>> I have a question about writing shareware for D20 system.
> My advice is to not write shareware, but to write Open Source software.
Quite possible it will be open source. (IMHO these two are not completely mutually
exclusive) But
before committing to exact schema I just want to make sure its possible to create this
software
according to current D20 policies in first place. ( Or Open Source software will be by
default
acceptable under D20STLG & OGL? )
> > Under such definition falls about 99% of all software and non-static
> websites. Web page what creates
> > NPC name (indication of result) from race & class (user input) from a
> table (rules) using random
> > generator (success or failure)
> There's no success or failure in a random number generated to index a table.
Thanks! That's valuable clarification. most likely all functionality this software
will have is
indexing D20 tables based on die rolls.
> > But we can still use OGC of D20 without worrying about D20STLG, just by
> OGL, right?
>
> Yes. The only issue you'll have to resolve is how to comply with the terms
> of the OGL which limit your ability to restrict redistribution of OGC.
If D20 OGC and software OGC is stored as data files in some open text-based format
(most likely XML)
and clearly marked as such - won't it do the trick? Software itself is PI but can work
only with
open-source OGC data - which could be freely distributed, exchanged between users,
modified, etc.
Ideally, I was hoping, as D20 is growing it will come to state where there is a
community-shared
pool of OGC data stored in open XML-based formats. Various software developers may
provide different
interfaces/applications to process or display that data sharing same formats and open
interfaces.
For example you can get NPC & NPC Treasure generator from vendor A, then plug-in NPC
Treasure
generator from vendor B. Vendor A NPC will appear with Vendor B treasures, which could
be loaded by
handheld software from Vendor C to help during the playtime, or displayed on the PC
using software
from vendor D, etc... This could lead to very interesting development in
computer-assisted table
RPG, where every DM basically can configure his own RPG-system using various available
computer OGC
resources / modules without committing to formats and proprietary decisions from a
single software
vendor...
> > So, I can use D20 OGC to write the software, but I CAN'T tell anyone this
> software is compatible with D20.
> Yup.
Thank you Ryan, this was very enlightening.
- Max
