The WOTC OGL?

[Electric]

Hello. I know some of the details of WotC's Open Game Licence, but I'm not sure I'm clear on all the meanings of what it does.

Normally I wouldn't really care that I don't fully understand the legal stuff, but at the moment I'd like to make a clarification.

I've got a Pathfinder game going right now that I'm the GM of, and I'd like to use Yuan-ti in it, possibly as some major NPCs (Yuan-ti being one of the few creatures WotC has labelled as their product identity). Now I doubt product identity and such is a major concern of theirs when it comes to just a game some friends are having at their tabletop. I assume it's more meant to stop competitors from using their product.

One of my players is keeping record of the campaign in Story Hour here on EN Worlds though, and so I want to make sure that doesn't cause any problems if I were to use Yuan-ti in my game (and they showed up in her story hour as a result). Again I would assume not since it's just a player recording her game experience and sharing it on a forum, not something being published and sold. Still, I'd rather be very sure.

If it's a problem I guess I'd substitute Serpentfolk or some sort of hombrewed monster, but the Yuan-ti really would work best.

 

[Marius Delphus]

The OGL is only a factor for publishers. You're not a publisher unless you're publishing something. (Messageboard posts don't count as publications.)

 

[Ahnehnois]

Product Identity is only relevant if you are trying to make a profit. As long as you aren't publishing or selling anything with yuan-ti in it, you're in the clear.

Paizo obviously is trying to profit off of their bestiaries, so they can't use product identity things like yuan-ti without permission (which they won't get for a variety of reasons).

 

[domino]

You should be fine. People mention Illithids, and beholders, and Elminsters (I assume) in their Story Hour recordings, after all. And those aren't covered by the OGL.

As long as you're not assembling it into a module for people to buy and play, there's no problem.

 

[cyderak]

OGL........You mean Hasbro hasn't liquidated WOTC yet?

 

[Morrus]

Unless you're using the OGL, you're not bound by it. You are not bound by licenses you are not using. There's no reason to use the OGL for a home game or a messageboard post.

Profit is irrelevant; there's no difference in IP law between publishing a product for free or publishing it for profit. You choose to use the OGL if you feel it is advantageous to you to do so, at which point you are bound by its terms. If you are not using it, then all that matters is standard copyright laws.