Friday, February 24, 2006
Third Party Publishers.
They have become the heart and soul of the d20 gaming industry.
There is a lot out there, some of it good, much of it bad, sadly it isn't always easy to to determine what is what.
For the next several geekdoms I'm going to examine and review a few third party products and companies. Should be fun.
Quick run down for you would be geeks. There are a couple of things called OGL or Open Gaming License and the d20 license. The OGL essentially allows companies and would be roleplaying game writers to use materia,l published, unpublished and copyrighted, under that license in material they are producing... as long as they acknowledge, with the entire license, that it is OGL material. The d20 allows them to make things compatable with the d20 systems, the base system for Dungeons and Dragons and d20 Modern, and Starwars d20. Essentially it makes it easier to produce things for Dungeons and Dragons and the d20 system. Dungeons and Dragons is a game with settings, world backdrops in which the game is played. Typically fantasy, alot of home spun systems are actually better thought out and executed than "Official" products. This licensing agreement now lets those home spun systems become published systems.
There are advantages to both licenses: the d20 license means the material is recognized as being fully d20 compatable, and is intended for use with Dungeons and Dragons, while the OGL is a little more open and free (most of this material is also intended to be used with Dungeons and Dragons but doesn't have the product support from copyright holder to Dungeons and Dragons).
Most d20 publishers have been kicking around in the gaming industry for quite a while, and these folks are able to put forth some quality products. Hey, that's to be expected if you do nothing but gaming stuff day in and day out. Sadly alot of would be d20 and OGL publishers don't put quality stuff out.. though they try.
Some of the major players in the third party market include these include: Fantasy Flight Games who publish the Legend and Lairs books, the Midnight campaign setting, Dawn Forge campaign setting and the DragonStar campaign setting. Alderac Entertainment Group, which publishes the Rokugan d20 setting and other source books for the d20 system. Bastion press which publishes a variety of source book materials and the Oathbound campaign setting. Mongoose publishing, who publishes a variety of generic sourcebooks and the Slaine campaign setting. Sword and sorcery studios that have a variety of secondary settings including Ravenloft and the Scarred Lands. Sovereign Press, the current publishers of the classic Dragonlance setting as well as thier own Sovereign Stone setting. Greenronin press who publishes a variety of useful sourcebooks and supliments. Privateer Press, makers of the Iron Kingdoms campaign setting. Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press, producers of alot of valuble resources. And finally... yes finally for the purposes of this little blog: Mongoose Publishing, producers of the Conan campaign setting and many, many, many resource books and supliments.
These are only the major companies, and even some of these are slowly becoming relegated to footnote in the third party publisher chronicles. Many are putting forth quite quality products, some have a mixed bag. A couple produce other non-d20 gaming material and non-OGL gaming material. Along with a couple of dozen d20/OGL publishers that have come and gone over the last five or six years, there are scores of e-book and print on demand publishers out there. And there are companies online that have sprung up to provide the service of selling these books.
Some of these companies have the finacial support (because they've been around producing games for many years under a different system or have the support of a larger company).
I am going to review, over the next couple of posts, some of the third party material I own or have access to. Look for reviews of campaign settings, and individual books.
Should be exciting... or really dry, guess it depends on how much you like gaming.
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They have become the heart and soul of the d20 gaming industry.
There is a lot out there, some of it good, much of it bad, sadly it isn't always easy to to determine what is what.
For the next several geekdoms I'm going to examine and review a few third party products and companies. Should be fun.
Quick run down for you would be geeks. There are a couple of things called OGL or Open Gaming License and the d20 license. The OGL essentially allows companies and would be roleplaying game writers to use materia,l published, unpublished and copyrighted, under that license in material they are producing... as long as they acknowledge, with the entire license, that it is OGL material. The d20 allows them to make things compatable with the d20 systems, the base system for Dungeons and Dragons and d20 Modern, and Starwars d20. Essentially it makes it easier to produce things for Dungeons and Dragons and the d20 system. Dungeons and Dragons is a game with settings, world backdrops in which the game is played. Typically fantasy, alot of home spun systems are actually better thought out and executed than "Official" products. This licensing agreement now lets those home spun systems become published systems.
There are advantages to both licenses: the d20 license means the material is recognized as being fully d20 compatable, and is intended for use with Dungeons and Dragons, while the OGL is a little more open and free (most of this material is also intended to be used with Dungeons and Dragons but doesn't have the product support from copyright holder to Dungeons and Dragons).
Most d20 publishers have been kicking around in the gaming industry for quite a while, and these folks are able to put forth some quality products. Hey, that's to be expected if you do nothing but gaming stuff day in and day out. Sadly alot of would be d20 and OGL publishers don't put quality stuff out.. though they try.
Some of the major players in the third party market include these include: Fantasy Flight Games who publish the Legend and Lairs books, the Midnight campaign setting, Dawn Forge campaign setting and the DragonStar campaign setting. Alderac Entertainment Group, which publishes the Rokugan d20 setting and other source books for the d20 system. Bastion press which publishes a variety of source book materials and the Oathbound campaign setting. Mongoose publishing, who publishes a variety of generic sourcebooks and the Slaine campaign setting. Sword and sorcery studios that have a variety of secondary settings including Ravenloft and the Scarred Lands. Sovereign Press, the current publishers of the classic Dragonlance setting as well as thier own Sovereign Stone setting. Greenronin press who publishes a variety of useful sourcebooks and supliments. Privateer Press, makers of the Iron Kingdoms campaign setting. Monte Cook's Malhavoc Press, producers of alot of valuble resources. And finally... yes finally for the purposes of this little blog: Mongoose Publishing, producers of the Conan campaign setting and many, many, many resource books and supliments.
These are only the major companies, and even some of these are slowly becoming relegated to footnote in the third party publisher chronicles. Many are putting forth quite quality products, some have a mixed bag. A couple produce other non-d20 gaming material and non-OGL gaming material. Along with a couple of dozen d20/OGL publishers that have come and gone over the last five or six years, there are scores of e-book and print on demand publishers out there. And there are companies online that have sprung up to provide the service of selling these books.
Some of these companies have the finacial support (because they've been around producing games for many years under a different system or have the support of a larger company).
I am going to review, over the next couple of posts, some of the third party material I own or have access to. Look for reviews of campaign settings, and individual books.
Should be exciting... or really dry, guess it depends on how much you like gaming.
