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<blockquote data-quote="Yair" data-source="post: 1818316" data-attributes="member: 10913">I have heard, once upon a time, that ideas or game mechanics cannot be copyrighted - only their specific implementation can. With this in mind, wouldn't it be possible for someone to release as OGC &quot;closed&quot; mehcanics?For example, lets look at the bear-warrior PrC from Complete Warrior (non-OGC). Certainy one can....1. Take the *idea* of a prestige class that allows a warrior to shapechange into a bear, and develop a brand new PrC that implements it.OR2. Take the *mechanics* of the bear-warrior PrC, rephrase them so as to change their implementation, and present the same mechanics.But then, they could also ...3. Rewrite the PrC, retaining all of the machanics and fluff but not actually copying the origianl text. So with just a bit of creative rephrasing, you have essentially re-published closed content as open content.Of course, it will not allow one to release a &quot;Thayan Knight&quot;, but it should provide one to create a virtually identical class called, say, &quot;Shield Grog&quot;. Am I missing something? Or is it just too risky to try something that sneaky?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Yair, post: 1818316, member: 10913"] I have heard, once upon a time, that ideas or game mechanics cannot be copyrighted - only their specific implementation can. With this in mind, wouldn't it be possible for someone to release as OGC "closed" mehcanics? For example, lets look at the bear-warrior PrC from Complete Warrior (non-OGC). Certainy one can.... 1. Take the *idea* of a prestige class that allows a warrior to shapechange into a bear, and develop a brand new PrC that implements it. OR 2. Take the *mechanics* of the bear-warrior PrC, rephrase them so as to change their implementation, and present the same mechanics. But then, they could also ... 3. Rewrite the PrC, retaining all of the machanics and fluff but not actually copying the origianl text. So with just a bit of creative rephrasing, you have essentially re-published closed content as open content. Of course, it will not allow one to release a "Thayan Knight", but it should provide one to create a virtually identical class called, say, "Shield Grog". Am I missing something? Or is it just too risky to try something that sneaky? [/QUOTE]

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