The Green is Dead... Long live the Green

[Puck]

I was gandering through Drivethru and came across this

rpghttp://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=56873&filters=0_0_0&free=1

My heart kind of fell into my big toe. (For those who do not know I was working on a monograph for BRP called "the Green")

Anyway I am not sure what to do. Taking the name away really seems to pull the spine out. I have been trying to think of repalcement names all day and nothing really seems to work. Any ideas?

[Ombord]

The link isn't clickable, and when I cut'n'paste something I get "DriveThruRPG.com will be temporarily unavailable while we perform database maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience." And you say nothing about your own product.

If you want advice, how about explaining what your product is all about, and what other product you found, and why there is a problem, and why you can't rename your product...? Just a friendly suggestion.

[rust]

I think all you would have to do would be a minor change in the name to

avoid a confusion, as Green is definitely not an in any way protected term.

Using "Into The Green", "Dangers Of The Green", "Life In The Green" or any

other such combination as the title of your work should be fully sufficient

to solve the problem.

An easy way to find out whether a change of the title is necessary at all

(and I am not convinced that it is, as there are several cases of identical

titles of RPG materials) could be to ask Chaosium, as they will publish the

monograph.

Don't worry, I do not think that The Green is dead or in danger to die.

[Puck]

Sorry. I think I was a still a little stunned. I do not know why RPG is down, but I cannot get there right now either.

There is a little on the Green here:

http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/basic-roleplaying/643-green.html

I started writing the Green here at BRP with help from a lot of regulars on the forum. Later I proposed it to Chaosium as a possible monograph and they accepted as long as I took the material off the site. I have been laboring over it for several months now.

why you can't rename your product...?

I suppose I will have to if I intend to go on. The problem is that the name was much more integral to the whole feel of the thing than one would imagine- not to mention it will take some re-writing and the overall effect will be lessened.

[Dredj]

It seems that Rpgnow.com is also down. I was going to look if the product is there, too.

How much alike are the two products? I don't think you would have to change the name of it, unless it's basically the same thing. Besides, you have the relative date you posted it on this forum and proposed it to Chaosium. For all anyone knows, they could have stolen YOUR idea. And it's obvious that you had no knowledge of their product before you found it on Drivethrurpg.com.

[Puck]

An easy way to find out whether a change of the title is necessary at all (and I am not convinced that it is, as there are several cases of identical titles of RPG materials) could be to ask Chaosium, as they will publish the monograph.

I sent an e-mail off to Chaosium a short time ago. I'll see what they say.

If I need to change the Name "Into the Green" is a pretty good solution. That way I do not need to change so much.

How much alike are the two products?

Just enough to be a problem. Theirs is a jungle-like world that seems to be inside a hollow world with lots of insects and several fantasy races and several cool ideas for places within the setting- I have not read the entire thing just yet.

The Green for BRP differs in that it has BIG trees, a huge magic section (probably much to large and it always seems to be growing), and plays up a clash of different cultures a lot. I think a big difference is that hopefully mine has a lot of old RQ influence where theres does not. The telling difference is that theirs is done and mine still needs a deal of work before it is really presentable. (It should be a good deal larger than theirs when all is said and done though. Ive have been a little worried about making it too big).

They are both jungle/forested fantasy settings for roleplaying games though.

[soltakss]

Try DriveThruRPG.com - Valent Games - The Green

It does look very similar to your own, from the blurb. I can't download the file as I am at work.

I'd carry on as you are. If you need to change the title then BRP:The Green is different enough.

[rleduc]

I downloaded the PDF – it is a 36 page free-be for an Indy game called “Donjon” – I have never heard of this game myself, so I can not say anything about it. The module (on page 25) states that it is a “homage” to D&D’s Hollow Earth setting. It appears to be about talking plants fighting talking bugs – but maybe I’m missing something.

Although there is a little similarity between this and my mental image of your upcoming monograph – it seems to me that you are both just picking up the same underlying theme. I would think a simple change in the name and away you go.

I still plan on buying your monograph.

