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<blockquote data-quote="JohnRTroy" data-source="post: 4340924" data-attributes="member: 2732">Ideas can't be copyright, yes, but the combination of several features of ideas is protected enough that you would be sued for copying things.Put it this way, the Mind Flayer example is a good one.&nbsp; While the characters were inspired by other creations, it was made unique in D&amp;D.&nbsp; Now, if you wanted to create a mind-flayer in another game, it might work, but you should work your butt off to make it a LOT different, not just a little.&nbsp; Drow is an old term for elf.&nbsp; If your dark elves live underground, that's a little closer.&nbsp; If they worship a spider-goddess, have noble houses, are &quot;chaotic evil&quot;--the closer it seems to products written by TSR and WoTC, the worse protection you would have.&nbsp; Think of it this way--if it would fail a plagiarism test if you were writing a novel instead of a game supplement, that's the line you don't want to cross.&nbsp; I can have a comic strip with an intelligent dog but if I start having him sleep on the top of a doghouse and imagine him being a veteran of World War I I'm sure the Schulz estate and United Features Syndicate would send me a warning.&nbsp; TSR got in trouble in the beginning and had to make sure they didn't use the terms Barlog, Hobbit, or Ent.&nbsp; I think it's a question of whether or not you are ripping off another's creation.&nbsp; Basically, you should be creating something that has your own theme.&nbsp;&nbsp; Unless it's really licensed, released under the public domain or creative commons, etc, you don't want to rip off other's work--I'm not speaking from a legal perspective, but as a creative type who would not want to just copy other's work. I might want to have clockwork creations in a campaign setting, but I wouldn't try to copy the Warforged wholesale, and I would try to put my own spin on things to make sure it is different.&nbsp; This is also why I think WoTC have done things like make their halflings more like Kender without the quirks and work on making their creations more distinctive.&nbsp; They don't want to be accused of &quot;ripping off&quot; Tolkien, not just from a legal perspective, but they want their stuff to be more unique.And this is also why gamers might want to create different terms.&nbsp; Why should every game be like D&amp;D and have AC and hp and other terms.&nbsp; It might simply be a case of creators not wanting to use common (or overused) terminology.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JohnRTroy, post: 4340924, member: 2732"] Ideas can't be copyright, yes, but the combination of several features of ideas is protected enough that you would be sued for copying things. Put it this way, the Mind Flayer example is a good one. While the characters were inspired by other creations, it was made unique in D&D. Now, if you wanted to create a mind-flayer in another game, it might work, but you should work your butt off to make it a LOT different, not just a little. Drow is an old term for elf. If your dark elves live underground, that's a little closer. If they worship a spider-goddess, have noble houses, are "chaotic evil"--the closer it seems to products written by TSR and WoTC, the worse protection you would have. Think of it this way--if it would fail a plagiarism test if you were writing a novel instead of a game supplement, that's the line you don't want to cross. I can have a comic strip with an intelligent dog but if I start having him sleep on the top of a doghouse and imagine him being a veteran of World War I I'm sure the Schulz estate and United Features Syndicate would send me a warning. TSR got in trouble in the beginning and had to make sure they didn't use the terms Barlog, Hobbit, or Ent. I think it's a question of whether or not you are ripping off another's creation. Basically, you should be creating something that has your own theme. Unless it's really licensed, released under the public domain or creative commons, etc, you don't want to rip off other's work--I'm not speaking from a legal perspective, but as a creative type who would not want to just copy other's work. I might want to have clockwork creations in a campaign setting, but I wouldn't try to copy the Warforged wholesale, and I would try to put my own spin on things to make sure it is different. This is also why I think WoTC have done things like make their halflings more like Kender without the quirks and work on making their creations more distinctive. They don't want to be accused of "ripping off" Tolkien, not just from a legal perspective, but they want their stuff to be more unique. And this is also why gamers might want to create different terms. Why should every game be like D&D and have AC and hp and other terms. It might simply be a case of creators not wanting to use common (or overused) terminology. [/QUOTE]

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