And the news is in, the GSL isn't quite as restrictive as we recently thought it might be! It seems the GSL will require that product lines make the full conversion. How restrictive is this? We don't know until we see the definition of "product line," but it is certainly less restrictive than the company wide conversion that seemed in the cards two weeks ago.
I'm encouraged by this news and hope that we may yet see some Paizo and Green Ronin materials for 4e. There are still many companies who are (at least publically) on the fence, but I wouldn't expect to see firm decisions from anyone until they see the license.
Here's a tidbit:
There has been a lot of speculation around the details of the new GSL, and I feel like there is need for some clarification. Our intention is to encourage publishers to design for 4th Edition, not to jeopardize independent third-party games published under the OGL. With that in mind, publishers are going to be able to decide -- on a product line by product line basis -- which platform they will use for developing their products. If a publisher has an existing product under the OGL, we would love for them to update it to the GSL; however, that is not a requirement.
--Scott Rouse, Senior Brand Manager
For more info check the D&D GSL FAQ.
The foul past time of exam studying has become my only past time these days, so I have neglected to update you on what's going on in the tabletop gaming world this week. Sorry! To make it up for you, here's a mega-post of sorts with goings-on from a wide array of companies over the last few days.
• Chaosium, last week, announced that they have issued the Call of Cthulhu license to Super Genius Games, an interesting development since the latter company seems well poised to fulfill the gaps in the game by focusing on supplements that can be bought one afternoon and used that same night. On their part, Chaosium's website is now under construction, soon to become a full blown Basic Roleplaying System website since the corebook has just been released.
• At Wizards of the Coast, Magic: the Gathering has seen a lot of things happen to it. Preleases are in full force, which means that the whole Shadowmoor set has been spoiled to the public--a sortable card list and, for the first time, a complete visual spoiler. This is excellent, because the art is awesome. (Also a new devlopment in Shadowmoor: the UNtap symbol. It freaks me out. You can find videos thoroughly explaining the new mechanics--hybried, wither, persist, conspire and untap--here.)
• White Wolf announces a new World of Darkness game, Hunter: The Vigil. This makes me very happy because, unlike most, I really enjoyed Hunter: The Reckoning. The full-colour logo, in a lovely teal colour-scheme, can be seen here. Also, las week White Wolf expanded their foray into alternative publishing by means of their partnership with Lulu, raising the number of print-on-demand titles to include Mind's Eye Theatre: The Awakening, World of Darkness: Innocents, The Manual of Exalted Power: Abyssals, The Mandate of Heaven and The Imperfect Lotus. These can be bought here.
• Upper Deck Entertainment announced a Call of Duty Real-Time Card Game, where gameplay is fast-paced and players "simultaneously fire, take cover and move around the battlefield."
• In honour of the 25th anniversary of Warhammer (wow), Games Workshop has a limited edition Harry the Hammer miniature that can only be purchased this weekend, and they've also posted online the Warhammer Legendary Battle Rules that support armies of 5000 points or more.
As always, I'm gonna accompany this post with some Shadowmoor card art. Enjoy!
We're bringing you a special edition of Scrying the 4e Crystal Ball today.
Discussions are raging across the various rpg boards concerning the news that there is a mutual exclusivity clause in the GSL. Now, no one has actually seen the GSL yet to say just how tight this little piece of writing is, but word from Clark Peterson of Necromancer Games, who has been in contact with Wizards of the Coast about the provision, is that it may be very tight indeed.
That said, we do know some things for sure from Linae and Scott, who gave up part of their weekends to post some responses to everyones' concerns:
- The new GSL will not permit a dual statted book.
- The new GSL will not allow a publisher to print both a 4e and a 3.5 edition of a product.
- The GSL will allow an update of existing OGL material to the GSL (though there may be a provision requiring the OGL version no longer be sold)
- The publishers who were given early access to the GSL were respected PRINT publishers. This was done, according to Scott, to allow for the greater lead time required for a print publisher to get something into the market place.
- The new starting date for the GSL precludes any non-wizards D&D system material for 4e this GenCon.
- The new GSL has some wording allowing use of the D&D branding itself... it's likely that it will be actual D&D branding with some sort of alternate logo that is only used by third party publishers.
In addition, Clark made one very important assertion that went unchallenged by the wizards folks, even though they responded directly to a lot of other misinterpretations:
- Printing something using the GSL requires a company wide switch to the GSL. It's a company by company choice (as Clark put it), not a publication by publication choice. This suggests that there is a clause in the GSL that causes the automatic revokation of the license if you subsequently print something using OGL.
I've read a lot of posts on a lot of messageboards to condense this all, but the bulk is from this forum thread at ENWorld.
GSL, for those who don't know, is a reference to the Game System License... a license that some in the industry, even die hard supporters of WotC, were beginning to feel was never going to be released.
Here's the relevant text from Dungeons & Dragons Insider:
Wizards of the Coast is pleased to announce that third-party publishers will be allowed to publish products compatible with the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition game system under the new Dungeons & Dragons 4E Game System License (D&D 4E GSL). This royalty-free license will replace the former d20 System Trademark License (STL), and will have a System Reference Document (SRD) available for referencing permissible content.
