Using the OGL for Game Development

[Stormcrowfleet]

Hello!
Sorry for necro...
I've looking for the details of creating a software game that uses the OGL, either with SRD3.5 or 5.1.

Once you get your head around it a bit, it is mostly understundable what you have to do for each portion of the content and what you can use etc.

I'm still stuck in the "Character Generaction" portion and would be glad to get some oppinions there from people who have solved the equation.

My understanding so far is: Because the Character creation process is missing from the SRDs you can't reproduce it in the software.
(btw I have a strong question mark over my head, because I have found a LOT of web sites and applications that describe and use the official Dnd character creation process straight from the PhB.... Most of them have no evidence of using a direct agreement with WotC about it.)

So to get around that you could either:
1. Skip the character creation process altogether and offer some pre-made level 1 characters for the player to choose and start playing (without mentioning how they were created), or
2. Invent a char. creation process that is quite different from the official dnd in the PhB, much like PF2 is using.

Anyone that has searched this and found some sound information please help me out, I've been looking into this for quite some time now...
Thanks in advance!

My understanding is that you can create characters, but cannot create them as they do in the book, especially not with the same steps and outcome. You could still have the options per se (class, race, etc.), but not in the same procedure etc.

 

[ProphetSword]

If you're worried about it, one option is that you could pregenerate a bunch of characters (several fighters, several clerics, several rogues, etc), but allow a player to "customize" them (change the name, change the skills, change the starting feats, reroll the stats, etc). This way, no actual generation is done, but players can still make the characters exactly how they want.

 

[JonDM]

I would make your own character creation process or just use Pathfinder 1. Their point-buy system is slightly different from 3.5. Most of the character creation process as described in the PHB is fluff text- it really just amounts to "pick your race/class/feats".

My understanding is that you can create characters, but cannot create them as they do in the book, especially not with the same steps and outcome. You could still have the options per se (class, race, etc.), but not in the same procedure etc.

If you're worried about it, one option is that you could pregenerate a bunch of characters (several fighters, several clerics, several rogues, etc), but allow a player to "customize" them (change the name, change the skills, change the starting feats, reroll the stats, etc). This way, no actual generation is done, but players can still make the characters exactly how they want.

Thanks everyone for your quick answer!

It seems that you just have to make it different enough to avoid "copyright infrigments", just with any related official product content anyway.
It's just that character creation is basic stuff and required in an automated software game.

I will keep looking into it and hopefully get a more solid legal opinion.
This is for a hobby side-project for now, once you get more serious you definetely need legal advice from someone with experience in this field.

 

[Alchemist]

I'm not a lawyer, but here's my understanding of it: The lack of character creation rules in the SRD doesn't mean you can't reverse-engineer them based on the knowledge of the other mechanics. And game mechanics can't be copyrighted, but they can be patented. I doubt that WotC / Hasbro has patented the "roll 4d6, drop lowest" mechanic to generate ability scores, for example. They simply didn't include it in the SRD, but you'll notice it's not actually designated "protected content" in the OGL.

Just summarize the creation mechanics with your own wording and you'll be fine.

 

[J1M]

I would make your own character creation process or just use Pathfinder 1. Their point-buy system is slightly different from 3.5. Most of the character creation process as described in the PHB is fluff text- it really just amounts to "pick your race/class/feats".

My understanding is that you can create characters, but cannot create them as they do in the book, especially not with the same steps and outcome. You could still have the options per se (class, race, etc.), but not in the same procedure etc.

If you're worried about it, one option is that you could pregenerate a bunch of characters (several fighters, several clerics, several rogues, etc), but allow a player to "customize" them (change the name, change the skills, change the starting feats, reroll the stats, etc). This way, no actual generation is done, but players can still make the characters exactly how they want.

Thanks everyone for your quick answer!

It seems that you just have to make it different enough to avoid "copyright infrigments", just with any related official product content anyway.
It's just that character creation is basic stuff and required in an automated software game.

I will keep looking into it and hopefully get a more solid legal opinion.
This is for a hobby side-project for now, once you get more serious you definetely need legal advice from someone with experience in this field.

You are overthinking this. This requirement is very similar to the "trade dress" one. They don't want to lose their copyright on that section of their book by explicitly allowing people to use it.

And as far as I know, they've never sued any of the many character creation programs out there that attempt to replicate the process.

 

[Spectacle]

There are actually 2 licenses in play here, the d20 license and the OGL license. The d20 license has an explicit requirement that if you want to use the license you can't include character generation in your product. The OGL has no such restriction. Normal copyright rules forbids you from copying WotCs chargen rules verbatim, but you're free to write your own, they can be almost identical to WotC's rules long as you don't copy the actual rules text.

 

[The Avatar]

There are actually 2 licenses in play here, the d20 license and the OGL license. The d20 license has an explicit requirement that if you want to use the license you can't include character generation in your product. The OGL has no such restriction. Normal copyright rules forbids you from copying WotCs chargen rules verbatim, but you're free to write your own, they can be almost identical to WotC's rules long as you don't copy the actual rules text.

The d20 system license is dead and has been for some time. Its not that the OGL license has any restrictions on character creation, its that the character creation rules are not included in the srd(along the stuff like an xp table)- and thus are not Open Game Content. You are correct that you can just write your own version of those rules though.

 

[JonDM]

There are actually 2 licenses in play here, the d20 license and the OGL license. The d20 license has an explicit requirement that if you want to use the license you can't include character generation in your product. The OGL has no such restriction. Normal copyright rules forbids you from copying WotCs chargen rules verbatim, but you're free to write your own, they can be almost identical to WotC's rules long as you don't copy the actual rules text.

The d20 system license is dead and has been for some time. Its not that the OGL license has any restrictions on character creation, its that the character creation rules are not included in the srd(along the stuff like an xp table)- and thus are not Open Game Content. You are correct that you can just write your own version of those rules though.

Indeed, The Avatar, according to wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D20_System.
Unless someone cares about the logo of d20 which is trademarked from WotC...

I'm not a lawyer, but here's my understanding of it: The lack of character creation rules in the SRD doesn't mean you can't reverse-engineer them based on the knowledge of the other mechanics. And game mechanics can't be copyrighted, but they can be patented. I doubt that WotC / Hasbro has patented the "roll 4d6, drop lowest" mechanic to generate ability scores, for example. They simply didn't include it in the SRD, but you'll notice it's not actually designated "protected content" in the OGL.

Just summarize the creation mechanics with your own wording and you'll be fine.

You are overthinking this. This requirement is very similar to the "trade dress" one. They don't want to lose their copyright on that section of their book by explicitly allowing people to use it.

And as far as I know, they've never sued any of the many character creation programs out there that attempt to replicate the process.

Indeed.
Another example would be to use content (backgrounds, skills, feats, items etc) that share the same name and possibly descriptions from the official rulebooks or other 3rd party products with copyrighter content.
I believe you just need to keep your content different enough to show that its not just a copy of it.

All this copyright stuff it is a bit of a nightmare but it's another path you have to navigate throught..