Mixing 3.0 and 3.5 SRD bits?

[Scurvy_Platypus]

A slightly odd question...

The move from the 3.0 to the 3.5 SRD resulted in not just changes to the rules, but other changes too, such as descriptions disappearing.

For example:

Half-Plate: This armor is a combination of chainmail with metal plates (breastplate, epaulettes, elbow guards, gauntlets, tasses, and greaves) covering vital areas. Buckles and straps hold the whole suit together and distribute the weight, but the armor still hangs more loosely than full plate. It includes gauntlets.

Half-Plate: The suit includes gauntlets.

In looking at the copyright section (section 15) we have:

System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Now, I _believe_ that as long as I include _both_ of those in my section 15, I can pull from the 3.0 SRD as well as the 3.5 SRD.

Right?

On the one hand it seems pretty straight forward but sometimes things get a bit funky. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't simply be able to rely on only citing the 3.5 copyright, since even though the date and the names of the 3.0 are incorporated into the 3.5 version, it's pretty obvious and clear that the 3.5 version is a different publication/set of documents.

A follow-on question relates to the "Legal Information" section of both versions. I haven't done a one-for-one comparison of the wording used in the actual part where it lays out the terms of the OGL, but the legal sections above it definitely are different.

For example:

Permission to copy, modify and distribute this document is granted solely through the use of the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a.

This document provides an interface to the basic rules and materials needed to create content compatible with the best-selling tabletop RPG system in the world.

This material is being released using the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a and you should read and understand the terms of that license before using this material.

Permission to copy, modify and distribute the files collectively known as the System Reference Document (“SRD”) is granted solely through the use of the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a.

This material is being released using the Open Gaming License Version 1.0a and you should read and understand the terms of that license before using this material.

The text of the Open Gaming License itself is not Open Game Content. Instructions on using the License are provided within the License itself.

The 3.5 version also winds up explicitly calling out a bunch of P.I. like Beholders and Displacer Beasts.

So.... aside from the issue of section 15 citation, does it matter if I use the older 3.0 "srdlegal" file, or the 3.5 "Legal" file? There's definitely some differences between them, and it's noted explicitly that the text of the license itself isn't Open Game Content, so I'm thinking it doesn't mean I can just grab the "missing" or different bits from the 3.0 one and bring it over to the 3.5 one.

But due to the way that the OGL is set up, it _does_ seem like I could use either version, as long as I adhere to the other provisions of the license itself, like making proper citations in section 15.

It might seem like I'm over-thinking things, but it's part of my day job to think of things like this.

 

[Mark CMG]

It's my understanding (as a non-lawyer who has been an OGL-using ePub for nearly ten years) that if you use the most recent Open Game License and be sure to include the full section fifteen citations for any material from which you pull OGC you will be covered.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Thanks. I'll continue to operate on that assumption then.