I was curious about non OGL d20 material. exactly what can't be used? where's the line drawn? i'm not saying for instance taking the warlock upgrading it and marketing it but, what about say spells. what can and can't you use? The name of the spell seems a no brainer. But, would it be as easy as taking a spell and renaming it? if not what else would you have to change? could you rename the spell, change the description, but use the same mechanic? my OGL fu is weak and any insight would be appreciated.
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I assume you mean "what can be published and distributed", in your home game everything goes.
Game mechanics do not fall under copyright laws, but their presentation does.
So if you rename a Spell Compendium spell and reword it, but keep the way it works intact, you're fine.
For example, there's one Barbarian rage power in APG (Come and Get Me) that works almost exactly like the PHB2 feat Robilar's Gambit.
ofc i meant published and distributed. I wouldn't be worried about the coast police breaking in my door to check my house rules lol.
also on a related matter what license would i need to get to use pathfinder material and how would i go about requesting permission? say i designed a class for a future PDF but some of the core abilities worked perfectly and i wanted to use them such as.
Strength Surge (Ex): The barbarian adds her barbarian level on one Strength check or combat maneuver check, or to her Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent attempts a maneuver against her. This power is used as an immediate action. This power can only be used once per rage.
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ofc i meant published and distributed. I wouldn't be worried about the coast police breaking in my door to check my house rules lol.
also on a related matter what license would i need to get to use pathfinder material and how would i go about requesting permission? say i designed a class for a future PDF but some of the core abilities worked perfectly and i wanted to use them such as.
Strength Surge (Ex): The barbarian adds her barbarian level on one Strength check or combat maneuver check, or to her Combat Maneuver Defense when an opponent attempts a maneuver against her. This power is used as an immediate action. This power can only be used once per rage.
All the rules published by Paizo are open content, so all you need is to follow the general OGL rules (a topic in itself) and you're fine.
IF you want to stick a nice "Pathfinder Compatible" logo on it, you need to follow the Pathfinder Compatibility License.
I assume you mean "what can be published and distributed", in your home game everything goes.
Game mechanics do not fall under copyright laws, but their presentation does.
So if you rename a Spell Compendium spell and reword it, but keep the way it works intact, you're fine.
For example, there's one Barbarian rage power in APG (Come and Get Me) that works almost exactly like the PHB2 feat Robilar's Gambit.
I hate my brain and the Internet for turning that into 'Come At Me Bro'.
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Gorbacz has it right. You can use the OGL rules. This does NOT include any of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting material or anything about Golarion.
Here is the compatibility license
I was curious about non OGL d20 material. exactly what can't be used? where's the line drawn? i'm not saying for instance taking the warlock upgrading it and marketing it but, what about say spells. what can and can't you use? The name of the spell seems a no brainer. But, would it be as easy as taking a spell and renaming it? if not what else would you have to change? could you rename the spell, change the description, but use the same mechanic? my OGL fu is weak and any insight would be appreciated.
Copyright law is not completely straightforward, I'm afraid.
For instance, your comment about spell names. In the 3.5 book Complete Arcane, there's a spell called Energy Immunity. Likewise, in Paizo's Ultimate Magic, there's a Words of Power effect called Energy Immunity. Is this violating WotC's copyright? I suspect not, but I'm not a lawyer.
Similarly, in the Pathfinder Beta rules, there was a spell called Align Fang. I noted that there was an identical spell in 3.5, and it was removed in the final version of the rules. Could they have gotten away with it? I don't know.
That's why no one who's actually publishing, or the hundreds of others who've asked the exact same question, hasn't done it already.
No one has done it already (i.e. re-using a mechanic from a non-Open source)? I disagree. For instance, the Warlock class from the Tome of Secrets is clearly inspired by the 3.5 Warlock class in many ways. Likewise, the Energy Immunity word is clearly similar to the Energy Immunity spell (although I have no doubt that it was developed independently).
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I think using what Paizo has gotten away with is your best guideline. The dragon shaman is a 3.5 base class and a WotC IP. It is also a Pathfinder druid archetype. The name is the same, but its form (class vs archetype) is different (although similar) and what it does is different.
Revivify is a 3.5 spell from the Spell Compendium that brings a character back to life the turn it dies. Breath of life is a Pathfinder spell from the Core Rulebook that brings a character back to life the turn it dies. The names are different, the details are different, the writing is definitely different, but the idea is the same.
These are rules of thumb. I'm not a lawyer and this is not educated advice. But it's safe to say that Paizo is on the WotC legal department's radar far more than a Pathfinder third party publisher, and so if Paizo gets away with it, you're probably safe.
The other thing to remember is that, under U.S. copyright law, the rules for playing a game are not protected by copyright. But the particular way of expressing those rules might be.