I want to write and publish a professional novel set in the Planescape setting - not just fan-fiction, I want to make money with this. what I need to know is, whose permission do I need to do this? Who owns the Planescape copyright, and what other miscellaneous Mephistophelian bargains might I need to make? I am 100% serious about this.
Who Owns Planescape?
Or, you *could* write something original. There is no reason why you, if you are any sort of a good writer, couldn't imagine a world similar enough, and yet sufficiently different to avoid lawsuits, that would suit your purpose.
Think Amber Chronicles or the Dark Tower saga. These are all fantasy with 'endless planes' and a central planewalking 'hub', so to speak. This is nothing original in literature; Planescape, like every other D&D setting (and just about anything in D&D) borrows heavily from such sources.
The biggest drawback with working with Wizards is that even books in the D&D setting line have to conform to canon, possibly after exhaustive consultations with 'project leaders' (and since for Planescape there currently are none, a team would have to be formed - chances are near to zilch that they'd let you write this alone anyway), which in the end totally smothers the author's freedom of creativity.
So I hope you do something original; there is no art (or at least I still haven't found any) in commissioned literature.
""They do, however, publish a lot of books, and they let some real hacks write them sometimes, so there's a chance you could get a job that way.""
Unless you have an impressive resume, I doubt they'd give you the time of day. Also, something tells me that WoTC is like most decades-old companies in that if the story is actually good, they don't want anything to do with it because there aren't enough car chases, or something.
Though, knowing most decades old companies, in GREATER likelihood they won't want anything to do with your book because it's not one of their current cash-cow settings/doesn't have a big enough brand name. This is something you see all the damn time with videogame, motion picture, etc. companies.
To be fair, I don't think WoTC is quite (okay, NEARLY) as bad as most of them; if they were, Clueless would have gotten an automated cease & desist reply from Wizards when he asked for permission to make this site and project. Certainly that's what companies like Electronic Arts and Disney do, anyway.
I was afraid I'd get something like this - but what about the Open Gaming Content Whatever Licence? What exactly does that mean?
Let me tell you what in particular I'm interested in, and tell me how I could best deal with it.
A few things I'm NOT interested in: The Lady of Pain, Sigil, The Cant, the Nameless One
What I'm particularly interested in: Baator (especially the concept of the "Ancient Baatorians"), Asmodeus (and his mysterious role as one of the prime shapers of the Great Wheel), Mount Celestia (particularly the mysterious top level), Arcadia, the Harmonium, the Fated, the Chaositects, possibly the Fraternity of Order and Revolutionary League, the Great Wheel (I have radically reimagined its geography), Far Realm, material from the Tome of Magic, and the Diabolus race and Jester class from the Dragon Compendium (are they even canon?)
Also, how do I change the image next to my moniker? I tried uploading an image, but it didn't 'stick'.
Start small, write a short story for the digital Dragon Magazine. Maybe it will turn into a serial that could form a whole novel eventually...
I'm Samuel M. Wright, and you're not.
The OGL has nothing to do with "product identity" - which is basically everything that you're interested in using.
Pants of the North!
Let me tell you what in particular I'm interested in, and tell me how I could best deal with it.
A few things I'm NOT interested in: The Lady of Pain, Sigil, The Cant, the Nameless One
What I'm particularly interested in: Baator (especially the concept of the "Ancient Baatorians"), Asmodeus (and his mysterious role as one of the prime shapers of the Great Wheel), Mount Celestia (particularly the mysterious top level), Arcadia, the Harmonium, the Fated, the Chaositects, possibly the Fraternity of Order and Revolutionary League, the Great Wheel (I have radically reimagined its geography), Far Realm, material from the Tome of Magic, and the Diabolus race and Jester class from the Dragon Compendium (are they even canon?)
First, a disclaimer that I'm not a lawyer, and all this is based on my personal understanding, not any sort of training in copyright law.
Basically: if some product in D&D invented it, you cannot use it at all. If it exists in public domain, or it's fairly generic in concept, you're free to use it. The Great Wheel is not okay, but if you've changed it's geography to a large degree, it might be okay. So, for example, Bytopia and Mechanus are out because they're specific to Planescape both in name and in concept. Gehenna by name is okay because it's mythological, but by concept is not because the specific conception was created in Planescape; the idea of it as floating volcano islands in space is not its mythological conception. Limbo is okay because it's mythological in name and generic in concept; a plane of malleable matter that can be shaped by thought. Specific sites are the same way: they're only okay to use if they're either public domain (Thoth's realm) or generic enough that having a copyright claim would be outrageous (a city of water elementals).
