Substitution Levels: Are They OGL?

[Lord Iames Osari]

I'm not asking about any particular example, but about the basic mechanical idea of substitution levels.

[Nowhere Girl]

Orange, Green or Lavender?

Offbeat, Gleeful Lechers?

Old, Gray and Lonely?

[Foolosophy]

try Open Gaming Licence

[random11]

The most common alternative mechanic is a point based system:
You get experience points, and you use them to buy things for your advantage.

Another option, is to improve skills not based on choice or points, but based on how often you used them.
For example, after an adventure in a cave fighting monsters, your weapon skills will improve, but not any skill you didn't use like pick locks.
Unfortunately, this option is very hard to implement, and it also has a disadvantage of pushing characters for a limited number of skills.

[Kurald Galain]

I'm not asking about any particular example, but about the basic mechanical idea of substitution levels.

The basic mechanical idea isn't anything, since you can't copyright an idea. So yes, you can write your own substitution levels and publicize them somewhere.

The actual mechanics of the particular substitution levels in the current rulebooks are not OGL.

[Nowhere Girl]

try Open Gaming Licence

Thanks.

[Lord Iames Osari]

The basic mechanical idea isn't anything, since you can't copyright an idea. So yes, you can write your own substitution levels and publicize them somewhere.

The actual mechanics of the particular substitution levels in the current rulebooks are not OGL.

So would the same hold for the mechanics of a class that uses invocations similar to the warlock?

[Kurald Galain]

So would the same hold for the mechanics of a class that uses invocations similar to the warlock?

Depends on how similar they are, but probably yeah.

Look, WOTC is not T$R, you are not going to get sued for creating your own variant rules to D&D. The internet has literally thousands of people who do that.

[Lord Iames Osari]

But if I wanted to publish those variant rules for money, then that would be an entirely different kettle of fish, would it not?

[Zincorium]

But if I wanted to publish those variant rules for money, then that would be an entirely different kettle of fish, would it not?

If you're intending to publish something for money that could possibly get you sued, you should probably be asking a lawer, not people on the forums here.

If you aren't, then WotC would be spending more money to take you to court than they can probably get in a settlement, so they most likely won't bother unless it's really, really blatant.

[Kurald Galain]

If you're intending to publish something for money that could possibly get you sued, you should probably be asking a lawer, not people on the forums here.

Indeed. Alternatively, contact the WOTC licensing department. There are plenty of third-party d20 supplements, and nothing is stopping you from writing (and selling) your own. WOTC can tell you exactly what you are and are not allowed to put in there.

For instance, you're not allowed to describe the character generation process, or the process of leveling up.

[Darrin]

So would the same hold for the mechanics of a class that uses invocations similar to the warlock?

If you're looking to publish an OGL supplement, most people base that work off of what is released in the SRD. Warlocks and the invocation mechanics don't appear in the SRD, so unless you went out of your way to make your own mechanics unique, there would be a legal argument that your work would be a "derivative" of WotC's copyrighted material. If you have a clever lawyer, you could probably get around that.

If you're working on a supplement that features Warlocks and invocations, you might want to contact WotC and ask about the D20 License (a very different beast from the OGL). Pitch them a sourcebook idea and see if they are interested. Actually, with WotC busy with launching 4E, you might have better luck with any of the smaller companies that specialize in D20 material: Green Ronin, Mongoose, etc. They're much more likely to be looking for freelancers, and they have a lot of experience working with the D20 License.