Newsgroup: it.hobby.giochi.gdr.dnd
Titolo: QUARTA edizione 4th - la nuova licenza per compagnie terze :)

http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080417a&pf=true
la nuova licenza, la buona nuova è che la SRD sarà online per tutti :)
D&D 4th Edition Game System License
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
©1995-2007 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
--
Fabio

la necormancer annuncia la sua linea di prodotti per la 4' edizione
http://groups.google.com/group/it.hobby.giochi.gdr.dnd/topics
Necromancer Games Goes 4th Edition! Planned Product Updates!
With the new announcement by Wizards of the Coast that publishers like
Necromancer Games will be able to support the new Dungeons and Dragons
4th Edition rules, Necro is going 4E! That's right, "Fourth Edition
Rules, First Edition Feel"!
We have yet to see the Game System License that will govern the exact
products we can create, but you can expect the following products from
Necromancer Games:
Advanced Player's Guide: Feel like your new Fourth Edition Player's
Handbook doesn't have all the races and classes that you love, such as
the druid, barbarian or bard? Then look no further than the Advanced
Player's Guide. If it is a classic race or class and it didn't make
its way into the official books, then you can find them here. Written
by industry giant and 4E insider Ari Marmel! Price and release date to
be determined.
Tome of Horrors 4th Edition: A collection of classic and original
monsters for your Fourth Edition game.
Over 200 monsters. Written by Scott Greene and Clark Peterson.
Hardcover. Price and release date to be determined.
Tegel Manor: The Judges Guild classic adventure module is being
updated and expanded for Fourth Edition!
Price and release date to be determined.
Winter's Tomb: A free introductory pdf adventure similar to Necro's
classic Wizard's Amulet. Complete with pregenerated characters.
Written by Clark Peterson. To be released as soon as legally possible.
Free pdf.
The Iron Tower Adventure Path: A series of products and adventures in
the classic style that picks up where Winter's Tomb leaves off and
takes the PCs to 20th level and beyond. Price and release date to be
determined.
More to come soon! Stay tuned!
--
Fabio

