PDFs?

[llamaman88 430]

I plan to get the beginner's game when it drops but does anyone know if there's going to be a PDF release alongside it so those of us who have to game on roll 20 or discord can use it too?

[The Grand Falloon 1,718]

Hard to say for sure. FFG doesn't seem shy about PDFs, and they own the game outright, so we'll probably be seeing most of the game available in PDF.  The beginner game... Maybe not.

[spudboy58 2]

They don't generally do PDF's for anything that isn't free.

[DrDevidents 56]

Yeah, none of their other RPGs are available as PDFs. 

[Swordbreaker 632]

34 minutes ago, spudboy58 said:

They don't generally do PDF's for anything that isn't free.

 

29 minutes ago, DrDevidents said:

Yeah, none of their other RPGs are available as PDFs. 

Multiple of them are, actually. Genesys, End of the World, even some of their old stuff like Fireborn and Dawnforge, are all available on DrivethruRPG. Only Star Wars isn't as the license doesn't allow them to. FFG owns L5R, so there's no reason they won't.

[SpaceViking21 4]

Genesys Core is on Drivethrurpg as a pdf. It's very possible that we get a PDF release of L5R as well.

[Torg Smith 121]

16 hours ago, spudboy58 said:

They don't generally do PDF's for anything that isn't free.

This is a requirement of the Star Wars license.

Here is FFG's page on DriveThruRPG.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/6/Fantasy-Flight-Games?src=browse6

Here is the link I expect the new stuff to be in as it is released to DriveThruRPG.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/6/Fantasy-Flight-Games/subcategory/36_28812/Legend-of-the-Five-Rings-5th-Edition

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

FFG has never been shy about selling PDFs of their books when and where they can.

As others have noted, Star Wars is the exception due to the crazy way the license is set up, namely that PDfs fall under "electronic media" and thus require an entirely separate license, which at this point in time sits with EA, and previously sat with LucasArts before Disney pretty much shut that part of Lucasfilm down.  Sadly, it's probably not likely that whomever holds the RPG license will ever be able to sell PDFs, as that would require a renegotiation of not only the RPG license but also the electronic media license, and those don't ever seem to come up for renewal/renegotiation at the same time.

When FFG had the license for the various Warhammer games, they had no problems selling PDFs as the Games Workshop license had no prohibition against doing so.

 

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

On 6/11/2018 at 12:51 PM, DrDevidents said:

Yeah, none of their other RPGs are available as PDFs. 

WRONG!

End of the World was released in PDF simultaneously with dead tree (due to distribution issues, many places the PDF was available prior.)

WFRP 3 was in PDF not long after release.

Genesys was simultaneous release.

FFG stated the reason Star Wars wasn't was that Disney wouldn't let them.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

5 minutes ago, AK_Aramis said:

FFG stated the reason Star Wars wasn't was that Disney wouldn't let them.

Minor correction: FFG can't sell PDFs due to how the RPG license with Lucasfilm (with the contract inked well before Disney purchased Lucasfilm) is written, which doesn't include "electronic media" that per the archaic nature of said licenses means that PDFs are considered a separate license.

It's screwy, makes little to no sense, but that's how the licensing contracts are written, and have been that way since the days of WEG (who are pretty much responsible for the gaming license being in the shape it's in).  WotC had the same problem with Lucasfilm, with LucasArts being notably resistant to revise the pertinent licenses to permit PDFs to be produced & sold as part of an RPG as they considered any and all "electronic media" relating to Star Wars to be their wheelhouse and such requiring a separate contact and yet more licensing fees.

Sadly, it's a state of affairs that isn't like to change anytime soon, unless both FFG's license agreement and EA's license agreement both come up for re-negotiation at the same time, which isn't likely.  Then again, if EA loses the electronic media license for whatever reason and that gets negotiated around the same time that FFG's license comes up for renewal, then maybe something could be worked out.  But it's not a set of coincidences I'd be holding my breath for, since as crummy/predatory as some of EA's business practices are, they are making money and paying Lucasfilm/Disney the required dues for the license, and ultimately that is one of Disney's primary focuses, turning a profit.