There Was a Magic: The Gathering RPG Being Developed at WotC And You Can Bid On The Draft For Charity

Johnathan Tweet--who you will know from Ars Magica, D&D 3E, and 13th Age--worked on a Magic: The Gathering roleplaying game while at Wizards of the Coast back in 1996. Now he’s giving away the draft as a fundraiser.

Here's a draft manuscript of the Magic: The Gathering roleplaying game from 1996, and I've giving it away as a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood, with permission from the authors. Not sure how much to ask for. Vanishingly rare. $1,872 raised so far.

It seems that in order to bid you need to contact Tweet directly via the BlueSky platform.

It is its own game, not like anything else, and eventually I'll ship it off to the fan who offers the most for it as a donation to Planned Parenthood. I'm going to let word spread for a while. You can DM me.

 

[darjr]

lol! I suggested an D&D magic set back then.

 

[Juomari Veren]

That was my initial thought. But I've been surprised by the language used my Jonathan Tweet.
Example:

https://bsky.app/profile/jonathantweet.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3mgpzuryrrc2m

He has several posts on Bluesky that kinda suggest that it could be shared?

Yeah, reading the legalese on the first page there, it seems the copyright mostly extends to the art and the usual magic trademarks (mana symbols plus tapping). I don't know if the fact that this is a playtest product made at a time when one company was getting subsumed by the other might matter here either, or the fact that you typically can't broadly copyright game mechanics with some specific exceptions.

I'm pretty confident that if it wasn't legal to share it, that whomever buys it would still be able to scan and upload it somewhere without any real penalty.

 

[Omega Probe]

Yeah, reading the legalese on the first page there, it seems the copyright mostly extends to the art and the usual magic trademarks (mana symbols plus tapping).

The whole text is subject to copyright by the mere fact of having been written, and being a creative work. It also seems to be packed full of trademarked and copyrighted elements (like logos, brands, and artworks).

or the fact that you typically can't broadly copyright game mechanics

Game mechanics can be patented, but not copyrighted. The text, though, if considered a creative work, is automatically copyrighted.

I'm pretty confident that if it wasn't legal to share it, that whomever buys it would still be able to scan and upload it somewhere without any real penalty.

That would depend on the specific country. Some countries allow for private use copies, but many don't. Of course, if you don't tell anybody, it'd be hard to sue you without proof of copyright infringement. If you scan and share the scan, you're very much liable, and litigation alone will bankrupt you.

 

[Umbran]

He has several posts on Bluesky that kinda suggest that it could be shared?

The phrase, "seems highly unlikely" says to me that it seems highly unlikely to him.

 

[mamba]

The phrase, "seems highly unlikely" says to me that it seems highly unlikely to him.

that the new owner would be willing to share, which implies that they have the ability to share

 

[Morrus]

or the fact that you typically can't broadly copyright game mechanics with some specific exceptions.

That's a bit of a myth which is broadly spread around, and contains a hint of truth.

1) This hasn't been tested in court since the days of super-simple game mechanics like Monopoly (where the intent was that you can't copyright stuff like the concept of rolling a dice and moving that many squares). There are many who believe that the complexity of TTRPGs and the like makes them copyrightable. But we will never know for sure until it is tested in court.

2) Even IF that is held to be the case in court, the underlying game mechanics are not the same thing as the textual expression of them, which most definitely is copyrightable. You still can't distribute something like this document; you would have to rewrite the game mechanics in your own words and then distribute that.

I'm pretty confident that if it wasn't legal to share it, that whomever buys it would still be able to scan and upload it somewhere without any real penalty.

I'll point out to everyone reading this who might be inclined to view this as advice that I'm pretty sure that Juomari Veren is not a lawyer; and he most certainly is not your lawyer. Buying a physical copy of a book does not give you the right to distribute it (the literal 'copyright') which still resides in the IP owner. Should you be tempted to do such a thing, please talk to a lawyer first.

 

[Sketchpad]

Nice use of the cover for What If #43.

 

[darjr]

Did we learn nothing about copyright from the Jodorowsky Dune Manuscript fiasco?

 

[Morrus]

Did we learn nothing about copyright from the Jodorowsky Dune Manuscript fiasco?

I didn’t. The what now?

 

[darjr]

I didn’t. The what now?

Some crypto folks flush with scammed cash bought the physical copy of Jodorowsky Dune Manuscript that was the proposed movie bible. Full of art and prose etc. They thought it gave them the right to publish it and make the movie.