So, I'm really excited for PF2's release this August. My table has agreed on trying the new system (they're all 5E veterans but no Pathfinder experience), and I plan on giving them Hell's Rebels - PF2 Edition. In order to accomplish this, I've come up with what I need:
-Hell's Rebels PF2 Player Guide (Kintargan Backgrounds and Archetypes)
-Hell's Rebels PF2 Rebellion Sheet (very, very simplified from the PF1 mechanics, I didn't like those).
-General DC Conversion Table
-Hell's Rebels PF2 Bestiary (homebrewing all monsters not included in the August release)
And that's all well and good. However, how legal is it for me to share all four products? No revenue nor ads, but am I infringing on paizo's intellectual property if I share these?
TL;DR: Is it legal to freely share homebrewed versions of PF1 APs? (Players Guide, Alternate Rules and Bestiary)
Chief Technical Officer
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(This answer is long and complicated. Sorry... I'll sum it up at the end.)
When it comes to the Pathfinder or Starfinder RPGs, our intellectual property generally falls into two categories: Open Game Content (generally game mechanics) and Product Identity (generally setting material, trademarks, artwork, and other non-mechanical stuff).
Anything we've declared as Open Game Content in our products is available for use under the Open Game License; anything we've declared as Product Identity is not available under the OGL. In most of our products, you'll find the statements of OGC and PI on the title or credits page at the front of the book. Note that these statements occasionally vary from product to product, so you'll need to check the individual statements in each product you wish to draw from.
If you are a noncommercial user, you may be able to use some of our PI by way of our Community Use Policy, which you can find at https://paizo.com/paizo/about/communityuse. If you are a commercial user, our PI is not available for your use without a specific license.
To use Open Game Content in your own projects, you need to use the OGL, which you can find in any OGL product. 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.
Note that the OGL specifically restricts you from using "any ... trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product Identity by the owner of the Product Identity", or from "indicat[ing] compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark." So to indicate that your OGL project is compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, you'll need to follow our free Pathfinder RPG Compatibility License, which you can find at https://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility; the equivalent license for the Starfinder RPG is at https://paizo.com/starfinder/compatibility. Note that these Compatibility Licenses are applicable only to books, electronic books, and freely available websites. You can still use Open Game Content in a OGL product that's not a book, ebook, or free website, but you can't say it's compatible with the Pathfinder RPG or the Starfinder RPG or use trademarks like Pathfinder, Starfinder, or Paizo in any way; you may, however, use the non-trademarked terms “PFRPG” or “SFRPG.”
Now, that summary I mentioned:
• If all of the game mechanics in your document that you didn't devise yourself are things that we (or somebody else) published under the OGL, you can distribute those mechanics yourself by following the OGL.
• If all of Paizo's Product Identity in your document is covered by our Community Use Policy, you can distribute that Product Identity by following the CUP. (The most likely thing that wouldn't be covered is artwork of those monsters, but you'll need to read the policy to be sure.)
Wow! No apologies needed! You described everything I needed to hear - thank you for your prompt and kind answer.
I'll keep it mind once all of the content is done! Thanks again!