Quote from: kythri;1094081Which is why my The Communiqué of Cthulhu RPG that I'm releasing is safe.

I think someone should make a humorous game called Butt Call of Cthulhu, all about unintentional summonings and cracked screen rage

Why not use G.O.R.E. from Goblinoid Games as basis for Open Cthulhu? I thought that was the early OGL take on BRP/CoC?
Just doublecheck IP on specific creatures and entities... and name it 'Tales of Nyarlathotep' or 'Mysteries of Yog Sothoth'... Cthulhu is small-change in the overall Mythos anyway.

Quote from: Simlasa;1094153Why not use G.O.R.E. from Goblinoid Games as basis for Open Cthulhu? I thought that was the early OGL take on BRP/CoC?
Just doublecheck IP on specific creatures and entities... and name it 'Tales of Nyarlathotep' or 'Mysteries of Yog Sothoth'... Cthulhu is small-change in the overall Mythos anyway.

Not sure but I think their license also references to Mongoose's, and they are saying Mongoose had no right to put it on the OGL to start with.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1094155Not sure but I think their license also references to Mongoose's, and they are saying Mongoose had no right to put it on the OGL to start with.

Oh, yep, it does reference the Mongoose SRD... I had thought it was older than that. Does it matter that this stuff has been around for years, unchallenged?

It seems like a pickle for Chaosium, to start trying to shut these down selectively and avoid knocking over all the dominoes... bad PR juju... and I myself would like to see an Open Cthulhu based on pre-7e CoC.

The FUDGE (Freeform Universal Donated Game Engine) rpg,
FUDGE RPG OGL

and of course the newer incarnation FATE (Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment)

Fate Roleplaying Game SRD

Quote from: Simlasa;1094158Oh, yep, it does reference the Mongoose SRD... I had thought it was older than that. Does it matter that this stuff has been around for years, unchallenged?

I'm not sure if it makes a difference in the legal sense and you'd need very deep pockets to fight it, which is what they are betting on IMHO.

QuoteIt seems like a pickle for Chaosium, to start trying to shut these down selectively and avoid knocking over all the dominoes... bad PR juju... and I myself would like to see an Open Cthulhu based on pre-7e CoC.

I remember a band that did something kinda similar, it didn't end we ll for them, they are now the most pirated band. I'm not advocating nor condoning piracy, just agreeing that yes, this is VERY bad PR JuJu.

Quote from: Simlasa;1094158Oh, yep, it does reference the Mongoose SRD... I had thought it was older than that. Does it matter that this stuff has been around for years, unchallenged?

Only for recovering damages. Distribution and sales can always be shut down for the life of copyright.
Plus as an added wrinkle, the copyright has to be registered in order to sue for damage. And has to be over $5,000 in order to be heard in federal court. The there is no such thing as copyright small claims under federal law. The closest thing are DMCA notices to remove stuff off of the web.

I posted some thoughts on the Chaosium issue.
https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-tale-of-two-ogls.html

In short, the situation with Traveller and Runequest was similar until 2016. Then circumstances led to Cepheus being released and Traveller 3PP is experiencing a renaissance similar to the OSR.

The Runequest hobbys had some 3PPs but they were fewer and scattered. If Chaosium tries to push back on the OGL open content, they will come off like bullies.

Quote from: estar;1094229I posted some thoughts on the Chaosium issue.
https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-tale-of-two-ogls.html

In short, the situation with Traveller and Runequest was similar until 2016. Then circumstances led to Cepheus being released and Traveller 3PP is experiencing a renaissance similar to the OSR.

The Runequest hobbys had some 3PPs but they were fewer and scattered. If Chaosium tries to push back on the OGL open content, they will come off like bullies.

And the Legend PDF is just $1 right now!

Bought it, read the license, it makes zero reference to RQ, or anything Chaosium. Yet it's a percentile based system.

So we have the system, we need the lore, I still think the best bet would be to make it from the ground up.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1094233So we have the system, we need the lore, I still think the best bet would be to make it from the ground up.

I would recommend going that route especially if meant to be done on your hobby time.

Quote from: estar;1094238I would recommend going that route especially if meant to be done on your hobby time.

I'm willing to help create a Lovecraftianish lore aimed to be Public Domain or at the minimum OGL. Not much time to do it all on my own and it's a huge undertaking.

Quote from: estar;1094229I posted some thoughts on the Chaosium issue.
https://batintheattic.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-tale-of-two-ogls.html

In short, the situation with Traveller and Runequest was similar until 2016. Then circumstances led to Cepheus being released and Traveller 3PP is experiencing a renaissance similar to the OSR.

The Runequest hobbys had some 3PPs but they were fewer and scattered. If Chaosium tries to push back on the OGL open content, they will come off like bullies.

A slight inaccuracy with your blog.

Design Mechanism never licensed both the RuneQuest and Glorantha trademarks. We licensed RuneQuest only. We were granted a limited license for the production of the 'Adventures in Glorantha' supplement that was a precursor to more work on Glorantha, but Glorantha as a property was always a separate license we never held.

Quote from: GeekyBugle;1094243I'm willing to help create a Lovecraftianish lore aimed to be Public Domain or at the minimum OGL. Not much time to do it all on my own and it's a huge undertaking.

There's already three dozen of Lovecraft's stories definitely in the public domain (those published 1924 and earlier) -- even under crazy-ass U.S. copyright law. All of it is public domain for most countries.

Plus there are many other great horror writers in the public domain. I don't feel that imitation lore is all that useful compared to promoting these.

Quote from: Loz;1094266A slight inaccuracy with your blog.

Design Mechanism never licensed both the RuneQuest and Glorantha trademarks. We licensed RuneQuest only. We were granted a limited license for the production of the 'Adventures in Glorantha' supplement that was a precursor to more work on Glorantha, but Glorantha as a property was always a separate license we never held.

OK I will correct that. Thanks for the clarification.

There are some games that deal with Lovecraft works that aren't part of Chaosium.  The character of Cthulhu, is one of them.

There are publishers who've done their own take on Cthulhu and some of the Lovecraft Mythos.  They include the following.

* CthulhuTech
* Fate of Cthulhu
* Delta Green (once licensed, but now on its own with some changes)
* Trail of Cthulhu.
* Paizo has several creatures in Pathfinder, including stats for Cthulhu
* Sandy Petersen has released his own take on the Mythos for Pathfinder and 5e.


The key thing you need to do is the following.

* Do research on what stories are public domain, and exactly what's in them.  You are free to use that as a base.
* Similarly, do research on what isn't--what stories are still under copyright, etc.  For example, Dark Young as a concept was created by Petersen for CoC, so you should avoid copying that.  (Although he used it himself in a non Chaosium game).  I'd especially avoid copying any concept (being, spell, interpretation) that originated in the Chaosium supplements.