Nobody can refer to your description of Bill or your
background story of Bill (assuming you PI those items)
and you won't loose control of that. I don't know about
the programming skills stat block but if you derive a
stat block from material in the SRD then you are required
to open that up. My opinion is that stat block which you
open up should no longer be controlled in the same manner
as something you didn't open.
The stat block has been contributed to the community in
exchange for deriving from the SRD. Yes, you lose some
degree of control. But only over the material that is open.
On Fri, 4 May 2001, William Olander wrote:
> I'm not seeing the down side of this at all.
> Here I am imagining myself as a Character.
>
> Bill
> 5th Level Computer Programmer
> Int: 15 Wis: 17 Cha: 13
> Feats: Create Database, Build Computer
> Skills: C +5, C++ +3, Java +3
>
> [insert some more characters]
>
> The names of the various characters are all PI, everything else is open.
> [Insert OGL here]
>
> Now, given this example Bill is a fairly common name and I wouldn't expect
> it to be trademarkable. However, if used in conjunction with those stats,
> feats, and skills it defines a character that I have created myself. I don't
> want 'Bill' showing up in other works randomly. I worked very hard on him
> and don't want to loose control of what he does.
>
> Now someone creates a new 'Bill' who is an accountant. I don't have a
> problem with that and can't do anything about it. He's a different 'Bill'.
> Also, if someone takes those stats that I made open and creates 'Bob' the
> programmer. I don't have a problem with that either since Bob is another
> programmer.
>
> This is similar to something I picked out of the DR FAQ: "Many Dominion
> Gamers told us they wanted to use DR as the basis for their dominions, but
> didn't want to be forced to grant open-source-style rights over them." It's
> a different mechanic, but it is the same logic.
>
> -Bill (Non-Trademarked)
>
>
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: Kal Lin [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> |
> |Going with your example, suppose the producers of Cats PI'd
> |every character name. To suggest people can't use the PI'd name
> |Demeter (greek mythology) in conjunction with the OGC stat
> |block for Demeter is:
> |1) allowed under the OGL
> |2) hindering the reuse of a stat block derived from the SRD
> |3) in my opinion not in the spirit of open gaming
> |
>
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