections to the first GSL offering was one of the reasons for the revision, I wouldn't be surprised if WotC thinks it has done all it's going to do for 3rd party publishers.
And it's all about IP licensing and not about the change of edition content, per se. That, I think, is even sadder. If the license had been less problematic, I think you'd see some 4e Necromancer stuff under development whether or not Clark prefers to play 3.5 or Pathfinder.
Dire Bare
Legend
Necromancer Games was the epitome of fan publishing. Incredibly high quality, amazing stuff fan publishing. Clark and company didn't put out products to maintain a reliable and profitable business, but rather because they loved the game and were jazzed that the OGL and d20 license allowed them to contribute. At least, that's my take on it.
But they still operate as a business and ultimately found the GSL to be too risky and limiting. Which is a shame for all involved, as fans are clamoring for more Necro goodness and I'm sure Clark would love to put out more awesome product. He was really excited about the new edition to, at least at first.
I think that there is a likely chance we'll see Pathfinder products from Necromancer at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. And if WotC ever loosens up the GSL, Clark just might restart plans for 4e support. At least I hope so, as I'm primarily a 4e player right now.
PS - Shame on those few who felt the need to threadcrap with edition warring. And thanks to the mods for being quick about shutting it down. Clark's decisions weren't about which edition is cooler and he has always been very respectful of WotC, thankful even as the OGL was WotC's gift to the community.
But they still operate as a business and ultimately found the GSL to be too risky and limiting. Which is a shame for all involved, as fans are clamoring for more Necro goodness and I'm sure Clark would love to put out more awesome product. He was really excited about the new edition to, at least at first.
I think that there is a likely chance we'll see Pathfinder products from Necromancer at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later. And if WotC ever loosens up the GSL, Clark just might restart plans for 4e support. At least I hope so, as I'm primarily a 4e player right now.
PS - Shame on those few who felt the need to threadcrap with edition warring. And thanks to the mods for being quick about shutting it down. Clark's decisions weren't about which edition is cooler and he has always been very respectful of WotC, thankful even as the OGL was WotC's gift to the community.
Aus_Snow
First Post
Yep. Probably helps that the cap'n of the crew (don't know enough about the others involved to comment there) is otherwise gainfully employed, and so can afford to take his time, and yeah, do stuff that's cool, simply because he wants to, or - more to the point, perhaps - because fans want it. Please though, correct me if I'm wrong here!
In all honesty, I don't see that ever happening. Er, the first bit, I mean.* Regardless of my gaming preferences, and general perspective, it just seems a really unlikely direction for [the current] WotC to head in. Given the history, etc.
Curious to see what happens, re: Pathfinder modules and/or supps. I'm sure such things would make a lot of gamers happy.
* But if it did, the second could possibly follow, sure.
Treebore
First Post
Like Greg says above, some ideas are being discussed with Paizo, and I think Clark recently posted on the Necro boards that a Tome will be done with Paizo as well.
From what I understand it was all about the GSL, how long it took to get revised, combined with the other half of Necromancer, Bill Webb, is not interested in doing 4E products.
So now they are kind of feeling "burned out" and are largely just doing a few things with Paizo to try and get the final 3E products done as PF products.
So unless Clark and Bill get their "mojo" back, don't expect to see Necromancer going full out ever again.
I would love for them to prove me wrong.
From what I understand it was all about the GSL, how long it took to get revised, combined with the other half of Necromancer, Bill Webb, is not interested in doing 4E products.
So now they are kind of feeling "burned out" and are largely just doing a few things with Paizo to try and get the final 3E products done as PF products.
So unless Clark and Bill get their "mojo" back, don't expect to see Necromancer going full out ever again.
I would love for them to prove me wrong.
Aberzanzorax
Hero
They did put out three products that had been sitting around waiting for the GSL questions to be resolved:
Slumbering Tsar part 1
Eamonvale Incursion
Demonheart
These are currently in pdf form only, with the eventual release in print on demand from DriveThruRpg.
