Star Wars 'Rule Set'

[CMP Mynex]

The easiest way to accomplish a SW character sheet is to base it off the Modern character sheet.

Avoid using _anything_ that is SW specific- (Force Points being a prime example... Simply call it "Points" or leave it as action points.

_most_ of what SW uses has been re-used in OGL products (such as UA), like the WP/VP system... So it shouldn't be that hard to create a SW sheet that doesn't use any SW specific terms.

As for other giving the legal advice, I'll keep it simple, if you have _any_ doubts about _any_ aspect of what you're doing, don't do it.

In the infancy stages of electronic tools, it's better to err on the side of caution...

And I can tell you this much, anything that even remotely has anything to do with SW WILL be eyeballed by lawyers... Lucas pays very close attention to his property... and between WotC and Lucas lawyers... I'll take the WotC ones anyday... heck, I'd rather deal with Microsoft Lawyers. *grimace*

[SalmonElla]

The easiest way to accomplish a SW character sheet is to base it off the Modern character sheet.

Avoid using _anything_ that is SW specific- (Force Points being a prime example... Simply call it "Points" or leave it as action points.

Very good point. I could strip off some of those items easil I think.

As for other giving the legal advice, I'll keep it simple, if you have _any_ doubts about _any_ aspect of what you're doing, don't do it.

/agree That is why I came here first

heck, I'd rather deal with Microsoft Lawyers. *grimace*

/shudder
I really dont want to get into legal battles. I just want to help out others that are less xml savvy but I realize now that I could damage the image of FG by doing so. I may just keep the sheets to myself now as some of the sheets are very starwars specific. Heh, Ill see if I can post some pics though to prove that I actually did the work at some time

[wavecutter]

Well, ask Thor_Ironrock how you can do it leagally. He is building and selling adventures and the SRD ruleset online so he must have some idea.

[Ram Tyr]

I just posted a thread here that should be useful.

I hope so anyway!

Later.
Ramza

[Thore_Ironrock]

Well, ask Thor_Ironrock how you can do it leagally. He is building and selling adventures and the SRD ruleset online so he must have some idea.

Thanks Wave. :wink:

For the most part Mynex stole my thunder a bit above in suggesting alternatives to SE's desire to do a character sheet, and the need to stay away from George's lawyer. In addtion, several other people on this thread (MSD, Tero, Ramza0Tyr) have also posted excellent advice on this subject -- kudos all around.

I have been trying to defend copyrights in this forum since the beginning, only because I have a vested interest in it in addition to sincerely wanting FG to succeed in this industry. I've lived through the evil legal days of TSR, and the onset of the OGL/d20 industry, and while I'm not a lawyer I like to think I have a general idea of how copyrights have been perceived by publishers over the years.

In some cases publishers can be extremely helpful and cooperative with some of these issues, but that is not the case with everyone. What many of us do not want to see is FG becoming "tagged" with being a vehicle for copyright violation. This will make it even more difficult for a guy like me to get publishers interested in online gaming. I think I speak for everyone when I say we don't want that type of perception.

There is that hope but the competition will involve paying someone for access to the rulesets whereas many of us would just like to share.

I do want to comment on this though ... SE, sorry, but nothing is free in this world anymore. The bottom line is you can't copy someone's intellectual property, even if you don't make any money on it. Publishers like myself are in this biz because we love the hobby, but also to make a good old American dollar and unless you write it yourself you basically cannot use other people's ideas without their permission regardless of the end result. Again, the key word there is "permission". At the very least, you can always ask. The worse that someone can say is no.

SE, if you or anyone else out there would like to show off your work, then create something original and post it to the forum. I would love to see Ville or Tero have a "create a character sheet" contest or something like that (hint, hint guys), with the results benefiting the community. There is enough deversity out there with just the base SRD that I think there could be some cool sheets created w/o any copyright violations. Or, if you want to make a buck in the process, you can become a publisher like myself and Mynex -- or even contact us and we can sell your works for you.

:lol: