Earlier in the week I made an announcement that Swords Against the Outer Dark: Sword & Sanity Roleplaying was not going to be a standalone book, and would require the Labyrinth Lord core rules, as well as the Advanced Edition Companion. To my surprise I received quite a bit of negative feedback from friends and followers about this announcement. It seems that most everyone who has an opinion on the subject has their heart set on a standalone rulebook.
As it turns out, I have been writing the book as a complete ruleset all along, and only faltered in this decision once I reviewed the Labyrinth Lord compatibility license. To carry the "Labyrinth Lord Compatible Product" logo on the cover I would have to comply with this portion of the license:
No work may constitute a complete game. For the purposes of this license, a "complete game" is defined as any work that a player of a PC and/or the player in the role of the Labyrinth Lord can use for character generation and/or reference in game play exclusive of the Labyrinth Lord core rules book. As a general guideline, if the work is so complete as to make the Labyrinth Lord core book obsolete to one or both of these kinds of players, it fits the definition of a complete game for the purposes of this license.
As it stands, I would have to go back through portions of the book and take away much of what I have written to be in compliance with the license. I have done a lot of thinking about how to proceed from here, and I have come to the conclusion that I am not ready or willing to do this. Instead, I will take advantage of much of Labyrinth Lord's Open Game Content, as well as some of the Open Game Content from Swords & Wizardry, Castles & Crusades, Conan Roleplaying Game, Grim Tales and a few others, to help build the system I am wanting to present with this book. All with my own personal tweaks of course, not to mention the original Open Game Content I will be designing just for the game.
As stated in the introductory chapter of the book:
A Note about the RulesThis gaming tome was written as a complete game system, and does not require any other rules manuals to play. However, the system presented herein is highly compatible with many other classic versions, as well as modern simulacra, of class-and-level-based fantasy roleplaying systems. This allows for the importing and exporting of game rules and adventures with little effort on the player’s part.
So there it is. No more wavering on whether to proceed with writing a complete game or not. The game will be very compatible with Labyrinth Lord, but will not have a "Labyrinth Lord Compatible Product" logo emblazoned on the cover.
Does this mean I will no longer support Labyrinth Lord or Goblinoid Games? Hell no! It just means I do not want to be hindered in any way as I try to write the best roleplaying game that I possibly can.
7 comments:
Huzzah!
Cool, looking forward to what you come up with!
Congrats on the decision Shane!
I guess explicit compatibility with one particular game is kind of a philosophical / marketing issue more so, whereas it sounds like your creative process will be eased by dropping the stamp of Labyrinth Lord compatibility. Whatever makes the project more productive and enjoyable for you has got to be the best thing.
I must confess to being a tad disappointed personally, as I was looking forward to an explicitly Labyrinth Lord compatible product (as opposed to another in the pool of products which are '95% compatible with all known D&D clones'), but whatever gives you the most creative freedom is best for you. So stay true to your vision - I'm sure you've got dozens of people whispering their own personal preferences in your ears... ;)
Sounds like the best choice. I'll admit, I never see a complete book as "yet another repeat of the same rules"... it's very handy and helps present a complete, easily accessible package, especially when you're going for your own alternate look and feel like with this project.
Chello!
Proceed as you think best. Maybe a splat about 'compatible with the original version of the World's first fantasy RPG' or something along those lines?
I had the same problem when looking over OSRIC when I first started to search for an 'engine' for a concept I had worked on for 10 years.
I got such a headache trying to grok their license that I gave up and decided to borrow a little from everywhere and add my own ideas to make my own and will now offer a complete system that I hope appeals to young and old alike.
It can be a pain but I have found the experience very rewarding.
Looking forward to seeing your finished work.
Looks good to me! Honestly, I prefer a "stand alone" book rather than a "supplement with a bunch of new stuff". As per Carcosa, I find convenient to have things separated, particularly the magic system (I don't find vancian magic merge good with lovecraftian sorcery).
Moreover, I can still have Realms of Crawling Chaos if I decide only to add some lovecraftian taste to my campaign instead of running a pure swords & mythos one :D
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