Will lack of 3rd party support affect your 4E play?

[taliesin15]

Not wanting to engage in any "edition wars" (though it seems like every other thread on this board is in that vein), lack of 3rd party material would be another reason not to get into 4th edition, though there are plenty of reasons besides for me personally.

Is there any reason not to think 3rd party publications will continue? In other words, is WoTC dropping the Open Source paradigm? If so, that would be a very chilling development...

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I used more 3rd party books in my 3.x games than Wizards books.

I am a little disappointed that there won't be that kind of support, but I'll still play, and still collect the stuff I like. The ratio will be different, but I still grab just about any monster or class book that comes out 3rd party or WotC.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

For me the answer is definately yes, because I had been happily going along thinking "Well there's some stuff wrong with 4E for my group, but I'm sure third-party publishers will sort that out pretty rapidly!".

Now the GSL is out, it's clear that the stuff that I was hoping third-party-publishers would really do well, particularly modifying rules and writing D&D-esque but not WotC-esque adventures will not be possible, the former because it's specifically disallowed, and the latter because you're basically not allowed to use any monster D&D has any remote claim on in your third-party adventures or even make up your own versions of them.

If the GSL is "clarified" or toned-down so that rules-mod stuff and really D&D-ish third-party adventures are possible, then I guess I won't be affected much, but that remains to be seen.

Note: WotC's adventures are just completely not to my taste. Absolutely not criticism to the writers or those who enjoy them, they're just completely displeasing to me (basing this on 3.XE adventures and what I've seen from 4E so far, which ain't much). It's not that they're bad, it's that I don't like them (maybe I'm bad!).

 

[BluSponge]

Not at all. My third party purchases have almost been exclusively adventures, and of those I can only think of one that I actually used (Crucible of Freya), and it was converted to a different game system (Savage Worlds). Seeing as Savage Worlds is pretty much my go-to system, and that's likely to remain the case, I really could care less about third party support of DnD.

EDIT: I'm more concerned with the loss of Necromancer Games, as they are just an incredible idea factory of adventures. But if they were producing material for Pathfinder, True20, or C&C, I'd be just as happy as if there were a DnD logo on the cover.

Tom

 

[Greg K]

I am not planning to switch to 4e. However, third party products brought me into 3e and d20M and play a large role in the games so they could have affected my decision at a later date depending on the offerings (including alternative mechanics). A sample of the third party products that I use for my D&D game include the following:

Adamant
- Fantasy Occupations
- Hot Pursuit
- Hot Purusit: On Foot

Green Ronin
- Psychic's Handbook
- Shaman's Handbook
- Witchs Handbook

Malhavoc
- Book of Iron Might: for combat maneuvers, stunts, and fighting styles.
- Book of Experimental Might: just a few bits
- Book of Eldritch Might: the construct template and a few minor bits

Mystic Eye Games
- Artificer's Handbook

Necromancer
- Tome of Horror

When my campaign resumes (currently, I am running M&M), I plan to switch Arcane casters to use Elements of Magic Revised (and Lyceian Arcana) or Elements of Magic: Mythic Earth. I also plan to buy more third party products (e.g., Advanced Bestiary, Book of Roguish Luck, and Book of Templates Deluxe, ). This of course assumes that I dont either switch to True20, HARP, or back to Rolemaster for fantasy or run a d20Modern game.

 

[Mark Chance]

Lack of third party support (or, more specifically, my lack of funds to purchase such support) never really affected my ability to play 3.0/3.5E. The (potential) lack of such support will have absolutely zero impact on me playing 4E.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Lack of 4E 3rd party support will have exactly no effect on my 4E play. Sorry, the only thing I bought third party was the DL stuff and Dragon/Dungeon anyways, so this means very little to me. I can understand the disappointment others feel, however.

 

[2WS-Steve]

I run a game mainly off modules and they were almost all 3rd party modules in 3e.

I'll still run 4e regardless of 3rd party support because it seems really fun so far, but if 3rd party support is low it's likely that I'll "drift" and run other game systems more frequently than I did during the 3e era.

 

[mhensley]

Yes. I heavily used 3rd party modules and resource books in my games for 3.5. The lack of such support kills any chance of me wanting to run 4e. WotC hasn't produced a module that I've enjoyed pretty much ever. I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Figured there would be too many "ifs" to post a poll.

For me it would- I'm very much counting on things like Necro and Goodman's planned products for 4E. I'm a single dad without much time to prep/write material. 3P adventures with no statblocks won't get me to crack my wallet open. The Necro APG and it's premise was something else I look(ed) very much forward to and felt is/was needed for my own personal tastes.

I don't see myself giving 4E much play time without the products I need (and sorry , but WOTC hasn't "delivered" the goods since 2002-ish AFAIC).


How about you?

I bought my fair share of 3pp stuff during the 3E days. With the notable exception of the Scarred Lands most of it sat unused and unloved on my RPG bookcase. I do want there to be 4E adventures but extra rule/class/feat books I can do without thanks. That said I will most likely get the PHB2 next year and the WotC equipment book in the fall.