Public Domain Setting Discussion

Hey mods and anyone else who knows, if I wanted to start workshopping an RPG setting for use in the public domain, and enlisting anyone who is interested, would here be good? Or the Concept subthread? Or somewhere else?

Are you asking about "public domain" as in copyright? And are you talking about building it, or just brainstorming? There are numerous ways to place legal copyright on something that make it free to (re-)use.

By public domain, I mean that no one of us (myself included) could claim it as our exclusive property. It would just be a setting we all helped make, which anyone can use without worry. And yes, brainstorming would be first, but if I can get people interested, I would like to collaborate on building it.

Essentially, you'd need to make that clear in your copyright. All you'd really need to do is stick a Creative Commons license on it and you'd be good to go. If you borrow from any other OGL game though, you'd need to note that also.

The reason I say you need to make that clear, is because if you choose to put no copyright on it at all, which you could do, then you run the risk of someone claiming it as their own. Sticking a CC license on it makes it clear outright. (Here is there public domain license.)

Oh, I didn't think of it that way. Would ruin our fun if somebody decided to claim it. I'll post it here, and then we'll apply it where need be.






To the extent possible under law,

WalkerOfSorrow and the GamersPlane Crew
has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to
As Yet Unnamed Campaign Setting.
This work is published from:

United States.

Now, while I am appreciative, I wasn't starting this thread to ask how. I was asking if here would be good to work on said project, and if anyone would be interested. Any takers?

Keleth owns the site, and the message you just posted. Working on the game here probably isn't the best if you might be concerned about people ripping it off. Maybe a private forum somewhere? Even a collaborative Google Doc.

I'm not worried. You're the one who brought it up, after all. And I'm not proposing we create a game system, just a setting. You know, countries, creatures, magic, trade routes, that sort of thing. Now, a Google Doc would be worth looking into, but I'd like a group of interested people first.

Could be fun. For increased efficiency, I suggest a setting which could fit in pretty much any genre (fantasy, modern, steampunk, etc.). That would require leaving things pretty generic, or simply putting a note along the lines "replace mention of magic or spells with the appropriate technology if you are not doing a medieval fantasy setting"...

I'd be up for throwing some ideas out at the very least. It's always fun to see what happens when a bunch of randoms get together to make a setting

Could we do some kind of catchall to replace magic, then? That way we can just say, "If not playing/writing fantasy, or otherwise leaving magic out of your system, see the X rules instead." Like how Mass Effect has biotics. We could introduce come kind of technology, mutation, or non-supernatural element that (through fictional means) grants these features to the characters.

Thoughts?

Power?
Macguffin?
Option?

Generally, a setting would be specific, whereas a set of rules could be more generic (Cypher, GeneSys, GURPS).

I'm prone to agree with Naatkinson. If you don't want to do a patently fantasy setting, kalajel, I'm okay with creating something a bit more nebulous. Like an urban fantasy or gaslamp setting with some occult elements. I'm also not "married" to the idea of a Middle Ages Europe aesthetic.

Here's a thought! What if we treat the medieval era like current writers treat science fiction. One country or landmass in our setting has an indigenous population of humans that have not successfully migrated outside its borders. Every other country/landmass (whichever we end up using) has their own genesis separate from how humans happened (evolution, created by a deity, whatever). Let's say hypothetically, that the humans evolved from apes, but the elves (not that we need elves specifically) were created artificially by ancient visitors from another world, and the dwarves (same case) crawled out of pools of primordial soup. That way, each unique group has been separate since the beginning, and the only reason for them to ever get along would be in the name of a united tomorrow; world peace, that whole deal.

Instead of being separated by mountains, rivers, and seas, let's take this to an illogical extreme. That's not water in between them, but toxic sludge, or an empty void, or something like that. Those aren't just mountains, they're titanic fortresses created by ancient beings (or the dominant political power), to restrain all the others under their authority. Essentially what I'm suggesting is a hyperbole, taking the emotional distance of that time and turning it into a more literal interpretation. Great expanses that cannot be traveled by boat would provide a great justification for something like airships. Or at least airplanes and helicopters. Unless we take it a step farther and have those conditions be unflyable/difficult to fly, and the only way to cross is by special clearance. Some kind of Stargate network or teleporters. If we do magic, there could be illegal spells that let you cross the distance without using one of the existing gates.

Anyway, those are just some ideas. Please generate some of your own, and we'll dish.

Ooo I like this! Will be posting my ideas when I get home.

Looking forward to it!