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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Stark" data-source="post: 3010482" data-attributes="member: 38437">You could certainly publish a module in the manner you've stated, and OSRIC is not intended in any way to be some kind of "one game to rule them all" type of venture.OSRIC does do a few things that make using it convenient. First, all of the work has already been done for authors and publishers. Want to reference a rule from one of the old games? OSRIC has it available already for you to cut and paste (although there is now a 100 word limit for direct quotes from OSRIC, something I hope the authors will amend). Further, all of the work of converting the old game to something that is OGL-compliant has been done (presumably). Using OSRIC means you don't have to constantly be going over your own use of certain terms, descriptions, etc. to be sure you're not violating the OGL.Second, as P&P stated, OSRIC give a recognizable brand name that everyone is free to use that indicates compatibility with certain older games. This means that when other publishers and authors use OSRIC, and their stuff is for sale at RPGNow or some other distribution site, that other OSRIC publications will get hits simply because they use the same brand name. Thus, if I buy a module like Matt Finch's Pod Caves of the Sinister Shroom in pdf from RPGNow, the site will recommend other products to me that have the OSRIC label. Typing OSRIC into a Google search will eventually bring back hits for the various publications as well, once more get put on the market. Its free advertising for your own product.Another advantage with OSRIC is that using it will, over time, become synonymous with saying, "I'm publishing my rpg book using these, ahem, old rules!" Once the word gets spread around that OSRIC is a reformulation of rules, algorithms, and formulas from certain older games, people will know that an OSRIC product is compatible with those older games. Its a name recognition thing, a markeying angle to help the consumer know what they are buying (once the word gets around).Also, OSRIC is freely available to the public. Lets say that someone who played one of the old games wanted to share a copy of the rules of that game with someone who primarily plays a different system. Or that someone who plays a different system would like to have the rules for that old game on hand so they can convert an OSRIC product for their own game (e.g., maybe a d20 player who has never played one of the old game). Rather than searching for an out of print book to buy, or a pdf of the book, they can grab OSRIC for free and their converting chores are more easily met.OSRIC is also intended to reopen the market for "old school" products, and to facilitate the play thereof. For example, Steve March, a well known ex-TSR guy, seems to be inclined to support OSRIC as a tool for old school style gaming (scroll to the last post): <a href="http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=19335&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45" target="_blank">Steve Marsh on OSRIC</a> I wasn't involved with the creation of OSRIC, so take what I say with that in mind. That being said, I believe the authors determined that there were certain rules and concepts in the old games that were too closely tied to the artistic presentation as given in those old games that prohibitted them from inclusion in OSRIC. The authors of OSRIC are trying in every way to work within the OGL, and to respect the trademarks and product identity of certain companies, and thus where there was any question whether a reformulation of certain rules or descriptions would tread on ground that is verboten, they used the utmost caution.Good show! Its always nice to see people approach something with an open mind and fair questions.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> I had many of the same questions as you do when I first learned about OSRIC, as I didn't quite grasp the point of it, and have now since caught the gist of why OSRIC was created. I'd heartily recommend that you check the links that grodog has provided, as there is some good info in those that does a far better job of articulating the reasons for and legalities of OSRIC than I could do.EDIT: Cross posted with P&P.</blockquote>

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