The D&D 4E GSL will allow third-party publishers to create roleplaying game products in fantasy settings with the D&D 4th Edition rules, and publishers who register with WotC will be granted the right to use a version of the D&D logo that denotes the product as compatible with the D&D 4th Edition Roleplaying Game, in accordance with WotC's terms and conditions. The effective start date for sales of D&D 4E GSL publications will be October 1, 2008.
The license associated SRD will be available on June 6, 2008, at no cost. A small group of publishers received advanced notice and will receive these documents prior to June 6, at no cost, in order to prepare for publication of compatible materials by the effective start date. If you haven't already been contacted by WotC, you will be able to access the documents on the Wizards website beginning on June 6, 2008.
Wizards is also working on the details of a second royalty-free license, the d20 Game System License (d20 GSL). This license will allow third-party publishers to create roleplaying game products in non-fantasy settings with the 4E rules. The exact details for the d20 GSL will be released as they become available.
We here at the GayGamer castle were lucky enough to get some exclusive spoiler cards from the upcoming Shadowmoor expansion to Magic: The Gathering! Well, technically only the Furystoke Giant is exclusive - we share the wicked-looking Wound Reflection card with another, as-yet-unknown site.
As exciting as our pal the Furystoke is, he's just a taste of the Shadowmoor experience, in which the Aurora has changed Lorwyn into the inky Shadowmoor, a plane of eternal night filled with warped and twisted denizens - expect to see familiar races from Lorwyn, but with seriously altered allegiances and all kinds of new powers.
Even the game itself has gotten a bit twisted: over a third of Shadowmoor's 301 cards will sport hybrid mana costs (back again), and -1/-1 counters get a kick in the ass from Wither and Persist effects. When Shadowmoor launches, Magic fans will be able to travel to Shadowmoor via booster, tournament and fat packs as well as theme decks.
So I'm well-embroiled in my exam period (which is why you haven't been hearing much from me, sorry about that!), but, as everyone in an exam period will tell you, distractions become more valuable than ever. This is why I got one of my friends to do a research report for us, checking out what's going on in the world of the Pokémon TCG because I've kind of been ignoring it in the last few months. So here is our first VDB special report by one Stefan Irwin!
What's New With Pokémon Cards
Disclaimer: To be honest this probably isn't exactly all what's new but more of an overview of what has been new for a while but by the end it gets some newer things.
The new Diamond and Pearl Pokémon have arrived! The Pokémon Trading Card Game has once again opened its doors allowing all the new Pokémon from the DS games to enter the arena. The first expansion aptly named Diamond & Pearl brings with it 130 more cards and even new strategic elements to the game, Pokémon LV.X. Level X Pokémon allow you to play the Pokémon on top of its original card adding new poke-powers and attacks while keeping the old attacks as well. The cards also come with a new contemporary look giving room for bigger illustrations and more background information on the Pokémon. The newer expansions in the Diamond and Pearl collection, Mysterious Treasures, Secret Wonders and Great Encounters all bring new Pokémon as well as attacks, and the best treat of all, new Pokémon LV. X. Everything will force players to battle with more strategy. All the expansions include powerful legendary Pokémon giving each battle an air of prominence. For all the true avid Pokémon players out there the newest expansion Majestic Dawn is coming out nationwide on May 21, 2008. An insider with the company has stated that one of the new Pokémon in the expansion will be Glaceon, one of the new Eevee evolutions and that it will boost an arsenal of impressive attacks including Snow Cloak which will deal 30 damage as well as allow Glaceon to be protected from all attacks during the next turn on a successful flip of a coin and Speed Slide which can hit for 60 damage and be completely unhindered by all effects on the defending Pokémon. Sources also indicate that Legendary Pokémon Darkrai and rare Pokémon Cresselia will be a part of the new expansion. Leafeon, the second new evolution of Eevee also will be added to the game. Two new LV.X Pokémon are also expected to be included in the game, Garchomp and Porygon. With the release of Majestic Dawn quickly racing towards the Pokémon world it appears that battles will only become more and more strategic, chaotic and fierce!
Thanks so much Stefan! Now I feel out of touch--all these new Pokémon are making me feel disoriented and confused. (Mad Pawn hurt himself in his confusion.)
An Enworld user has had an opportunity to glance over the Wizards of the Coast Fall Catalogue. While a number of the items look interesting, the one I was curious to see was this: Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons.
Ok, well first of all, why just chromatic dragons? They managed a lot more than that in the 3e Draconomicon, but then the kicker... three new chromatic dragons: Brown, Purple and Grey.
GAH! Did my eyes deceive me? Or is it just that they're throwing Dragon magazine fans to the four winds??? The traditionally omitted chromatic dragons (they're counting grey? What's with that? Are they deliberately looking to be boring?) are nothing of the kind... they are, in fact Purple (so they got one right), Orange and Yellow. Color me disappointed.
Here's the text of the one book, for the rest see the Enworld page:
Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons
November 18th
288 pages, $39.95
"...details of each dragon's powers, tactics, myths, lairs, servitors, and more."
