SRD purpose

[Polaris]

Greetings,

More and more gaming companies seem to be coming out with SRDs (System Resource Document?) for their products. What is the purpose of such a document?

Polaris

[Pteryx]

A System Reference Document is used for "open" games to define just what parts of the system are open for use by anyone. Third parties can use the information released in an SRD to produce their own products which, hopefully, will thus be compatible with yours.

It's a risk, particularly for small companies, but can help bolster support for your system. -- Pteryx