>IMHO, the whole "chromatic" vs. "metallic" and Paladine vs. Tiamat >makes up the >idiosyncratic elements of DnD dragons...plus metallics have 2 breath weapons, >color determines which breath weapon, all of this makes their dragons unique >and, therefore, protectable.
except that they've released almost all of that via the D20SRD. just from the stats, i know that they come in 10 flavors, 5 of which are good and 5 of which are evil. i know that breath weapons are linked to color, (as are intelligence, size, and several other things), and that the good/metallic ones have 2 breath weapons. basically, the elements of D&D dragons that i cannot infer from the released material are only: --Tiamat & Bahamut --personality trends: the fact that, frex, Copper dragons are gregarious while Bronze dragons are isolationist (or do i have those backwards?--i don't have any books right in front of me) --the fact that Gold dragons have long sinuous bodies, whiskers, and 4 legs, while all the rest of them have lizard-like bodies with 4 legs and 2 wings (and no hair, just scales) IOW, dragons are a poor example, because, while there's a *lot* of D&D-specific stuff that TSR/WotC has added over the years, very little of it doesn't show up in the D20SRD--so i think it's a bit hard to argue that a dragon illustration that is like those in the D&D3E MM must be illegally derivative. only if you decide to get the horny bits on the head exactly the same would i expect it to be a problem. -- woodelf <*> [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://webpages.charter.net/woodelph/ If any religion is right, maybe they all have to be right. Maybe God doesn't care how you say your prayers, just as long as you say them. --Sinclair _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
