If you are publishing an RPG product (adventure modules, character options, creatures, rules subsystems, etc.) and it uses any mechanics released by Paizo under the ORC, your product needs to comply with the terms of the ORC as well.

The ORC doesn’t allow you to use any Reserved Material, which includes Paizo’s trademarks and copyrighted non-rules content, like characters, locations, organizations, deities, events, as well as art and maps. If you want to use a Pathfinder or Starfinder logo to show compatibility or utilize the rich flavor of the Lost Omens campaign setting or Starfinder galaxy, you will need to utilize an additional license instead of or in conjunction with the ORC.

The ORC also doesn’t allow you to convert content previously released as Open Game Content under the OGL into what the ORC classifies as Licensed Material. If you want to utilize content that exists solely under the OGL, you must publish it under the OGL, and can’t release that Derivative Work (or portion thereof) as ORC-Licensed Material. Please see the full ORC license and the official FAQ—called the AxE— here.

If you are publishing an RPG product (adventure modules, character options, creatures, rules subsystems, etc.) that uses any mechanics released by Paizo under the OGL, your product needs to comply with the OGL as well.

The OGL doesn’t allow you to use any Product Identity, which includes Paizo’s trademarks and copyrighted non-rules content, like characters, locations, organizations, deities, events, as well as art and maps. If you want to use a Pathfinder or Starfinder logo to show compatibility or utilize the rich flavor of the Lost Omens campaign setting or Starfinder galaxy, you will need to utilize an additional license instead of or in conjunction with the OGL.

The OGL also doesn’t allow you to convert content released as Licensed Material under the ORC into what the OGL classifies as Open Game Content. If you want to utilize content that exists solely under the ORC, you must publish it under the ORC, and can’t release that material (or portion thereof) as Open Game Content under the OGL. Please see the full OGL license here.

While game mechanics and the copyrighted expressions thereof are covered by the ORC (and OGL), neither license allows you to use Paizo’s trademarks. They don’t license to you the right to use our logos to declare that your product is compatible with the Pathfinder or Starfinder RPGs, for example, as both the Pathfinder and the Starfinder logos are registered trademarks of Paizo Inc. If you wish to publish an RPG product using either the OGL or ORC and want to use special compatibility versions of Paizo’s trademarks, you may do so under the Compatibility License.

Of Paizo’s free licenses that grant access to our trademarks and declared Reserved Material (under the ORC) or Product Identity (under the OGL), the Compatibility License is the most restrictive, and grants access to the least amount of Paizo’s IP. You can’t use this license to write an adventure set in Pathfinder’s Lost Omens campaign setting, nor can you use it to release a book of feats or spells used by faiths or organizations in the Pact Worlds of Starfinder. In both cases, you’re looking for the Pathfinder Infinite or Starfinder Infinite community content programs (see below). The Compatibility License is limited solely to the right to use our logos and other trademarks in very specific contexts.

There is no verification or acceptance required before publishing under this license. Your use of the logos and font granted in this license is your agreement to be bound by its terms.You can find the complete text of the Compatibility License here.

The Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite communities allow publishers to create and release RPG products and other published material (fiction, art, maps, etc.) using many of Paizo’s trademarks and nearly all of our otherwise unavailable IP (characters, locations, organizations, deities, events, etc.) so long as it is distributed solely at pathfinderinfinite.com or starfinderinfinite.com. This is the most permissive free license Paizo offers, as it opens the most IP for your use and allows you to sell your product in digital or print-on-demand formats. In addition to Paizo’s IP, you also gain permission to make derivative works based on other Infinite creations, allowing for the community to iterate on its own creations, and earn money in the process.

Because this license is limited to the Infinite platform and grants licensees a wide set of rights to use basically any Paizo-owned material, including game rules that may also be released under another license, Infinite publishers may not leverage any other license in the creation of their Infinite content.

