D&D General What monster names are public domain?

[gamerprinter]

Mind Flayer isn’t.

True, but is Illithid IP? I've been calling Illithid, illithid since 2e, I haven't called them mind flayers since 1e.

 

[overgeeked]

For those worried about chromatic and metallic dragons, they’re all in the SRD. So that’s all now CC-BY.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Many are public domain in name, but not depiction. The kobold is a classic example.

Indeed. "Drow", as an evil fey spirit, is definitely public domain, as is the use of the name for anything else you might want that definitely isn't dark-skinned, white-haired versions of elves who live in a matriarchal, underground society worshiping an evil spider goddess. But there is some unknowable degree of similarity in how your "Drow" could resemble WotC's "Drow" which would violate their IP.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The only declared IP is

• Beholder
• Gauth
• Carrion Crawler
• Displacer Beast
• Githyanki
• Githzerai
• Mind Flayer (Illithid)
• Umber Hulk
• Slaad
• Yuan-Ti

everything else that isnt a Name is good, although the specific expression (blue dragons breath lightning) is probably copyright

It never stops being hilarious to me that someone at WotC thinks the carrion crawler is a monster worth special protection. I can't remember ever using dungeon caterpillars, and I've been DMing since 1E.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Displacer beast won't fly. The person making that list might not have known it, but they are just coeurls from Voyage of the Space Beagle. (As are xill, which aren't on the list.)

Other publishers have been using them and calling them "phase cats" for a while.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Many are public domain in name, but not depiction. The kobold is a classic example.

Yeah, Basic Fantasy has already made them into schnauzer humanoids to explicitly distance them from WotC's version. WoW's are even more different -- mole/rat people who believe their souls are contained in the candles they wear atop their heads.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Yeah, Basic Fantasy has already made them into schnauzer humanoids to explicitly distance them from WotC's version. WoW's are even more different -- mole/rat people who believe their souls are contained in the candles they wear atop their heads.

Well, that's closer, since the original lore had them as miners. One thing I liked about the mythology was that Cobalt was named after Kobolds, as it was a substance that killed miners. This is the version I did for Twilight Fables, with the cobalt tie in

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

My favorite kobolds are the pangolin inspired ones from Orc and Gnome's Mild Adventures.

 

[Slit518]

"dökkálfar
In Norse mythology, the svartálfar ("black elves") or dökkálfar (" dark elves") are supernatural beings (Old Norse " vættir," wights) that are said to reside in the underground world of Svartálfheim." ~Google

Drow; Trow; Dark-Elf

drow - Wiktionary

en.wiktionary.org

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There isn't really a yes/no answer to this question. Once it goes to court anything could happen. Consider the orc precedent. When the Tolkien estate took TSR to court over the use of orc, they where pretty confident they would win, but the TSR lawyers where able to find an obscure earlier use of the word for an ogre-like monster. The fact that D&D orcs where basically the same as Tolkien orcs, and nothing like the earlier mythological orcs, didn't matter. The chances of winning a court case over a similarity in game mechanics or physical appearance are very slim (but never zero).