mouseferatu said:
I was planning to use them in a future D20 product. Now I'm going to have to change the name, since many people assume "rip-off" rather than "coincidental parallel name development." And I really liked it, too. 
Bleah.
If it makes you feel any better, I have discovered that there is definately a finite amount of ideas out there when it comes to D&D. For instance, in Dragon Magazine, there is a new magic item that is basically Metamagic Dust, though it only applies to one of the feats, but I can't remember which. Anyways, it's not important.
Over a year ago, I created metamagic dust for my games, and there I see it pop up. ARGH!!!
Also in Dragon Mag, I see another magic item. It's a bow that can change into a double-sword. I made that 4 months previous. ARGH!!!
In Masters of the Wild, I see the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat, and I had already created a similar feat over a year before that. ARGH!!!
The list goes on and on.
Bascially, it keeps happening, but I really believe it's because there are only so many ideas out there. Oh well. It's kind of a race to the finish line. If you have an idea, get it out there as soon as you can. It's almost a guarantee that someone else will publish nearly the same idea you had, and even if their's sucks compared to yours, you'll probably have to deal with the whole "You copied their idea!" bit.
Something else I've noticed; If I'm just sittin' around and come up with an idea for a feat or prestige class, then put it down on "paper" (i.e. my computer), and I find that it's overpowered, it's damn near a guarantee that it'll show up in a Quintessential book.
But strangely enough, not a single custom spell I have made has ever shown up in another product. Well, except for that shocking similarity between one of my spells and Greater Creeping Cold.