NPCs are similar. Orcus is okay (mythological figure), Cirily is not (created in Planescape). The Wolf Lord is okay (generic concept), the Us is not (created in Planescape).
And, of course, anything in the SRD is up for grabs, which includes, for example, some devils (but not the word baatezu), some demons (but not the word tanar'ri), but no yugoloths.
As for your specific questions: The Nine Hells are okay wholly because they're from Dante, but the name Baator is not. The Seven Heavens I think would be okay; they're generic in concept and loosely based on the nine spheres also from Dante, but that's a little sketchy; the name Mount Celestia would definitely be out, though. The Ancient Baatorians are out in name, but the concept (ancient progenitor race of the devils) would probably be okay. Asmodeus is okay in both name and concept. The factions are out entirely. As said before, the Great Wheel is out. No material from Tome of Magic or the Dragon Compendium is OGL, so nothing from those could be used as is, though general concepts would be okay. Like, for example, you could have someone that binds spirits that exist between worlds because that's a generic concept, but they couldn't be binding Acererack or Tenebrous.
In essence I'd say that you have no chance of publishing this story without licensing it from WotC, there's too much based in product identity. :/
What the above posters have said is pretty much it for you. Short of speaking to WotC specifically about the opportunity and getting lucky, you won't be able to write anything Planescapian in nature in Baator.
If you can pare your story down well enough - maybe - but it may be easier for you to put the current idea down, pick up something related and recycle the older ideas where you can successfully clean the IP out of them.
I will also say this: Planescape novels didn't sell well the last time around, and Planescape as a product line has been submerged into the main product line for two editions in a row now. It does not enjoy any form of privileged or favored status at WotC the way Eberron or FR do, and there is some question regarding if the current WotC writers even *like* the setting. WotC has over the last few years cut their novel writing authors and budget to the bone, and is for the most part not turning attention to writers outside of their own staff.
In addition, if you were somehow to land a speculative offer from WotC, please, for my own peace of mind regarding your writing career: understand what the words "work for hire" really mean before you sign. They really mean, any concept, plot arc, items, spells, any character, location or setting you make - is not yours. It would be bought from top to bottom by your employer and you will not be allowed to reuse the material anywhere else, or sell any other rights to it for games, movies, further stories or sequel novels. WotC routinely employees writers under work for hire conditions. This isn't necessarily unusual in the RPG industry - but be aware that it is there. What is unusual is that WotC also underpays per the word last I checked vs. RPG industry standard - which underpays per the word vs. writing industry standard.
Which is to say: If you want to be published, and you want to make a profit on it --> Look. Elsewhere.
Personally I would suggest you look towards your own setting with Baen as the publisher. Baen makes it a policy to pick up new authors and new settings as much as they can, and has an extremely active community of readers and authors willing to beta-read manuscripts and help you clean them up to publication standards.
The diabolus is from the nightmare dimension of Mystara, the world of Basic D&D, which was introduced to AD&D 2e in the '90s. I don't recall any Mystara references in Planescape, and BD&D had its own cosmology.
The jester was a joke class for OD&D, from the Dragon #3 (Oct. '76!), revisited in Dragon #60 (Apr. '88), once April Fools' issues became a tradition. The canonicity of Dragon's April jokes.... You could say they are officially part of the game, but don't officially (normally) occur in the settings.
""I don't recall any Mystara references in Planescape""
Technically not, though the good and neutral Mystaran deities are listed in Warriors of Heaven (originally intended to be a Planescape supplement) and assimilated into the Planescape cosmology.
Also, some of the monsters from the Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix are mentioned in the Inner Planes book (namely the elementals of law/chaos, and a ruby dragon who may well be the Gem Dragon analogue of Tiamat/Bahumut)
I will also say this: Planescape novels didn't sell well the last time around, and Planescape as a product line has been submerged into the main product line for two editions in a row now. It does not enjoy any form of privileged or favored status at WotC the way Eberron or FR do, and there is some question regarding if the current WotC writers even *like* the setting.
Now I have to ask: What kind of imbecile doesn't *like* Planescape? It's got everything - literally.
'Imbecile' is a little harsh, don't you think? Different tastes for different people. I mean, Spelljammer literally has everything too, but I wouldn't begrudge someone for not liking that either.
Now I have to ask: What kind of imbecile doesn't *like* Planescape? It's got everything - literally.
I agree wholeheartedly with your comment my friend.
The Dimension/Demiplane of Nightmare was briefly described in Planescape's A Guide to the Ethereal Plane.
