System info

[tilt]

We'll have to choose what system we are going to base the scenario on. My suggestion would be D&D 4e, cause that is the newest version and got a lot of players, but pathfinder is of course also an interesting option.
We also have to decide on what level we aim at. The obvious would of course be 1st and our scenario taking people to 2nd or higher when finished. However, we could also start off with a higher level to make the challenges more interesting and to make it more credible that the city would use our adventures to help them.

[Steel General]

Having been out of role playing for sometime, I'm not up on either system. Would it be difficult to develop them in parallel?

[Jaxilon]

Don't we have to operate under the OGL rules? I don't know about this stuff but I thought WOC was pretty spastic about releasing stuff under their system. From what someone was saying you can't even use their monster stats you have to make your own up?!

[tilt]

not sure about the monster stats ... haven't read the OGL (or what its called for 4e) ... I'll try to see if I can find time for it. I do remember that 3p developers critiziced it for not being as open as 3.5 ... if anyone is an expert on this, feel free to comment

its not impossible to do both SG, but 4e monster blocks are very specific and not really usable for anything else (other than the generic name).

[Jaxilon]

I thought GP said something about this awhile back and that was why he developed for the 3.x system but I'm not sure.

[tilt]

So, these are the rules governing monster blocks... they basicly say - we can't use the monsters as they are in the Monster Manual, but CAN make our own monster versions and print those.

Applied Mechanical Results
You may print the results of applied mechanics within the
context of your Licensed Product. For example, you may not
reprint the statistics of a kobold wyrmpriest or the lich
template in a Licensed Product, nor may you define these 4E
References. You may, however, print a kobold wyrmpriest
lich that you create and that is relevant to your Licensed
Product. Similarly, when you create an NPC, you may apply
the NPC Magic Threshold (D&D 4E
page 187) rule to that NPC. You might also print the specific
attack bonus and damage for an NPC’s paladin power, even
though you cannot reprint the power text from the D&D 4E

In another document they said something about having removed a section of the license due to 3rd party product complaints

[Djekspek]

I'm not an expert on the licenses. As for WotC, they have two:

- 4th edition system game license (SGL). link
- 3rd edition OGL link

Not sure if the OGL is still valid/usable. There's loads of discussions (I mostly don't understand). This link (a bit old though) made some stuff clearer:
- http://www.earth1066.com/D20FAQ.htm

[torstan]

My recommendation would be Pathfinder compatible. The license is clear, and based on the OGL model. It would allow the use of a clear logo, and Paizo are great at promoting 3rd party publishers.

The license is here: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility

Paizo often advertises 3rd party publisher content on it's store blog. They also sell 3rd party content in their store. Wizards doesn't allow you to mention or link to 3rd party content from their forums.

[NeonKnight]

So, these are the rules governing monster blocks... they basicly say - we can't use the monsters as they are in the Monster Manual, but CAN make our own monster versions and print those.

Applied Mechanical Results
You may print the results of applied mechanics within the
context of your Licensed Product. For example, you may not
reprint the statistics of a kobold wyrmpriest or the lich
template in a Licensed Product, nor may you define these 4E
References. You may, however, print a kobold wyrmpriest
lich that you create and that is relevant to your Licensed
Product. Similarly, when you create an NPC, you may apply
the NPC Magic Threshold (D&D 4E
page 187) rule to that NPC. You might also print the specific
attack bonus and damage for an NPC’s paladin power, even
though you cannot reprint the power text from the D&D 4E

In another document they said something about having removed a section of the license due to 3rd party product complaints

Just to clarify, we CAN use monsters from the Monster manuals, we just can't print their stat block.

Example

CARAVAN AMBUSH Just after dawn on the second day out of the city, the caravan is set upon by Niktak, the Kobold shaman and his small gang of kobolds:

6 KOBOLD MINIONS (monster manual, page XX)

2 KOBOLD SLINGERS (monster manual page XX)

2 KOBOLD SKIRMISHERS (monster manual page XX)

NIKTAK, KOBOLD SHAMAN [INSERTED STAT BLOCK]

The above is legal within the OGL license as we are not reprinting any of their published material (and therefore circumventing their copyrights), but with NIKTAK, there is no previously published material, so as long as we don't violate the license, we are all good.

[tilt]

yes.. you're right of course NeonKnight, badly put by me... we can use the monster, just can't print their stats ... and we can only reference to Monster Manual - not a page number (their rule - cause if they reprint and change pages).

but perhaps Pathfinder would be the way to go .. I have no experience with it at all - but have played D&D 3.5 when that was the newest version