As long as the copyrighted content being used is owned by Paizo or was released on Infinite by another licensed creator, it is available for Infinite publishers via the Infinite licenses. This also means that Infinite publishers can’t release their content under both the Infinite license and the ORC or OGL, as that would release some of their creation into an ecosystem that stretches beyond the Infinite marketplaces themselves. For more information on Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite see their shared FAQ here.

For non-RPG products, Paizo offers the Fan Content Policy, which replaces the Community Use Policy as of July 22, 2024. This policy does two primary things that the Community Use Policy did not:

• You can make and sell merchandise based on Paizo’s IP in limited circumstances,
• Distribute free content on a larger scale.

Except as subject to any explicit exceptions, this policy does not allow you to use Paizo’s IP in products that also contain game mechanics (ie. that are released under the ORC or OGL).

This policy for non-RPG content allows members of the community to use specific Paizo-owned art assets, refer to Paizo’s IP in derivative works (like actual play streams, online character journals, web comics, wikis, etc.), or produce original art and merchandise like character portraits, holy symbols, organization emblems, prints, apparel, plushes, and dice bags, so long as the content doesn’t include game rule elements requiring the inclusion of the ORC or OGL (with a few slight exceptions subject to Paizo’s sole discretion, such as certain types of physical GM screens and spell cards). Note that streams or podcasts of Pathfinder or Starfinder games are typically not published in a way that requires the inclusion of the OGL or ORC, thus they are eligible for inclusion in this policy (though releasing game rules originating from a stream, like character stat blocks or custom spells or monsters, would need to be stripped of Paizo IP and released solely under the ORC/OGL and/or Compatibility License, or be released exclusively on Pathfinder or Starfinder Infinite.)

You can find the Fan Content Policy here.

In some cases, using Paizo intellectual property to create products requires a commercial license. Products that fall under this umbrella include video games, films, TV shows, products that are mass produced or sold in greater quantities than the Fan Use Policy permits, and more.

Paizo reviews business proposals for commercial licenses on a case-by-case basis only from established, legitimate businesses that Paizo has determined can deliver the products they contract to create. Paizo also does not accept liability for concepts proposed to us. Any ideas, plans or concepts you send to us do not obligate us in any way to not do similar products.

Below are a few of the qualifications we look for in commercial licensed partners:

   • The proposing company is a legitimate business with experience in creating the products or services they are proposing.

   • The proposal fills a hole in our product strategy. If we’ve already partnered with a company that provides a similar product, we are generally not looking to double down. 

   • The proposal makes monetary sense for both the potential licensee and Paizo. 

   • The proposed product or service fits within our company ethics and standards.

A commercial license does not come without cost to either Paizo or potential partners. Depending on the opportunity, a new partner will be expected to pay an upfront fee at the signing of a license, and should expect to be required to generate a guaranteed minimum revenue throughout the lifetime of the relationship.

Commercial Streaming Partner Licenses

Occasionally, a company that creates streams, podcasts, or other types of serial entertainment seeks a more formal relationship with Paizo than what the Fan Content Policy provides. Paizo offers official commercial licenses to streamers, and those licenses have many of the same requirements as licenses for commercial partners, including –

   • The proposing company is a legitimate business with experience in creating the products or services they are proposing.

   • The proposal makes monetary sense for both the potential licensee and Paizo. 

   • The proposed product or service fits within our company ethics and standards.

A streaming partner, like a commercial partner, will be required to pay an upfront fee and guarantee a minimum amount of revenue per year. In return, a commercially licensed streaming partner can expect:

   • Access to Pathfinder and/or Starfinder materials.

   • Marketing help in the form of talking about your stream on our social media accounts and website when available.

   • Access to other Paizo licensees.

   • Other benefits as they become available.

Each commercial license is unique and tailored to the needs and circumstances of the individual licensee and their proposal. For more information on establishing a commercial license with Paizo, please email licensing@paizo.com.