> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of > Joe Mucchiello > Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 12:32 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Ogf-l] OGC on CD-ROM > > I think you are technically correct but in practice you will > have to open up your work. Using your example, the Telepathy > abilities that you write cannot affect any character or > monster: not his ability scores, condition state, hit points, > etc. You cannot use Will saves to avoid the effects of these > abilities. Once you do affect one of these things, you become > derivative of the existing OGC. So what good is your > Telepathy tree if it doesn't do anything to my opponents (or allies)?
To build on Joe's excellent points, let's discuss an example. Suppose your Telepathy tree includes a "Group Mind" ability, described as follows: **************************************************************** Group Mind allows a telepath to "invite" a circle of companions into his mind, allowing them to mentally communicate with each other through him, over any distance. The telepath can have up to five companions in his circle (six, counting himself), and must touch each companion for one minute to add him to or remove him from the circle. GM NOTE: This should settle once and for all the age-old problem of "Oh, we were talking out-of-game. The guards weren't supposed to hear that." **************************************************************** That's an entirely new, original, and copyrighted formulation of a common, not-copyrightable idea (since ideas aren't copyrightable). I can keep that as closed content if I want, or I can declare it all as OGC. Now here's another version of the same idea: **************************************************************** Group Mind allows a telepath to "invite" a circle of companions into his mind, allowing them to mentally communicate with each other through him, over any distance. This gives all characters in the circle a +2 synergy bonus when they cooperate on tasks, in addition to any standard synergy bonuses; and it allows them to coordinate attacks: if characters in the circle act in the same intiative to attack a single target, their damage rolls combine for determining Massive Damage. The telepath can have up to (WIS/2) companions in his circle (not counting himself), and must touch each companion for ten rounds to add him to or remove him from the circle. GM NOTE: This should settle once and for all the age-old problem of "Oh, we were talking out-of-game. The guards weren't supposed to hear that." **************************************************************** Gamewise, this is a much more interesting power. It's also derivative, so it must be OGC. Now you might argue that only the second and third sentences are derivative, but you'd be splitting hairs: while the OGL pushes new frontiers in the realm of "partial" derivative works, I'd say that the WotC material is too intermingled in this version to be separable. (Don't take my word for it, either way: ask your lawyer.) Now there IS a third option, as follows: **************************************************************** PRODUCT IDENTITY: Martin L. Shoemaker declares "Group Mind" to be Product Identity as defined under the OGL. OPEN GAME CONTENT: All sections marked "GAME EFFECTS" are Open Game Content as defined under the OGL. All other sections -- particularly those marked "STORY EFFECTS" -- are NOT Open Game Content as defined under the OGL. GROUP MIND STORY EFFECTS: Group Mind allows a telepath to "invite" a circle of companions into his mind, allowing them to mentally communicate with each other through him, over any distance. The telepath can have a limited number of companions in his circle (five plus himself is common, but the number may vary), and must touch each companion for a time to add him to or remove him from the circle. GM NOTE: This should settle once and for all the age-old problem of "Oh, we were talking out-of-game. The guards weren't supposed to hear that." GAME EFFECTS: Group Mind gives all characters in the circle a +2 synergy bonus when they cooperate on tasks, in addition to any standard synergy bonuses; and it allows them to coordinate attacks: if characters in the circle act in the same intiative to attack a single target, their damage rolls combine for determining Massive Damage. The telepath can have up to (WIS/2) companions in his circle (not counting himself), and must touch each companion for ten rounds to add him to or remove him from the circle. [Assume for the sake of example that I included the OGL here.] **************************************************************** This approach gives you maximal control of what remains closed, while still properly opening everything that is derivative and thus must be OGC. It also takes more work: it requires that the designers understand the OGL and write in an OGL-friendly format; or it requires that an OGL editor review the text and extract all derivative parts into separate blocks. Neither is easy, so I can kind of understand why some publishers use the catch-all declaration (but I wish they wouldn't). 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://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
