Posting homemade D&D documents...

[Oryan77]

I know some sites don't allow discussions about what is legal & illegal in the d20 system but I searched the faq here and didn't see anything about it. So forgive me if this isn't allowed or if I've posted in the wrong forum.

I have made personal D&D reference sheets to help me while I'm DM'ing my games. These things help me out alot and I thought that others might benefit from my hard (long & mindless) work. Would I be doing wrong by linking D&D reference sheets such as spell & feat lists with brief spell/feat descriptions and page numbers from WotC books, a rules reference sheet with WotC book page numbers, and a homemade DM screen with DC charts and equipment pricing lists which also include WotC book page numbers? These include books that aren't just the core books.

I see people posting spell lists and such but never DM screens or rules...and having page numbers makes me wonder if that's ok. I also question this because I know WotC takes advantage of customers by selling a "Deluxe" DM Screen for $15 which is total garbage, and I wouldn't want to upset their lawyers if they noticed how much better mine is and mine's free

Any link that might answer my question would be nice too. I'm not really sure what to search for to find this info out on my own.

Thanks!

 

[S'mon]

I'd suggest you base it off the SRD and use the Open Gaming License. You can AFAIk include PHB (etc) page numbers for reference as these aren't copyrightable.

 

[BSF]

I am far from an expert on the D20 & Open Gaming Licenses. However, if you include the OGL with the proper section 15, you can publish a document with a lot of what you are speaking of.

I belive you cannot use "Dungeons & Dragons" as a reference on there. I think page numbers are probably questionable since the SRD and other OGL content might not have an associated page number. Feat and Spell descriptions that are Open Gaming content are fine. But anything that is closed content would not be and IP (Intellectual Property?). As an example, spells and feats from the Player's Handbook are mostly included in the SRD. However, the names that are IP have been changed. (Mordenkainen - Mord, etc) Spells and Feats from the Book of Vile Darkness are not Open Gaming Content and you might leave yourself open to a letter from WotC if you included that information. Information from third party vendors (Green Ronin, Mystic Eye Games, Fantasy Flight Games, etc - to name a few companies whose books are within my field of view at the moment, could be included if it has been designated as Open Gaming Content in their books. It isn't a cut-and-dried yes or no answer. You have to look at the licensing and figure out what you can and cannot include.

I would suggest downloading the SRD. If you want some top notch SRD's, there are some that have been compiled and there are even some that have been cross-linked and put up for sale. (Creative Mountain Games has a very nice version. It is my preferred SRD on both my windows desktop and my linux laptop - CD's are great.) This thread might be better off in the publishers forum. The folks in there deal with OGL issues all the time and can probably answer your questions far more competently and thoroughly than I can.

 

[Oryan77]

Oh I didn't notice there was a publishers forum here. If a mod thinks this post would be more appropriate there, feel free to move it.

Where is the official place to read about Open Gaming Content?

 

[BSF]

Here on the board, I would check the d20 & Open Gaming Publishers forum & subforums.

On the web, I would check the Open Gaming Foundation website for starters.

There are listserv's devoted to OGL issues. I am sure there are other websites as well. As I said, I am not all that well versed in all of that.

 

[DanMcS]

Don't listen to the naysayers. You're not publishing a product, you're offering to share a sheet of notes and shorthands that you have found to be useful while DMing, and might be useful for other DMs. The OGL and open content rules have nothing to do with this.

 

[Crothian]

Post them. As long as you are not publishing them you should be fine. There are lots of fan created things like these on the web.

 

[Yair]

Post the sheets, no one will sue you over it. (IANAL)
Ignore the OGC and such legalities. In fact, you'd be better off legally to ignore them. From the "WOtC's Policy on Fan Sites" article:

Right now, my plan is pretty simple: If you're charging money for any aspect of D&D, you're going to be required to use the OGL and the d20 STL. If you say you're following the OGL or the d20 STL, you're going to be forced to follow them. So, if you've got a fan site that's a collection of characters, and they don't claim to be using the OGL or the d20 STL, and they're not charging money, we're going to ignore them.

Basically as long as you don't pretend to be legal, and don't charge money, you're better off just ignoring the d20 and OGL rules.

 

[S'mon]

We-ell... i've seen WoTC lawyers write nasty letters to people posting non-commercially, alleging TM & copyright infringement, even though it's _impossible_ to infringe a TM via non-commercial use. And "D&D reference sheets such as spell & feat lists with brief spell/feat descriptions and page numbers from WotC books, a rules reference sheet with WotC book page numbers, and a homemade DM screen with DC charts and equipment pricing lists which also include WotC book page numbers" sounds like it's directly reproducing material from the PHB etc, which they might object to. If you removed the descriptions it wouldn't be infringing copyright though, individual words & page numbers aren't copyrightable, nor are simple listings (Feist vs Rural Telephone).

 

[S'mon]

>>"a fan site that's a collection of characters"<< BTW would not actually be infringing WoTC's copyrights anyway (& nor would a commercial site with a collection of characters), which I suspect they're well aware of. There's a (highly questionable) case that using an official-format stat block might infringe WoTC's copyright in the format of the stat block, but writing D&D character sheets in your own format certainly wouldn't. So WoTC are just being smart, they would be foolish to risk such a case coming to court. Conversely while other publishers _could_ publish D&D materials without infringing WoTC's copyrights, it's easier for them to use the OGL rather than risk being sued - even though they'd win eventually (at worst, in the Appeals court), it would cost them a lot of time & money to defend the suit.