----- Original Message ----- From: "Ryan S. Dancey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 12:33 PM Subject: RE: [Ogf-l] If Thoughts Could Kill - Illithid reference violation?
> > You could equally theorize that since none of the abberations in the book are humanoid, an abberation >cannot< be >humanoid. (Which would also be false, but does proceed from the same logic.) In fact, were I to find myself in the witness >box, that's exactly what I'd argue: Given the description of a creature as an "abberation", you should reasonably expect a >nonhuman monsterous creature as a result. "Black-boxing" the "Mind Flayer" should give you some kind of alien >monster, rather than the D&D Illithid. > > > However, I think it would be recognizably the same creature. > > If it was a octopus-headed humanoid, I'd call it infringing. > > Ryan But all of the above applies irrespective of whether or not someone's using the name Illithid or Mind Flayer to refer to the creature. It sounds like: A) If a non-WotC publisher includes a mind flayer in their book, does not use the word illithid, and illustrates it with a picture that looks like a human with Cthulhu's head then they're infringing. B) If a non-WotC publisher includes a mind flayer in their book, calls it an illithid, and illustrates it with a picture of a medium-size spider thing with tentacles dangling from beneath it and has it belong to a Victorian rigidly class-structured society they'd be okay. Steven Palmer Peterson www.Second-World-Simulations.com _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
