OGL Question


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Not sure if this is the right place for this sort of question, but here goes:

I'm writing a new d20 fantasy roleplaying system. It was originally intended to be somewhat Pathfinder-compatible, but it's evolved to be so much of its own thing that it couldn't possibly be considered such.

Even so, there are a few basic similarities, and I want to make sure I don't run afoul of the OGL.

1) My game's core mechanic for success/failure is rolling a d20 and adding modifiers, trying to meet or beat a target number. Do I need to worry about OGL stuff for that concept?

1a) Does it make a difference whether I say "roll" or "check"?
1b) Does it make a difference whether I say "difficulty" or "DC"?

2) My game uses six stats: three physical, three mental, like Pathfinder. How does that relate to the OGL?

2a) Does it make a difference whether I say "attribute" or "ability score"?
2b) Does it make a difference whether I say "Dexterity" or "Agility" (and so forth with the other stats, though I'm not sure of an alternate word for "Strength")?

3) Characters grow in power by gaining "levels". Is that OGL, or is it generic enough to not matter?

4) Certain noncombat activities involve what I'm currently calling "skills", which are similar in concept to Pathfinder's skills (and still use the "d20+mods vs target number" mechanic), but it's a different list of skills and their implementation is different. OGL?

4a) Does it make a difference if I come up with a term other than "skill"?
4b) Does it make a difference if some of the skills do or do not have the same name as a Pathfinder skill? (Frex, I'm not sure of an alternate word for "Acrobatics".)

Aaaaand that's about where the similarities to Pathfinder end. I want to do this proper, so any guidance is appreciated. Thanks!

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Eh?


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Maybe nobody fully understands where you are coming from here, Jiggy. There is the OGL and the PCL (Pathfinder Compatibility License). Which is it you are trying to avoid?

From my non-professional eye, it looks like it should hold the OGL boilerplate and not the PCL. Perhaps others with more experience can chime in to correct or uphold my take on it.

President, Jon Brazer Enterprises

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I have not seen your specific document so this is not legal advice.

Short of the long, the OGL is there to protect you. Including it and using proper referencing means you cannot be sued. Not including it and using material owned by another company (even if it is by shear accident), you can be sued. So stick with the OGL. Its safer and easier.

If I am reading what you wrote correctly, it sounds like you do not want to use the OGL with your game and are trying to figure out how to rename stuff so you do not get into legal trouble. If that is the case, this is the best advice you will get: throw everything you have written to date away, and start over from word 1, pretending that every other book out there does not exist; put everything in your own words.

Remember, mechanics cannot be owned by anyone. Its the way that those mechanics can be described that can be owned. So if throw everything away and start all over, the odds that your words will match something that someone else previously is nearly 0. However, if you look at someone else's work, even for a minute, you may inadvertently copy what they say close enough that you can get sued over it.

The alternative is to include a properly-cited OGL, which takes about 5 minutes and one extra page once you understand how it works.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

...Maybe I don't understand how it works, then? I just want to do right by everyone without stepping on any legal toes.

My game has the above-cited similarites with Pathfinder/D&D. How do I make that be okay?

President, Jon Brazer Enterprises

Jiggy wrote:
My game has the above-cited similarites with Pathfinder/D&D. How do I make that be okay?

If the above are the ONLY similarities to D&D/PFRPG, then I'd say look them up in the dictionary. If the term can be found there and it means what you want it to mean, then you should be safe. But if you can't find it in the dictionary or the term means something else, then change it to something else.


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Generally speaking, you should talk to a Lawyer about legal matters, and not the internet.

So, I'll recommend that course of action.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Cheapy wrote:

Generally speaking, you should talk to a Lawyer about legal matters, and not the internet.

So, I'll recommend that course of action.

Well, yeah, but once I do, it'd be nice to have to rewrite as little as possible, so getting some ideas in advance seems like a good idea. :)

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Dale McCoy Jr wrote:
Jiggy wrote:
My game has the above-cited similarites with Pathfinder/D&D. How do I make that be okay?
If the above are the ONLY similarities to D&D/PFRPG, then I'd say look them up in the dictionary. If the term can be found there and it means what you want it to mean, then you should be safe. But if you can't find it in the dictionary or the term means something else, then change it to something else.

*thinks a bit*

I guess I was also planning on using the term "hit points"/"HP", but surely that's universal enough to not worry about, right?

President, Jon Brazer Enterprises

Jiggy wrote:
I guess I was also planning on using the term "hit points"/"HP", but surely that's universal enough to not worry about, right?

It all depends on how much risk you want to take on needlessly. Is a simple find/replace worth reducing the risk of not getting sued.

If you'd rather cover your butt, then I'd change it.

What's more important than a term here and a term there is did you copy sections of text? Did you copy the text that explains how rolling a d20 and adding a modifier gets you a skill check or a to hit number? Did you copy the descriptions of skills? When you explained what a level is or how you advance from one level to the next, did you copy that? Or what a race looks like? These are the questions you need to be asking yourself. The ones you're asking yourself are important, but they are secondary to the question: did you copy text?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Zero text copied. I am literally writing the whole thing myself, from scratch.

President, Jon Brazer Enterprises

Good. Than you are more ahead of the game than most that go this route.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

I think I'll go ahead and change up some of the terms, just to be safe.

Your mention of elves makes me think, though: are there legal considerations for using some of the "standard" races? That is, pretty much everybody imagines elves and dwarves as being vaguely Tolkien-esque: the former being agile, smart, elegant, refined, bow-wielding, and tree-affiliated; the latter being gruff, bearded, strong, coarse, tough, axe-wielding, and mountain/cave-affiliated. Heck, there's even a TV Tropes page about the two.

So if I include elves and dwarves in my game, and I write descriptions that are my own original words but still adhere to those general standard tropes... how do I do that "right"?

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