playing from MRSD documents and legality of pdfs - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

playing from MRSD documents and legality of pdfs

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
malbur
Feb 22, 2009 14:50:52 Hey, I haven't posted in a long time but am interested in starting a d20 modern campaign but I don't own any of the books. When I did play, i borrowed other people's books and now I can't find them in any of the stores I frequent.

Anyways, this might be a stupid question (or maybe I just fail at searching, sorry if that's the case)... but is it possible to play d20 modern completely from the MRSD files? Also (this may also be a dumb question) what is the legality of pdfs of the core rulebook? I would assume that is highly illegal still but I'm just curious because it is currently out of print and therefore very difficult to find copies of the books. As I said, I've only got the MRSD files but am just curious about the legal aspect. Thanks very much for any help!
#2
atanakar
Feb 22, 2009 15:09:33 The legal way to go about it : Ebay or Amazon :P
#3
TheRealOrion
Feb 22, 2009 15:35:12 Standard speech about copyright:

Downloading files is not illegal unless you're (a) doing it in huge volume and (b) making money off of it. If you choose to download scanned pdf's (and I'm not saying you should!), you are merely leaving yourself open to being sued. That's all. Copyright is a civil matter, not a criminal matter. In no way does it qualify as "theft," despite what publishers and producers would like you to believe. Legally, it's called "copyright infringement." Logically, it's impossible to steal something that's non-rivalrous (i.e., you and I can both read copies of the same book without bothering each other).

Morally, you get into a grey area because the morality of it depends entirely on what you think the function of copyright is, and that's not a simple matter. In American law, it's expressly not about protecting the rights of artists but instead about encouraging the "useful arts" (including technological invention) through legislation, and therefore corporations can hold them. It's not about creativity, in that case. In the Francophone droit d'auteur concept of copyright, the human(s) who create(s) the material are legally linked to their work, and the copyright laws are about protecting that sacred link.

Now, the real question: you can run a game on the SRDs just fine, but you can't give out XP because Wizards (quite shrewdly!) prints that part of the game only in the books, which means that everyone but the GM can just use the SRDs. Therefore, I echo the above recommendation: ebay, Amazon, Craig's List, etc. There are still a lot of copies floating around out there.

Also, here's a pretty good MSRD site that I use. And here is a really good D&D site, just in case, like me, you prefer 3.5 rules to d20M rules, in the places where they differ.
#4
malbur
Feb 22, 2009 16:10:23 Ok, so if the xp isn't there, can i substitute the XP found in the D&D 3.5 books? I don't seen why not as it is the same structure i believe...
#5
TheRealOrion
Feb 22, 2009 22:04:25 I think the numbers are slightly different, because the danger levels in d20M are different. d20M is, by necessity, a little less deadly. Also, d20M contains rules regarding explosives and such. That being said... sure, yeah, you can use the D&D XP tables. They're probably close enough. (Correct me if I'm wrong?)
#6
rhialto
Feb 23, 2009 1:07:22 If you have the D&D 3.0/3.5 edition PHB, pretty much all the information that is missing from the MSRD that you'd need to run a game is in there. Granted, the rules aren't exactly the same, but oly a rules lawyer would notice or care.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 malbur Feb 22, 2009 14:50:52	Hey, I haven't posted in a long time but am interested in starting a d20 modern campaign but I don't own any of the books. When I did play, i borrowed other people's books and now I can't find them in any of the stores I frequent. Anyways, this might be a stupid question (or maybe I just fail at searching, sorry if that's the case)... but is it possible to play d20 modern completely from the MRSD files? Also (this may also be a dumb question) what is the legality of pdfs of the core rulebook? I would assume that is highly illegal still but I'm just curious because it is currently out of print and therefore very difficult to find copies of the books. As I said, I've only got the MRSD files but am just curious about the legal aspect. Thanks very much for any help!
#2 atanakar Feb 22, 2009 15:09:33	The legal way to go about it : Ebay or Amazon :P
#3 TheRealOrion Feb 22, 2009 15:35:12	Standard speech about copyright: Downloading files is not illegal unless you're (a) doing it in huge volume and (b) making money off of it. If you choose to download scanned pdf's (and I'm not saying you should!), you are merely leaving yourself open to being sued. That's all. Copyright is a civil matter, not a criminal matter. In no way does it qualify as "theft," despite what publishers and producers would like you to believe. Legally, it's called "copyright infringement." Logically, it's impossible to steal something that's non-rivalrous (i.e., you and I can both read copies of the same book without bothering each other). Morally, you get into a grey area because the morality of it depends entirely on what you think the function of copyright is, and that's not a simple matter. In American law, it's expressly not about protecting the rights of artists but instead about encouraging the "useful arts" (including technological invention) through legislation, and therefore corporations can hold them. It's not about creativity, in that case. In the Francophone droit d'auteur concept of copyright, the human(s) who create(s) the material are legally linked to their work, and the copyright laws are about protecting that sacred link. Now, the real question: you can run a game on the SRDs just fine, but you can't give out XP because Wizards (quite shrewdly!) prints that part of the game only in the books, which means that everyone but the GM can just use the SRDs. Therefore, I echo the above recommendation: ebay, Amazon, Craig's List, etc. There are still a lot of copies floating around out there. Also, here's a pretty good MSRD site that I use. And here is a really good D&D site, just in case, like me, you prefer 3.5 rules to d20M rules, in the places where they differ.
#4 malbur Feb 22, 2009 16:10:23	Ok, so if the xp isn't there, can i substitute the XP found in the D&D 3.5 books? I don't seen why not as it is the same structure i believe...
#5 TheRealOrion Feb 22, 2009 22:04:25	I think the numbers are slightly different, because the danger levels in d20M are different. d20M is, by necessity, a little less deadly. Also, d20M contains rules regarding explosives and such. That being said... sure, yeah, you can use the D&D XP tables. They're probably close enough. (Correct me if I'm wrong?)
#6 rhialto Feb 23, 2009 1:07:22	If you have the D&D 3.0/3.5 edition PHB, pretty much all the information that is missing from the MSRD that you'd need to run a game is in there. Granted, the rules aren't exactly the same, but oly a rules lawyer would notice or care.