Re: (TFT) d20 System Homage to TFT?

["David Michael Grouchy II" <david_michael_grouchy_ii@hotmail.com>]

> From: "Ty Beard" <tbeard@tyler.net>
>
> I recently purchased D&D 3rd Ed, the "d20" system. You guys
> may have already noticved this, but the d20 system's combat
> system appears to pay more than a little homage to TFT.

Ty,
  I have been digging into this "d20" system ever since Michael Taylor got 
back from Gen Con this year and asked "So my question to the group is: Is 
d20 going to kill all roleplaying systems but d20?"  To be frank I like what 
I see.  A lot.  I hadn't bought the D&D book yet, but what you say above 
sounds even more encouraging.  For everyone in the group here is a peice of 
an interview with one of the guys behind the D20 syste.  The full link is 
...

   David Michael Grouchy II

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnD_DoD_005.asp


Q. The "D20 System Trademark License" on the website seems pretty open. In 
essence, it seems to be granting anyone royalty-free rights to 
produce/publish and even sell gaming products derived from the D20 System, 
as long as they follow some basic rules. Is this a fair summary? Could you 
summarize what one can and can't do under this license?


A. The idea is to release a D20 System reference document under the Open 
Gaming License; essentially exposing the standard D&D mechanics, classes, 
races, spells, and monsters to the Open Gaming community. Anyone could use 
that material to develop a product using that information essentially 
without restrictions, including the lack of a royalty or a fee paid to 
Wizards of the Coast.

However, the >trademarks< of the D20 System are licensed by a separate 
document, the D20 System Trademark License. The terms of that License are 
substantially more restrictive. In other words, in order to use the 
trademarks that would let people know that you've made something compatible 
with the D20 System (and thus, by logical extension, with D&D) you need to 
follow the D20 System Trademark License as well as the Open Gaming License.

The License still won't let you indicate that your product will work with 
Dungeons & Dragons, nor will it let you use the "Dungeons & Dragons" 
trademarks (the actual title, the logo, the words Dungeon Master, etc.) To 
get the rights to do those things, you'll need to enter in to a separate, 
expensive, and very restrictive license with Wizards of the Coast. I don't 
anticipate participating in many such licenses -- we want tight control over 
the revenue stream derived from the D&D trademarks.

The D20 System Trademark License restricts you from creating a work that 
explains how to create characters, and how to apply the effects of 
experience to those characters. To be blunt, it means you can't take the D20 
stuff and publish a complete roleplaying game to compete with the D&D 
Player's Handbook.

At some time in the future, after we've gauged the effects of this activity, 
we may loosen those restrictions. At this point, it is too early to tell if 
we will. (In fact, it's too early to tell if we'll release the D20 materials 
under the Open Gaming License at all -- that's the point of the internal 
debate...)




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