There are actually two FAQ's here.  The first deals with the Open RPG Rules Project, and the second answers questions about the Open RPG Worlds Project.

Open RPG Rules FAQ v. 1.1 What is the Open RPG Rules Project? The Open RPG Rules Project was started by two gamers who were discouraged by the economic ebb and flow of the gaming industry.  As they watched the publishers of their favorite role-playing games go out of business or simply drop their product lines, the two realized there must be a better way to keep their favorite games alive. Realizing that in order for this to happen, reliance on commercial ventures had to be reduced, Norm Fenlason and James Pearson created the Open RPG Rules Project with the goal of creating a freely available, standard set of generic rules that could be used for nearly any role-playing game. These rules have to be free of license-based reprisals and prevention of creative material falling into a licensed black hole. What do you mean FREELY AVAILABLE?  What's the catch? There is no catch.  The Open RPG Rules were designed to be free!  This does not mean that they are not copyrighted!  Nor does it mean that you cannot charge for products supporting it. It simply means that we are allowing you, or anyone, to freely use, add to, or even modify our basic rule system, without charging you a royalty of any sort.  As long as you follow the guidelines laid out in the License, you can pretty much do what you want with the rules.  This is what we mean by "open." What exactly is an "Open" License? An Open License is one that allows our rules to be freely distributed, and even sold without charging you a royalty to do it.  There are, of course, some procedures you must follow, but we think you'll find them extremely flexible and easy to work with.  This was, after all, one of our goals when we began this project. The license we have chosen to release under is the Open Software Foundation's GNU Free Documentation License. You mean I can use your rules for whatever I want? You bet you can use our rules for whatever you want!  That's the whole point.  As long as you follow the guidelines laid out in the License, you can, and are encouraged, to create your own modified versions of our rules, adapt your favorite games, and even create new role-playing games based on the Open RPG Rules.  As a matter of fact, we want to know about your changes!  Be sure to send us a copy and we'll post it here on our website to show off to the world!  You can even sell them commercially, but be sure you understand the license!  What's so important about this license? First, the Open RPG Rules are copyrighted.  That means that the authors truly own the work, just like a band owns the music they record.  However, the license gives you certain rights.  In many cases, like music, you have to pay for a license to listen to and own a copy of a recording.  The GNU Free Documentation License gives you the right to copy, and even reproduce the Open RPG Rules without being charged!  It also allows you to change and even add or delete them, providing you follow the guidelines in the license.  Imagine being able to write a CD with songs from Metallica, adding a few from your garage band, selling it, and not being sued! The guidelines include certain simple rules such as always including our copyright notice, always including a copy of the license, and exactly what you can and cannot change. What happens to my work if I create something based on the Open RPG Rules? This is where the license comes in.  If you create a modified work, based on the Open RPG Rules, then you are the copyright holder for anything uniquely yours.  Of course, we still hold the copyright for the original rules.  You are free to do pretty much whatever you want with your work.  However, you are required to pass along the same license that we have provided to you.  This means that someone else may come along and freely distribute your version of the Open RPG Rules, or even create a modification of your version. It even means that someone else can sell your work as long as the rules of the license are met, you will be credited and you can tell buyers where they can get it free! It's up to you. What about commercial applications and use? The license does not prohibit commercial use. The GNU Free Documentation License is clear on that and is one of the reasons we chose it. We are not "anti-commercial," in fact we encourage commercial interests to develop products for and with the Open RPG Rules and Open RPG Worlds. The transparent version the license requires, that is the one that others under the license can modify, does not have to be a slick production. There will still be customers willing to pay for a slick production, believe me. And, there is also the non-Internet market that does not have access to any transparent versions. Check the terms of the license, they are quite liberal! What's the point of making this all "open" and free? The point of making the Open RPG Rules open and free is to ensure that role-playing games continue to survive, even if game companies go under or cease publishing your favorite game.  By creating our own, free rules we can publish our own adventures, scenarios, game interpretations, rule crossovers, and more.

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Open RPG Worlds FAQ v. 1.0 What is the Open RPG Worlds Project? Slightly different from the Open RPG Rules Project, the Open RPG Worlds project strives to bring high quality, generic content to roleplayers.  This content is presented in a non-game-specific format so that it may be easily and quickly adapted to any roleplaying system.  This project includes scenarios, world settings, and even fiction. How does the Open License apply to the Open RPG Worlds Project? Just like the Open RPG Rules project, all submissions to Worlds must follow the GNU Open Documentation License.  This means that your submissions must be made freely available and usable by other people, without charging them a royalty. What exactly do you mean by "generic"? Submissions to the Open Worlds Project must follow the submission guidelines we've outline.  This ensures that the documents are created without using any trademarked or copyrighted information.  It also provides that you use descriptive terminology to describe things that would be interpreted by a roleplaying game's rule system.  For example, you would want  to describe a task as being "Easy" or "Difficult" as opposed to "18 or over on 1d20."  This allows users of all game systems to quickly adapt the information to whatever rules they like. Can I submit a work based on a TV show, book, or movie? Well, no... and yes.  Remember that the key to this project is to provide "generic" settings and scenarios and to avoid the trappings of commercial requirements.  This means that while you may draw inspiration from any source, you cannot plagiarize or use copyrighted material or trademarked names.  You might, for example, describe a conspiracy based setting that  revolves around the FBI.  However, you could not use the names of characters appearing in other works of fiction or TV shows.  You should also avoid the temptation to create even a close likeness.  For example, your conspiracy-based FBI game should probably not contain a character that perpetually smokes or a description of an alien creature that looks like a black liquid substance. What about commercial applications and use? The license does not prohibit commercial use. The GNU Free Documentation License is clear on that and is one of the reasons we chose it. We are not "anti-commercial," in fact we encourage commercial interests to develop products for and with the Open RPG Rules and Open RPG Worlds. The transparent version the license requires, that is the one that others under the license can modify, does not have to be a slick production. There will still be customers willing to pay for a slick production, believe me. And, there is also the non-Internet market that does not have access to any transparent versions. Check the terms of the license, they are quite liberal! Do you accept all submissions? We accept submissions based on our guidelines.  If you've followed them, there should be no reason we won't accept your submission and post it on our website. What do you pay? Well, nothing - that's part of the point.

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