Hi,
I am not sure if this is in the right place or not, but it looked like the best candidate.
I am an independent writer/publisher and I am a little confused over the wording of the License for the PRD. It states that only Game Mechanics are considered Open Content. Is there anything within the PRD that is NOT considered to be Game Mechanics?
To elaborate, in the PRD, under the entry for Aasimar, there is a line under the name us what an Aasimar looks like:
This supernaturally beautiful woman looks human, yet emanates a strange sense of calm and benevolence.
There also a paragraph under the treasure entry giving us a brief description of what an Aasimar is:
Aasimars are humans with a significant amount of celestial or other good outsider blood in their ancestry. Aasimars are not always good, but it is a natural tendency for them, and they gravitate to good faiths or organizations associated with celestials. Aasimar heritage can hide for generations, only to appear suddenly in the child of two apparently human parents. Most societies interpret aasimar births as good omens. Aasimars look mostly human except for some minor physical trait that reveals their unusual heritage. Typical aasimar features are hair that shines like metal, unusual eye or skin color, or even glowing golden halos.
Are these open content, or is the open content material for Aasimar limited to (1) the stats block and (2) the descriptors of the powers at the bottom of the entry?
I ask as I am preparing some material for publication, but I want to know what I can and cannot use in my products. The last thing I wish to do is break the rules and find myself having to withdraw and revise the publication.
Thanks in advance.
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As far as I know, everything in the PRD is "game mechanics."
EDIT: More to the point, the OGL makes no distinction between "crunch" and "fluff," only between original content and derived content, and text versus trademarks.
As far as I know, everything in the PRD is "game mechanics."
EDIT: More to the point, the OGL makes no distinction between "crunch" and "fluff," only between original content and derived content, and text versus trademarks.
(First) thanks for the reply.
To be honest, that was my understanding and gut feeling. It was only when I was checking the legal section of a source book that I noticed the PRD makes a specific reference to game mechanics:
Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Paizo Publishing game product are Open Game Content...
I checked the online PRD and it has the same reference. I was just confused as to why it was added. I can only assume that when the PRD was drafted someone felt it was necessary to add that line as additional confirmation. But it lead me down the route of wondering how you define sections of text which are technically "fluff" as opposed to actual mechanics (mathematical principles/game effects etc, and rulings on where and when they apply).
I will continue with the assumption that all text in the PRD is considered game mechanics for the time being. But if anyone (including the nice people at Paizo) knows otherwise, please let me know. Post a comment below, or PM me.
Thanks in advance.
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I would suggest consulting a lawyer specializing in copyright laws prior to publication, and/or directly emailing Paizo staff.
Personally, I would assume that flavor text falls under "original content".
Also, in addition to complying with WotC's OGL, there's also the Pathfinder Compatibility Licence (I think that's what it's called) that I believe you would have to comply with in order to name your product as Pathfinder-compatible.
I would suggest consulting a lawyer specializing in copyright laws prior to publication, and/or directly emailing Paizo staff.
Personally, I would assume that flavor text falls under "original content".
Also, in addition to complying with WotC's OGL, there's also the Pathfinder Compatibility Licence (I think that's what it's called) that I believe you would have to comply with in order to name your product as Pathfinder-compatible.
Cheers, I have emailed Paizo direct for advice.
I will be signing up to the Pathfinder Compatibility License when the material is closer to publication :)
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In a pinch, you can also consult sites that rely on the PRD, such as http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ and see how much information they include.
But as a general rule it's a good idea to be inspired by the Paizo fluff but not to copy it outright or write something overly derivative. Make it your own and rewrite it in your own voice.
Paizo tends to be very generous with what they consider open contant and what product identity.
However it's often not quite easy to exactly identify what falls into what category, so I tend to go with the safe way and assume that everything in the PRD is fair game and everything that is not in there could be potentially restricted.
With the PRD the situation is very clear though. Everything there is open content. With http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ I feel it's reasonably safe to assume the same thing.
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Got a reply from Paizo. The sections of text I was looking at are Open Content. They advised that all the Product Identity (places, people, deities etc), should have been removed from the PRD.