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Current project: OGL 5e or AD&D 2e?

Kruno

Arcane
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Village Idiot Zionist Agent Shitposter
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I am in the middle of designing a combat module for my simulation. I am used to just rolling my own crap, but I want to spice it up for my current project.

The project is a simulation, but in a roguelike-esque way, and combat will occur in real time (player influenced, but not controlled). There can be millions of entities engaged in combat at any given time, and so I do not want to over complicate this stuff to the point it becomes too much for a 16 core CPU. At the same time I do not want too simplistic of a combat system that is purely statistical, which is fine for computation, but is rubbish for simulation purposes.

My design choices boil down to:
1. Use LoD (Level of Detail) and allow for complex combat between the most important entities in the world, but raw statistical computations for everything else. This allows the best of both worlds, fast resolution and interesting combat.

2. Use a simpler system like the AD&D 2e which can be quickly batched and calculated on the CPU. A simpler combat system, but better than the simpler crap I normally implement.

3. Take the OGL 5.1 system and just nitpick until it is as complete and fast as I want it.


Licencing:
The other issue is in regards to licencing. I only want to use some of the underlying mechanical components of combat and character sheets. I have been reading about what I can and can't use but even WotC's site is a little confusing.

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/systems-reference-document-srd

Assuming: X => OK!
I have to attach the licence to my product, and the OGL logo.

Everything mentioned inside this document is okay to use?
https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/SRD-OGL_V5.1.pdf

Thanks.
 

J1M

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May 14, 2008
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14,616
The current leadership at Wizards doesn't understand the value of the OGL. They have essentially made it overly complicated and said you should hire a lawyer to understand it.

I think you should avoid existing systems if it won't be a selling point for your game. There is nothing wrong with borrowing elements you like such as bounded accuracy or advantage.

PS: I don't think you can even make an unlicensed AD&D game.
 

The Avatar

Pseudodragon Studios
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The mechanics of a game are not something that can be legally protected. If you just want to roll a die and add/subtract numbers, go for it. There may be some copyright for specific terminology, such as THAC0, but you can just call it something else. OGL content is good if you want to use it's specific wording or specific monster statistic blocks, but isn't necessary if you invent your own. Either way, you wouldn't be able to call anything "D&D".
 

Kruno

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11,478
Thanks.

I will borrow a few things here and there. Mostly ability scores and modifiers and things that chain from there. I will add a few simple things from there that make sense.
 

J1M

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
14,616
Thanks.

I will borrow a few things here and there. Mostly ability scores and modifiers and things that chain from there. I will add a few simple things from there that make sense.
In that case, the main thing you will have to worry about is called "trade dress", for which copyright does exist. Basically, just don't present your stat blocks in the exact same format as you see in a D&D book and you will be fine.
 

Krice

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Messages
1,287
If you have something that works you could improve it rather than use existing systems for reasons mentioned. Also, I think players are interested about new systems, because we have seen D&D quite few times now, not to mention that D&D isn't the best system for all purposes.
 

Alchemist

Arcane
Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Messages
1,439
The current leadership at Wizards doesn't understand the value of the OGL. They have essentially made it overly complicated and said you should hire a lawyer to understand it.

I think you should avoid existing systems if it won't be a selling point for your game. There is nothing wrong with borrowing elements you like such as bounded accuracy or advantage.

PS: I don't think you can even make an unlicensed AD&D game.
Just to clarify a bit, the legalese of the OGL (v1.0a) hasn't changed since the 3rd edition era, year 2000. The 5th edition SRD uses the exact same license and terms, it's just the SRD itself has a different set of rules mechanics. When it comes to computer games, it's totally fine to use anything in the SRD as long as you don't use Product Identity, which consists of iconic D&D names and trademarks mostly. You can find a precise list of what's off-limits in one paragraph:
The following items are designated Product Identity, as defined in Section 1(e) of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, and are subject to the conditions set forth in Section 7 of the OGL, and are not Open Content: Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master, Monster Manual, d20 System, Wizards of the Coast, d20 (when used as a trademark), Forgotten Realms, Faerûn, proper names (including those used in the names of spells or items), places, Underdark, Red Wizard of Thay, the City of Union, Heroic Domains of Ysgard, EverChanging Chaos of Limbo, Windswept Depths of Pandemonium, Infinite Layers of the Abyss, Tarterian Depths of Carceri, Gray Waste of Hades, Bleak Eternity of Gehenna, Nine Hells of Baator, Infernal Battlefield of Acheron, Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, Peaceable Kingdoms of Arcadia, Seven Mounting Heavens of Celestia, Twin Paradises of Bytopia, Blessed Fields of Elysium, Wilderness of the Beastlands, Olympian Glades of Arborea, Concordant Domain of the Outlands, Sigil, Lady of Pain, Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, beholder, gauth, carrion crawler, tanar’ri, baatezu, displacer beast, githyanki, githzerai, mind flayer, illithid, umber hulk, yuan-ti. All of the rest of the SRD5 is Open Game Content as described in Section 1(d) of the License.

The entirety of the remaining SRD is Open Content and can be freely used. The main other stipulation is that you need to include the rules you used in a human-readable format accessible with your game. An in-game guide with the rules described would cover this. That's all there is to it, it's not overly complicated.

For AD&D 2E, you can use a retro-clone released under the OGL, such as "For Gold & Glory" in which everything in the document is Open Content: http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www...wn/for-gold-glory/ebook/product-22756917.html
More retro-clones covering every edition of D&D / AD&D can be found here: http://taxidermicowlbear.weebly.com/dd-retroclones.html

With all that said, The Avatar is right in that you can use D&D-like game mechanics all you want without ever bothering with the license, as long as you're careful about how you use them. Many early CRPGs straight-up lifted mechanics from D&D with no official license.
 

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