Hi,

I want to use some of the OGC from Necromancer's The Tome of Horrors (ToH), but was just looking for some opinions.

Many of the creatures in the ToH are used with permission as they were previously printed by TSR. In the designation of OGC it states:

[start quote]
All text contained within this book (including monster names, stats, and descriptions) is hereby designated as Open Game Content with the following exceptions:

1. Any text on the inside or outside of the front or back cover or on the Credits or Preface pages is not Open Game Content.

2. Any advertising material - including the text of any advertising material - is not Open Game Content.

3. Any material contained in the "Credit" section of each monster is not Open Game Content. See the "Note on the Credit Section" below; Note on the "Credit" Section: The credit section for each creature contains information detailing the origin of the particular monster. This content is not Open Game Content, as explained above. Some material within the Credit section is copyright TSR/Wizards of the Coast and/or Necromancer Games, Inc., and is used within the Credit section by permission. You are not allowed to use any of the information in the Credit section under the Open Game License.
[end quote]

For those that haven't seen a Credit, it looks like this:

Credit
The Haunt originally appeared in the First Edition module A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade (© TSR/Wizards of the Coast, 1981) and later in the First Edition Monster Manual II (© TSR/Wizards of the Coast, 1983) and is used with permission.

So, am I right in thinking that the stat blocks for these creatures are OGC, but their names (and any other info in the Credit section) is not? That is to say, I can use the stat block, so long as I use a different monster name? That's my reading of it.

To follow on, the book later sets out how they would like the Section 15 declaration to be made, which is an entry for each individual creature used. Since I cannot use anything within a Credit, this means I cannot fulfill this (since I cannot use a name if it appears in the Credit). So, how should this best be dealt with? Is the license itself exempt from this decleration (thus allowing me to use the actual creature name)? I wouldn't have thought so. The method for setting out Section 15 is just advice (there is a disclaimer stating that it is not legal advice), so should I just add something like:

Tome of Horrors, Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author Scott Greene. Additonal Authors: list of additional authors here.

I think this fulfills my legal obligations. Not sure about any ethical ones, however.

I have emailed Necromancer Games on this matter, but haven't received a reply. As it has been a while I thought I'd ask here.

Any help, suggestions and opinions appreciated.

Many thanks!

Keith Robinson


--
Keith Robinson
A whole new world...
http://www.thekyngdoms.com

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