A more specific Mystara reference could be found in Uncaged: Faces of Sigil. One of the characters in that was a shadowelf from Mystara.
The Dimension/Demiplane of Nightmare was briefly described in Planescape's A Guide to the Ethereal Plane.
A more specific Mystara reference could be found in Uncaged: Faces of Sigil. One of the characters in that was a shadowelf from Mystara.
There was also a flavor text entry in the PSMC3 - the one devoted to the inner planes. I think it was on Fundamentals or Drakes. Basically, the planar sage was ridiculing a Mystaran sage's concepts.
Also, in the Bloodwars CCG, there was a Hin Archer card (Hin being the Mystaran halflings' name for themselves).
The term *Hin* is also used in Forgotten Realms.. not exclusively Mystara.
Now I have to ask: What kind of imbecile doesn't *like* Planescape? It's got everything - literally.
While Planescape overall is considered to be one of the best settings of 2E along with Dark Sun, it is not loved by everybody. Including:
--Anyone who doesn't like AD&D because it's too hard/unfair/the DM has way too much power (e.g. Tomb of Horrors)
--Likewise, I've heard many complaints that Planescape is too difficult a setting because all the planes are too extreme (particularly the lower and inner planes), you have to rely "too much" on magic and magic items for basic survival, and the planar limitations on magic and magic items are too great (e.g. healing spells and magic items don't work at all on the lower planes)
Now, as for the Planescape novels, there are several reasons why they were not well received, and I don't know enough about them to explain all the reasons why (though I understand the writing wasn't all that great).
One qualm many (if not most) Planescape fans had with the novels (or at least one of them), is that one book (or at least part of it) is a narration by the friggin' Lady of Pain.
Why is this a problem? Because the Lady of Pain is supposed to be one huge enigma; most fans don't even like the idea of assigning her an alignment. Narration is always a bad, bad, bad idea for enigmatic characters because it's a glimpse into their inner thoughts.
It is also my understanding that the novels did a poor job at maintaining a consistency with the sourcebooks.
And that is why I love this site forum.... You folks know everything that I find interesting. ;D
I am going to look up this Baen publisher.... I also have concepts that I would like to put together... At least until Paizo considers material for a Divine Level Handbook post-Epic publication.
I am also enjoying the idea of toying around with a few japanese concepts and ideas from Magic: the Gathering's 'Champions of Kamigawa' line as RPG elements in my own games.... Plus, their idea of the material world / spirit world is a variant cosmology that I enjoy using certain aspects of.
Hi "I'm-Hiding-In-Your-Closet",
Sorry to add to the chorus of doom, but as someone who's dealt with intellectual property holders over the years in several capacities I'd strongly advise you to consider working on original material. IP holders are notoriously difficult to work with. In my younger days I wrote a screenplay adaptation of a novel I had enjoyed after hearing Paramount optioned it; I figured someone had to write the screenplay so it might as well be me. The studio would have nothing to do with me, of course, and when I sent the screenplay to the novelist's literary agency all I got back was a scary cease-and-desist letter from one of their lawyers (now hanging pride-of-place behind my home office desk
In general it is very hard to deal with another company when you are simply a "man off the street" with nothing to your name but an idea (no matter how good). The people you are writing/cold-calling already have enough regular work on their desk that it is simply an imposition for them to look at your proposal in addition to dealing with their normal weekly work load. Now throw in the fact that the entertainment industry draws more than its fair share of weird and possibly unhinged individuals, and you can see why they'd be extremely reluctant to hear you out.
Finally, remember that Wizards of the Coast is foremost a business, with their own marketing and product strategies. For 2 editions now they've laid the Planescape setting to rest; for them to start publishing Planescape novels again would require an investment in marketing, art work, etc. that they clearly have no interest in committing.
It does not enjoy any form of privileged or favored status at WotC the way Eberron or FR do, and there is some question regarding if the current WotC writers even *like* the setting.
After slogging through Blood Hostages the last couple of months I can appreciate why _writers_ might have a problem with it. First, because of Planescape's cynical/jaded tone, it is hard to create heroic, likeable characters for it. Second, no matter how much we appreciate the setting's flavor, it is a little too in your face at times when translated to the novelistic medium. After tumbling to the dark of Sigil's slang and peculiar modus vivendi in countless game books I don't need it repeated to me for the umpteenth time in a novel as if it were the author's own recent creation. Third, Planescape is TOO big in scope- it is very hard to come up with a plot for it that is not cataclysmic, existence-shattering in implication without it seeming inconsequential. Yet if the plot is cataclysmic & existence-shattering in implication then it's hard to pull off suspense since the reader implicitly knows that no matter how the book ends, the multiuniverse is not coming to a halt, and that by tomorrow Mechanus will still be clicking, Gehenna still burning, and the Bloodwar still raging. This is the unfortunate conundrum of writing for a popular game setting. You want to do something interesting and big to keep it dynamic, yet you cannot really change it since that's why it's popular to begin with (and so hence the rotating coffin lids on the graves of all those D&D gods who were killed in some epic upheaval only to be brought back because they were too popular to let go).
