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Game Design > System Reference Document

#163466 - ritz - Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:16 pm

I know very little about legal stuff so I'm hoping someone can help me confirm my understanding of the SRD:

I can design and code my project based on any of the info found here: http://www.wizards.com/d20/article.asp?x=srd
... because of the Open Game License v1.0a, correct? Or does it mean I can only make my own custom SRD, and not an actual game based off of it (without paying someone something)?

#163472 - nanou - Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:51 pm

It seems like it's OGL-licensed, which I take to mean that you're free to work with it free of charge with the restriction that if you use the trademark (d20 system), you must refer to Wizard's core rules instead of supplying your own. Those being, supposedly, "pick a race and a class."

In this case, if you were to make a full game out of it, you'd either have to pay licensing fees or else decline to use the trademark, since the game itself would arguably have to go through that step somehow. I'm not sure how they'd interpret disassociation from the trademark with these materials, though.

Of course, I'm just speculating and I haven't really kept up with d20. When OGL was introduced, I scrutinized it a bit (and decided that it was probably not going to do anyone any good) and what I'd read then is the basis for my interpretation now.
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- nanou

#163491 - ritz - Fri Oct 03, 2008 2:28 pm

I have no interest in branding anything with their "d20" trademark. I just like the info in that SRD.

FAQ says:
Quote:
There are no named gods, none of the spells have significant NPC names, there's no mention of Greyhawk, etc. You'll also note that there are no rules for character creation, for advancing characters in level, calculating experience, or anything else related to the topics forbidden by the d20 System Trademark Guide.
and
Quote:
One of the objectives of the OGL/d20 project is to create a "safe harbor" that clearly identifies material that can be used, derived from, modified, and distributed without fear of litigation. To that end, the SRD contains material that is public domain, copyright, and somewhere in between. But using the OGL, it all carries with it the same, uniform set of rights, thus creating the safe harbor.

I just want to code stuff based on the rules/info of the SRD. I'm not doing anything commercial or for-profit.

Shouldn't I be able to do this? I dunno...

#163494 - nanou - Fri Oct 03, 2008 5:18 pm

It's really hard to say, you'd probably have to bring it up with Wizards to get a clear interpretation. My guess would be that it's safe to use, but it's really been a long time since I've so much as glanced at the OGL.
_________________
- nanou

#169624 - Karatorian - Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:53 am

You are in the clear. Firstly, the OGL is a very liberal license, so you can use it for just about anything. Secondly, for a lot of it, copyright doesn't matter.

The reason for that is that mechnics aren't copyrightable. The entire core of the d20 system cannot be copyrighted. What can be copyrighted is a textual description of it. However, if you implement the system in a video game, you've created your own description of it and it belongs to you, so you can use it as you see fit.

That said, there are some grey areas. For instance, specific feats, spells, and monsters may be copyrightable. Then again they may not. For instance, the phrase "Power Attack" is too trivial to copyright, and the effect is a mechanic, which can't be copyrighted. However, the whole list of feats, or an entire set of monster stats may be.

So you basically have two routes open to you. Firstly, you can only use mechanics from the SRD and not worry about licensing issues. In that case, you'll have to judge for yourself what you think is safe and what's over the line. Or you'll have to comply with the terms of the OGL, which while not a very onerous license, could get complicated, as it wasn't written with software in mind.

The OGL is sort of GPL like (more like the LGPL actually), but it differs in some respects. What you have to do to comply with the license is pretty simple.

* You must provide proper copyright notices for the OGL content you use.
* You must provide a copy of the license.
* OGLed stuff stays OGLed.
* You must clearly state which of your content is and isn't OGLed and what is and isn't Product Identity.

There's some other stuff, but that's the gist of it. That said, the license gives you a great deal of leeway. For instance, all of your storyline, setting, and other creative bits can be declared product identity and would not fall under the terms of the license. Also, the core game engine would be written by you and so can be OGL or not as you desire.

However, once you get beyond the core and original creative works, things get trickier. In theory, any of the OGL content you use can be reused by anyone else under the terms of the OGL. However, as far as I can tell, you're under no obligation to make that easy for them (other than clearly stating what is and isn't OGL). There's no need to provide source code or anything else.

I'm not a copyright expert, but here's what I suggest. All of your OGL based game code would be a restatement of the mechanics in original language. As such it's not derived (in the copyright law sense) from OGLed materials, so you are not required to make it availible under the OGL. All of your story, etc. is product identity and, likewise is yours to do with as you wish.

It's hard to say exactly what you do have to release, but I'd suggest the following: Pretty much all names (Classes, Skills, Feats, Spells, Monsters, etc.), Class Stats, and Monster Stats.

In that light, I'd suggest you structure your code accordingly. Monsters and Classes should be defined as data, rather than code, so that you can clearly draw a line between what is and isn't OGL. Likewise all names of OGLed stuff should be cleanly partioned off, rather than hard coded. (Of course, clean text seperation is good practice for localization and stuff as well.)

In regards to the d20 trademark. It's a good thing you're not intersted in using, because you can't. The agreement for that explicitly disallows video games.

Finally, as an example of a notice, here's a couple:

BESM d20 wrote:
Desination of Product Identity
The following is designated as Product Identity in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Game License, Version 1.0a: all Guardians of Order names, logos, identifying marks, and trade dress; all character and place names; all examples; all artwork, symbols, designs, descriptions, illustrations, likenesses, poses, symbols, and graphic designs; all stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, and dialog; page 2; Chapter 1; Chapter 13.
Desination of Open Game Content
Subject to the Product Identity designation above, the remainder of this publication is designated as Open Game Content.

Iron Kingdoms Liber Mechanica wrote:
The Liber Mechanica is published under the Open Gaming Licence and the D20 System Trademark License. All game mechanics in this book are open game content, including monster attributes and special abilities, new equipment, new feats, new skills, prestige classes and other materials derived from the SRD. Descriptive text, including stories, characters, proper names and other depictions of the Iron Kingdoms or its inhabitants is all Privateer Press product identity and may not be reproduced. All artwork is always product identity and may not be reproduced. All product identity is (c)2002-2005 Privateer Press.

#169632 - ritz - Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:37 pm

Thanks for the thorough insight, it's appreciated.