Licensing

OpenQuest SRD under the terms of the Creative Commons

I’ve made available the mechanics, magic systems, and creatures of OpenQuest for use in third-party publishers’ works, even commercially, this text-only document known as the OpenQuest System Resource Document under the Creative Commons license.

First, go to the Creative Commons website and familiarise yourself with how Creative Commons licenses work.

https://creativecommons.org/

Copying

The first right you have under the Creative Commons Attribution license is to make a straight-up copy of the SRD. If you do this, remember to include the original copyright notice found in those documents, and don’t add any copy protection.

Translations

A translation counts as a new work, so the next section will tell you everything you need to know about that.

Creating New Works

You have the right to create new works of any kind derived from the SRDs.

Licensing your Derived Work

No matter what type of license you decide to release your work under, you must include the Attribution Notice (see below).  This tells people that you used the OpenQuest SRD and that I permitted you to do so.

After that, you can use whatever license for your, you want.

  • You can license it under the CC yourself.
  • Or some form of Open Gaming License (where you can give attribution in the relevant section 15 copyright declaration as OpenQuest, D101 Games, Author Newt Newport with Paul Mitchener, in addition to the required CC declaration).
  • Or you can declare the book in its entirety to be your copyright.

Whatever you choose, you must include the following Attribution Notice.

Attribution Notice

To use, cut and paste this Attribution Notice and put it in the Legal section under your copyright declarations.

This work is based on the OpenQuest System Resource Document (found at https://openquestrpg.com/srd), a D101 Games product developed, authored by Newt Newport with Paul Mitchener. OpenQuest System Resource Document © 2021 by Newt Newport with Paul Mitchener is licensed under Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional Requirements

Please be aware of, and adhere to, the following requirements.

  1. Use only text from the OpenQuest Systems Resource Document.
  2. Do not use my trademark “OpenQuest” outside the license text.
  3. You may not use OpenQuest’s logo on your work.
  4. Do not use Intellectual Property that you do not own without written permission of the owner.

Notes about the Additional Requirements

These additional requirements are covered by copyright law anyway, but I’m highlighting them, so everyone knows.

  1. Use only text from the OpenQuest Systems Resource Document. Everything in the main rulebook, including its supplements, is my copyright which you may not use. This is important because some people assume that the text, layout, and art are available and free to use. It’s not. Also, follow-up supplements, adventures and even games I release using OpenQuest as a system are not released under the CC. If I decide to make additional content from future books, I’ll release a separate SRD for that book and make it available via openquestrpg.com/srd. When creating your game, adventure, or article, refer to the SRD. Don’t refer to or use the main rulebook, even by page number references.
  2. Do not use my trademark “OpenQuest” outside the license text. The trademark is how I identify official OpenQuest products. Customers can trust that such products meet the quality they expect from me.

You can’t use the name OpenQuest or your game name/subtitle/cover dress/or text.

  1. You may not use OpenQuest’s logo on your work. The Logo, by my good friend John Ossoway, I paid for all rights to use. Meaning I hold the rights to its usage. No one else is allowed to use it. So, don’t.

Also, don’t create an OpenQuest Logo or variant (such as “Compatible with OpenQuest”).

If you want to indicate compatibility with OpenQuest, I’ve created a “Made with OpenQuest” logo, which can be downloaded from the online SRD and is included in the zip version downloadable from the D101 Games store.

Made With OQ Logo, use this on your OpenQuest SRD based works.

Overall, requirements 2 & 3 protect me and my audience from Third Party Publishers creating works using my trademarks that look like official OpenQuest releases.

  1. Do not use Intellectual Property that you do not own without written permission of the owner. So, for example, if you wanted to use the Empire of Gatan as the basis of your adventure, you would have to get my permission in writing. This is as much to protect you as it is to me. Large profitable IP Holders employ teams of lawyers who do regular web searches and aggressively prosecute anyone who uses their client’s IP.

Historical notes

OpenQuest previously used Wizards of the Coast’s Open Gaming License v1.0a (OGL 1.0a) to allow content creators (aka Third-Party Publishers) to publish print and electronic products. Given the uncertainty at the time of writing of the continuing existence of that license and the breakdown in trust in the license surrounding the online discussion surrounding its replacement, I’ve decided to move away from it and use the Creative Commons License (CC for short).   Note that the OGL version included the Additional Requirements in the license declarations.

Further Support

I have a discord channel on my OpenQuest server to discuss the OpenQuest SRD. See d101games.com for a link to the server.

Or email me: newt@d101games.com

Good Luck!

Although some of the above sounds a bit ominous in tone, because I’m discussing legalities and want to clarify how to use the SRD, I hope people use the SRD to produce their own content.

So, all the best, and let me know what you are working on.

 

Enjoy!

;O) Newt

 

OpenQuest Systems Resource Document

Version 2.  09.03.2023

Please report any issues with the SRD to newt@d101games.com