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Post by Hexenritter Verlag on Dec 9, 2019 22:54:36 GMT -5
While I have musing upon the two settings that I am working on, I started thinking about the “rules” that I would use to run them. I know that I will be using OD&D in some fashion. Do I use the core 3LBBs RAW or with elements from Chainmail or a retro-clone like Delving Deeper or another? What house-rules will I use?
I decided that I would use OD&D with Chainmail elements, plus some house-rules that fit the settings. This decision led me to contemplate the idea of developing my own custom OD&D system and use it to help give me something to learn desktop publishing and graphic design skills with. I don’t plan to sell it but more to have a example of my work and a tangible book for reference at the table.
My goal is to fuse OD&D 3LBBs with elements of Chainmail in a fashion that appeals to my gaming style and have it in a well organized and visually appealing book. Plus I want to develop a custom landscape style Referee Screen. I also want to create an illustrated character sheet for it.
I hope to run games at local and regional shops and small regional Cons if I can do so. If people enjoy the rules and want to run the game I might then consider publishing them and selling them. So this is a short term goal for now. What I need to do first is decide what elements from Chainmail I want to fuse into my version of OD&D and what house rules that I might include.
So this thread is going to contain my musings and I would love to have the input from my Murkhill family on what you think about the project and the various house-rules and Chainmail elements that I may incorporate into my rules.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Dec 9, 2019 23:41:53 GMT -5
Go for it! Pick and choose the elements you want no matter where they come from, do it up right to suit yourself. That is the essence of old school. If you have view to publish and sell at some point. Then you should work within the OGL or do such a complete re-write that you do not need it. (Before you sell it, you should have it vetted by an IP lawyer, especially with a complete rewrite, but also to be sure you are following the OGL in the first case).
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Post by Hexenritter Verlag on Dec 10, 2019 11:29:22 GMT -5
If I ever do decide to publish and sell it, I will use the OGL and hire a IP lawyer to vet it to make sure it passes legal muster and a professional editor to get it to publishable form. That said, that is a very unlikely scenario; I would have to be convinced that their was a demand for it big enough to warrant the hiring of a IP lawyer and editor to make it happen.
What I do know for sure is that I want to get printed a sturdy digest hard cover for reading and quality spiral bound digest copy for table use. But first I have to actually sift through the 3LBBs and Chainmail to figure out what I want to use and what I will need to modify to fit my needs at the table.
Once that is done I will begin posting my musings here to discuss with you fine folks. Hopefully I can get some feedback to assist me troubleshoot this project. Then once I am happy with the rules I can move onto learning skills needed to turn the finished rules into a proper print ready document to get the personal use books published including art for it.
So hopefully I will have read through the 3LBBs and Chainmail by tonight so that I can start posting my musings on the rules within the next few days. This project will also likely impact my development on my two settings and help me decide which of them to focus on going forward, as I started this project in part to develop the house-rules needed to run my campaigns in one of the settings.
What I don’t want to do is make the rules unrecognizable as a version of OD&D. I may modify things like how HP is called and how it is explained in text and game terms (as one example). But I still want a fan of OD&D who reads the book and plays in a campaign that I run with it; to say, “interesting take on OD&D/Chainmail”. So any changes will be very minor tweaks not radical changes that make it a completely different game. It has to stay true to OD&D and Chainmail or I have failed at my projects goal.
One important clarification: This project is not an attempt at creating some mythical OD&D using Chainmail “as it was meant to be played” exercise. It is just a attempt to create a playable fusion of the two that fits my refereeing style and give me a fun focus to help me develop new skills; as it is easier for me to learn skills if I have something to apply them to that I am passionate about.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Dec 10, 2019 16:00:09 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to it.
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Post by hengest on Dec 10, 2019 19:00:03 GMT -5
Would love to see this. Love. Good luck.
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Post by lazylitch on Jan 9, 2020 12:19:11 GMT -5
Sounds great, and your instinct to run it and see how popular it is before making it is really good
there is a huge amount of people who skip that
Also by the way I published two osr books in print for profit, and never hired a lawyer and everything was grand,
There is some blog posts about tips for legal traps to avoid, its not as much of a maze of expertise as you might imagine
In case that helps remove any mental blocks you might have about that
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 9, 2020 14:04:44 GMT -5
Sounds great, and your instinct to run it and see how popular it is before making it is really good there is a huge amount of people who skip that Also by the way I published two osr books in print for profit, and never hired a lawyer and everything was grand, There is some blog posts about tips for legal traps to avoid, its not as much of a maze of expertise as you might imagine In case that helps remove any mental blocks you might have about that Do you have links to the blog posts you mention? That would be a good resource post. |
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Post by lazylitch on Jan 9, 2020 14:55:35 GMT -5
Sounds great, and your instinct to run it and see how popular it is before making it is really good there is a huge amount of people who skip that Also by the way I published two osr books in print for profit, and never hired a lawyer and everything was grand, There is some blog posts about tips for legal traps to avoid, its not as much of a maze of expertise as you might imagine In case that helps remove any mental blocks you might have about that Do you have links to the blog posts you mention? That would be a good resource post. Yeah sure
"Basic Fantasy" is an interesting de-centralized rpg project using OGL that anyone can contribute too www.basicfantasy.org/They even physically publish their collaboratively made books at cost - its like 4 or 5 bucks on amazon to buy one! They have forums were you could ask legal questions.
In general publishing stuff using an existing rule system or setting that is copyrighted (but for profit) is tricky and you would maybe want a lawyer, or a statement from whoever made the thing (like the swords and wizardry thing above outlining what the rules are to not get sued). But if you making your own setting, rule system, bestiary etc its a fair bit easier.
There is also rule systems and content which has creative commons or no copyright
A bunch of people on the internet mention basically this "but one thing remains clear: you cannot copyright game rules. You can copyright their presentation, the associated artwork, and the accompanying text, but not the rules themselves:" although it is possible to patent game rules, thats kinda rare
If you make a publisher account on drivethru, you get access to a publishers discord server, were there are people who would probably know much more about this There is also several very active OSR discord servers were there is people who probably are legal nerds who could help
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 9, 2020 15:12:23 GMT -5
Thank you, that is a great collection of info.
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Post by Hexenritter Verlag on Jan 20, 2020 23:27:10 GMT -5
Sounds great, and your instinct to run it and see how popular it is before making it is really good there is a huge amount of people who skip that Also by the way I published two osr books in print for profit, and never hired a lawyer and everything was grand, There is some blog posts about tips for legal traps to avoid, its not as much of a maze of expertise as you might imagine In case that helps remove any mental blocks you might have about that Thanks lazylitch. This is more for my use to give learning publishing graphic design skills a focus that I enjoy. That said after running it at game shops, cons and local libraries and community centers and people want a print version then I will sell it. I will likely crowdfund it if I get to that stage to do a deluxe version kind of how Gavin did with OSE. |
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Post by lazylitch on Jan 30, 2020 14:25:43 GMT -5
Ebon Hearted Soul that sounds like a solid plan, and that makes sense about the learning graphic design
Yeah Gavins OSE is amazing , I love everything he does tbh
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