BaldDwarf's page

"Advanced Class Guide Spell Index" has a broken link for the spell "Investigative Mind".

One point still doesn't make much sense to me...

If:

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is released under the Open Game License, meaning the core rules that drive the Pathfinder RPG system are available to anyone to use for free under the terms of the OGL. This compendium [the PRD] of rules, charts, and tables contains all of the open rules in the system, and is provided for the use of the community of gamers and publishers working with the system.[emphasis added]

But:

The PRD is mostly Open Game Content, but it's not 100%.

How could anyone know if a specific piece of the text is Open Game Content or not? Ignore the fact that my goal is to build a game for a bit. Think of me as a potential writer/translator of original content that may have to quote a piece of the PRD cosmology in order to describe a rule I'm expanding and bring some coins over to Paizo. About the specific "Planar Adventures" page, we know that :

- from the very beginning of it up to (but not including) "Abaddon" (that's 3/4 of the page), it's manly "Planes.rtf" from the Wizards' 3.5 SRD, with a few title name changes (Plane Descriptions -> The Great Beyond, The Material Plane > Material Plane, Elemental Plane of Earth -> Plane of Earth), reordering and editions.
- there is no distinction whatsoever about what comes from 3.5 SRD and what is new content on that page. Until yesterday I actually thought it was all written by Paizo, ignoring the fact 3/4 of it are Wizards 3.5 SRD;
- if the first 3/4 of the page is OGC from the 3.5 SRD but last one isn't (and, again, there is no clear distinction when one ends and the other begins), one reasonable deduction would be that it would be a derivative material, falling under the OGC...

Sure the Open Game License states generic exceptions like plots, storylines, and locations that could be considered for that sake. But only for the last 1/4 of the page? The first 3/4 also contains 3.5SRD definitions like the elemental planes and such.
And then one would think: "That's the whole point of building a SRD, sharing the specific parts of the content that should be considered Open under the OGL, thus avoiding unnecessary confusion and potential litigation against our fellow publishers - we want them to safely create!".

Q: What is "Open Game Content"?

A: Open Game Content is any material that is distributed using the Open Game License clearly identified by the publisher as Open Game Content. Furthermore, any material that is derived from Open Game Content automatically becomes Open Game Content as well.

Q: What does "clearly identified" mean?
A: It means that the publisher has a burden to use some system to identify Open Game Content to any recipient of that content. Systems which have been used by some publishers include placing Open Game Content in shaded boxes, using a different font, italicizing or bolding the Open Game Content, and segregating all the Open Game Content into specifically designated chapters or appendixes. Some publishers have released documents that are identified as being comprised completely of Open Game Content [, thus giving birth to the SRD and the PRD, right?].

"Clearly identified" means that the system should pass the "reasonable person" test; meaning that a reasonable person should be able to determine what portions of a given work are Open Game Content, and which portions are not. If you can't figure out what parts of a given work are Open Game Content, provided you exert a reasonable effort to read and apply the instructions for identification provided by the publisher, then the material isn't Clearly Identified.

This also applies to software. A reasonable person should be able to look at a piece of software and find and understand the Open Content. We'll make a slight allowance that they may have to take a little more time to understand some things, but they should be able to see and understand all Open Content. See the Software FAQ for more details.[emphasis added]

That being said, a "reasonable person" would probably consider that the whole general structure of the PFRPG cosmology would be OGC. Details like "the River Styx has its source in the Abaddon and borders the Abyss" wouldn't fit in, and probably would be a good idea to avoid the term The Great Beyond, maybe change the basic matroishka doll / onion layout of the Inner Sphere (also, don't call it Inner Sphere/Outer Sphere) - but pretty much everything else in there would (and this is the answer I'm currently considering to my own question Nº 1).

Question 1: The PRD is mostly Open Game Content, but it's not 100%. You can find its statement of Open Game Content and Product Identity here.

Question 2: To use Open Game Content in your own projects, you need to use the OGL, which you can find in any OGL product (or at the link above). The OGL itself tells you how to use it. Please note that the OGL is Wizards of the Coast's license, not Paizo's, and so I can't provide any advice about its suitability for your use. You may wish to consider speaking with an intellectual properties legal specialist.

