NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gailbraithe" data-source="post: 4414572" data-attributes="member: 39048">Okay, so even after all these years, I'm still a bit confused by how the OGL works exactly.  Here's the thing I'm unclear about: I have the Monsternomicon from Privateer Press. The Monsternomicon features a creature I really like called Cephalyx. They're clearly a substitute for the not-OGL Mind Flayers, but they're waaaaaaay awesome.The Monsternomicon is OGL. Thus the Cephalyx is OGL. But the OGL document at the end says that the "product identity" includes the creatures and names of creatures, as well as "magical or supernatural abilities or effects". The Cephalyx has a supernatural ability called Chirugery that allows them to create Drudges.So I'm confused. Can I publish my own adventure with Cephalyx that has nothing to do with the Iron Kingdoms? Can I reprint the statistics for the Cephalyx, including the text that explains what the Chirugery (Su) is?Isn't the name of the creature part of the game statistics of the creature? It seems that it's necessary to include the name as part of the stat block, and it seems it would be necessary to reprint the description of what chirugery does (especially since the Monsternomicon will be out of print and unsellable by the end of the year, thanks to the revocation of the d20 license).What about the basic concept of the monster? The description in the Monsternomicon is written in that annoying "in game" voice, and is clearly "product identity," as is the drawing in the book, but I could do my own write-up of the Cephalyx fluff and my own art, but I'd want to keep the basic concept (underdark mastermind with mechanical arms that uses drudge slaves) and appearance.A lot of 3PP seem to do this, try to claim the name of the monster and everything about it that isn't the game stats as "product identity," but so much of the "product identity" blurs with the game statistics. Like the Cephalyx's game stats list four prosthetic blades as it's full attack, and studded leather as it's armor, so if you drew one in studded leather with four bladed arms you would be reflecting the game stats...and creating a creature that looked pretty much like the Cephalyx.I'm mostly asking because I'm writing my own adventures with an eye towards publishing, and I'm wondering how much I can use of OGL material. Anyone got a clear guide to this stuff or know what I'm talking about?This is going to become more important to 3.5/Pathfinder players as time goes by, and creatures need to be updated for Pathfinder, and books like the Monsternomicon go out of print.</blockquote>

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