D&D 5E
-
@ixokai Rules mechanics aren't actually subject to copyright. This has been pretty well-explored in the 3.5 SRD era, and even if the later D&Ds haven't repeated the mistake of empowering the competitor that ultimately unseated them (hi Pathfinder), it's still true.
Where you'd run into problems is using a published setting (Faerun, etc) or any of the designated IP-exclusive monsters (Mind Flayers & Beholders, for example).
-
@ixokai For D&D in particular as long as you're complying with their explicit SRD rules you should be fine.
-
I know rules themselves aren't subject to copyright. But, WOTC seem to be very strategic in what is in, and isn't in, the SRD.
For bards they only include one college, for monks only one order, for warlocks only one pact, for clerics only one domain.
The full D&D game can't really be played with just the SRD. There's enough in the SRD for you to make new D&D-content/supplements, like new domains or new orders, etc, but the 'full' game needs the guides.
-
@ixokai Right, but I think that's mostly a matter of them again being a little more cautious due to what happened with the 3.5 SRD (which was basically the entire PHB minus... the actual leveling rules?). Just because it's not in the document doesn't mean you can't use it, although for safety's sake you might want to change the names of features, if not the mechanics.
In any case I feel like it would be pretty unlikely for them to go after a game like this unless it was actually for profit (and thus potentially a competitor to Neverwinter / Sword Coast Legends / etc).
-
@ixokai That's true. And it's not obvious just how much they care about the rules themselves being used in an implicit way - for instance if I type "/cast fireball=ixokai" but the code handles the rest automagically without explicitly showing the dice rolls, modifiers etc, does it violate their terms if fireball isn't in the subset of SRD?
I suspect they still won't care for a non-profit game, to be honest. Especially one where the players, in order to play the game at all, would need to own the game material.
-
There's also the matter of 5e not being exclusively written/published by WoTC. They're licensing out certain portions to other game studios for development and then joint publishing. Example: The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide was written in house by Green Ronnin. So, you're tossing in other publishers into the mix for copyrights.
Also, not a lawyer, but if you give proper credit, stay non-profit, and don't directly copy-pasta books, things should be fine.
@thatguythere said in D&D 5E:
I would be wary of including too much Lords and Ladies into a D+D game. Though I say this as someone who does not like lords and ladies and would in theory be interested in a D+D game. Despite the similar settings the focus on the games are different, Lords and Ladies at least in the iterations I have seen focus on the higher levels of society and political matters, where as D+D is about adventurers (who can come from all parts of society but tend to function on it's edges) and action. You might be able ot combine them as two separate spheres sharing a location, but with out this you will end up having one half becoming the dominant style of play.
The thing about Birthright is that you can completely ignore the L&L mechanics if you want to. The 5e conversion doc skips over all the Realm mechanics completely, only giving details on how to create a character and how to do the Bloodline mechanisms & powers; Realm play in 5e requires individual DM's to convert from the 2e sourcebooks (which isn't hard, but a bit of a chore). It's one of the reasons why I think Birthright could do well as a MU, because it embraces multiple levels of playing styles. Want to be a traditional adventurer/murder hobo? You can do that and there's some very challenging and unique higher level monsters to go after. Want to engage in the Lords & Ladies metaplot and vie for (or support someone) to become the new Emperor? You can do that too, although you might want to do a bit of leveling first if you've got your eye on the throne.
-
The thing about Birthright is that you can completely ignore the L&L mechanics if you want to.
I am skeptical about this. Not from a system perspective but from a play one. Lets say you have a birthright game, whether it is a L+L games using a D+D rules set or a D+D game is dependent on how the players play and to a lesser extant what staff runs. For example lets say i ends up with a balances of the two types of RP then everything is great, if it turns into 80 % L+L rp with about 20 % adventures then it really isn't a d+d game anymore than a Kushiel game using the storytelling system is a WoD game. I can only assume that if it swung the other way and was 80 % adventures doing adventure thing and 20 % L+L stuff that the L+L crowd would drift to other games with more of that focus.
