Basic D&D and OGL

[S Ferguson]

Just curious if anyone knows about the status of Basic D&D and the OGL; especially how it pertains to creatures. I know Labyrinth Lord mimics the rules, but what is "public domain" as it pertains to monsters? Any help would be greatly appreciated (and might get my Creature Catalogue some use.

Cheers,
SF

[ddavison]

Have you looked at OSRIC yet? My understanding is that they are doing about the most you can possibly do with the basic rules. I'm not sure if it has all the same creatures or just the ones that are legally able to be used and how different the allowed ones are from the official critters.

[S Ferguson]

Yes I've seen OSRIC and have a copy somewhere on my hard drives, but wasn't sure of the legalities of using creatures from AC9, and from the various rule sets. I know that the ones under the OGL are allowed, but am not sure about the status of others. Thanks for the speedy response though.

Cheers,
SF

[peterb]

Well, as long as it's for your private game anything is game. If you plan to publish your collection then you better stick with creatures that are available under the OGL. Since the description (and its game stats) of a monster may well be copyright protected re-using old Basic and AD&D critters and publish them is not recommended. Monsters that exists in real world myths, sagas and legends are fair game if you describe them yourself, the problem would be the game stats. I'd stick with creatures that have been published under the OGL.

[S Ferguson]

Good Advice. I'll take this in mind.