Wait, all those D&D gods? Bane came back, and Orcus, but that's all I can think of in terms of D&D gods killed and later returned. Who else do you mean?
Edit: I guess technically Mystra, if you really wanted to stretch things, but Midnight-Mystra is dead now anyway.
Personally, I think the problem is not that Planescape is too big, but that many writers would feel so overwhelmed by its enormity that they try to include everything. Part of the charm of Planescape was how it adopted, in part, the look and feel Dickensian London.
Just as Great Expectations did not encompass a world altering plot, I think just as compelling a story can be told. I could easily see myself becoming interested in a Pip-like character that happens to be a tiefling.
Even in A Tale of Two Cities where the setting is the French Revolution, the story of a particular character or group of characters in the Blood War can still be compelling even if they cannot alter the course of the War itself.
Just some food for thought.
Idran,
Bane and Orcus were primarily who I was thinking of as well when I wrote my comment, though having just finished Plugin <em></em> Not Found *spoiler* I guess you could technically add Primus to that list as well.
But my general point was that TSR/Wizards have repeatedly teased us with the prospect of world-altering changes to one of their settings only to pull back and return that setting to us largely intact. Some examples:
* Moonshae Trilogy - Earthmother (actually an aspect of Chauntea) killed, replaced by- Chauntea!
* Avatar Trilogy - Gods War cataclysm leads to the same (by and large) bunch of powers running Faerun as before
* Greyhawk Wars - WWII-like upheaval at the end of which Oerth's borders barely budge
* Reckoning of Hell- 9 archdevils lead by Asmodeus replaced by- 9 archdevils lead by Asmodeus!
Kalidor,
I totally agree, though getting the greenlight on such a project (sensitive, coming of age story about a half-fiend orphan) would be exceedingly hard at a gaming company. There is also the problem that Planescape, if you scratch the surface just a bit, is partly a satire on D&D conventions. "A tanar'ri, modron, and talking camel walk into this bar, see..." sounds like the beginning of a joke, but is really the intended flavor of the setting and so somewhat undermines any attempts at introspective fiction. Yet I agree that a typical Planescape character bears more than a passing resemblance to one of Dickens' grotesques, and that this could be taken advantage of by a skillful writer. BTW, your mention of Dickensian London reminds me of the excellent Plugin <em></em> Not Found. A great read if you haven't checked it out already.
Yup, automated cease & desist letters/emails are the standard faire for anyone who emails/mails an idea involving a company's IP to that company, even if your message consisted of nothing more than asking for their permission or to be hired by them.
Another problem is the loathesome IP rights that publishers and distributors gain over the material of developers, musicians, etc.
For example, Richard Garriot (Owner of Origin and creator of the Ultima series) actually looked favorably upon and encouraged fan-works of his creations, but his publishing company, Electronic Arts, would not have any of that. IMO EA should have had no say whatsoever since they are merely publishers, but unfortunately that's not the way the world works.
The RIAA can even tell musicians what software formats/hardware they can and cannot convert their music to! It's ridiculous!
Mr. Garriot sold the IP to EA. UO spelled the end for the series because once he got entangled in game publishers and marketing schemes and evil corporations doing everything they could to get their hands on the virgin online game industry, he decided he wanted out. Notice that when he finally got around to making Tabula Rasa, he made sure his name was plastered all over it, and that he retained some control.
As another fellow amateur writer, I can say with confidence that trying to write for established serieses is usually a bad idea, unless that particular series is one that welcomes new writers. Wizards really only hires new writers for the MTG novels, and the MTG writers get put through a meatgrinder - in the end, it's like they never even wrote the book, they were just typing what the Wizards Creative Department editors and consultants told them to type. Some of the MTG writers really enjoy that process but most novelists would not.
On a related note, I think the reason this site is allowed to exist is because it doesn't cut down on any of WOTC's profits. They don't make money on Planescape anymore so this site doesn't present a problem to them.
