[MUD-Dev] d20

[Travis Casey]

On Thursday 02 August 2001 07:10 pm, Freeman, Jeff wrote:
> > From: shannon hall [mailto:shannonbhall at yahoo.com]
> >
> > With all this talk about cross compatibility and migration of
> > characters, I thought you all would be interested in hearing about
> > d20.  It's an open gaming source for creating rpg's in the classic
> > sense. Essentially it is the foundation that many games are based
> > on.
> >
> >   http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/
>
> According to the FAQ, you can't use the d20 system to create an
> "Interactive Game".
>
> 	http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=dt20010417d
>
> 	Q: Does the definition of an "Interactive Game" preclude
> 	   me from creating an online RPG, MUD, MUSH, MOO, etc.?
>
> 	A: Yes

This isn't talking about the d20 System, though -- it's talking about the 
"d20 System Trademark License".  The d20 System, as described in the 
portions of the System Reference Document (SRD) that have been released, is 
covered by the Open Gaming License (OGL).

The setup is a lot like that of Linux.  Linux's source code is distributed 
under the GPL, which basically restricts you only in that any derivative 
work must also be released under the GPL.  Similarly, the d20 SRD is 
released under the OGL, which requires that anything you release that 
includes portions of it also be released under the OGL.

However, the name "Linux" is a trademark of Linus Torvalds, and you cannot 
release anything and call it "Linux" without his permission.  Similarly, 
the "d20 System" name and the associated logo are trademarks of WotC, and 
you cannot release anything using those trademarks without their 
permission.  The "d20 System Trademark License" is WotC's set of 
requirements that you have to fulfill in order to use those trademarks.

There's nothing in the OGL that prevents one from using OGL materials to 
create any type of online RPG.  Thus, you can use the d20 System in your 
online RPG -- you just can't use the name "d20 System" or the d20 System 
logo, since the "d20 System Trademark License" covers the use of those, and 
*it* can't be used with an "interactive game".

--
       |\      _,,,---,,_     Travis S. Casey  <efindel at earthlink.net>
 ZZzz  /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_   No one agrees with me.  Not even me.
      |,4-  ) )-,_..;\ (  `'-' 
     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_) 

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