A d20 NPC Wiki?

[S'mon]

I may have missed the answer already, but is it permissable to create npc's from a particular setting?...

ie: Create a Red Wizard of Thay NPC, using the class (& PRC) and subject matter from the setting. Mind you, not saying duplicate the class material itself, but stating out the npc using those supplements and possibly naming locales they may have associations with?

The Wiki's policy is you can post any NPC you like as long as the NPC is not copied from published materials. So you can stat them with setting-specific materials.

 

[S'mon]

>>"Conversions must be performed using the System Reference Document (SRD), created for OGL users, for purposes of establishing 3E mechanics in the respective materials"<<

Why you think a policy re scenario conversions is relevant to materials that are not scenario conversions, entirely escapes me.

 

[S'mon]

II don't see the precedent of the ESD policy as meaningful.

I agree 100%.

 

[the Jester]

Just posted another human for ya!

Edit: but I need a few minutes to finish indexing him...

 

[S'mon]

Just posted another human for ya!

Edit: but I need a few minutes to finish indexing him...

Hurray! Go humans! We'll beat those hobgoblins yet...

 

[smootrk]

The Wiki's policy is you can post any NPC you like as long as the NPC is not copied from published materials. So you can stat them with setting-specific materials.

I understand that the Wiki policy allows, but...

I am more concerned with what WOTC's policy is for this... or is there a specific policy that addresses this?

 

[S'mon]

I understand that the Wiki policy allows, but...

I am more concerned with what WOTC's policy is for this... or is there a specific policy that addresses this?

From page 1 of this thread:

Ryan Dancey:
"Right now, my plan is pretty simple: If you're charging money for any aspect of D&D, you're going to be required to use the OGL and the d20 STL. If you say you're following the OGL or the d20 STL, you're going to be forced to follow them. So, if you've got a fan site that's a collection of characters, and they don't claim to be using the OGL or the d20 STL, and they're not charging money, we're going to ignore them."

From
http://www.enworld.org/forums/article.php?a=15

NB What this means is that if a site claims to be abiding by the OGL, they WILL ENFORCE THE OGL (they say). Because the OGL is intended to be a commercial contract, albeit a unilateral contract. So if you have a fan site you can put NPCs on it & use any materials you want, but NOT if you use the OGL. The d20 Wiki doesn't use the OGL and complies with this informal policy, which AFAIK still stands.

AFAIK EN World's conversion library does claim to use the OGL (and is thus bound by it) though I could be wrong.

 

[Nellisir]

AFAIK EN World's conversion library does claim to use the OGL (and is thus bound by it) though I could be wrong.

If I remember correctly, part of the problem with conversions was that people were copying the whole adventure & making it available for free. Updating a troll's stat block from a published adventure was, and is, fine; detailing the troll's lair, motivations, treasure, etc, etc, was going too far.

EN World's conversion library exists solely to update WotC's older material to 3e stats; it lives and dies on WotC's property.

The d20 NPC Wiki does not. It's a shame we can't go fully OGL (is it possible to run an OGL-compliant wiki somewhere?), but in the meantime, it -should- be allowable as a fan-based resource comparable to Canonfire! or the other "TSR's campaign-setting"-based websites out there. It's important that contributors not copy significant text directly from WotC's rulebooks (ie, entire feats, classes, or spells), and the use of 3rd-party publisher's material is probably best avoided unless scrupulously marked (this is obviously not the case for M&M or AE npcs, obviously), but there really is some space out there for the wiki to exist in.

IMO.

Personally, I love the OGL and run an OGL-compliant game, so most of my NPCs are, and will be, fairly generic and based off of the SRD. (Plus, I've tinkered with the core classes and messed with feat progression (1 per level, baybee!), so notable NPCs are kinda...different.)

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Psion]

AFAIK EN World's conversion library does claim to use the OGL (and is thus bound by it) though I could be wrong.

It does use the OGL and even specifically requires you to create the appropraite copyright entires for things that you are converting. It's a specially permissioned case.

 

[Psion]

The d20 NPC Wiki does not. It's a shame we can't go fully OGL (is it possible to run an OGL-compliant wiki somewhere?),

Is anyone conversant with how the wiki license works? Is it just some variant of the GPL?

The problem lies, I beleive, in that you can't further restrict what is under OGL. It might be possible to finagle it such that both licenses are simultaneously satisfied, but you might run into trouble if doing so somehow restricts further use of the material. And it would probably mean no PI, as that wouldn't be copyleftable by another license.