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d20 Decline and Rise of OGL

G

Greyshade

SOC-3
I don't know if other folks out there have noticed, but afair few RPG companies, notably Green Ronin, Mongoose Publishing to name but a few have started releasing 2e+ versions of their products.

However they are not merely tinkering with the books, there are whole new character generation chapters as they are converting them into fully self contained OGL, where you do not need the D&D3e/3.5e books.

A friend was telling me that WotC will be releasing D&D 4e in 2007/8 and that it apparently bears little resemblance to the current rules so many companies are moving over to the OGL for greater freedom.

Anyone else noticced this?
 
As long as it takes WOTC to get something completed and then out the door to the printers and back again in time for a Gen Con release, we will easily hear about the release of 4E officially a year or two before it comes out.

Given that fact, last year at Gen Con WOTC said it wasn't on the schedule at this time. If they want to hit that 5 year target after 3.5, then we'll hear the first rumblings at this year's Gen Con Indy, and official sneak peaks will start coming out a year later. If WOTC doesn't mention it at this year's Gen Con or at Winter Fantasy next year, then we won't see a release of 4E in 2008. I'm pretty certain that we won't see a release of 4E in 2007.

I personally expect 4E in either 2008 or 2009, based on the reception that v3.5 got with it's early release two years ahead of schedule.

At least, these are my assumptions given my intense personal observations of the Powers That Be.

Hope that helps,
Flynn
 
Who wants 2e books, I want to go back to the original AD&D 1e where the rolls were improvised and the saving throws made sense. Adventures were more, fly by the seat of your pants with lots of chunky details thrown in for good measure.

One of things that I find difficult about this whole 3.x thing is that there are so many rules to learn and things to unlearn, one would have thought when they developed the game system that they would have gone back to the basics and really dumb it down without depreciating the gamers intelligence. Something that I have yet to see any rule system master...although, VPS comes close as does the old James Bond RPG ruleset.
 
Every rules system gains complication on contact with the gaming public. It's just a fact. However, if you are looking for a nice Rules Lite system, may I suggest the following website:
http://www.1km1kt.net/24hourrpg/

This is the repository for RPGs written in just 24 hours. Because of the time constraint, most systems are by default rules-lite, and so you may just find what you are looking for if you dig around enough.

Hope this helps,
Flynn
 
The upcoming (eventually) Traveller's Guidebook is an OGL book, rather than d20, and will contain all the rules required for playing Traveller (or 2320AD).
Personally, I tend to run my d20 games 'lighter' than the rules, especially in terms of all the combat options. Makes combat faster, too.
 
You guys may also want to look at Starship Troopers from Mongoose. It's OGL, but a lot lighter than standard d20. And combat is DANGEROUS.
 
OGL = Open Gaming License. It's the license that lets people publish their own material derivative of the core rules published in the SRD.

Does that help?

-Flynn
 
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