I believe DriveThruRpg is the holdup for the print products, not Necromancer (they are in the process of getting this option available for their store overall, so far as I know).
Slumbering Tsar part 1
Eamonvale Incursion
Demonheart
These are currently in pdf form only, with the eventual release in print on demand from DriveThruRpg.
I believe DriveThruRpg is the holdup for the print products, not Necromancer (they are in the process of getting this option available for their store overall, so far as I know).
Necromancer was pretty big in the Heyday of 3e publishing.
It's a different case nowadays. Necromancer was able to do the first Tome of Horrors by speaking to WoTC employees who are no longer there. Somewhere along the line I believe WoTC changed from wanting a third-party gaming culture to, if not actively trying to discourage it, to simply being indifferent. (I know there were staff trying to work with the 3rd parties, but I'm commenting about management). I can understand WoTC not wanting to give away as much as they did with the OGL, but the GSL was just a bit too restrictive.
I'm also not sure the 4e target audience is right. Regardless of how you feel about 4e, like or hate it, 4e is just so mechanically different that even converting existing stuff is a chore.
Plus, I think the people looking for 1e feel now have d20 variants like C&C to full on retro-clones like OSRIC and others. In the last few years I think the people who want that 1e feel are actually playing stuff that is really 1st Edition D&D (or Basic, or White Box, or whatever) compatible. Thus, I think Necromancer lost some of its target audience.
Plus, there's been a drop in tabletop RPGs across the board in the industry. Even if things were better contract wise, would Necromancer still be as big as they were. Product lines from all smaller publishers have been dropping in frequency. For good or ill, I think the market has contracted, and there's likely going to be publishers that won't survive the next decade.
It's a different case nowadays. Necromancer was able to do the first Tome of Horrors by speaking to WoTC employees who are no longer there. Somewhere along the line I believe WoTC changed from wanting a third-party gaming culture to, if not actively trying to discourage it, to simply being indifferent. (I know there were staff trying to work with the 3rd parties, but I'm commenting about management). I can understand WoTC not wanting to give away as much as they did with the OGL, but the GSL was just a bit too restrictive.
I'm also not sure the 4e target audience is right. Regardless of how you feel about 4e, like or hate it, 4e is just so mechanically different that even converting existing stuff is a chore.
Plus, I think the people looking for 1e feel now have d20 variants like C&C to full on retro-clones like OSRIC and others. In the last few years I think the people who want that 1e feel are actually playing stuff that is really 1st Edition D&D (or Basic, or White Box, or whatever) compatible. Thus, I think Necromancer lost some of its target audience.
Plus, there's been a drop in tabletop RPGs across the board in the industry. Even if things were better contract wise, would Necromancer still be as big as they were. Product lines from all smaller publishers have been dropping in frequency. For good or ill, I think the market has contracted, and there's likely going to be publishers that won't survive the next decade.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Brief meta-note about the above: I used the comment system for moderation last night, and after discussing the issue with other mods am not crazy about using it for that purpose. Comments and negrep are removed. We'll stick with commenting inside the post.
Damn, that syntax was tortured.
Carry on. Thanks for throttling back on edition war stuff.
Damn, that syntax was tortured.
Carry on. Thanks for throttling back on edition war stuff.
Lord_Blacksteel
Adventurer
I've been out of touch and wondering this myself - thanks to Whizzbang for asking. Necromancer made some great stuff and I ended up integrating most of it into my Scarred Lands campaign that ran for 2 years. We used Tomb of Abysthor alone for 6 months of play.
To Clark and those guys - From at least one guy who's experimenting with 4e for the first time now, if you do ever decide to publish some 4E material I know at least one group that will be on it when it comes out.
And if we start up another 3rd edition game, Vault of Larinn Karr and Hall of the Rainbow Mage will feature prominently.
To Clark and those guys - From at least one guy who's experimenting with 4e for the first time now, if you do ever decide to publish some 4E material I know at least one group that will be on it when it comes out.
And if we start up another 3rd edition game, Vault of Larinn Karr and Hall of the Rainbow Mage will feature prominently.
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