Could 3.5 ogl open 4th ed

[Seth M. Drebitko]

 I have been pondering how best to publish for 4th ed, not being to fond of the gsl I was wondering if the ogl might be able to remedy things. Technicaly under the ogl you can bend and twist things  the way you want so couldn't you just replicate 4th ed claim it as an ogl mod. Figured it might not be the best fix but it could provide more of the ogl feel in the 4th ed market that people want. Opinions? Advice? Nasty comments?

[Eero Tuovinen]

I don't know that I'd get anything substantial out of the OGL for something like this. The point of the license is to allow you to closely copy the original content anyway, it's not like there are any laws that prevent you from writing your own, very similar game yourself. Game design is not protected by IP law. So my approach would be to just rewrite the rules to whatever extent I was comfortable with (probably improving the bits I felt needed it), after which I'd just do whatever I wanted with it. I guess I could OGL license my new 4th ed -compatible game, of course.

If the point were just to write some adventures or monsters or something for the game, I wouldn't bother with a license either. It's not illegal to create compatible products.

I seem to remember that there is already at least one company that is publishing 4th edition material without a license. Perhaps you could track them down and ask about the details. Can't remember the name, though.

[Rafu]

Is it One Bad Egg?

Anyway, beware the threat of Hasbro's Corporate Lawyers: they can cast Awesome Corporate Lawsuits of Instantaneous Bankrupting.

Have a lawyer of you own handy. And when you're feeling like you've found a loophole you can exploit to cheat Hasbro... think again, 'cause you're probably wrong.
You'd better respect the "intent" of their licenses besides the letter of them, because what you could reasonably obtain out of trying to twist it isn't really worth the attached hassles.

[Seth M. Drebitko]

 The company your probably thinking of is probably http://www.kenzerco.com/ who is doing Kingdoms of Kalamar as 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons compatible game without the GSL. I think I might stray away from using directly any material or licenses from Wizards, and go the route of OSRIC http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/ style fantasy heart breaker.
I am thinking I will probably just check with a lawyer on how to approach the matter given how tricky things could get.
Regards, Seth

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Rafu, that post is scare-mongering. You're making a big scary monster-face about Hasbro's legal practices. This kind of talk is common among gamers.

At this site, please provide specific modern examples of Hasbro and publishers of OGL, GSL, and 4th-edition related material if you want to make this claim.

Best, Ron

[Rafu]

Ron, I apologise for the scare-mongering.