Green Ronin Says ‘No’ to GSL
RPG Maker Won’t Produce 4E Products
July 17, 2008
In a message posted to the company’s Website on Tuesday, Green Ronin Publishing President Chris Pramas stated that the company, “will not be signing the Game System License (GSL) at this time.” As a result, Green Ronin, one of the more successful RPG companies to emerge from the d20 glut earlier this decade will not produce any material directly compatible with and using the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition rules set (with the exception of its Character Record Folio, updated for 4th Edition).
In his post, Pramas called the terms of the GSL “one-sided as they stand” and said that, “We do not... feel that this license treats third-party publishers as valued partners.” He went on to say that while he does not feel that the current management at Wizards of the Coast would be likely to take legal action against a third-party publisher under the terms of the GSL, “Once you sign the GSL..., you open yourself up to that at any point in the future.”
Many of the company’s most popular product lines, including Mutants & Masterminds, Freeport: The City of Adventure, and True20 Adventure Roleplaying will still be published without 4th Edition rules, and their RPG based on the works of George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, is still scheduled for an October release (see “Green Ronin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire RPG’”).
In general, there does not seem to be as much excitement among third-party publishers for releasing 4th Edition product as there was for 3rd Edition (and 3.5). This is likely due to the more restrictive nature of the GSL as compared to the OGL (Open Game License, see “Interview with Scott Rouse, Part 1”). A few notable d20 stalwarts, including Mongoose Publishing (Babylon 5 and Conan RPGs) and Goodman Games (Dungeon Crawl Classics) are staying aboard, though, with releases scheduled for later this year.
