If one were compiling some query letter ideas for submission, would it be allowed to use sites or locations given in the "Complete" or "Races" books?
Specifically, if I had an idea for which "Three Falls" is perfect (as detailed in the 'Races of Destiny,' pg 28), would that be an okay, or a not-okay? I mean, on the one hand, you know there are maps, but on the other, is this in some way copywrited, and not a part of the Open Source notion?
If one were compiling some query letter ideas for submission, would it be allowed to use sites or locations given in the "Complete" or "Races" books?
Specifically, if I had an idea for which "Three Falls" is perfect (as detailed in the 'Races of Destiny,' pg 28), would that be an okay, or a not-okay? I mean, on the one hand, you know there are maps, but on the other, is this in some way copywrited, and not a part of the Open Source notion?
Bram -
Typically anything from any of the WotC books is fair game for inclusion in a Dungeon query. That's one of the reasons to write for them rather than a d20 supplement - you get to bypass the restriction of using the SRD - which means you can use beholders, warlocks and ninjas (I'm sure Mike would love that!). Dragon and Dungeon magazine are owned by WotC, which licenses Paizo to produce them, so the magazines are given wide latitude in the material from WotC that can be used and referenced in them.
I'm sure the editors will follow with an official response later, but I would note that they generally give preference to generic adventures over ones that have a specific game world setting. That being said, they might decide that Races of Destiny needs some support in the pages of the magazine and your adventure idea is too cool for words - submitting a query doesn't hurt anything. The worst they can do is say no.
- Ashavan