Well I hate to see that. I think it looks like a fun little system.
It is. I'm glad I still have a copy on my computer.
Now what I wonder is it still okay to use or circulate the OtD SRD? It's all open content, according to the declaration in the beginning. That means anyone could throw it up on a website, right, despite Malcolm taking it off Mob United's?
It's my understanding is that once you put something out OGL you cannot take it back. That is what I heard about OGL in relation to 3.5 to 4th edition D&D in any case. But what do I know about copyright law, I'm a nurse.
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Haunted by nostalgia
_________________really Satan
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It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Originally Posted by Vecna
'Maybe the hobby would "survive and advance" if more 3rd party publishers weren't riding on the industry' leader's coattails but rather coming up with their own games, own game systems, and so on.'-Ineti
Dwarf guy, the token black dude of fantasy.-Juriel
It's my understanding is that once you put something out OGL you cannot take it back. That is what I heard about OGL in relation to 3.5 to 4th edition D&D in any case. But what do I know about copyright law, I'm a nurse.
That's my understanding as well. If someone could take back their open content, the whole thing would fall apart because no publisher could rely on the material they used remaining open. I guess in a case like this, it'd be a matter of regard or not for the creator's wishes.
Well it would be nice to know before I spend any time ruining it with my own game creation.
That was basically my thought (Catgirl: The Storytelling Game), but this makes me that much more inclined to stick with my original plan to use a ST-ish Fudge variant.
A couple months ago, Malcolm Sheppard released a system resource document called Opening the Dark under the Open Gaming License. It's half a roleplaying ruleset, half toolkit for building and customizing your own game that emulates a style of horror-ish roleplaying game that was very popular in the 90s.
The SRD has since been taken down from the publisher's website, apparently because Malcolm wasn't happy with how other people were presenting it.
Now what I wonder is it still okay to use or circulate the OtD SRD? It's all open content, according to the declaration in the beginning. That means anyone could throw it up on a website, right, despite Malcolm taking it off Mob United's?
On the last page of the file there is an Opening the Dark Trademark License (which lets you use the OtD logo and trademark) and it does have a line under the unacceptable content clause which says, "Your product must not use the copyright or trademarks of others without permission.". Presumably, that still gives him the right to prevent people from using his trademark.
If you can live without the logo and actually calling the game Opening the Dark, then I don't see how anyone could prevent using or circulating it, given the fourth paragraph in the file is "All of the text in this book is designated Open Content." followed by the OGL license on the second to last page of the file.
That said, I'm not a lawyer and I suggest if you get one if you plan on doing something public with OtD.
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Rev. Keith Johnson
keithalanjohnson AT gmail.com http://keithalanjohnson.blogspot.com/
GMing: Nightwatch (weekly nWoD crossover campaign)
GMing: Fading Æon (alternating weekly Trinity/Fading Suns campaign)
Playing: Hong Kong by Night (alternating weekly Kindred of the East campaign)
GMing: The Promise of Fear (weekly Changeling: the Lost campaign)
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -- Aristotle
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