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  1. #1

    Doctors and Daleks, Anime 5E, MLP:FiM 5E, etc.

    Like any open system, 5E is being used within the industry in ways that were thought at best unlikely, and possibly in some cases ill-advised. From a system perspective, for example adapting 5E into a game about Doctor Who seems not all that wise a thing. But on the other hand, the notion of a renegade Time Lord who usually doesn't carry weapons facing off with a Beholder or the Mind Flayers has a certain appeal. Likewise there are other genre adaptations going on.

    What is needed to make things like that work in FGU?
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  2. #2
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Well, do they change the character sheet? Do they change the "rules" around automation?
    If so, then if the change is significant, you probably want an extension or child ruleset. Otherwise if you can get by with notes or non-automating effects in the CT, just do that.

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  3. #3
    In the case of Doctor WHo,LOTR, etc., media properties would require custom icons nd maps (like the control room of the TARDIS in Who). Now if you know how these are relatively easy to create (at least the icons. Views from above of map areas that are only seen from the frint in the source mediais not nearly so automatic). ICons seem replatively easy -- just take a headshot and put it into the form needed. But then I m not a coder and making them work might be harder).

    And this isn't just a 5E question. There re many different third-party campaign settings in a lot of different systems.
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    "Without Love, I'd have no anger. I wouldn't believe in righteousness." -- Bernie Taupin

  4. #4
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    Ok, so if you as an individual just want to play one of these systems in FG, then you can do what I said above. Or you can use a generic ruleset like CoreRPG or XCore and build out your semi-custom character sheets.

    If someone wanted to make these playable for numerous tables and share it, then they would either want to make an extension or a ruleset so that they can share the setup more easily. Adding custom icons to the character sheet for buttons and such requires an extension or ruleset. If by icons you mean images, tokens, and portraits, those are just FG modules.

    To create a custom extension or ruleset you need to learn FGs XML for formatting and LUA scripting language.

    If this were to be released as an official product of the property (which is not required for a ruleset), then they would want to release it on the FG Store and would have to work with SmiteWorks to get it approved etc.

    If this is more of a community level project, you can release it via the FG Forge. Game mechanics as expressed in a FG ruleset or extension can not be copyrighted, so you do not need the IP holders permission. But if you are going to try to include their artwork, or actual text content, then that would generally be a module and would require their permission (IP law is about distribution, not commercialization or profit).

    Extensions and rulesets released via the Forge can use Ruleset Wizard – The ruleset development environment for Fantasy Grounds to help in their creation. IMO it's a great tool for helping learn how to customize FG. It's not allowed for FG Store products because it can make products more difficult to maintain as CoreRPG updates are deployed.

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
    On Licensing & Distributing Community Content
    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  5. #5
    So if you put Whoniverse characters and monsters onto icons you'e breaking trademark and need permission. Thanks for clearing that up for me. I guess VTTs are a big enough business now that it threatens everyone's funds to put together the module I had in mind in the way Ihadin mind.

    Knowing that saves both me and Smiteworks a lot of trouble, so thank you.
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    "Without Love, I'd have no anger. I wouldn't believe in righteousness." -- Bernie Taupin

  6. #6
    LordEntrails's Avatar
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    It only break copyright if you distribute it. (Trademark is different than copyright and doesn't really apply here).
    Using them as tokens at your virtual table is pretty much assumed not to be distribution. But as far as I know, there have never been any legal cases to make that decision.

    So, use their artwork for your own games, just don't share them.

    Problems? See; How to Report Issues, Bugs & Problems
    On Licensing & Distributing Community Content
    Community Contributions: Gemstones, 5E Quick Ref Decal, Adventure Module Creation, Dungeon Trinkets, Balance Disturbed, Dungeon Room Descriptions
    Note, I am not a SmiteWorks employee or representative, I'm just a user like you.

  7. #7
    I was about to ask a follow-=up question, but it was so ill-formed that I couldn't make sense of it. Which made it unlikely I could make sense of the answer.
    FGU Ultimate -- All Players Welcome
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  8. #8
    I found an interesting response to my Doctor Who conundrum on DriveThru of all places. It was a set of meeples that can used as icons, including one with a Fez (Infamous as the Matt Smith Doctor's favorite hat). The meeples are all single colors, but each can substitute for any character or type of character. Plus editing a meeple would be child's play if you are at all competent with photo editing software.

    They do not sell Dalek meeples, though, or any of the Doctor's other non-humanoid enemies.

    [Incidentally, I also picked up a copy of Anime 5E this week. I wouldn't call myself impressed by it.]
    Last edited by Michael Hopcroft; January 30th, 2025 at 04:41.
    FGU Ultimate -- All Players Welcome
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