A petition to WOTC to License Hero Lab!

[ScottA]

Doesn't sound like much interest. I've expressed my opinion elsewhere so see no need to repeat it...

[RavenX]

Originally Posted by ScottA

Doesn't sound like much interest. I've expressed my opinion elsewhere so see no need to repeat it...

As much as I would like to see this, keep in mind Hero Lab is the official character builder of Pathfinder and Starfinder, who are direct competition to WotC. It is very unlikely WotC will issue a license to a product their competition has been using for many years on an official basis.

[MNBlockHead]

I didn't know that HL was the official character builder of Pathfinder. Does Pathfinder not allow character-creation and management in Fantasy Grounds and Roll20?

I have no idea what contractual obligations LWD has with Pathfinder or WoTC, but I would be surprised to learn that LWD has entered into an exclusive deal with Paizo.

It would be disappointing to me if that were the case, as I don't play Pathfinder, and HL & RW system neutrality was part of what drew me to these products, but it may make sense for LWD to tie itself to Pathfinder rather than compete on 5e support.

[ShadowChemosh]

Originally Posted by MNBlockHead

I didn't know that HL was the official character builder of Pathfinder.

That totally depends on what you mean by "official". HL is the most used software by Pathfinder players without a doubt. It is even used in-house by actual Paizo employees to create statblocks and NPCs and monsters. Its why the statblack generation part of HL was changed to match 100% to paizo statblocks.

This does not mean that Paizo has not sold a license to other software makers or has a solo deal with LW only. Paizo is very open with giving licenses that help expand the resources players and GMs can use for Pathfinder. This in turn expands the amount of income also!

Paizo learned a hard lessen when WotC shut down Dragon/Dungeon and the Star Wars magazines years ago. They learned that running a company on a single or very small source of income is dangerous. Now they try and have as many revenue streams as they can so if one dries up it does not end the company.

The reason 5E does not have official full support in HL is all because of Hasbro.

[MNBlockHead]

@ShadowChemosh That's what I thought. Given that the major VTTs also sell official core-book content and--at least for Roll20--are moving into character creation and management--for both 5e AND Pathfinder, I see no reason why either Paizo or Wizards would prevent LWD from providing official 5e content. I suspect it comes down to licensing costs and--probably mostly to--limited resources and the need to focus on StarFinder and PFv2. Once things are sorted with Paizo, I suspect LWD will be releasing official 5e.

[Fuzzy]

RavenX did not say (or even imply) that LWD's agreement with Paizo somehow prevented them from making a licencing agreement with WOTC. He simply stated that he thought WOTC would choose NOT to make the deal with LWD because they work with Paizo. I don't believe that to be the case - I think WOTC will avoid making a deal with LWD simply because they want to push all 5e users to dndbeyond.

[MNBlockHead]

@Fuzzy, if they wanted to "push all 5e users to dndbeyond" then why are they allowing Roll20 to license 5e IP for their character creator?

Roll20 officer Pathfinder content as well as 5e content.

So does Fantasy Grounds.