Legality Question: Monsters not on the SRD?

[Thealtruistorc]

Hello. I am working on some written adventures which I hope to eventually have published, and a question about legal matters is lingering in the back of my mind. That question is about monsters not listed on the SRD site.

Now then, I am fairly certain that any races, classes, monsters, templates and other things listed on the PFSRD site are essentially free for use by other publishers in their own games. However, a question arises over the legality of certain creatures that Paizo put out that do not have an entry on the site. The example I will use for this is the Animated Tank Construct from Reign of Winter Part 5: Rasputin Must Die.

The creature has no entry on the PFSRD website but was released and used in the adventure. If I am creating a campaign or dungeon where a villain or ally would incorporate such an entity into their forces, would I be allowed to use the stats for the animated tank? I'm curious and seriously worried about this issue as my adventure is one where this is the case, and I don't want to be hacked apart by Paizo or any other third parties for using their content when legally I couldn't.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Jeraa]

If it isn't in the PRD (Pathfinder's version of the SRD), then you have to look at the individual module/book itself. Somewhere there should be a bit of legal text saying what is and isn't Open Content. As long as that says it is Open, you can use it.

The SRD/PRD is just a collection of Open Content in a convenient single place. It may or may not be the entirety of the systems Open Content.

THe Archive of Nethys (http://www.archivesofnethys.com) is generally a good source of all Pathfinder Open Content. The tank is listed there (http://www.archivesofnethys.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Animated%20Tank), so it should be Open Content. Still best to check the module itself to make sure.

[Evolved Shrimp]

Well, this isn’t really a roleplaying question. You’re asking about a standard copyright issue, which is not different for RPGs than for normal fiction books. So you probably should not rely on anything you’re told here, this being a roleplaying forum and not one for law.

Having said that: If the monster in question is covered by the OGL, you can use it as stipulated in the license (among others, you must credit the original source of any OGL material you use). The monster is covered by the OGL if you can find it in any published work (online or hardcopy) that says it is OGL material; it is not if you cannot find such works.

If the monster is not OGL, you have a few options.

First, you can ask Paizo to allow you using it. That may or may not work, but is easy to find out and probably cannot hurt.

If they won’t allow you to use it, you can create a monster of your own that has a different name and can fulfill the same role. Again, that shouldn’t be too hard.

Thirdly, you can use the monster as is for now. If and when you find a publisher, they should have some kind of legal vetting process as well as techniques for resolving issues that come up, and you can follow their suggestions. In other words, you can put the question off till later, if you’re prepared to revise the adventure at that point.

[137beth]

You should probably check with Liz Courts on the Paizo forum, since she handles the Pathfinder Compatibility License (which you don't have to use if you are just using their open gaming content, but you do have to use if you want to use "Pathfinder" in the name). She would understand the rules better than we forumites (although, of course, she is biased towards what is best for Paizo).

[Bohandas]

If worse comes to worse hypothetically you could talk about it in a roundabout way that avoids the actual copyrighted aspects. Instead of referring to it by name it's the creature on such-and-such page of such-and-such sourcebook, and any description of the character only deals wih how it differs from the norm of it's species, without explaining what that norm is.

[johnbragg]

Just so you know, the mods do not take kindly to asking/receiving legal advice on the forums.