From: Luke Jones [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> So, whilst WotC have put in excellent pressure for players to purchase the > monster manual for playing purchased adventures, they've also made it > extremely difficult for publishers to actually use those creatures legally > in published adventures. Wait a minute. I feel like we're having that discussion again about why there's isn't more free water available in the ocean. The SRD is >packed< with stuff that you can use to either create your own content or mesh seamlessly with other people's content (including WotCs). We're talking about a >handful< of creatures, which really are unique creations by the old TSR design staff. WotC has as much right (legally and ethically) to exploit that creativity in their own products exclusively as any other creative source does. They could just leave those creatures out of the SRD completely if they wanted to and all the 3rd parties would just have to do without. Instead, WotC is going to let you use them in a thousand useful ways, so long as you stay away from their non-OGC intellectual property. The SRD contains a wealth of information for your use. Some of it is >more useful< if you have a WotC product as well. If some 3rd party publisher comes along, creates a kick-ass varient of the Mind Flayer that looks nothing like WotC's illithid, has a social structure and background that is new and innovative, gets it into a whole bunch of adventures and home campaigns and by doing so wrenches the "public perception" of what a Mind Flayer is away from WotC as a result, and therefore forces WotC to either redefine the creature in the future or support a network-retarding alternate definition with a lower rate of general public acceptence, that's just too bad for WotC. You're all free to try. There's a hell of a lot of free water in the ocean. I hate to see people complaining that there's not a glass or two more to be had. Ryan _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
