Paizo Community Use Policy Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: September 09, 2019.
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General Questions
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Can you quickly summarize what we're allowed to use?
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I may "descriptively reference" trademarks, proper names, locations and characters from products listed in Section 1 of the Community Use Approved Product List. What do you mean by "descriptively reference"?
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Does this mean I can write my own adventures for the Pathfinder RPG, set them in Golarion, put characters like Seoni and Valeros in them, put a Pathfinder logo on the cover, and distribute them via my website?
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Does this mean I can write fan-fiction using characters and settings from the products listed in Section 1 of the Community Use Approved Product List?
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Does this mean I can make a wiki about the Pathfinder Campaign Setting?
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Does this mean I can make miniatures-scaled battle maps of locations in your adventures?
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You say that I "may not alter the color, typography, design, or proportions of the logos or icons, or otherwise modify them." Can I resize them?
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You ask us not to hotlink to images on your website. What is hotlinking and how do I avoid it?
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If I have a question about particular situations or the Community Use Policy in general, what should I do?
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Commercial Use
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The Community Use Policy and the OGL
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The Community Use Policy and the Pathfinder/Starfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Licenses
General Questions
Can you quickly summarize what we're allowed to use?
The Paizo Material you can use under this policy includes:
I may "descriptively reference" trademarks, proper names, locations and characters from products listed in Section 1 of the Community Use Approved Product List. What do you mean by "descriptively reference"?
In general, this means you may create and publish original works using those things in a variety of ways. You can write original fiction or adventures using them, you can create original artwork illustrating them, you can write up entries in a wiki about them, and more. (You may not, however, simply republish significant sections of descriptive text from our products—you need to craft new text.)
Does this mean I can write my own adventures for the Pathfinder RPG, set them in Golarion, put characters like Seoni and Valeros in them, put a Pathfinder logo on the cover, and distribute them via my website?
Yes, so long as you don't charge anything for them, and you follow all the other rules.
Does this mean I can write fan-fiction using characters and settings from the products listed in Section 1 of the Community Use Approved Product List?
Yes, so long as you don't charge anything for it, and you follow all the other rules.
Does this mean I can make a wiki about the Pathfinder Campaign Setting?
Yes, so long as you don't charge anything for accessing it, and you follow all the other rules.
Does this mean I can make miniatures-scaled battle maps of locations in your adventures?
Yes, so long as you're creating new cartography, not using our existing maps, and you don't charge anything for accessing it, and you follow all the other rules.
You say that I "may not alter the color, typography, design, or proportions of the logos or icons, or otherwise modify them." Can I resize them?
Yes, you can resize them, so long as you resize them proportionally—that is, you don't squish them by scaling them more in one direction than in another. This also applies to product covers and other images.
You ask us not to hotlink to images on your website. What is hotlinking and how do I avoid it?
Hotlinking is using image URLs that point to our webserver instead of your own. Please host images on your own server.
If I have a question about particular situations or the Community Use Policy in general, what should I do?
Use our Paizo Community Use forum. (Before you post your question, check there to see if it has already been answered!)
Commercial Use
My website has banner ads. Does that count as "commercial use," which would mean I can't use the Paizo Material?
We don't mind you having banner ads on your site. You're just not allowed to sell or otherwise charge for access to anything that uses the Paizo Material.
I want to use the Paizo Materials on my website, which requires a fee to access ANY of the content there, so I wouldn't be charging *just* for the Paizo stuff. Can I do that?
No. Anything you create with the Paizo Materials must be freely accessible by the general public, with no charges of any kind.
The Community Use Policy and the OGL
Can I use Open Game Content from your products?
Open Game Content from our products is covered by the Open Game License (OGL), published by Wizards of the Coast. Use of this content must follow the OGL guidelines, and falls outside the scope of the Community Use Policy.
I want to use the OGL in addition to the Community Use Policy. Section 7 of the OGL says "You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark." Does the Community Use Policy count as "another, independent agreement" for this purpose?
Yes—the Community Use Policy allows you to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with trademarks from products listed in Section 1 of our Community Use Approved Product List.
The Community Use Policy and the Pathfinder/Starfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Licenses
Do the Community Use Policy and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License (or the Starfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License) do the same thing? Which should I use?
They each do very different things. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License (and the Starfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License) allow commercial and non-commercial users to use a special logo that indicates compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (or the Starfinder Roleplaying Game)—and that's the only thing they allow. The Community Use Policy allows non-commercial users to use a bunch of different Paizo-owned materials, as outlined above. If you're a commercial publisher, you may only use the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License (or the Starfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License). If you're a non-commercial user, you may use either or both, depending on what you're doing.
I'm writing my own adventure that's compatible with the Pathfinder (or Starfinder) RPG. Should I use the Pathfinder (or Starfinder) Roleplaying Game logo from the Community Use Package, or the Pathfinder (or Starfinder) Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo using the Compatibility License?
If you're a professional publisher, you may only use the Pathfinder (or Starfinder) Roleplaying Game Compatibility License and Logo. If you're a non-commercial user, the choice is yours!
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