On Thu, 29 Mar 2001, Brad Thompson wrote:
> John Kim wrote:
> > How many of the d20 products have actually reproduced material from
> > the SRD? My impression has been that d20 products published thus
> > far have been D&D modules or supplements which don't actually give
> > or replace core rules.
>
> The races, classes, skills, feats, spells, monsters and magic items
> all come from the SRD. Virtually every module has been derivative
> to some degree.
Could you be more clear about this? For example, a D&D
compatible module might refer to an "elf" or a "troll" -- but this
isn't a copyright infringement since you can't copyright a name.
I have heard the argument that the format of the stat blocks is
copyrightable. However, even that doesn't need the SRD per se
since the d20 trademark guide itself gives the stats and their
meanings. Since the d20 guide requires users to use the stats as
defined in the guide, stat blocks can't be a violation even if there
were no SRD.
In any case, let me clarify my question: have any of the
published d20 products reproduced anything more than bare names and
the format of stat blocks (i.e. a new monsters using d20 stats, or a
new class using d20 stats) ?
- John
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