Different philosophies concerning Rules Heavy and Rule Light RPGs.

[Micah Sweet]

So what in your opinion seperates inspiration, from Plagirism? By the earlier statement of taking ideas found here and applying them directly to your own work I would think that is most certainly what you describe.

Not copying exact text?

 

[chuckdee]

So what in your opinion seperates inspiration, from Plagirism? By the earlier statement of taking ideas found here and applying them directly to your own work I would think that is most certainly what you describe.

No, it's not at all. Mechanics are not plagiarism. Plagiarism is taking the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work. You are lifting their work as is and presenting it as your own. If I take inspiration from themes or parts of your work and reshape it into something new, that is not the same. Else we wouldn't have Elves and Dwarves running around in our games, nor any elements of what have gone before, even mechanically.

Would you consider Shakespeare to have plagiarized A Midsummer Night's Dream? After all, most of the characters in that play are not 'his'. He didn't create them.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Thank you for this. I try to tell people that, and it seems to go over heads all the time. CGen, and to an extent leveling are the only player facing things that are intensive. And we even made it simpler by not training in advance.

As he said, its also a common perception of Hero, and while Hero has some initial engagement needed (learning to count Normal dice and properly engagement with the Speed chart) as he says most of any complexity is upfront in character gen (and really only when powers are involved).

 

[1QD]

No, it's not at all. Mechanics are not plagiarism. Plagiarism is taking the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work. You are lifting their work as is and presenting it as your own. If I take inspiration from themes or parts of your work and reshape it into something new, that is not the same. Else we wouldn't have Elves and Dwarves running around in our games, nor any elements of what have gone before, even mechanically.

Would you consider Shakespeare to have plagiarized A Midsummer Night's Dream? After all, most of the characters in that play are not 'his'. He didn't create them.

So then what your describing would be Derivitve works.... where you take someone elses idea and the rework it to either fit your own style or gaming system.

 

[aramis erak]

Being new to the community or even outside influence not based on pop culture and my own ideas of medieval fantasy is unfamiliar ground. That is why I came here . To touch base with those with simular interests and get a feel about the attitudes of those around me. Whether or not my product will fall flat remains to be seen.

To be worth a damn as a designer, you need to know three key things: who you're writing for, what has worked for them in the past, and what has failed them in the past. You seem to be uncertain on the first, and clearly avoiding learning the other two.

What works for you and your group is almost immaterial. To succeed, you need to know your target audience. You also need to market to them. Don't waste money marketing to others, get your ads targeted. You also need to listen to them, too.

Internal playtesting, likewise, isn't that valuable. You'll learn 10x more by handing an unfamiliar with it GM the game, and watching them run it for equally new to it players — and keep your yap shut while they do. You'll see what they struggle with more that way.

 

[aramis erak]

If you are going to have Superheavy distinct from Heavy, then you should probably also have Superlight as a category. That would also place Medium at the center, which it probably should be. That would likely put Daggerheart in the 3-4 range depending on perspective.

Superlight is theatrical improv in all ways that matter to me.

 

[chuckdee]

So then what your describing would be Derivitve works.... where you take someone elses idea and the rework it to either fit your own style or gaming system.

It's not even that. Derivative works are a different can of fish, and licensed as such. Certain things cannot be copyrighted. The courts have already ruled on that. So if I create a system that uses a d20 and 6 stats and hit points, that is not a derivative work. That is inspired. A derivative work would be taking the SRD and deriving a product from that. Totally different animal.