[Shaira]

Hi Puck,

I just downloaded the free PDF from Drivethru and, with all due respect to the author of said piece, I think maybe you don't need to worry too much ;-). The RPG world being what it is, overlap in names or concepts is bound to happen from time to time, and from what I remember of your concept notes early one in the shared world project, there isn't much comparison beyond them both being an arboreal fantasy habitat. I think you can relax and carry on producing your original material! :thumb:

I'd probably think about a name change for the product itself. Continue calling the setting "The Green", by all means - no need to change that - but I'd do something like Rust suggests, "Into the Green", or maybe "Verduria - Land of the Endless Green", "Lords of the Trees - BRP Adventure in the Endless Green", something like that, for the actual book.

Looking forwards to seeing your monograph! Onwards!

Cheers,

Sarah

[Puck]

Thanks to all. A lot of reasonable ideas. I sent a message to Dustin at Chaosium about it, but I have not heard from him yet. Hopefully, I can just subtitle, or make the title a phrase as you suggest. That would be the easiest.

[Agentorange]

Puck,

I think the others are right about the need for a name change. As regards the magic section being to big, would it be possible to split it into essential and non essential stuff and simply release the non essential stuff later as part of a supplement of additional material ?

[Puck]

What is essential and what is non-essential has been a topic I have been discussing a lot with the guy who is helping me edit the project. Right from the beginning we have been talking about a second Green book or at least a web sight or even a section here on BRP where additional things could be posted. We often say "That will have to be in the Green II" half in joking and half seriously.

Some of the magic stuff may have to end up there. The problem is that if we mention certain things, say in the cultures or races sections, about magic traditions and then do not cover it in the book it may be frustrating to readers.

Originally I wanted the book to be a lot like Griffin Mountain, with lots of characters and few highly detailed settlements. The problem is that Griffin Mountain had the base of the Cults books and other already published backgrounds to draw from. If I wanted to make a group of Goblins for people to encounter or fight I would have to write up their magic, traditions and culture. So the book got longer and I got sidetracked more and more.

One of the most difficult and time consuming things for me is the creation of magical items and more complex spells like summonings. I often never really used these things in my own games very much, and only have a weak grasp on how to clearly write them and make them balanced and such (I am afraid this is still weak). I do not know how many times I have re-written some of the magic stuff. It is not like it is terribly new look at BRP magic, but I hope it has lot of character, be pretty simple to use, and reflect the culture of the Green pretty well. It takes up a lot of space though as spells are separately listed for each Glyph, or Totem and have different names. (Hopefully, I can make these quite small to save some space)

One thing that turned out quit nice (I think) is Soltakss' Alchemy system. I really needed alchemy. Ichorites(a form of alchemist who are making inroads into the Green to harvest its many medicinal and magical tree products) are a pretty key player and alchemy was a necessity. I just couldn't come up with a good way of working this out and kept re-writing it. Soltakss really helped out with this in a big way and now I think that Alchemy should not only be workable, but also very fun and a little different.

I have many of the necessary parts of the book at least to rough draft stages: the chapters on cultures, character creation, races (not a lot finished yet), magic, and a Gazetteer, but I do not have much of the Griffin Mountain type stuff that I originally wanted to add to the book. I am thinking of gathering the stray pieces and threads and trying to put it together as is and maybe do the other stuff later. Even that may take some time as I wait on editing and art. (A other problem is that I have just entered paper correcting season and huge chunks of my time just disappear as I numb my brain reading essays).

If we send the book in and it does even marginally well (remember I have never done anything like this before so to be realistic it may be kind of lousy), then we can always add the other stuff later.

Thanks for the interest in the project:)

[rust]

If we send the book in and it does even marginally well (remember I have never done anything like this before so to be realistic it may be kind of lousy), then we can always add the other stuff later.

Chaosium has a very long tradition of Companion volumes, so a "The Green

Companion" is almost a must do for you...

Besides, from what I have seen until now, and with all the work you put into

it, The Green will definitely not be lousy.