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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5486722" data-attributes="member: 15538">Which means they are unsuccessful. Also, the soul of a novel is different the soul of what is essentially an instruction manual.Sure. It's also trivial to come up with a new table design and layout. And if your table is in some way alphabetical, that doesn't represent a particular expression of an idea.Consider this. If the table lists a longsword as doing 1d10 damage, it's telling you, "When you hit someone with a longsword, roll a ten-sided die for damage." That idea is not copyrightable, only the specific form of the instructions. If I relay that information in a slightly different format, I am describing a process. Further, if the type of information constrains me to a certain tabular format, the copyright case against me is weak.Absurdity is not the issue. As long as two texts have some vague relationship with each other, there is a lawsuit to be had. However, many of those lawsuits are doomed.Which is basically the same issue as a D&D module, as it does not contain verbatim text of say, the AD&D Player's Handbook. That is not an issue distinctive to RPG material. There have been cases about Tarzan, Mighty Mouse, you name it. In fact, there is a whole area of IP law where it is being argued how much control a trademark ownership can exert over a property when the work it is based on has gone into the public domain. That is exactly the same issue, actually. You think Hoover doesn't make bags for their own vacuums? Or, for that matter, do you think you can't make a vacuum cleaner that uses Hoover bags?Okay. Do you think D&D has a similar monopoly status in the RPG market?It may not seem that way to some. To me it would be obviously fanciful. If it doesn't use characters and places from a D&D book it's not a derivative  work in the literary sense (like an unauthorized sequel). It it doesn't reproduce text, it's not plagiaristic. Do you think a hypothetical Moocow's Player Handbook, creating a D&D 3e simulator is more like...?:- a game written for a Windows PC- a vacuum cleaner that uses Hoover bags- an unofficial strategy guide- a board game called "Fun-opoly" about acquiring competing popsicle stands- a novel about a teenaged girl who falls in love with a vampire- a Wild West roleplaying game which makes reference to Hit Points, Saving Throws, and Feats, but has a different underlying architecture based on rolling 2d6- A fantasy role-playing game featuring characters of fantasy races like elves, dwarves, and gnomes, who adventure in a pseudo-medieval fantasy world and gain levels by defeating challenges. You know, like Palladium.While I am completely confident there is a case against someone who puts the words "hit points" to paper, I don't think there's a winning court case against much of what's worth doing in the 3pp world. There's just nothing to win. And that is why it's in everyone's best interests to have an OGL or some other way to create compatible products. If someone from WotC took an index card, wrote a few terms like it like Armor Class and Hit Points, and said, "We release this index card to the public domain," the world would be a happier place. Instead we have the Give Soul License.The alternative strategy is for WotC to fight with their last breath over every infringement, hoping that in the 21st century, the legal situation will shift in their favor. Given that much of D&D is itself a pastiche of other copyrighted works, I don't give them good odds on that.</blockquote>

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