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  1. #1

    Question about mods and copyright. Traveler

    Hello,

    Sorry if this was answered elsewhere in the forums and I am asking again.

    I am new to Fantasy Grounds but am keen to make some mods. In particular I am running a Traveler campaign and would like to extend the traveler module a few useful tools. Like character generation (following the core rules) NPC generation and so on.

    Of course I DO NOT want to violate any copyright issues both legally and just out of respect for the authors so some advice on what is allowed and whats not allowed would be nice. I don't plan to charge for these modules this is just to make my own life easier and I might as well share if others might benefit from it.

    Thank you in advance.

  2. #2
    Trenloe's Avatar
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    Is the US game mechanics can't be covered by copyright. But all other intellectual property is - description text, names, artwork, etc..

    So, you're very, very limited in what you can publicly share without the copyright holder's permission, unless the material has been released under an Open Gaming License, Community Commons license, or similar. Offering the material for free still means it's covered by copyright - doing so (making the material free) in general doesn't change any legal restrictions.

    Basically you can pretty much have stats and numbers - but no descriptive text. I don't know how useful this would be in terms of actual use.
    Private Messages: My inbox is forever filling up with PMs. Please don't send me PMs unless they are actually private/personal messages. General FG questions should be asked in the forums - don't be afraid, the FG community don't bite and you're giving everyone the chance to respond and learn!

  3. #3
    Thank you that gives me some limitations I can work with for now.

  4. #4
    You can package the System into the rulset. And the description names and artwork into a module.
    You can then release the ruleset while you make use of the additional module in your private game.
    Maybe that is a compromise that works?

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by legine View Post
    You can package the System into the rulset. And the description names and artwork into a module.
    You can then release the ruleset while you make use of the additional module in your private game.
    Maybe that is a compromise that works?
    Thank you I expect I will just be building a module. I am just looking to extend the current Traveler system with some tools like a character and npc generator. From the above I wont really need to be including any new copyright information as it's already part of that set of rules. I would just be augmenting them. I believe this is within the copyright rules expressed earlier.

  6. #6
    Hi. The tables for character generation are in the ruleset already.

    If you are looking to automate the process that will more likely require an extension instead of a module. This would likely be complicated because the ruleset is locked. I would recommend you post on the Traveller section directly because it would likely require coordination with MadBeardMan the ruleset designer. He might see it here but will definitely see it there.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by esmdev View Post
    Hi. The tables for character generation are in the ruleset already.

    If you are looking to automate the process that will more likely require an extension instead of a module. This would likely be complicated because the ruleset is locked. I would recommend you post on the Traveller section directly because it would likely require coordination with MadBeardMan the ruleset designer. He might see it here but will definitely see it there.
    Thank you for the help, I will chat directly there. Also good to know I am looking at a extension not a module.

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