OGL Confuses Me!

[Christopholis]

Hi. I've been working on a "best of all editions" mishmash homebrew system. When I go to read the OGL, my eyes cross after ten words. Where can I find a plain language list of what is and isn't OK for me to borrow/modify?

I have ability scores with different effects/benefits/penalties than normal, classes tweaked how I want, rules for skills, spells people might recognize, spells people won't recognize, magic items, gods, etc. It's closest to basic DnD, but with lots of new things.

Where do I even start to go through it all and decide what won't get me sued if I try to sell it on something like DriveThruRPG?

For example, can I make Genasi and Hengiyokai?
Can I say STR modifies melee damage but in ways that differ from any other editions?
Can I make backstab and a "Lore" skill?
Can I have a spell called "Black Tentacles" but with different stats than in 3rd?

Is basic DnD and 1st and 2nd fair game?

[chiisu81]

As we always need to note: we're not lawyers, don't take any of this as legal advice. When in doubt, consult your own legal counsel.

Is basic DnD and 1st and 2nd fair game?

Not in the slightest. What Wizards of the Coast released under the OGL is the 3.5 SRD. If it's not in there, you can't use it.

What anything released under the OGL license by other authors/publishers has designated as Open Content you can use (as long as you cite that item in your own OGL page(s)); Product Identity cannot be used without explicit permission from that author/publisher. Use of the OGL does NOT preclude that anything in that document is Open Content, it's up to each publisher/author to decide what to share or not.

[SmootRK]

Other than the OGL itself, there is no comprehensive listing of OGL pieces.

I would suggest starting with something that is altogether (or mostly) OGL and basically safe (even then there are often parts that are not OGL such as product identity or specific non-mechanics texts). Then painstakingly add bits one at a time while annotating where exactly each OGL bit came from.

All that said, no one is safe from copyright infringement conflicts. Anyone can challenge your assumptions, your sources, or whatever. For instance, what if the OGL source you utilized legitimately (or so you thought) didn't actually have rights to a specific bit that they used? How could you tell? You violated copyright indirectly by using something you thought was legit, and yet you still become liable in some manner.

So what I am saying, is all you can really do is attempt to insulate yourself from claims as best you can, with as many concrete citations as possible.... and attempting what in your own words is "best of all editions" may be very problematic from the onset, because you are explicitly borrowing basically everything that makes your "version" unique (or not unique depending on how you look at it).

Probably not so helpful advise. Just my random thoughts after I read your post.

[Christopholis]

OK, so for example, BFRPG uses the ability score bonuses and penalties from basic D&D, not 3rd, from +3 to -3. How is that allowed then? Or saves vs. Dragon Breath, or cleric spells at 2nd, or an ability called climb walls that starts at 80%? Isn't it pretty clear where those things are from?

[SmootRK]

Just my opinion, but it seems you are coming to this from a (flawed, at least in my mind) perspective that BFRPG is a copy of some edition.

I certainly did not write the barest bones of BFRPG (Chris did this),and perhaps splitting hairs, but if you could look at it this way... BFRPG is based upon the SRD, only heavily modified to closely approximate a certain style of an early edition. Chris utilized certain materials in so far as to guide him for what he calls the "coverage target"... so that he deals with the topics of as much of the material as is possible. Bear in mind, nearly everything was re-written from scratch, but also with a mindset to make things fairly interchangeable with the source material.

[Christopholis]

I hope I didn't seem on the attack.

I just don't want to get in trouble if I release something which has the same rules as a pre-3rd edition. A thief needing 1,250 xp and a wizard needing 2,500 xp for level 2 is very established before 3rd, so I guess what I'm grappling with is what's "closely approximating" AD&D and what's using the same stuff.

I'll read up more on it.

Clean document design by the way. Always a plus.

[Solomoriah]

Game mechanics cannot be protected. Artistic presentation can be and is, automatically; the author must declare the material "available" in some way (such as by declaring it Open Game Content or OGC). This is a finicky business... replication of the XP tables of any specific game (other than the tables from the SRD, which are explicitly OK to use) runs the risk of being called out for copying. While the starting numbers may seem familiar, reviewing the XP charts from BFRPG will reveal that they do not duplicate any particular game in detail. The same is true of the AB table, the Saving Throws, and so on.

The bonuses for ability scores are based on a statistical distribution, and do happen to mostly match a couple of specific games from the past... mostly, because I know that at least the Charisma table is different from those games. But it's a numerical distribution; duplicating the tables of a game where the distribution is more idiosyncratic would be more of a risk.

As was said above, we are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. All I can do is to wish you good luck.