Licensing, OGL and Getting D&D Compatible Publishers Involved

[dmccoy1693]

Peole keep saying that the OGL benefits Pathfinder.I am skeptical that the OGL or their PRD (or whatever it is called) significantly benefits Pathfinder all that much. Note that I am NOT saying that there is zero benefit to the OGL. However their success comes from producing high quality adventure paths, not from a third party publisher putting out "Bob's guide to magic carpets" and that this is somehow keeping people buying Pathfinder.

As the publisher of the Book of the River Nations, the book that many people told me that it saved their Kingmaker game, yes, Paizo has benefited from the OGL. All I did was repackage the exploration, kingdom building, and mass combat rules in one player friendly book, clean them up, add a few options of my own, add feats spells, archetypes, prestige classes and magic items and people bought it in droves. It is stil one of the best selling Pathfinder Compatible books out there. The book put the rules player needed to play the game in player hands and it make the exploration, kingdom building and mass combat sections of the adventure path playable.. Before that was published, players were floundering and unsure what to do in those areas becuse only the GM had those rules.

 

[Wicht]

Aye, that is a problem. I've seen various OGL projects heap on rules changes, but the basic mechanics remain unchanged. So are they look/feel or not?

Apples and oranges.

The OGL gives you the freedom to do this. You could pull any single rule or mechanic you wanted from an OGL system and plug it into any game you wanted or you could reprint large chunks of the PFRPG Core rulebook verbatim and in either case you would be fine.

 

[Wicht]

Yes, Kenzer too. IME the trick to not getting a C&D is is
(a) don't use any registered trade marks
(b) don't use a license (OGL, GSL) and then breach the terms
(c) don't literally copy a significant chunk of text or art.

That seems like reasonable and sensible advice to me.

 

[Zireael]

Guys, I'm making an OGL project and I need to know: is the phrase "System Reference Document" or the acronym "SRD" considered PI?

 

[Umbran]

Well, several games out there have official "system reference documents" - D&D, Pathfinder, Fate, Fudge, and others released under the OGL. So, no, I'm pretty sure "SRD" is not itself product identity. "D&D SRD" would be, but only because it names D&D, specifically.

 

[pemerton]

I've seen various OGL projects heap on rules changes, but the basic mechanics remain unchanged. So are they look/feel or not?

As others have noted upthread, the OGL is a copyright licence. The owner of the copyrighted material that is OGC is permitting you to use that material in return for conforming to the terms of the licence.

I'm making an OGL project and I need to know: is the phrase "System Reference Document" or the acronym "SRD" considered PI?

Are you referring to the 3.5 SRD?

If so, you might want to refer to this page: https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35

The file called "legal.rtf" has WotC's product identity statement in relation to the 3.5 SRD. The terms "SRD" and "System Reference Document" do not appear in that declaration of product identity.

What are you intending or hoping to do with the phrase?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

it is a funny thought, if you made a game, would you make it open or closed? Part of me wants to say open so it can be played for years, but I would fear someone stealing it and my fan base... I just don't know what I would do.

 

[billd91]

it is a funny thought, if you made a game, would you make it open or closed? Part of me wants to say open so it can be played for years, but I would fear someone stealing it and my fan base... I just don't know what I would do.

I think it's also worth keeping in mind D&D's particular place in the gaming world and history. When the hobby's flagship game has been in danger of being tied up, probably for years, in bankruptcy litigation, you may start looking about for a creative solution to make sure that can't happen again. Thanks to the OGL, there's a version of D&D out there that seems to be permanently out of the bottle. If Hasbro were to lose its nut and crack down on D&D IP on the internet like TSR tried to do, there's a safe harbor version of the game for us to continue to write about and share stuff for.

If you made a game, do you expect you'd be in D&D's position?

 

[dmccoy1693]

it is a funny thought, if you made a game, would you make it open or closed? Part of me wants to say open so it can be played for years, but I would fear someone stealing it and my fan base... I just don't know what I would do.

"The tighter you tighten your grip, Tark, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

 

[Wicht]

it is a funny thought, if you made a game, would you make it open or closed? Part of me wants to say open so it can be played for years, but I would fear someone stealing it and my fan base... I just don't know what I would do.

Open. Definitely. Because
1) As a gamer and a game designer, I want a game to be played. That's the real mark of success.

2) As a gamer and a game designer, I want the game experience to be the best possible for all involved. If I have a hand in that then I am satisfied, regardless of whether someone else has a hand in improving the experience. Boardgamers nd board game designers understand this already, pretty well, and I think the OGL is going to facilitate the same mentality moving more heavily into the RPG game community. The game Dominion was groundbreaking and soon spawned many deck-building offspring which used the same, relatively new mechanic of building a deck while you play. Many of these are superior games. That does not diminish Dominion, which provided the mechanic, but rather cements its legacy. One recently released game, Trains, is virtually identical to Dominion, but it adds a board to the mix. Board games do this all the time, taking mechanics from other games and finding new ways to thematically use them. The OGL allows the same innovation in RPGS, building off the work of others and thats a good thing for games and gaming, not a bad thing.

3) As a Christian, I believe it is better to give than to receive. If my success can help others be more successful, I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to their success.