There has been a lot of discussion about the new Gaming System License
on the messageboards, spread over numerous threads. In several places,
WotC employees have chimed in with opinions, clarifications or new
information. I've tried to compile these posts here.
Linae Foster on not being able to use the GSL and the OGL in the same
product:
Yes, that is what I was trying to convey.
We totally recognize that this mutual exclusivity will keep some
publishers from joining us in 4E. That's a business decision they need
to make, and we respect that.
And then she goes on to rephrase that to make it clearer that this
means not only can a single product not have both licenses in it, but
that two different versions of the product (one for each license) can
not exist either:
Publishers can put out a product under the OGL - OR - they can put out
a product under a 4E GSL.
3.x or 4E
Not both.
One or t'other.
By "mutual exclusivity" I mean, different versions of the same product
cannot occur at the same time.
And, in case that wasn't clear enough, in response to the question "If
you have a current 3e product released with the old license, and you
wish to upgrade it to 4e, you can no longer sell the 3e version of the
product, correct?", she answers:
You, sir, are correct.
Scott Rouse on WotC's desire for publishers to support 4E rather than
3.4E:
We have invested multiple 7 figures in the development of 4e so can
you tell me why we would want publishers to support a system that we
have moved away from?
This is not spite, malice or some evil scorched earth policy. Yes, we
want people to make 4e books and stop making 3.x. Does that surprise
you?
It won't surprise me if the GSL is not for everyone. If M&M, C&C,
Conan, or other OGL stand-alones are successful enough for those
publishers to sustain their business more power to them. You'll get to
buy their books in the future. If not, then they can jump on our
license and take advantage of some pretty good perks including getting
to use the most valuable trademark in PnP RPGs on their products and
gain access to our IP/PI.
There's quite a bit of discussion revolving around the theory that a
company as a whole may use either the OGL or the GSL, and that the
restriction isn't merely limited to a single product. The discussion
has sprung from a post made by Clark Peterson of Necromancer Games.
WotC has posted in that thread since, but has not explicitly confirmed
or denied Clark's view:
I believe, in fact, that it is even a bit more restrictive than people
are seeing. It is not just that you cant mix the two licenses in one
product. It is that if you use the GSL you cannot also use the OGL for
3E products.
In other words, publishers have to decide if they want to stay 3E or
if they want to come along for the 4E ride.
It is not a product by product choice. It is a business by business
choice. It is not "well, this product will be 4E using the GSL but the
next one will be for 3E under the OGL."
In other words, Necro cant do 3 books for 4E then decide to go back
and do a 3E book.
Or, along the same lines, if Paizo wants to do Pathfinder 3E, it cant
do 4E products. If it does, it can no longer do 3E ones.
I have, however, specifically clarified that Necro can do 4E and Paizo
can keep doing 3E Pathfinder stuff and that is just fine.
Once you are in for 4E, you are in, and cant go back (well, you could
but you would presumably lose the right to use the GSL from that point
forward).
I have to clarify if I will be able to do 3E stats as seperate
downloads for 4E books. My guess is that I will not be allowed to do
that under the GSL. But I havent asked that direct question.
By the way, this info was from Wizards. Unless I am misunderstanding
what they told me or they didnt understand my question, this is how it
will be.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Rouse talks about the GSL and software support here:
The Terms and Conditions of the GSLs are going to be similar to the
current d20 STL. A couple key points found here and are likely to be
included in the license (possibly in different language)
Quote:
• "Interactive Game": means a piece of software that is designed to
accept inputs from human players or their agents, and use rules to
resolve the success or failure of those inputs, and return some
indication of the results of those inputs to the users. Success and
failure includes any determination wherein one outcome is preferable
to another. This includes the random determination of hit points,
ability scores, and the like.
Quote:
Definition of Character Creation:
Character creation means the process of generating and assigning
initial scores to abilities, selecting a race, selecting a starting
class, assigning initial skill points, selecting initial feats,
selecting initial talents, selecting an occupation, and picking an
initial alignment. You may, at your option, refer readers to the
section on Character Creation in the Dungeons & Dragons Player's
Handbook or d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, including references to any
of the named steps in the process for character creation. Character
creation does not include creating or modifying the description of a
race, a class, a skill, a talent or a feat.
You may indicate that a player should use a race, class, ability,
etc., presented in a Covered Product in addition to, or exclusive of,
those presented in the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook or d20
Modern Roleplaying Game. In no way should this paragraph be construed
to allow you to present the process for creating a character as
defined in the previous paragraph.
Quote:
Definition of Applying the effects of Experience to a Character:
Applying the effects of Experience to a Character means the process
for comparing the accumulated experience point total of a character to
a chart to determine if the character's level should be incremented.
If the experience level of a character exceeds threshold values as
defined by the chart, the character is modified in a specified
fashion.
Specifically, Applying the effects of Experience to a Character means
incrementing the character level of a character by incrementing a
class level by one rank, or by adding a new class at first level, and
describing how to allocate new skill points, select new feats, select
new talents, or gain new class-level linked abilities.
Applying the effects of Experience to a Character does not include
creating or modifying an experience point chart or defining a new
class (including describing what benefits that class provides at each
level).
Quote:
Mandatory Restrictions:
No Covered Product may contain rules or instructions of any kind that:
• Describe a process for Creating a Character
• Describe a process for Applying the Effects of Experience to a
Character
No Covered Product may change or extend the definition of any Defined
Game Term as enumerated in this Guide.
No Covered Product may include “Miniatures.”
No Covered Product may use the term “Core Book” on its cover, title,
advertising, or self-reference.
No Covered Product may be an "Interactive Game" as defined in this
Guide.
--
Fabio