Thanks for dropping by Vic. I appreciate how you guys take the time to answer people's questions on the forums - even questions like this one.

I realize now that the way I've formulated my post/questions might've led you into that kind of cautious response (that you can't provide legal advice). For that, I'm sorry, as it was not my intention.

Actually, I should've split the question in two: one question about the specific content and other about my intent to use a big part of the PRD as in-game help for the rules. Which reminds me: I must've skipped some classes about Greek mythology, 'cause I've just now realized that river Styx is a Greek God - and a river (a river god!).

Also, I'm taking a good look at this interview with Todd Stewart and thinking about what parts of the PFRPG (and D&D) cosmology could actually be considered Public Domain(ish). Of course, that wouldn't apply to the description you guys created on top of that - but at least it gives me some direction about what comes from where and what is surely an original work / IP.

Honestly, I think that legal advice, in this case, would only be required before I took any step towards 'making a profit' - which could take a long time or never happen at all. Even a first game release will still take a long time, for I'm aiming high when it comes to features (all of the classes, races, and monsters provided by core books, advanced class, advanced races, 5 bestiaries, etc.).

Before I release the game I will actually send a pretty letter (e-mail) to Paizo with a copy of the game attached, declaring my intentions ("to make a tribute to your product, the open content model and the good ol' non-dumbified RPGs") and stating that "should Paizo Inc. consider that any part of my software exceeds the fair-use of the PRD or the use predicted by the OGL, I'm more than willing to change it". After all, the game would still exist without the PRD. It just would be harder to understand what's going on with all of those dice rolls. And I'm gonna cross my fingers hoping that someone will actually read that e-mail.

Here's what I'm thinking: the D20PFSRD uses not only PRD texts but also, as I've said in a comment above, Pathfinder campaign settings content. They've existed for almost a decade - although, at first, they used to rely on the community license, in a non-profit way. And as far as I know, Paizo hasn't sued them so far.

The difference between their use of the content and mine would be the medium - and "there's nothing in the OGL that prohibits using it for computer games"¹. Actually, there's another big difference: they profit from showing PRD text itself (with ads) - I would only be using PRD text as a complement to clarify the rules (surely usable under OGL, or in any way as rules can't be copyrighted) of the game when the player asks for help.

I do know that the "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License applies only to printed books"², and, for that reason, I'm not aiming at it. If that was an option I would gladly stay "forever free" just to simplify things.

When/if the time comes that my game receives enough attention from the public as to tempt me into profiting from it, then I would either hire a counselor or maybe contact Paizo formally, or both. Even if Paizo would only consider "established software publishers with excellent reputations and solid business plans for their prospective apps"², I'm confident that, by then, someone would take the time to take a look at / play the game (or would've been already playing it :) and say:
- "Ok, so this guy here isn't using our trademarks, no adult content, he's also showing the OGL and including Section 15 Copyright Notices with every significant piece of PRD text. He's not claiming our materials as his own. And the PRD text is not the main goal of the software, it's an addendum. Hell, it's actually a nice game, I've been playing it in my spare time for a few weeks. It has a lot of replayability, it's cross-platform and runs even on a toaster!. Also, I doubt he will ever make enough money as to make us regret from allowing it to exist instead of burning it to the ground. I wonder how many hours he must've spent on it... We should actually sponsor things like this, make a good PR with the indie dev scene. So 'let it be'!".

Until then, your answer has already helped me, and I will be more careful when dealing with things like the ones mentioned in my original questions and other possible IP.

¹ http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2l070?Is-a-Pathfinder-RPG-computer-game-even-po ssible#37
² http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2npp4?Licensing-for-iOS-app-development#4

Don't use the PRD. It isn't updated anymore and can display information that has since been errata'd. d20PFSRD adheres to OGL content rules, so I recommend at least checking things there.

I used to go directly to d20PFSRD instead of the PRD, but lately things got a little weird over there as they've started inserting campaign setting materials and third party contents into the former OGL entries (or maybe I'm just paying closer attention now that I'm doing my proper research).

