I've just finished reading 'Perdido Street Station' by China Mieville and was taken aback by how stunningly original his fictional world was. It just seemed to me that the races, characters, settings and technologies in his book would make a fantastic RPG or RTS based game. So that go me thinking. There were a couple of characters that I would like to use in a game I'm developing and wondered if it was OK to do this? For instance I probably couldn't get away with using all the novels character names and places, but could I get away with using the images of the characters? What I mean by this is, in the book for example, there is a creature called a slake moth. From the books descriptions and in my mind, it looks like a cross between a bat and a pterodactyl. When the slake moth opens it wings, wild colours form and hypnotize any creature looking at them. The slake moth then uses its tongue to suck out the ‘life force’ from the victims mouth. Not that I’m thinking of using the slake moth in my game, but the question is, could I? Could I use this creature and any others found in novels, in my games?

No, if it is a creation of the author then it is protected by copyright. If it is a mythical creature they have used in their book then it is public domain and can be used. Of course you could create a very similar creature with a different name. Then you would be OK.

The difference is whether you are using the actual characters from his stories, or if you are basing your characters and setting on his - and how closely they relate.

If you have a very similar world, in a very similar time setting, and you call your creature a "klase moth" and describe it as being a cross between a flying squirrel and a pteradon...it is very, very likely someone will note the similarities and you may find yourself in a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

On the other hand, if you have a unique world design that happens to have a creature you call a "klase", and describe it as a cross between a flying reptile and a giant sloth...you're not infringing.

It's a combination of how closely you copy someone else's work and the context you place it in. That's the difference between being inspired by another's designs and copying another's work.