I have been working on a d20 based rule set for about one and a half years now, and while I have only used and talked about it with my friends I always wondered if I would be able to publish the rule set and have it act as its own "edition" of D&D. By edition I don't mean it is directly inline with the progression of D&D 5e. As it stands it takes influences from D&D editions like pathfinder and 5e, but nevertheless I have some aspects that I feel are my own design. It even has a baby bestiary to go along with it (only about 45 entries in it as of now). It's still a total work in progress but I hope that at some point I could consider it finished, and after that I would like to do something with it. Basically what I am asking is is what I am doing legal, and if not how can I make it legal?
To know if is legal, and therefore viable for publishing in any form, you'd need to make sure no copyrighted information is present in it (therefore no information specifically outside the SDR basic rules).
I would advise you to have a look at the DM's Guildthat is the current official portal for all D&D fan-made content in the form of "manuals" of "modules". There you can also find guidelines on what kind of material is accepted and what would be considered inappropriate.
Here on DDB i am afraid a Homebrew ruleset would be hard first to create, and second to be used, as this website is more intended towards the core ruleset of 5ed, with option for the users to add to it without fundamentally changing any of the core rules. But who knows, maybe in the future we'll be able to integrate even more complex house rules into DDB :)
Hope this can help, and please do share your ideas if you'd like, and let us know if/when you publish them on the DM's Guild :)
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Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games
Basically what I am asking is is what I am doing legal, and if not how can I make it legal?
Hard to say if what you are doing is legal because I have not seen the details, nor am I a lawyer. But as for making what you are doing legal, there are two clear options which will work if done properly: Make your game following the OGL, or acquire the services of a lawyer (preferably with a specialty in intellectual property and/or copyright law).
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I have been working on a d20 based rule set for about one and a half years now, and while I have only used and talked about it with my friends I always wondered if I would be able to publish the rule set and have it act as its own "edition" of D&D. By edition I don't mean it is directly inline with the progression of D&D 5e. As it stands it takes influences from D&D editions like pathfinder and 5e, but nevertheless I have some aspects that I feel are my own design. It even has a baby bestiary to go along with it (only about 45 entries in it as of now). It's still a total work in progress but I hope that at some point I could consider it finished, and after that I would like to do something with it. Basically what I am asking is is what I am doing legal, and if not how can I make it legal?
To know if is legal, and therefore viable for publishing in any form, you'd need to make sure no copyrighted information is present in it (therefore no information specifically outside the SDR basic rules).
I would advise you to have a look at the DM's Guild that is the current official portal for all D&D fan-made content in the form of "manuals" of "modules". There you can also find guidelines on what kind of material is accepted and what would be considered inappropriate.
Here on DDB i am afraid a Homebrew ruleset would be hard first to create, and second to be used, as this website is more intended towards the core ruleset of 5ed, with option for the users to add to it without fundamentally changing any of the core rules. But who knows, maybe in the future we'll be able to integrate even more complex house rules into DDB :)
Hope this can help, and please do share your ideas if you'd like, and let us know if/when you publish them on the DM's Guild :)
Born in Italy, moved a bunch, living in Spain, my heart always belonged to Roleplaying Games