Forgotten realms Data?
 

Is there a pre-made pack, either pro or community, for FR world data for Realmworks?

Ideally it would reflect the 5E timeframe....

No. People can't share that due to Copy right reasons.

Why is this different from the Hero Lab community pack?

Under US law mechanics cannot be copyright. The Hero Lab content is basically all mechanical and any descriptions have been reworded by the community.

Rewording entire stories and campaign data is a whole different ball game.

Mechanics can definitely be copyrighted.

WotC has chosen to release some elements of 3.5, 4e and 5e under the OGL. This has never included any of the Wotc published settings, a handful of monsters (beholders, umber hulks, githyankis, githzerai and maybe a few others) and a few others. You can find the precise details in the OGL's.

Do you have anything to clarify that? Because as a statement in itself, that is wrong.

https://www.mcvuk.com/business/game-...d-by-copyright

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/493...t-trademarks-a

You can copyright your rules as written, but if someone rewords them and makes the exact same game, you are out of luck.

Just because some idiot judge ruled that way doesn't change things. Someone with deep enough pockets will eventually take that to an appellate court and get the ruling fixed. It is obviously copyright material.

This is exactly like the time some other idiot judge ruled that software owners needed to own three licenses for their software. One for the copy on the original media, one on the hard disk and one for the software running in RAM or they were in violation of copyright. That got overturned.

Those were just examples. I wasn't pointing exclusively to those.

Copyright is of the expression of an idea, not of the idea itself.

Can you point to the "things" that don't change, because everything I've ever read says different that you.

The exact text is obviously copyrighted. The rules themselves may need to be patented but I know quite a lot about IP law and the usual issue in arguing over infringement is the judge and/or the jury simply doesn't understand or care enough about the subject matter to make an intelligent decision, see moronic ruling on needing 3 licenses for software above.

In previous cases, back in the early days of RPG's, many games blatantly ripped off D&D's basic mechanics. TSR simply sent off cease and desist letters and the companies involved most closed up shop. Some tried to change their systems but none ever actually tried to challenge whether TSR owned the D&D system. The idea that someone else could take the PHB and the DMG reword them and release them under new titles is simply so blatantly absurd as to be laughable and if you try I guarantee you that Hasbro will crush you

The concepts of patent, copyright and trademark are all intertwined, and the power of a large corporation to use money and legal hammers to force smaller entities to give in regardless of who is actually correct is not in doubt.

All I said was that you can't copyright mechanics. *And you can't*. I wasn't giving a detailed lecture on intellectual property. If you're going to discuss this type of thing you need to get details correct. Good grief.



Look at us, squabbling amongst ourselves just to keep busy while LWD completely ignores us.