is the roll and keep system copyrighted?

[Bernese]

ive been thinking of using that system as part of my rpg system. would using it be plagiarism?

 

[Morrus]

Was that the 7th Sea game system?

The text they used to describe it is copyrighted. If you copy/pasted that, that would indeed be plagiarism (and copyright violation). The underlying mechanic cannot be, however, so as long as you write it in your own words, you're fine.

*I am not a lawyer and, more importantly, I am not your lawyer

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Was that the 7th Sea game system?

L5R too, IIRC. I've seen the same mechanic (albeit with different die sizes) used in indie stuff since, and I doubt AEG originated it in the first place. Like you said, a game mechanic can't be copyrighted, just the specific terminology used to describe an example of it.

WotC probably could have bought Hasbro (and anyone else they wanted) if they'd managed to copyright Magic's tapping mechanics and gotten royalties from most of the CCG boom back in the day. "Turn a card, pay us our cut."

 

[kenada]

WotC probably could have bought Hasbro (and anyone else they wanted) if they'd managed to copyright Magic's tapping mechanics and gotten royalties from most of the CCG boom back in the day. "Turn a card, pay us our cut."

US5662332A - Trading card game method of play - Google Patents

Provided herein is a novel method of game play and game components that in one embodiment are in the form of trading cards (10, 12, 40, 42, 44, 48, 54, 60, 64). However, the game components may take other forms, such as a board game, or the game may be played in different media, such as...

patents.google.com

 

[Reynard]

The dice mechanic I am constantly thinking of stealing is the Ironsworn/Starforged one. Your roll is d6+a small mod. The target numbers are generated by rolling 2d10s alongside your roll. Beat both: full success. Beat 1: success at cost. Beat neither: suffer the consequences. I love its simplicity and versatility.

 

[Zaukrie]

You can't copywrite mechanics, only their presentation, as Morrus said above. There are a lot of cookbooks that take advantage of this ....

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

You can't copywrite mechanics, only their presentation, as Morrus said above. There are a lot of cookbooks that take advantage of this ....

I think what @kenada is pointing out is that copyright is far from the only IP potentially at issue. There are patents, design patents, trade dress, etc. that can be at issue when discussing something like a game. IMHO this kind of thing is unlikely to be a problem, but I am no more a lawyer than anyone else here. A lot of these things have also probably lapsed for older games, assuming they were ever asserted at all.

 

[DEFCON 1]

7th Sea Roll and Keep is one of my favorite mechanics. While the mechanic itself isn't copywriteable, the term 'Roll and Keep' might very well be. Not to mention the term 'explode' when you roll a '0' on the d10.

So you might have to come up with your own phrases for both of those mechanics, unless of course AEG doesn't care or exist anymore.

 

[Reynard]

Not to mention the term 'explode' when you roll a '0' on the d10.

"Explode" certainly isn't copyrighted. It is common parlance for "if you roll the highest value on the die, you keep rolling."

 

[soviet]

Whether it's legally actionable or not, you might also consider how perceptions of plagiarism could influence how your work is received in the marketplace.