Extending a System vs Making a New System?
Callan S.:
What I mean is if you were instead making a sculpture out of lots of components, you would have some idea of what a completed sculpture looks like. And with that you'd know what components to draw on (even if you don't use them all in the end).
But with the endless model, you don't know what the sculpture will look like, even roughly. So how have you been choosing components in making it?
John Michael Crovis:
Quote from: Mobius on July 30, 2011, 08:30:04 AM
Thank you all for the feedback so far.
John Michael Crovis
I think the basic mechanics of Savage Worlds is promising but the rules as written do not work for what I want without some fairly substantial changes. The end result is something that clearly has its origin in Savage Worlds but is not fully compatible either. Someone who knows Savage Worlds could not just pick up and run this system but they would be very familiar with a lot of it. Characters and NPC could not move between Savage Worlds and my setting without substantial changes but they would feel similar.
I'll be honest, then... you are looking at something that isn't unique enough to be sold as something other than Savage Worlds, but isn't Savage Worlds enough to be sold as Savage Worlds. While this is fine for your gaming group and your setting, I highly suspect that it will not be marketable to fans at large, as they will compare your system to Savage Worlds and (fairly or not) ask themselves why you didn't just use that game system. To my knowledge, Savage Worlds system is not "open content" in any way, so even if you do find an audience for your game, you may find yourself staring at a cease-and-desist letter. My impression is that marketability is a factor - so you don't want to go for the mushy middle option.
I would advise you to instead look at writing your own system whole-cloth. Take the basic frame of the system, but make sure all the smaller pieces are original. This means you cannot use any of the flaws, merits, or FXs as written in Savage Worlds books. Also, you would have to avoid their terminology... While you may get away with using the basic mechanic used by Savage Worlds, you may want to consider overhauling all the other major mechanics, to ensure that your game is distinct. I would consider looking at their leveling system, how attributes interact with skills, and the combat system. Its a lot of work, but in the end, your system and setting will conform to one another, making the match a lot tighter than it would be otherwise.
Callan S.:
You have to avoid using their intellectual property (as nebulous a concept as that is. And only have to for threat reasons).
Clearly the number of products that use 'hit points' without suing each other into oblivion shows that some terms are shared. If the terminology sounds like they invented it, it'd probably come under IP. Otherwise, avoid casually granting other people intellectual territory as if they own terminology used in their books. It's simply giving ground out of fear.
Ron Edwards:
Hi,
Everyone - this website has some distinct requirements for posting which have to be honored, described in the sticky threads at the top of each forum. For Game Development, please include a link to an external document of any kind which we can use for reference. And when someone posts without one, please do not reply until that link appears.
Best, Ron
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