You can't really serve two masters in the end I think the player base would end up choosing one over the other. -
@thatguythere But, there is a built-in balancing mechanism: the Realm Actions. If you're doing the L&L thing and running a Realm, going on adventures is your ONE action for the month. No espionage, no troop movements, no reactions to aggression against you. That's it. Sure, you get a Realm to run and all the Political RP, but your Level Advancement is restricted. Or at least, not as fast as players doing the pure adventurer route. You have to balance the needs of the Realm along with your own advancement needs. If players want to sit around at 1-3rd level and constantly attend to their Realm, that's their call. But, they're going to be out-leveled in a few months by adventurers not tied to the L&L RP. All of a sudden, players that opted out of L&L play at the beginning can start making their own power plays as a mid-late game route. A 3rd Level Rogue who's been spending all their time running a Guild network and slowly expanding can suddenly have to deal with a 10th level Rogue that's decided it's time for a change in leadership in the area. Sure, there might be some leveling of the pure L&L players to their own machinations and plots, but not at the same speed or rate as a dedicated adventurer going dungeon questing & monster slaying. The downside of the adventuring route, of course, is that while you might be 10th level when you start making your political moves, you have almost nothing in allies/support to make your power plays, while the 3rd level Guildmaster you're trying to replace as squads of assassins to toss at you and bully gangs to beat up your few followers and deny you gaining territory. Of course, the 10th level can gank the 3rd level and claim to take over, but he's not a proven earner yet, just some guy that's good with a blade. The 10th level would still have to do all the Realm actions to slowly increase territory/holdings as they start finding and purging away the loyalists and such.
-
The heart and soul of D&D is to wade through rot, feces, blood, gore, bones. Solve life and death puzzles in fecund cellars and ruins. Rub shoulders with humanoids who do not know "soap". That has nothing to do with L&L. In fact, no selfrespecting L&L should ever be caught adventuring like that.
-
Pure D&D to me is exploring an ancient dungeon when you hear a weird humming noise from around the corner.
You have no idea what it is and approaching very cautiously indeed but eventually you round the corner and there is a sword hovering about 3 feet over the floor in the middle of the narrow corridor.
You have absolutely no idea what the sword is or why it is hovering in the middle of the corridor but further exploration reveals that you have no way of progressing without going past it. Is it a sweet magic sword that you can claim by just taking hold of it? Is it an enchanted guardian that will make mincemeat of anyone who comes within ten feet of it? Not a clue.
Eventually the party ends up crawling on their bellies underneath the sword without ever daring to touch it, as it simply hovers there ignoring them and making a constant loud hum.
-
Eventually the party ends up crawling on their bellies underneath the sword without ever daring to touch it
I don't think I've ever played a character who wouldn't greedily go grab a magical humming sword!
... I don't know what this says about me but I can guess.
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
-
@arkandel As every old school D&Der knows, you take your ten foot pole and poke at the sword first, then steal it. It could be inside a gelatinous cube afterall.
-
We were 4th level! In red box Basic D&D, do you know how long it takes to get to 4th level in that system? No way we were going to risk having somebody can openered by a flying magic sword. It was probably like a +2 sword in a best case scenario, or might have been cursed even if it was not some kind of contract triggered murder trap.
It was probably some kind of murder trap.
-
Another thought,l one geared towards the 'automated' side of the discussion...
A Waterdeep/Undermountain game. Undermountain gives you 20+ levels of dungeon hack & slash, along with an in-lore reason for rooms to 'respawn' (Halaster's portals and summonings). So, set the dungeon rooms to randomly generate appropriate encounters & treasure for the dungeon level, then respawn after a certain amount of time has passed since a group cleared the room.
Similarly, IIRC, there's plenty of random encounter tables from the various Waterdeep supplements & boxed sets for 'above ground' action. And you can also program random encounters in buildings for players that want to do exploring & thieving by night, with respawns of encounters & treasures like with the dungeon rooms. Plenty of material also for Staff to create and run their own events.
