Is Creative Commons a good idea for rpgs?  If yes, then what are the limitations?

I really do not know but in Italy lot of homemade rpgs are released under creative commons.

Creative Commons is great if you want to open source your shiznack and you're not looking to profit from it.

Mazes & Minotaurs would make sense as Creative Commons.

So your suggesting is for me to get a lawyer and go copyright?

Does Creative Commons contain a rescission clause?

I ask, given the recent OSR logo debacle.  

Were I to publish something based on one license or another, using any kind of open content, I would not want to utilize open content published under a license that does contain such a clause, for any reason.

Quote from: Snowman0147;1070168So your suggesting is for me to get a lawyer and go copyright?

Are there enough pitfalls that to go copyright requires a lawyer up front? Honest question; I have no idea. If so, then you have to balance the lawyer expense against the eventual profit.

You know if the USA copyright laws were not draconic I wouldn't be asking this question.  Not to mention I am not expecting a large audience at all.  

As for rescission clause?  I will have to read it up as I don't know what that is.

Rescission, meaning, if such a clause does exist, it allows the original creator to rescind their material from the licensed release.

If you're only dealing with your own original material, cool.

If you're using another's content released under a license with such a clause, no bueno.

Do hacks fall under OGL?  Even though my game uses polyhedral dice I feel like it isn't a D&D game.

It is roll lower than TN which equals to the vital your using.  Each roll has five results which is nat 20 = critical failure, higher than TN = failure, equal to TN = tie, lower than TN = success, and nat 1 = critical success.

You have three vitals; physique, reflexes, and willpower.  These can go as high as eighteen to figure out TN, but they also work as health.  Wound system is easy as the more damage you take the lower your TN goes.

Beyond that there is no AC as armor adds to vitals.  No they don't improve TN, but armor can make sure your TN stays at maximum for a while.  Which each vital has its own armor type; armor, shield, and ward.

There is no xp and levels.  At best you might improve a vital, or energy by the Call of Cthulhu method.  Your other stuff you have to earn by role playing, or burning points from your stats.  If your a supernatural being you might have a power stat.

Setting wise it is similar to Chronicles of Darkness with hopefully enough toolsets to create your own setting.  Yes I plan to have sample settings.

Now would that put me into D&D OGL territory?

The only reason you'd fall under the OGL would be if you used OGL material - i.e. material from the SRD, or other content released under the OGL.

Likewise for Creative Commons and other similar licenses.

Given I am not using the SRD and haven't taken anything from it to my knowledge I can say it isn't OGL then.  That removes one headache at least.

OGL isn't really open and doesn't play nicely with other licenses. For example, if you wanted to add creative commons or artistic licensed images (or other content) to your source, that would simply be a no-go.

CC-BY-SA-NC says people can use your system for non-commercial uses and they must share any changes they make (under the same license).

CC-BY-NC-ND says they can use it non-commercially, but they can't modify it at all (no derivatives).

If you are planning on trying to make money from it, then I'd go with CC-BY-NC-ND with a proprietary licensing option. If you want to sell addon books or world books (and want other commercial publishers to pay), but not the game mechanics themselves, then CC-BY-SA (they can sell, but must also give away the source for free) with a proprietary licensing option. If you want to sell your own stuff and don't care who else might sell stuff using your system, then CC-BY.

Quote from: hajile;1070842OGL isn't really open and doesn't play nicely with other licenses. For example, if you wanted to add creative commons or artistic licensed images (or other content) to your source, that would simply be a no-go.

This is not accurate.

Certainly, you can't publish something licensed by CC as OGL-licensed content, but there's nothing stopping you from using CC'd material in conjunction with OGL'd material.  As it pertains to original material that you have created, if you don't want it OGL'd, then don't declare it open content.  If you don't want it released under CC, then state what material is or isn't covered by the CC license you're using.

There are a number of games released under the Creative Commons license. Some notable-ish ones include:

Old School Hack  http://www.oldschoolhack.net/downloads/

Lady Blackbird   http://www.onesevendesign.com/ladyblackbird/

Eclipse Phase, First Edition   https://robboyle.wordpress.com/eclipse-phase-pdfs/

Warrior, Rogue, & Mage   http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/warrior-rogue-mage/



More complete list here:

https://rpggeek.com/geeklist/152738/creative-commons-rpgs

Quote from: Snowman0147;1070168So your suggesting is for me to get a lawyer and go copyright?

Absolutely not.

If you have the ability to read RPG books and learn how to play them, you certainly have the ability to read up on US copyright law and learn how it applies to whatever you are creating. Copyright isn't rocket science.

Depending on your long term plans, you might find Creative Commons to be interesting for you.