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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 6383746" data-attributes="member: 45197"><p>Hiya.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> "Compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition(r)". Totally, 100% legal. What you <em>can't</em> do is use the "D&D" logo or otherwise have that statement "prominent"...it's all about not trying to "confuse a reasonable person" who would be buying it. If the "Dungeons & Dragons" is similar enough in look (text, color, size, placement, etc) to regular WotC 5e trade dress, <em>thats</em> when you get into trouble. If the courts got involved, they'd look at if what you did would likely lead to confusion of a consumer as to who actually produced the book.</p><p></p><p> So, as long as you make sure your compatibility statement isn't going to confuse anyone about who made your product...you're good to go.</p><p></p><p> The copyright/game-rules thing has been mentioned a million times over multiple forums, so I'm not going to repeat it. Do a bit of research on "copyright game mechanics rules" and you'll see it's pretty clear cut.</p><p></p><p> Someone mentioned above that things like "Short Rest" and "Advantage/Disadvantage" are probably no-no's. I'd actuallly have to agree with that; I think it is unique enough that I'd stay away from using those exact terms. I'd just re-word them to what they are. A "Short Rest" would be reworded to "rest for at least 1 hour", or "1-hr rest". Adv/Disadv would be trickier, as it they describe themselves. I'd be inclined to re-write the rule at the beginning of the book/adventure with my own words and description...like...</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">"<strong>BR+</strong> and <strong>BR-</strong>; When you see this notation, it means the player gets a Bonus Roll. BR+ indicates the player takes the higher of the rolls, while BR- indicates he must take the lower of the two rolls"</p><p></p><p> Then, when you need to, just sub-in ("Attacking from this point gives the PC the edge (BR+)").</p><p></p><p> As I said, just stay away from specific names (spells, items, world-locations, etc) and it's not a problem.</p><p></p><p> With regards to "Ask an attorney"...well, that's always good advice! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>^_^</p><p></p><p>Paul L. Ming</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pming, post: 6383746, member: 45197"] Hiya. "Compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition(r)". Totally, 100% legal. What you [I]can't[/I] do is use the "D&D" logo or otherwise have that statement "prominent"...it's all about not trying to "confuse a reasonable person" who would be buying it. If the "Dungeons & Dragons" is similar enough in look (text, color, size, placement, etc) to regular WotC 5e trade dress, [I]thats[/I] when you get into trouble. If the courts got involved, they'd look at if what you did would likely lead to confusion of a consumer as to who actually produced the book. So, as long as you make sure your compatibility statement isn't going to confuse anyone about who made your product...you're good to go. The copyright/game-rules thing has been mentioned a million times over multiple forums, so I'm not going to repeat it. Do a bit of research on "copyright game mechanics rules" and you'll see it's pretty clear cut. Someone mentioned above that things like "Short Rest" and "Advantage/Disadvantage" are probably no-no's. I'd actuallly have to agree with that; I think it is unique enough that I'd stay away from using those exact terms. I'd just re-word them to what they are. A "Short Rest" would be reworded to "rest for at least 1 hour", or "1-hr rest". Adv/Disadv would be trickier, as it they describe themselves. I'd be inclined to re-write the rule at the beginning of the book/adventure with my own words and description...like... [INDENT]"[B]BR+[/B] and [B]BR-[/B]; When you see this notation, it means the player gets a Bonus Roll. BR+ indicates the player takes the higher of the rolls, while BR- indicates he must take the lower of the two rolls"[/INDENT] Then, when you need to, just sub-in ("Attacking from this point gives the PC the edge (BR+)"). As I said, just stay away from specific names (spells, items, world-locations, etc) and it's not a problem. With regards to "Ask an attorney"...well, that's always good advice! :) ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]
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