OGL Question

[AslanCross]

This specifically refers to the OGL used in D&D 3.0 and 3.5 What exactly is legal and illegal to post online or otherwise publish?

I know it's definitely legal to post the complete statblocks of monsters from the Monster Manual that aren't covered by product identity (so it's legal to post stats of the Pit Fiend, but not the Mind Flayer).

I also know it's illegal to post a verbatim copy of the text of a non-OGL book: say, a Prestige Class description from Complete Champion.

What I'm not sure on is if I can post the statblock of a non-OGL character (say, Wyrmlord Kharn from the Red Hand of Doom adventure) if I completely redid his stats using non-OGL books (Tome of Battle, for example).

I know the board policy is generally "when in doubt, don't" but I want to see if there really is ambiguity in this example.

[RTGoodman]

This specifically refers to the OGL used in D&D 3.0 and 3.5 What exactly is legal and illegal to post online or otherwise publish?

As far as I know, what you find in the d20 System Reference Document is what is permissible to be used/posted online in its entirety. Other stuff you can reference, but not necessarily reprint the whole thing. I'm not sure where the exact line is, though.

What I'm not sure on is if I can post the statblock of a non-OGL character (say, Wyrmlord Kharn from the Red Hand of Doom adventure) if I completely redid his stats using non-OGL books (Tome of Battle, for example).

For this specific example, I think you'd be in the clear. The only thing I'd suggest would be not to post particulars about non-OGL feats and maneuvers.

I could be wrong, though, so I'd see what other folks think first.

[Zincorium]

Character sheets are almost universally okay so long as the mechanics used to create them are not spelled out- you can't tell people 'this manuever/spell does such and such', but you can say you've taken it.

Essentially, what WotC will draw the line at are things which allow someone to use a class/feat/spell that is specific to a book without having paid for access to that book. If 'one person buys the splatbooks' wasn't so prevelant an attitude among gamers, they'd probably put verbiage into the books saying you can't let your books be used by another person.

[Waspinator]

If you're just saying that's he is a level X Warblade with HP Y, AC Z, and maneuvers A, B, and C, that's fine. If you actually wrote out all of the mechanics of the Warblade class and what those maneuvers did, that's where you might be crossing the line. Basically, don't make it so that somebody no longer needs the book after you've written the info.

This is, of course, just referring to stuff done publicly. In private, go ahead and copy down what the stuff does on your character sheet. Nobody is going to know about it or to stop you. Even Wizards wouldn't care as long as you've bought the book the stuff is from. The key is, don't make open to the general public information from the book that makes said book obsolete.

[Darrin]

What I'm not sure on is if I can post the statblock of a non-OGL character (say, Wyrmlord Kharn from the Red Hand of Doom adventure) if I completely redid his stats using non-OGL books (Tome of Battle, for example).

I know the board policy is generally "when in doubt, don't" but I want to see if there really is ambiguity in this example.

I Am Not A Lawyer, but you can use "excerpts" from a copyrighted work for certain purposes, including to critique, review, or for educational purposes as "fair use". However, this is generally an "active defense", in that you might have to actually go to court and prove it counts as fair use. This is very difficult to do, and can be horrendously expensive. Or to put it another way: Disney Wins.

"Intellectual Property" law is such a murky area and the courts are so inconsistent that "when in doubt, don't" is a good rule of thumb. Most internet discussion forums do not have the legal resources to worry about Fair Use, so they tend to have much more restrictive rules to avoid even the possibility of a lawsuit. Thus, what may appear to be 100% absolutely unquestionable fair use still isn't allowed on some forums because issuing warnings, bannings, or deleting threads is a heckuva lot cheaper than paying a lawyer to tell you, "Hasbro? You're going to lose."

From what I can tell on this forum, posting the text from one spell or one feat doesn't seem to cause too much trouble.

[RTGoodman]

Hey, one thing I JUST remembered is that, if you're using a Warblade, you can probably feel free to post all you want. WotC already put the entire class online, so just link to it as your source and you're good.

Maneuvers are all online, too, thanks to the maneuver cards web enhancement that WotC put on there. I think you could probably safely even copy maneuvers down word-for-word without repercussion, as long as you say you're quoting from that source.

[AslanCross]

Thanks guys. I'm not using the warblade, and I probably won't need the maneuver descriptions. Still going to play it safe for now, though.