Power Core Combiner RPG outline

[Shockwave]

The hardcore D&Ders that I know (and they've been playing the same game every week for around 12 years now) prefer 2nd Ed because 3.5 gimped out a lot of stuff and loaded more of the gameplay on the DM rather than the players. In 2nd, damage is rolled on a D20, with the results determined further by various weapon/class bonuses vs. armor ratings and what not.

[Onslaught Six]

Mmm. We're playing 3.5 because we know fuck-all about D&D and it seemed easier to learn, apparently.

[Shockwave]

I have played 3rd ed which is really not all that different in terms of combat. And at least the D&D referrence puts us on the same page for developing the combat system here which is I think what we're going for. As for what dice to roll, I'm really indifferent to that, so whatever winds up working best for the stats we wind up with.

[Dominic]

I have a rough draft of character generating rules. (I am quite pleased with it actually.)

That said, I have a more serious topic to sort out first.

Given what we know happened with that "My Little Pony" fan game.....do we want to keep doing this? How squeamish do we want to be, should we be, about Hasbro coming in and hitting us with a "cease and desist"? I am particularly interested in JT's thoughts on this, as he is the one who runs this forum, and would likely be the one getting the angry messages from Hasbro.


Dom
-better to ask now....

[Shockwave]

If Hasbro actually wastes the time to come in here or hit JT with some silly C&D order to try to stop ~4 or 5 TF nerds from throwing a few gaming dice around then they honestly have too much time on their hands. The difference here is that we are not creating a product. What we are doing is basically playing with the toys but using dice rolls to determine what happens. Hasbro produces their products to be played with and this is how we've chosen to do that. Now, if we start producing game manuals and selling them online THAT could be a problem but otherwise I'm not concerned in the least.

[JediTricks]

I have a rough draft of character generating rules. (I am quite pleased with it actually.)

That said, I have a more serious topic to sort out first.

Given what we know happened with that "My Little Pony" fan game.....do we want to keep doing this? How squeamish do we want to be, should we be, about Hasbro coming in and hitting us with a "cease and desist"? I am particularly interested in JT's thoughts on this, as he is the one who runs this forum, and would likely be the one getting the angry messages from Hasbro.


Dom
-better to ask now....

Thanks for asking. It's not a problem. You're not talking about a software game, RPGs exist only on paper and in the imaginations of their players, you are not charging anything for this game you're creating and you're not attempting to pass it off as official brand content. I am rock solid on this, and on the VERY unlikely possibility that Hasbro tries to come after us for this, not only am I already protected since I didn't create the material or foster it in any way, but I can just pass it right along to the lawyers any number of internet free speech groups.

[Dominic]

I just figured it was better to ask first.


Dom
-note that the character generator will be very basic.

[Onslaught Six]

Yeah, we're not creating any kind of actual product. We're creating a ruleset that only fictionally exists right now.

[Dominic]

Arguably, we are infringing on their IP. And, we could actually do this without any Hasbro product, so Shockwave's "City Commander" defense would fall apart. In real terms, the best gaming pieces would be (prohibitively expensive) decoy pieces from 25 years ago. (And, ironically, those were initially made as gaming pieces in Japan.) Legends and "Heroes of Cybertron" PVC figures could work, but not as well. Scouts would work for larger characters.

But, that assumes we are even trying to make scale figures. In practical terms, if we were playing on an actual table, a penny with a letter standing for the characters name taped to it would work just as well.


Dom
-character maker rules are comin' soon....

[Shockwave]

Not really. Again, like O6 said, we're not producing a product. All we're really doing is setting rules and guidelines for how we play with their product. So it's not an infringement on IP at all. It would be no different that putting a bunch of Legends figures on a chess board.