Side Bar 3 New Chromatic Dragons: Brown, Purple and Grey
The previews for Shadowmoor have been flowing fast at magicthegathering.com--here's a summary of what's been revealed thus far:
First of all, there's a Shadowmoor minisite.
Magic Arcana has had a bunch of art and release previews, including booster packaging, the Fat Pack, theme decks, a wallpaper, Tokens, another wallpaper, and a Fat Pack wallpaper.
In terms of articles, there's an introduction to the dark fairytale of a setting that is Shadowmoor, the first card previews, an article about a very angry troll (that can gain +20/+20 when circumstances are right), an article on the tribes-but-not-tribal nature of the set, an article about a card that combines aggro and disruption, an article about monocolor hybrid costs in which a card can cost (2/B)(2/B)(2/B)--anywhere from three to six mana, more previews, an article about how Shadowmoor twists ideas previously seen in Lorwyn, an article about the new keyword "Conspire," and an article about a card that will really help out late-game Black/Red aggro.
Of course, the most important things are the card previews themselves--here's a site with all of them so far. There's a scary card that instantly brings all copies of itself back into play, there's the aforementioned huge-getting troll, there's tons of cards centred around -1/-1 counters, a buncha muncha cruncha scarecrows, a creature that makes every other creature a 1/1, a two-mana two-card-drawing card that has the expense of a -1/-1 counter on one of your creatures, and more. Interesting set, certainly. Keep checking the site everyday if you want more!
Rich Baker has been one of the better sources of information on 4th edition through his blog. The party in his playtest group has reached epic levels, and in his blog he talks about their recent encounter with a beholder. Rich maintains that the new 4e version is the best version they've done in the 30+ year history of the game. I won't judge that until I see the quality of the eyestalks myself. Fortunately we were given a few snippets of info on just what the beholder is like in 4e.
- Beholders are a solo monster (well, we knew that from the earlier Dungeons & Dragons Insider cartoon)
- They are a challenge for 19th level characters - and even for a bit higher than that
- Eye rays get some new mechanics in the game to make them more playable
- Eye ray sample mechanic one: an aura that lets the beholder unleash one eye ray attack on each player in range
- Eye ray sample mechanic two: eye-fury, an attack allowing the beholder to unleash several eye ray attacks in a single action
I'm curious to see how some of these mechanics work, but I'll confess... I love beholders, so I'm also anxious to see.
[via Rich Baker's Blog]
Decipher, as previously reported, recently began a countdown to some unknown development, the company responsible for the Star Trek CCG, Star Wars CCG and Lord of the Rings CCG, among others, having previously been defunct for quite a while.
Well, the countdown finished on March 31st--unfortunately close to April Fool's Day, leading many to believe that their new website was a joke. It's safe to say now that it's not: some big things are going down.
Decipher is releasing a new game, Fight Klub, that promises to instigate a "player revolution" and "reinvent the Trading Card Game"--"No Starters. No Boosters. No Distributors. No Retailers." It's a multi-licence game that also incorporates "viral-marketing on steroids" and a whole whack of gang terminology. There's a lot to talk about, so head on after the jump.
Nicolas Logue, who was recently tapped to run the Pathfinder Society (Paizo's organized play endeavor), has also just announced a venture of his own. Considered one of the brightest new minds in the industry, Nick has been writing some incredibly creative adventures in Dungeon and doing freelance work for Wizards of the Coast for the past several years. While he may suffer criticisms of his adventures (such as the infamous Paizo forum torture-porn debate), I've always rather liked his adventure work. Nick's new company has a webpage at www.sinisteradventures.com, where he outlines the goals of the new venture in some more detail. From the sounds of it, he's got some hefty talent lined up.
Sinister Adventures LLC is the personal game design studio of Nicolas Logue devoted to bringing the grittiest, most hard hitting, and wildly cutting edge adventures to the gaming public.
Nicolas Logue writes "I love writing for the industry's best and brightest companies, but sometimes you have stories howling inside you that can't be told by any pen but yours. With the phasing out of the print editions of Dungeon and Dragon magazine the opportunities for freelancers to propose their own adventures and articles has greatly diminished. Sinister is a new venue for veterans and up-and-comers alike to share their greatest stories and explore new and exciting ground in adventure and supplemental design."
As previously reported, Atlas Games has announced that they're being acquired by RoninArts.
RoninArts, however, has announced that with the current state of the market, the company has been sold to Steve Jackson Games.
Hot on the heels of this announcement, Steve Jackson Games, inspired by their D&D 4e playtesting, revealed their plans to release a new series for GURPS: Tank, Striker, Healer, Buffer and Debuffer. Not only that, but Steve Jackson games has been acquired by Atlas Games. So there you go!
Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coast has begun extensive Magic: the Gathering previews--no, not just for Shadowmoor, but for their upcoming Duel Decks: Pirates vs. Ninjas, complete with full deck lists!
Elsewhere, some big things are going down at Decipher. But that might be real, so I'll save it for tomorrow.
Enjoy the latest headlines from our other sites!
