Homebrew worlds and "borrowing"...

[TwinBahamut]

Meh, nothing is original. Nothing. The trick is to convince people that it is original, which isn't difficult. As long as you file off the serial numbers, remix a few things, and blend in elements from other sources in a creative way, you are being just as creative (if not more so), than many great works of the past.

After all, Shakespeare was certainly not the only person to write a story about two Italian lovers named Romeo and Juliet who died tragically. He wasn't even the first! In fact, many of Shakespeare's greatest works pretty much were ripped entirely from other writers, and then re-written and transformed into his own works. Chaucer did the same thing (one of his stories, the Knight's Tale from the Canterbury Tales, uses the same characters and plot as another great work of his era, except they have vastly different lengths and many specifics were different).

Of course, those works were not created in the modern era of copyright protection, but the principle remains as true now as ever.

 

[S'mon]

I've borrowed a few place names from Forgotten Realms, but my world is very un-FR; I use a bunch of Moorcockian Multiverse stuff but I don't really copy substantive elements like countries and people, just deities, that kind of thing.

 

[S'mon]

What bugs me of course is when I make up something original for my campaign - Red Wizards, Stargates - then a year or three later somebody uses those elements in a published RPG or genre setting. Of course Ed Greenwood didn't plagiarise me, it's independent parrallel creation - my Red Wizards are actually Necromancers whose original conception owed a lot to "Vonotar the Traitor" in "Lone Wolf 2: Fire on the Water".

 

[s.j. bagley]

personally, in the setting i'm slowly working on, a lot of the influence comes from clark ashton smith, robert e. howard, a. merrit, and l. frank baum.
i tend not too include that many influences from other game settings, but i suppose they're probably still there consciously or not.

 

[the Jester]

What else are published campaign settings for?

I mean really, even if you run (for example) Forgotten Realms, you will make it your own no matter what- your version will be different from everyone else's. In a sense, you are 'borrowing' everything from the FR books that you use for your campaign.

 

[sakkara]

All our campaigns use an established setting (generally FR) and then we add and tweak and it becomes our own.

My current campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms, though a part that has not received much attention in 3rd edition (Tantras and North to Vaasa/Damara). I have the Red Wizards of Thay as the primary villians (tweaked for my needs) as well as a two Frost Giant clans (with a transplanted Gerti Orelsdottr joining Iyraclea the Ice Queen as duelling High Priestesses of Auril in the Great Glacier region). A high priest of Set from Mulhorand will enter the mix soon.

I have used Warforged from Eberron, Sauril Shifters from the Dragon Magazine, Dragon Shaman from the PHBII.

I like using enough of the canon material from the setting to allow for my player's familiarity, and then turn other things upside-down to make it my own.


Sakkara

 

[khyron1144]

In my homebrew world, there are definite strains of borrowing, stealing, and mild influence. One odd thing is that I incorporate monsters published in so many eras of D&D, things I think of as generic D&D monsters (Norkers) have become attached to one current world (Greyhawk). Some things started when I decided to create my own world after reading a capsule description of D&D's Known World setting. My elven country is still Aelfheim, but I dropped my Grand Shire and Five Lesser Shires idea in favor of The Halfling Khanate.


I suppose, I'm very comfortable with the idea of borrowing because I've been compiling a quotation dictionary for a few years. Here's a couple on the subject:

Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.
-T. S. Eliot

Good Swiping is an art in itself.
-Jules Feiffer

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you're not publishing your setting, borrow freely.

I do- I grab a little bit of everything from everywhere, and change the names to protect the innocent.

However, realize that even if you are publishing your setting that "borrowing" is permissible...as long as you do it in the right way.

If you alter what you are borrowing significantly enough, it will be considered a creation in its own right. That is why you will hear jingles on TV that strongly resemble hit songs but which are clearly not the tune in question.

If things were otherwise, there wouldn't be as much discussion about "Tolkienesque" writers.

Just remember that, if asked, you cite your love of the original source! If you lie and everyone knows it, it will cost you (not neccessarily in lawsuits, just in public opinion, goodwill & possibly sales).

 

[Kae'Yoss]

What else are published campaign settings for?

I mean really, even if you run (for example) Forgotten Realms, you will make it your own no matter what- your version will be different from everyone else's. In a sense, you are 'borrowing' everything from the FR books that you use for your campaign.

Plus, once you start the campaign, there is bound to be some new release, be it a novel or rulebook or module, that would not be compatible with what happened (or will happen) in your campaign since you started it, so simply have to move away from canon whether you want to, or not.

Sure, if the next book is a regional about Sembia and you were in the farthest north the whole time, then the stuff from that book is either inconsequential (because you won't visit the area, anyway), or can be easily incorporated if you choose to enter sembia later (since yuo haven't heard much about it until now), but if you did play in Sembia all along, and your Sembia was relatively calm, incorporating the Twilight War storyline will probably not be an option.

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I'll borrow anything and everything for my games.
I run primarily superheroes, but my superhero world, while homebrew, has elements from at least 7 different published campaign worlds.

I do much with fantasy.