The new RuneQuest SRD and Logo Licence are now available for download from our web site. You can find them at;
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?qsSeries=39
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/series.php?qsSeries=39
RuneQuest SRD & Logo Licence
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
Many thanks to Mongoose for getting the SRD out. Looks pretty complete at first glance.
Now come the actual nit-picky questions about the actual license:
1) The term "books" is used throughout the RuneQuest Logo License, rather than something more generic, such as "product." Does this mean that Mongoose is specifically forbidding things like software, miniatures, etc.? Or is that merely there just for ease of reading?
2) The RuneQuest Logo License has a somewhat similar provision as the WotC d20 license which restricts some aspects of character creation:
If you are allowed to create software under the license, does this mean that software cannot generate characteristics? Or does "detail" here simply mean "make known to the player how it is done?"
The reason I ask is because the WotC d20 license had a similar provision that precluded making some useful tools, like NPC generators, saying that you couldn't even use the character creation rules as computer code, and I'm wondering what Mongoose's terms are in relation to that.
Now come the actual nit-picky questions about the actual license:
1) The term "books" is used throughout the RuneQuest Logo License, rather than something more generic, such as "product." Does this mean that Mongoose is specifically forbidding things like software, miniatures, etc.? Or is that merely there just for ease of reading?
2) The RuneQuest Logo License has a somewhat similar provision as the WotC d20 license which restricts some aspects of character creation:
If you are allowed to create software under the license, does this mean that software cannot generate characteristics? Or does "detail" here simply mean "make known to the player how it is done?"
The reason I ask is because the WotC d20 license had a similar provision that precluded making some useful tools, like NPC generators, saying that you couldn't even use the character creation rules as computer code, and I'm wondering what Mongoose's terms are in relation to that.
Nephilim said:
I would guess they are expressly doing just that. They themselves don't have a licence for using the RQ logo on anything except what their specific deal covers (and it probably doesn't cover software).
On the miniatures side, I would likewise imagine they do not want anyone creating logoed RQ minis as it would compete with rather than enhance their own product.
Nephilim said:
The licence as I read it does not allow you to produce software, I think you would have to obtain such a licence direct from Issaries who still own the RuneQuest name and logo trademarks.
What you could do is make a character generator program that doesn't use the RuneQuest name or logo and just the OGL material (don't forget to include the OGL and amend section 15, obviously), and thus get over the characteristic problem as well. Quite how you indicate compatibility without using the trademarks is another matter altogether...
iamtim said:
Although that doesn't stop someone from contacting them with a good idea. I suspect that if someone had an MRQ character generation program or a a MRQ computer RPG with awesome game play and graphics they folks at Mongoose would at least be willing to talk. MAybe Issaries might need to be called in, but it shouldn't be tough to convience a buch of gamers. KoDP got made.
mthomason said:
Yeah, that's pretty much how I read it, too.
It's just that electronic publishing blurs the line a bit about what constitutes a "book." For instance, if I make a fairly standard "book" about a campaign setting as a PDF or HTML document, but then allow some Javascripting in it to, say, allow sorting the armor tables alphabetically or by armor value or by hit location, is it still a "book?"
mthomason said:
Yeah, I'm thinking that if this would be the way to go. I'm not a lawyer, so I should probably stick to the simplest license scheme available.
mthomason said:
Couldn't you just say that it's compatible with the RuneQuest SRD? Or am I missing something?
Nephilim said:
Under the terms of the OGL, the name "RuneQuest" is protected as Product Identity.
Outside of the OGL, it is a trademark of Issaries. You couldn't use it in a commercial venture without their permission (or Mongoose's permission through the Logo Licence which also allows you to use it in a limited way)
You could probably get away with saying "RQ"
