WotC’s RPG category manager talks to ICv2 about the decency clause. He claims that Anthony Valterra was actually in on the beginnings of the decision, that the Book of Vile Darkness will remain in print, and that indie publishers have no more to fear from this version of the license
Month: September 2003
German engineering finds allies in Washington
Via slashdot again, The Washington Post on the resurgence of what they call “specialty board-games.” If anyone finds a permanent link to this article that doesn’t ask you to name your first born, post it in comments, ‘kay? (Some of the comments at the slashdot posting are interesting too.)
Avalanche Press goes OGL, makes big deal of it
Avalanche Press is having a sale for a reason: they’ve decided to abandon use of the D20 logo. You know how CEOs always say when they get canned that they’re “pursuing other interests”? ” ‘The changes we are proposing are really things we have been discussing internally anyway,’ commented Mike
OgreCave P3 contest winner
We’ve gathered up all the correct answers in our OgreCave P3 Contest, and have determined a winner. We’ll also tell you the answer to the simple question “What console system does Phil Reed use?” You could’ve learned it for yourself at Phil’s site, but you’d rather just see who won,
Virtual chits don’t blow away when someone opens the garage door
Via Slashdot Games, an intriguing editorial on the state of independent, digital wargaming. Produced by small development shops and sold almost exclusively online, these games are near-duplicates of old-school SPI hex-map cardboard-counter throwdowns, sometimes souped up with online play or even (gasp!) 3D graphics. Party like it’s 1977. (For those
New review: Twilight of Atlantis
Matthew gives us a look at another cheesecake-wrapped d20 supplement from Avalanche Press, and doesn’t seem to have been impressed by this one. In fact, his review of Twilight of Atlantis points out everything the book should have included, but didn’t. Sad, really.
The Hasbro meltdown begins: content restrictions added to D20 license
It took a while, but Wizards of the Coast’s corporate masters are finally setting about ruining a perfectly good product. The full scoop is available on that there GR page, featuring an eloquent anonymously-posted comment signed “Ryan Dancey.” The relevant chunk of the revised D20 STL is included below –
Anne Rice is pretty sexy for a big red marshmallow
Penny Arcade weighs in on the White Wolf vs. Sony suit today. The comic distorts things a lot, but the news post is balanced and entertaining – that’s just how they do up in the P.A. They have also “secured” a copy of the legal filing as a PDF (from
The werewolves are like Spider-Man. There’s no infrin… um… oops
I don’t actually know Gothic literature well enough to say whether the World of Darkness’ feud between vamps and werewolves is original. Nor have any of us seen the list that WW claims it has, the list of “60 points of unique similarity” between WoD material and the upcoming Kate
It has ‘synergy’ in the title but it isn’t a business game – how refreshing
I saw Strange Synergy on the shelves last week and thought, that’s… uh… strange; why didn’t I see any hype about this? In case you’re in the same boat as I was, the idea is superhero combat, with teams of superheroes drawn from no fewer than 100 power cards. Sounds
WarCraft RPG to add war in upcoming supplement
The anonymous comment at the end of this review of Sword and Sorcery’s WarCraft RPG claims that the mass combat system in the upcoming/available-now-if-you-like-PDFs Malhavoc book Cry Havoc will be included in a future WarCraft supplement. That’s pretty much rumor, and should be treated as such. Presumably, there will eventually
Mage Knight ad infinitum
If you haven’t seen this yet, and you’re a collectible minis game player, you should have a look. If you’re not a CMG player, you should still have a look. essay bank Damn funny.
Not Shy about Ronin Arts
I can’t improve much on how Phil Reed tells it, so I’ll just repost his email: Christopher Shy, the artist for such beautiful products as D20 Call of Cthulhu, Urban Arcana, and Forgotten Realms: City of the Spider Queen has released World of Ronin Arts: Character Portfolio One, a collection
CyberNet thrown on industry by Mongoose
The collection of companies with openly licenced games grows ever larger. Mongoose has announced its upcoming D20 CyberNet core rulebook, due in October, will be released under the Open Game Licence, and that other publishers can contact Mongoose to be allowed to start using CyberNet in their own publications. As