> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Moses Wolfy > Wildermuth > Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2001 12:31 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Ogf-l] Re: Draft HOWTO > > > This part caught my eye right away. > > " These parts are called "Product Identity," and I use them to mark out > character names, catch phrases, and trademarks that I don't want you to use > (or that I can't allow you to use.) You can tell what's Product Identity > by <<type of identifier>>, and you can't use this stuff even if it's also > marked as Open Game Content! " > > This part doesn't sound right (probably is right, but it is too confusing), > so I have taken and continue to take great pains not to mix my PI and OGC.
Then I'm afraid you've missed the point of Product Identity. The ENTIRE reason the Product Identity concept was created was to simplify the layout of OGC text by allowing non-OGC names to appear within OGC blocks without those names becoming OGC and without requiring possibly ugly layouts. There's no other benefit to PI. For instance, suppose you have a character, Bob the Snob. Then suppose your rule for denoting OGC was "Text in ALL CAPS is OGC". (This example works better if you use shaded text in place of all caps, but I'm doing the best I can with email.) Now suppose Bob the Snob has a new skill, Snobbery, which I wish to open; and because Bob's stats are derivative, they are REQUIRED to be open. Finally, suppose I do NOT want to release Bob the Snob himself as OGC. Now, without the concept of PI, Bob the Snob's description has to look something like this. **************************************************************** Bob the Snob STR 10 DEX 10 CON 10 INT 10 WIS 10 CHA 5 SKILLS SNOBBERY: THIS IS A NEW SKILL FOUNDED AND MASTERED BY Bob the Snob. WHENEVER Bob the Snob WANTS TO SNUB SOMEONE, Bob the Snob MUST FIRST MAKE AN INSULTING REMARK. THEN THE GM WILL AWARD Bob the Snob A BONUS OR PENALTY BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE INSULT, AND Bob the Snob WILL ROLL A SKILL CHECK. THE BETTER THE ROLL Bob the Snob GETS, THE LOWER THE TARGET WILL APPEAR IN THE EYES OF ANYONE FAVORABLY DISPOSED TO Bob the Snob. **************************************************************** Now if the constant switch between ALL CAPS and mixed case looks bad, imagine if this were a block of shaded text with "Bob the Snob" unshaded everywhere it appeared. But you can make a much cleaner layout by simply declaring "Bob the Snob" as Product Identity. Then even if "Bob the Snob" appears in an OGC block, it can be shaded (or ALL CAPS in the example above) without releasing "Bob the Snob" as OGC. In fact, PI allows even easier layout, IF you want to release as much as possible while still maintaining control over your unique elements: you declare the whole work as OGC (so no special layout tricks are needed to indicate OGC); then you declare your unique elements as PI, so they're NOT OGC. This seems confusing only if you misunderstand the purpose of PI. > Monsters that have been created so far have a OGL name and PI name. For > example, Slines (Night Stalker), the name in parenthesis is the OGL name. In that case, if I'm reading you correctly, you do not have to make "Slines" PI at all, because it will never appear in OGC. But if Alec is correct that OGC must be clearly indicated everywhere it appears (I still have some small doubt, but I trust his opinion over my doubt), then you have to indicate that Night Stalker is OGC everywhere it appears. In other words, if shaded text is your method of indicating OGC, then the text in the parentheses above would have to be shaded. Martin L. Shoemaker Martin L. Shoemaker Consulting, Software Design and UML Training [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.MartinLShoemaker.com http://www.UMLBootCamp.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
