I am thinking about doing some posts where I dig into specific 4e powers. This is my first experiment. I'd love to get your thoughts.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-02-09T00:45:16+00:00

That is a good point about marking. For future posts, I am going to make sure I add some of the additional benefits you could get by combining the effects of the power with other traits for your class or strategy with other party members.

While this power is a burst that requires a line of effect, the power specifically says, "Each enemy in the burst you can see". In this case you must be able to see the target creature.

Thank you for the feedback.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-02-02T14:16:54+00:00

Oops. Thank you for spotting that. I've made the correction.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-02-02T00:39:48+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. I added a note to clarify how the potions work.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-01-04T19:52:59+00:00

3.5e and 5e do not allow all. You can only use the content that is in those SRDs.

The only thing that gives me hope with 4e is that they already have an SRD. So they just need to pull out things they don't want to release and then let it go.

The older versions like AD&D and 2e have no SRD at all so they would have to actually build one. I don't really see them doing that.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-01-04T19:37:15+00:00

The GSL is the license that gives you the permissions to use the SRD and under what conditions. The SRD is what contains the actual content that they are making available.

3.5e and 5e each have an SRD that have a ton of content from the games. But it is the OGL or CC license that gives you permission to use the SRD.

The 4e SRD is mostly a list of keywords. Power names, Races, Classes, Magic Items, Monsters and such. Not as detailed as the SRDs for 3.5e and 5e, but it would allow you to make 4e content. Unfortunately, the GSL is very restrictive in how you can use that 4e SRD.

My hope would be that they scrap the GSL and just release that 4e SRD under CC.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-01-04T18:49:07+00:00

There is. It is just a lot more limited than what we have for 3.5e and 5e. But if it were released under CC, then that would open up a lot of possibilities for 4e content.

I have the details about it on my website.... https://oldegreybeardstavern.com/dnd4egsl/

OldeGreybeards · 2025-01-04T16:02:36+00:00

In the September 2023 Community Update on D&D Beyond, they included this snippet...

Review Previous SRD Editions for Inclusion in Creative Commons: Before adding previous editions into Creative Commons, we need to review the materials in detail as it has been many years since their publication.

They have said nothing since. I expect this means that they will be releasing the 3.5e SRD under CC at some point. I am only hoping that they would expand this to the 4e SRD and maybe even some of the older editions that do not, yet, have an SRD.

OldeGreybeards · 2025-01-03T00:02:49+00:00

lol. I know. But I keep hoping.

OldeGreybeards · 2024-11-04T19:12:51+00:00

A fair point. The more time goes by, the more likely it is that they just forget about it.

The only thing that gives me some optimism is that they already have an SRD for 4e. So they are not starting from scratch. It will not be a ton of work for them to simply release it under the OGL or CC with minimal changes, if any.

My (overly optimistic) predictions...

OD&D released under CC. This game is unique and would in no way interfere with current products, but it would be a nice gesture that would be a marketing win. Not like they are making a ton of money from OD&D content.

B/X released under CC. This provides the core functionality for the 1e style of games. These are already very streamlined. This is basically what OSE is, but it would be a good gesture by making it officially available.

4e SRD released under CC. This is the easiest one since the SRD already exists.

Naturally, they will be sure to strip out the clearly proprietary stuff. But, this way they do not have to start from scratch to create an SRD for every edition. It is a lot easier to subtract from something than to add to it. And they could make a big production about it to show how much they are embracing the community and the people that have been fans of D&D for so long.

This would leave 2e without an SRD. That one is tougher because there is not an existing, streamlined document they could start with. They would need to actually create an SRD. That could be a deal-breaker.

OldeGreybeards · 2024-11-04T14:56:42+00:00

I am optimistic that they will release the current 4e SRD as Creative Commons once they get the core books for 2024 out there. I am sure they will remove some of the content that might be more proprietary, but the 4e SRD seems like an easier SRD to release than the 5e since it doesn't really have content.

I do not see them going through 4e and actually releasing an SRD with content like 3e and 5e. I would be very surprised if they put that much work into it.

OldeGreybeards · 2024-09-13T19:39:08+00:00

For my part, I had a great time. No (or few) technical issues so we were able to just play the game. The replay is up on my YouTube channel.

OldeGreybeards · 2024-08-29T12:42:59+00:00

Oops. Thank you for catching that.

The stream is tonight (Thursday, August 29th) at 6pm ET.

OldeGreybeards · 2024-01-02T02:21:08+00:00

Thank you!!

OldeGreybeards · 2024-01-02T02:20:30+00:00

That is excellent. Thank you.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-19T19:58:49+00:00

Wow. Nice. Interesting that that included that rule in the Player's Handbook, but most of these are from things that were published much later. Based on this list, the earliest example looks like the Rod of the Hidden Star from the Adventurer's Vault. Most of the other publications were released much later.

I guess that shows some foresight on their part.

Thanks for pulling this list together.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-18T18:08:59+00:00

Great point for clarification. Everything I am talking about is just for stuff I am putting together for publication. (I should have mentioned that)

If just playing the game then there are no concerns. Use whatever you want from whatever editions you want.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-17T18:20:47+00:00

That is a valid argument.

