Jeff

A game involving Rome occupying Gaul or Britain is not a problem AT ALL. First off, the Lunar Empire is not the Roman Empire. Beyond both being iempires n an "ancient world" they don't really have that many resemblances - not in history, not in institutions, not in religion, not in costume, and the list goes on. Nor are the Orlanthi Gauls or Britains. See previous point. And the Roman Empire really existed. If we wanted to block off specific historical settings, we could have. But we didn't. Jeff

Are you using "trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, place names, etc.), plots, story elements, locations, characters, artwork, or trade dress" from Stormbringer? Then it is a problem. Don't name your character Elric or Yrkoon, don't set it in Melnibone, don't have it be around the Eternal Champion, etc. Same deal with the Cthulhu Mythos. Don't have Cthulhu or Deep Ones in your game. Or Storm Bull and Orlanth. This stuff isn't rocket scientist and if you have ever worked under a regular license, this shouldn't be that hard. If you haven't but want to publish something, ASK US. Are you wanting to use a rank based magic system based on a combination of INT+POW? No problem. That's not Prohibited Content.

I don't know how many times I need to say this - if you want to build a game using the BRP engine and advertise it as using BRP, now you can without paying royalties to us. Given that we get regular requests from actual publishers for just that there is clearly an actual demand for what we have just released. And given that the actual publishers have responded positively towards this, I don't see any need to change the license to satisfy armchair commentators or random dudes on Twitter. We are happy to continue to provide clarification on our FAQ though.

Of course it could. Just don't make it substantially the same as RQ's battle magic or spirit magic. Give it different durations, ranges, etc., come up with a different spell list (instead of RQ's) with different effects, and tailor it to your Bronze Age fantasy. And to be honest, that is the same thing we would do if we were doing a historical Bronze Age game. And if your Bronze Age setting is based on say Gilgamesh or Troy, it is safe. If on the other hand, it is based on a world with a moon worshiping empire that is at war with a storm worshiping mountain kingdom allied with animal riding nomads, well we might have something to say.

I'm sure you can find another source for your cyberpunk treatment of Merlin and Morgan le Fay than Malory. But honestly, this whole discussion smacks of angels on pinheads. Are you planning on publishing a cyberpunk game with Merlin and Morgan le Fay? Heck are you planning on publishing a game based on Malory? Then we are happy to chat. Or are you just raising hypotheticals on an Internet forum for the sake of raising hypotheticals?

Were you planning on publishing this game? In which case, my question is why you put that work in without asking for a license? If you weren't planning on publishing your game, then nothing has changed. We aren't going to send out the game police to stop you from playing a home-brew variant.

Honestly, I am cool if other IP owners do what they want with their IP. Hold onto it like jewels, give it all out, give some of it out, whatever. But honestly, I don't really care what others are doing. If you want to publish a game building off the BRP rules, now you can. If your interest is in creating your own variant of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, or Pendragon, well you can't do that. Seems pretty simple to me.

Cool! To me, magic should always be tightly linked to the assumptions of the setting - which is why there is no default magic system in BRP. But I have no problem with others coming up with something.

It is valid as far as we are concerned - we have no interest in challenging it. But we'd never rely on its legal validity being upheld by a court for anything other than in conjunction with WotC's IP (which it is definitely valid for).

The Cthulhu magic rules are not "substantially similar" to any RQ's sorcery rules. RQ3 and RQG have very distinctive sorcery systems. As the license says: Sorcery: If substantially similar to the sorcery mechanics presented in any version of the RuneQuest rules. Original magic systems not derived from RuneQuest may be called “sorcery.” RQ's Rune magic with its system of sacrificing POW to specific cults to gain a spell effect is even further away from Cthulhu. Spirit magic is essentially a spell list. Come up with your own spells - RQ's list of Bladesharp, Protection, etc. are hardly universal spells. Come up with spells based on reading tomes, or carving symbols into wood, or whatever.

If you charge money for it you would. Or your publisher would and hopefully you would get some of that money. Chaosium takes 0% unless you need a license for Prohibited Content or we are selling it on our site or some other service we are adding.

If you think the Legend OGL is "cast-iron", then you are fooling yourself. Heck, on the face of it, the very license used is invalid. But if you want to use something close to Prohibited Content, then you should probably ask myself, "would the reasonable person think this is a substantially similar mechanic?" And really in most cases it is going to come down to, "did I really just repackage the Passions from RQG and Pendragon for my game - or did I create something uniquely tailored to my game?" If you want to make your game using BRP, you now can - there's nothing stopping you. But if you want to make a thinly veiled retroclone, we didn't open that door. Jeff

Passions, Augments, and Pushing were not mechanics in the BGB. Or indeed of any version of BRP (except Pendragon) until a few years ago. Somehow Chaosium managed to publish Stormbringer, Elric, Ringworld, ElfQuest, Magic World, Nephilim, all of the BRP monographs, and heck, just about everything else, without using them.

It is only restrictive if that is what you are trying to do. And if that is what you want to do, we are not going to facilitate that. If you want to publish your own setting, with scenarios and all that jazz, then go forth with our blessing.

Just don't use what is listed as Prohibited Content - so don't repackage the RQG magic system for example. If you want to play around with the ideas in the BGB, go forward!

You need to include the license material. Beyond that, you can make what use you want with the OGL material - ie, create derivative works of it.

It was always an option there.

Yep, and if you want add a mechanic like that you can.

We don't think that is unreasonable. This is so people can publish their own settings, games, and unique ideas using the BRP system.

Because it is a reference document. The skeleton so to speak. You are welcome to add to it as long as you avoid Prohibited Content. The license explicitly allows derivative works. You can add hit locations, add your own magic system, psychic powers, rock god songs, archetypes, funky mechanics, psychonautical exploration mechanics, alchemy rules, spell systems based on the Sefirot or talking to angels through crystals - whatever, go for it. Just don't try to create a retroclone of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, etc.

If it is not Prohibited Content then you are free to create your own derivative work. It isn't particularly limited unless you are trying to reskin RQG, Cthulhu, or Pendragon.

I think the main difference between a member of the Polaris cult and the Rigsdal cult is that the Rigsdal cultist speaks Heortling, and the Polaris cultist speaks a Pelorian language (and probably has a nicer temple).

Rigsdal is just an Orlanthi name for Polaris/Polestar. This cult among the Orlanthi is minuscule but Polaris is known and recognised. I think Polaris is Neutral towards Orlanth.

All the main cults in Esrolia are covered here - Ernalda, Asrelia, Esrola, Choralinthor, Engizi, Babeester Gor, Maran Gor, Argan Argar, Barntar, Orlanth, the Lightbringers, Lodril, etc. There's a few purely local deities like Vogarth that will get presented in a regional supplement, but less than 5% of the population are initiated into all these minor cults collectively.

Many of these Underworld entities don't have cults. They might be invoked in other cults, but are not a source of magic or other direct benefits. Thryrk and Aroka do not have cults, although they are well known to the Orlanthi.