> It seems pretty common sense to me that if they both
> match the public domain inspired concept that there is
> no problem.
But it seems to me that if they both match the public domain-inspired concept then Mongoose shouldn't have claimed "firbolg" as PI since they have no ownership grounds.
Thus we get back to my main issue. I understand that Mongoose/Rebellion want to protect their Slaine character (though, let's call a spade a spade here, that Slaine is just Cuchulainn in disguise, but that's neither here nor there) and I don't want to intrude upon that; I do the same thing with my Celtic-themed Bardic Lore series, wherein I PI the name "Aimergin O Mil" (with or without the accents), fully in the understanding that Amergin is the public domain name of the legendary bard of the Milesians and that I have no claims to the name outside of my particular character.
But as you correctly state, Mongoose really has no ownership of words like "Fir Bolg" (or firbolg), "Fomorian," or even "enech," or "cromlech," the last two being the Gaelic word for regular English terms (it'd be like me PI-ing the Spanish version of those words). Their interpretation of some of these terms borrows heavily from myth, as is expected, though it also mixes in new story material unique to the series. Now, if I stay away from these new story elements (which I already do) but want to borrow the OGC that corresponds to some of these new story elements, am I violating their PI or not?
En even better example, the Slaine RPG concept of "warp spasms" and the public domain concept of "warp spasms" is entirely the same, both drawn from the stories of Cuchulainn, down to the mutating effects of the spams' rage. If I use the OGC mechanics for warp spasms in the Slaine book, am I violating their PI or not?
If "yes" is the answer to both of the above, it may be that the Slaine book, as great as it is, suddenly becomes highly unusable to me except for a few parts here and there, all because of shoddy PI declaration that is in effect limiting expressions based on public domain material.
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