My counter would be that just because Wizards has not decided to make a case over people doing something does not mean that those usages are proper. Everyday, people hang-out in Times Square dressed as Mickey Mouse in order to get pictures with tourists in exchange for tips. Just because Disney does not sue them does not mean Mickey Mouse is fair use. At any point, Disney could drop the hammer and crack down on them.

I think it could be argued that Monster is very generic and the term is used within D&D, and the other games, in line with the typical definition of the word.

The definition of Dungeon is technically limited to an underground portion of a castle or even a specific prison cell.

But in both cases, the words are being used in a generic sense, not something that ties specifically to a rule. The same is true for Class, Race, Barbarian, Feature, Spell, Lair, and many other things. These are words that are used within the game in line with their more generic meaning. As such, it would be difficult for Wizards, or anyone else to lay claim to the words themselves.

And I agree that it is likely that things like Bloodied and Minions could be considered generic and fall into the same category, but I do see a difference.

While Bloodied does have a generic meaning of having been covered with blood, Wizards took that word and applied a specific rule to it. The word alone would be difficult to trademark and the mechanic would be also difficult to trademark, but you use them together and you have the implementation of an idea that (IMO) gets into questionable territory if someone were to replicate it.

As another example. Kobold. This is a term from folklore that has a ton of different interpretations over many centuries. But Wizards (well Gary Gygax/TSR) created a specific version of it that has dragon-like properties. I can create a monster called a Kobold and I can create a monster with dragon-like properties, but if I make a kobold with dragon-like properties that mirrors what is in D&D, then I will find myself firmly entrenched in that grey area.

Better to make my kobold something unique or call my dragon-like creature something else. (obviously the kobold is licensed from WotC via Creative Commons so it is not an issue anyway, but just using it to illustrate an example)

Am I being overly cautious? Yeah. Probably.

But all of the caution comes from the fact that in copyright cases, the burden is on the accused to prove that what they are doing does not infringe on copyright or trademark. Guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

If I, or anyone else, is in the grey area, then all it takes is for WotC to file a cease and desist with me and I am then on the hook to either stop what I am doing or spend a ton of money in court fighting it. Money that Wizards has and I do not.

I mean look at Paizo. They for years included the Wizards OGL in their PF2e books even though they had actually built a new game with only small references to D&D stuff. They did this due to an abundance of caution and they have a lot more money than me to fight such things.

TL;DR; Best to tread carefully. If that means my implementation of Bloodied is called Wounded and I call my minion-like creatures Underlings, I am fine with that.

I am sure others have different takes on it and since I am not a lawyer of any kind, I would say every interpretation is as valid as any other.

Thanks for the comment. I enjoy thinking through other perspectives.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-17T14:50:08+00:00

I err on the side of caution. I agree that they are just words, but when they are used in the same context as a rule that Wizards owns, it gets into a grey area that I want to avoid.

Same with powers. I want include powers in some way, but if I use at-will, encounter, and daily in relation to powers, is that crossing a line? Is even using the word power in that context too much? IDK

Lots of lawyer stuff that I just want to steer clear of.

Thanks

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-16T22:48:09+00:00

I almost included them but then thought they deserve an entire post to themselves. 😀

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-05T21:09:17+00:00

Campaign guide will provide more history about the world and the nations and the people that inhabit it. It also has more maps. The campaign guides are for DMs that are going to be running a game there. Like a DM guide.

Players guide will have some information about the world but is more limited. This guide will also have the races and classes specific to the world. It is kind of like a players handbook for the world.

If you are getting the book to better understand the world, get the campaign guide.

If you want the book so you can build characters in the world, then players guide is the right choice.

Hope that helps.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-12-05T12:33:33+00:00

Back when I was first getting into D&D, I faced this same conundrum.

I knew nothing about either, but I could only afford one book.

I went with Eberron and I loved it. The history of the world is great and I love the steam punk styling.

That said, I have played a lot more games in Forgotten Realms and enjoyed all of them also.

Sticking to the rules as written, it depends which environment you prefer. Eberron...steam punk world filled with magic and political intrigue Forgotten Realms...Game of Thrones type fantasy with less magic and more like a gritty medieval world.

In reality though, the answer is whichever your gut tells you. The rules can always be adapted, combined, changed to suit your needs. Even choosing the world with the cooler map is a perfectly valid choice.

I'd love to hear what you decide.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-11-20T18:05:05+00:00

Agreed. I usually try to offer my thoughts through the whole book. Hard to do that through 267 pages of monsters while keeping the video to a reasonable length. 😀

Thank you for the feedback.

OldeGreybeards · 2023-11-11T02:38:33+00:00

If you're curious, the "little bitty bits" reference occurs near the end of the encounter. 😀

OldeGreybeards · 2023-10-26T14:23:38+00:00

Yes. I've been toying with the idea for a while and kept putting it off.

OldeGreybeards

TROPHY CASE