If you check the "Orc" entry, for example, now there's a "Orc, Common" as described in the "Classic Monsters Revisited", which is a Pathfinder Chronicles Supplement, which steps into a "grayer legal area" in terms of the OGL. And the other Orcs are mostly (all?) from 3rd party sources. They way they are displayed leads you (me, at least) into thinking they are core, and only if you scroll all the way down to the section 15 of each page you'll notice they're not.

If you check the "Dungeon" entry, at the very beginning they warn us that they've merged in some content from 3rd party sources into that page - which is a no-go for me, considering my goals of building a game based on core/PFRPG OGL.

Some time ago, if I'm not wrong, 3rd party sources were in a completely separate section to avoid the mess. But maybe putting them together brings more clicks and purchases- which is okay, the guy deserves the $, great reference for a tabletop gamer, but makes d20PFSRD not a reliable source for OGL material anymore.

About the erratas, all of the ones I've checked (Advanced players guide, races guide, core rulebooks, gamemastering, etc.) were applied to the PRD - but maybe I've missed something.

I thank you for the advice anyway. It is a great source, but I'm thinking about it as a secondary source due to the above reasons.

Here is the screenshot from a conceptual character creation screen.
The final release hopefully will contain something prettier, but it shows how I'm planning to use the PRD content.

I'm developing a game using PFRPG's PRD, and have done some research about what I could and couldn't use from the PRD content (rpg forums, including this one and a few answers by Paizo staff themselves).
The general conclusion, so far, is that content on the PRD site can be used under the OGL.
One specific part of it, with content from the GameMastery Guide, the Planar Adventures, is giving me a little headache...
The Abaddon definition, as an example, contains what I think would be considered IP, talking about the source of the River Styx, etc.
It's not new content, however, so I'm guessing the staff had enough time to think about this piece.
My questions, for clarification, is:

1. Considering that the PRD has a whole page about PFRPG planes, including their names and, well, "geography", everything in that page can be used as long as I follow the OGL (eg Abaddon as a Neutral Evil plane, The Abyss as a Chaotic Evil plane, maybe River Styx, etc.)?

Planar adventures shouldn't come soon for my game, but it would be good to know, when/if eventually I reach something beyond the Material Plane, if I could make a River Styx flowing through the planes and even bring some textual descriptions from the PRD about that on my gamepedia...
I would still have to build my own pantheon, etc., but having a basic setup for the planes would save me some time.
About the gamepedia concept, a second question comes up. The basics of the gamepedia would the PRD itself, with the proper "Section 15: Copyright Notice" at the end of each entry. It would eventually contain modifications relative to the game own's small campaign setting, but at first it would be pretty chunks of PRD text. The question:

2. Displaying parts of the PRD *textual descriptions* (race, class, planes, rules, etc.) should be allowed as long as I put Section 15 together with it. Is that correct?

Thanks in advance. For indie game developers brave enough to implement 3.5/PFRPG rules, the PRD is a huge asset.
In the end, I hope, even without using "Pathfinder", "Golarion" names, etc, by using the PRD under OGL, my project and those of other people should end up bringing at least a few more views, clicks and purchases for you guys, thus supporting the whole open model.

The basic game concept would be:
- a 2d roguelike with RPG elements (or maybe an RPG with tons of procedural content, in a roguelike manner);
- party based, I'm thinking about 4 members;
- based on open content both for multimedia assets and the rules (OpenGameArt et al + PFRPG PRD);
- lots of text. really. Half the PRD should be there in the end.
- the game should be free to play at first (but close-sourced), supporting some type of capitalization in the future (maybe it stays free forever, but I like to think someday it could also give me some pennies back).

* I will put a screen shot of the character creation draft soonish, as it shows something like the gamepedia/display of PRD texts I've talked about.

Ultimate Equipment, pg. 372, Table 7-19, Uncommon potion or oil:

- 01-12 Burrow (...)
- 11-22 Countless eyes (...)

Those d% ranges are overlapping. Maybe 01-11, 12-22?