Who determines what is "official"?

[maddman75]

Its meaningless except in context. To me, the splatbooks, BoVD, etc. aren't any more official than say, the Quint books, or Bad Axe's race books. Official means at the minimum the PHB, DMG, and MM.

Then there are settings. For instance, FRCS, Monsters of Faerun, and Magic of Faerun would all be official to a standard Forgotten Realms campaign. But this doesn't have anything to do with the publisher. For a Scarred Lands game, Relics and Rituals and the Creature Collection would be official.

What it really comes down to is official is anything the DM says is part of his world.

The idea that "official == TSR" is an idea from the 80s, when there were companies producing compatible materials without license. Gary was making it clear that these materials wouldn't be acceptable at a tournament or convention games. They have nothing to do with 3e or the d20 license.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Who determines what is "official"?

I do.

 

[Tom Cashel]

Re: Re: Who determines what is "official"?

I do.

If you scroll back up a bit, you'll see that I am, in fact, the decider of what is official. Sorry.

CRGreathouse is now officially unofficial.

 

[Destil]

"Offical" has always been a serious pet peeve of mine. Really, I don't give a damn where an class / race / spell / magic item et cetera came from. All I really care about is how well it fits into my game.

 

[Kesh]

I usually start with whatever is allowed in the RPGA's Living Greyhawk campaigns. Then I add on relevant WotC and third-party suppliments that I feel are suitable to whatever campaign I'm running.

The nice thing about the SRD and d20 is that I can then cut & paste a lot of the material I want into a 'campaign bible', then add in the other things. That way, I can specifically let my players know what rules versions I'm using (e.g. Polymorph X, alt.classes, etc.) and what additional materials I allow (Oriental Adventures monk feats, etc.).

 

[barsoomcore]

Re: Re: Re: Who determines what is "official"?

If you scroll back up a bit, you'll see that I am, in fact, the decider of what is official. Sorry.

CRGreathouse is now officially unofficial.

Right, we're going to let a Rangers fan be the official official.



Whatever.

If I decide to make you official, I'll let you know. That goes for you, too, CRGreathouse. Keep your eyes open

 

[Tom Cashel]

That's it, Barsoomcore...you're now unofficial. And unmutual.

(Don't drag the Rangers into this...the Islanders are already dragging those lazy suckholes into the playoffs... )

 

[Alzrius]

This thread is asking the wrong question. It isn't "who determines whats official?", but rather "what does official mean?"

The definition I go with is that some material has more intrinsic rightness to it. This doesn't mean its necessarily better than "unofficial" material, or even that is stands well on its own. Just that when a conflict arises, the "official" material will always be more correct. Two monsters with the same name? The official one is more correct. A conflict over a setting? The official one is the right one. That sort of thing.

With that defined, we then determine who decides officialdom. For me, the obvious answer is WotC. The evidence shows that what they do seems to be more official. They created the d20 license, and they are exempt from it whenever they feel like it. They can update and change the SRD at will. When they release a revision of the game, everyone follows suit and delays products to also update to that revision. WotC products are canon because they come from the source: WotC.

'nuff said.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Who determines what is official?

Well, I can answer that since I am a WotC employee. Some people think its Anthony Valterra or Ed Stark, but the truth is far more interesting.

Basically R&D works non-stop getting manuscripts ready, and then twice a month three guys who smoke a lot and wear expensive pin-striped suits come in from god-knows-where to evaluate what is "official." They go through D&D material, D20 material, and even some stuff from sources too obscure to imagine, all to decide what is and is not "official." Their meetings take place in secret meeting rooms that are little more than glorified bomb shelters beneath the WotC offices. We don't really know what they look like because they wear hoods that cover their tentacles... er I mean faces. We also don't know what they discuss, but we do know that they order nothing but sushi during their meetings.

After several days of meetings, they emerge with a new list that specifically defines what is and what is not "official." At that time they are thanked profusely for their guidance by all the staff. We are all grateful that they spared our brains yet again, and then they leave for another two weeks. No one outside knew about this until now, but the janitor disappeared, never to be heard from again after a visit last year.

Oh no, I've said too much. The office door is opening... Ahhh! [Gurgle, gurgle, slurp].

 

[maddman75]

Disagree Alzrius.

First, asking what's official can't be answered without asking what is meant by official. The answer is that this depends on context. The DM sets up the context for the campaign, therefore he decides what is official. The answer to the stated question is 'the DM'.