> Anthony Valterra > > >>b)Rewriting the rules, and the descriptive text, completely, but using > the same general mechanics? > > That is okay - but probably tough to do. Most people are going to > hit somewhere in the center which is where the problems occurs. > Espeacially if you are dealing with a freelancer who tells you > that he (or she) has not lifted the rules but when you see it - > it is obvious that there has been lifting whole cloth. I'm sure > most of these people start out thinking "I'm going to completely > redo the system" but after a while that paragraph or that chart > is just what I want to say anyway so I just grab it, maybe > rewrite one of the sentences or change one or two words and hope > no one will notice. Or maybe I have read the rules so many times > that, like some historians, I end up writing exactly the same > thing. It is not for WotC to judge (so please don't send us > samples and ask "is this okay"). Publishers have to make this > call for themselves.
I am concerned about this statement. What I don't see above is any nod towards the text released by WotC in the form of the SRD. Much of that text was lifted verbatim out of the PHB, and a great deal of it appears in the SW book as well. The presence of similar text is not in and of itself cause for alarm, so long as that text can also be found in the SRD or in the d20 STLG. If you read the article I published in 2000, you will find a great number of passages that sound *VERY* similar to those found in the Star Wars book. Some will be identical. The thing to remember is that those passages are also found in the SRD. I had no trouble finding supporting text for the entire Vp/Wp concept in the SRD, and I would be happy to expose my development process to public or private scrutiny. I am prepared to justify every sentence if necessary in hopes of demonstrating that the SRD is a rich document that can be used as the foundation for a great many works without infringing on the rights of WotC. If you need a copy of the article (so we can skip any passages you agree are non-infringing), you can find the published version at http://205.200.64.249/GC/scrolls/2001/jan/vitality.html. Note: I believe this can be a very quick process. If you like, I can number all of the paragraphs and sentences, so that you can simply post a list of numbered sections or groups of sections, and I'll write up all of my sources and thoughts when writing them. I think that will clear up the vast majority of the questions, leaving a very few which will probably need further elaboration. -Brad _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
