FreeArt License?

[swashbuckler]

So I notices that Fire and Sword is released under the FreeArt license. Is that a license that Chaosium approves of? I've never heard of it before. I'm curious, because I'm currently working on a setting that I might write up for BRP, and I'm wondering what my options are, in terms of publishing.

Thanks for anyone who can fill me on licensing and BRP.

Sorry, it's a newbie-ish question, but I didn't find freeart in a search of the site.

S. Buckler

(Playing BRP since RQII)

[Thalaba]

Hi, and welcome!

I'm learning about this too, a little. One interesting source is Wikimedia Commons, where you can find quite a few images that have been released into the public domain. Here's a link to the page that discusses various public domain licensing categories:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Reusing_content_outside_Wikimedia

[swashbuckler]

Thanks!

I guess my question, more clearly put, is this. You have to license the BRP, but there's a freeart game that, in effect, is pretty close to brp. Would it be legit to write a game and use the gaming system that's at the base of the FA licensed game, and not go through chaosium at all?

S. Buckler

[Thalaba]

Oops - comprehension fail on my part

[rust]

Would it be legit to write a game and use the gaming system that's at the base of the FA licensed game, and not go through chaosium at all?

As far as I understand it, yes, but only if:

- you do not use any intellectual property that is owned by Chaosium (e.g. proper names,

unique names of creatures, unique terms of the BRP system, etc.),

- you adhere to the FreeArt License and publish your own material under this same licen-

se, enabling others to copy and distribute it freely (not a good idea if you want to earn mo-

ney with the material you intend to publish).

By the way, here is the FreeArt License website:

http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en

[Atgxtg]

Like rust said, plus:

-Game mechanics cannot be copyrighted, but game specific terms and text can. As can "intellectual property" (setting, creatures, stuff like that).

-You cannot take something verbatim. You need to at least reword the text.

That's the legalese bit. Now just how happy people might be with a game that is a barely concealed direct copy of another RPG is something else entirely.

But if your new product is only lossly based on an existing product that is something else. Everyone realizes that due to the similar nature of RPGs and similar settings, there are bound to be some similarities.

You could also contact Chasoium and see what it would take to get an offical BRP liscense. That would clear all the obstacles and possibly attract some more customers to boot.

[RosenMcStern]

You could also contact Chasoium and see what it would take to get an offical BRP liscense. That would clear all the obstacles and possibly attract some more customers to boot.

Which is a good suggestion.

Do not forget that you can also use OpenQuest as the base for your game. It is compatible with BRP and D101 supports it a lot.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Just as a quick derail here, has anyone actually gone through a Chaosium BRP license? I had the impression (which may be wrong) that so far everything has either been 3rd party (non-Chaosium) OGL, monograph, or monograph-good-enough-to-be-published-by-Chaosium-directly. I'd like to hear if anyone has done the deed, and how it went. I'm still thinking about it, myself.

[swashbuckler]

Just as a quick derail here, has anyone actually gone through a Chaosium BRP license? I had the impression (which may be wrong) that so far everything has either been 3rd party (non-Chaosium) OGL, monograph, or monograph-good-enough-to-be-published-by-Chaosium-directly. I'd like to hear if anyone has done the deed, and how it went. I'm still thinking about it, myself.

Not a derail at all...I'd love to hear about that myself.

SB

[cjbowser]

Not a derail at all...I'd love to hear about that myself.

SB

Supergenius Games

Goodman Games

Miskatonic River Press

Sixtystone Press

Pagan Publishing

are all producing material under Chaosium's contract. They are all focusing on Call of Cthulhu material, because CoC is currently the big seller, but nothing prohibits them from doing BRP material.

I believe Rome was released by Alephtar under that license as well based on the cover logo, but Paolo can state for certain.

[Trifletraxor]

So I notices that Fire and Sword is released under the FreeArt license. Is that a license that Chaosium approves of? I've never heard of it before. I'm curious, because I'm currently working on a setting that I might write up for BRP, and I'm wondering what my options are, in terms of publishing.

Thanks for anyone who can fill me on licensing and BRP.

Sorry, it's a newbie-ish question, but I didn't find freeart in a search of the site.

...

I guess my question, more clearly put, is this. You have to license the BRP, but there's a freeart game that, in effect, is pretty close to brp. Would it be legit to write a game and use the gaming system that's at the base of the FA licensed game, and not go through chaosium at all?

The terms of the FreeArt license can be found on page 179-181 in the 4th edition of the Fire and Sword rules. The author, Raymond Turney is a member on this board so you could send him a pm or email about using F&S. The similarities of the rules are probably a result of Raymond being one of the authors of the first edition of RuneQuest, which is the "ancestor" of all the subsequent versions of BRP. You could also go with the OpenQuest option mentioned above.

If you want to use Chaosium's BRP rules for a game to be published by someone else than Chaosium (commercial, not as a fanwork), you'll have arrange a deal with them to get a 3rd party license. An example of such a license can be found here. Other variations can be negotiated.

Cheers,

SGL.

[Atgxtg]

I believe the CoC contracts are a separate arrangement than BRP. Having one does not allow for the other. Although a company with an arrangement to produce one certainly could negotiate for the other.

It would be nice if the rough details of a BRP license were more public. I suspect a lot of would be authors don't pursue it in part because they feel that they couldn't afford a BRP license. And few people are willing to write something that they can't publish.

[cjbowser]

I believe the CoC contracts are a separate arrangement than BRP. Having one does not allow for the other. Although a company with an arrangement to produce one certainly could negotiate for the other.

It would be nice if the rough details of a BRP license were more public. I suspect a lot of would be authors don't pursue it in part because they feel that they couldn't afford a BRP license. And few people are willing to write something that they can't publish.

The contracts I've seen cover both in the same breath. Anybody interested should definitely contract Chaosium. They might themselves surprised.

[Trifletraxor]

It would be nice if the rough details of a BRP license were more public. I suspect a lot of would be authors don't pursue it in part because they feel that they couldn't afford a BRP license. And few people are willing to write something that they can't publish.

An example of such a license can be found here.

SGL.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

So nothing specifically for BRP under a Chaosium license yet? I don't think you can really compare CoC to BRP in this context, because BRP is likely to have far smaller sales numbers that would not justify the same investment in a license as CoC.

I have spoken to Chaosium about the BRP license before, but I'm somewhat reluctant to leap in as the first licensed BRP publisher ...

[NickMiddleton]

I am 99.9% certain (but Paolo will correct me if I'm wrong) that Alephtar have a BRP License - Rome and Veni, Vidi, Vici are BRP, as is Charles Green's Dragon Lines and the Mecha game Alephtar are working on IIRC. Also, Jason has made reference to working on something yet to be announced for Cubicle 7 that is BRP.

Nick