I am working on a casual board game which incorporates common Dungeons & Dragons tropes. I plan to eventually bring it to Kickstarter. Although it is not technically a tabletop RPG, it references its creatures, magic items and monsters. Two distinct questions:

1) Can material be used from the OGL freely for a board game (and therefore require inserting the OGL into the how to play book)?

2) Can I make stuff up to replace trademarks like the beholder (such as floating eye) in an OGL board game without infringing upon trademarks?

Thanks in advance!


Cheers,
Daniel

First off for precise answers you should see an IP lawyer especially if you are going to sink in a lot of capital to produce this game.

Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;892995I am working on a casual board game which incorporates common Dungeons & Dragons tropes. I plan to eventually bring it to Kickstarter. Although it is not technically a tabletop RPG, it references its creatures, magic items and monsters. Two distinct questions:

Well considering that implied setting of D&D is a kitbash of various bits of fantasy that Gygax and other author find interesting I am wondering what exactly you need that is specific to D&D only. If you are using orcs, giants, and dragon and not Hit Points, Armor Class, etc. Then I wouldn't bother.

Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;8929951) Can material be used from the OGL freely for a board game (and therefore require inserting the OGL into the how to play book)?

Yes, the D20 SRD and the 5e SRD grants you permission to use the text of both documents under the term of the OGL. The basic gist being that you can do this provided you in turn give permission for people to use the sections of your work that incorporates the material from the SRDs and that you don't cite compatibility with a trademark without a separate license.

Quote from: ZWEIHÄNDER;8929952) Can I make stuff up to replace trademarks like the beholder (such as floating eye) in an OGL board game without infringing upon trademarks?

You could try but you definitely need the advice of an IP attorney to advise you on the exact boundary. Even then nothing stops Wizards from pursuing legal action against you and having the courts resolve the dispute.

Most the monsters omitted from the d20 and 5e SRD are definitely unique to D&D. As creations of TSR/Wizards they are protected by copyright and their look is protected by trade dress.

So if you are not willing or unable to hire a lawyer then avoid using anything that is not found in the SRDs.

Necromancer/Frog God Games Tome of Horrors has some of the missing monster from the SRD and it was done with permission from Wizards. However read their license in the back as they imposed additional conditions on their use. You have to cite each of every use of their monster separately in your section 15 of your OGL license.

I would add to Estar's great response;

Be sure to indicate what is open and what is product identity. The "game mechanics" are really what is made open. There is a spirit of understanding here, that you are NOT going to be ripping off people's IP/PI. I would suggest you invent some new monsters for your boardgame or even better check out the Scarred Lands creature collections, or the 5 bestiaries Paizo has published. There are some wicked creative creatures out there without falling back on Beholders and Mind Flayers. Many of the canon monsters have been recreated in other OGL works with different names. If you can find those and emulate the game mechanics, you would be good. Check the product identity designation in the book! Often proper and place names are designated PI.

Also, don't forget Section 15! You need to include any open sources you used in your work.

I have not heard of anyone releasing an OGL boardgame, so it's going to be a tad unusual but a cool idea. :-D

Good Luck!

There are a number of "D&D-ish" boardgames out. Many have the rulebooks post at Boardgamegeek.com as PDFs. I would suggest checking them out, including the new Conan boardgame.

Rules can't be copyrighted.

Quote from: RPGPundit;893812Rules can't be copyrighted.

Just the expression of them.

You cannot copy a book verbatim, but if you change a few words here and there, even, you can use the same ones for any game you wish.