That and the fact that we have an ongoing agreement with WotC as an Official Fansite, under the same agreements as the official fansites for other settings do such as athas.org. It's an old agreement from early in the days of 3.0, and to mutual benefit. We get to fan out over our favorite settings, they get positive PR and clearly labeled ip ownership (see the bottom of the website).
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have done a Planescape webcomic, just in case WotC gets territorial. Ah well. If they C&D me, I'll figure out something else to do.
http://kaitou-kage.deviantart.com/ -- My deviantART gallery
http://www.planescapemetamorphosis.com/ -- Planescape: Metamorphosis, a Planescape webcomic in the works
![Eye-wink Eye-wink](sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Example/wink.png)
It's good that at least this much flexibility is allowed, so that old settings that are no longer published, maintained, or circulated can continue to flourish and encourage the community surrounding them to remain behaving as active participants, rather than become angry mobs that are untended by their corporate big-siblings who no longer care about their whims and wishes, even though those people are also their loyal and continuing consumer base, and making them happy is in the company's best interests.... Which in all technicality means that WotC and its Hasbro umbrella has committed marketing suicide... But such is their choice to make *cough* - stupidly - *cough*....
I just wish that the portion of the community who can actually work mutually with each other and not fret over IP issues was allowed to still do so without the market tearing them a new rectal orifice... My utopian dream of such a world would include awesome third-party publishers networking and communally participating with freelance writers and artists to produce material for systems, campaign settings, and other material no longer set in established corporate publications and related media, where not only the creators could benefit, but that media could be separated into freely OGL materials and paid-only related media which could be utilized in publications and other concepts, but which would work hand in hand, and not mutually exclude fans and gamers specifically from certain aspects of gaming which are in fact universal in nature and not necessarily linked specifically to a company's profit margins - instead being more linked to the community's overall survival and thriving continuity. Ah, to dream of heaven is to know what it is to lack in life... At least my mind can still dream without worrying about IP issues. Just wait until you receive cease & desist letters after dreaming about your favorite character... Won't that be a lovely era? XP
-will
We called those the TSR days.
Mmmm essentially yeah.
That's exactly what we're doing with the PSCS3 and PSCS4 releases as well as the ongoing chatter in the forums here. Boiled down, the primary rules are:
1) No claiming of the IP as your own (by extension this includes no formal publication of work written)
2) No profiting from the work written
3) No plagarism aka no copy'n'paste of text or art
As a sidenote, if you happen to be a sci-fi fan you might want to look into Eclipsephase to throw them some support. They released under Creative Commons specifically to encourage development. http://www.eclipsephase.com
Lol, @Idran - thanks.
Good deal - that's what I had in mind, @Clueless. I figured I would build up Modrons here, since there are canon, and then work on the other stuff I have as supplemental material about tech and mechanoids separately and - hopefully - keeping my own copyright (this time around).
As for the Eclipse Phase CS, it seems very cool and well-organized. I will have to look it over a little more when I have some more time, but it is definitely straight-out SF, when I prefer a little SF/Fantasy hybridization. I mostly enjoy seeing my players freak out when someone comes in firing at them with a pistol, laser beam, or wearing mechanical armor/exoskeletal suit.
The main information I am working on right now in that area is technology traits (like type/subtype) for objects and creatures that can be used universally in a d20 system setup. It just so happened to include new cleric domains for technology, and that included Primus, which in turn included Modrons.... So I had to put in at least a LITTLE time to them.... And ended up outlining major physiological characteristics (like which parts of their bodies are synthetic, exchangeable, and reparable, etc.). I will upload those images soon.....
QUESTION: what is the best practice for posting an image online, and linking it here - that would not screw me over in the long run? I have in the past used my Elftown.com account to upload images, and I have the capability to upload media and websites using Dreamweaver and FTP uploads... But I would love to have a quick nudge in the right direction to keep it from getting crazy and potentially ending me up in court.
-will
If you want to link it on the forums, the best bets are either to use your own webspace or use Photobucket.
As long as you're not claiming credit for something you didn't do, you should be able to stay out of court. Some people don't like their pictures posted without permission, so if you want to use a picture as, say, a character reference it's usually a nice thing to do to ask the artist if it's okay. Most artists won't mind. Most probably won't find out but it's still a nice thing to do
I can't tell if you're an artist yourself. If not and you want something done, Planewalker has a few in-house artists that might take up requests if they see them. Just post a description in the Civic Festhall and if an artist gets inspired you might get a sketch or a full-color picture out of it.
But bottom line: if it's your own thing, you're safe from court. If it's not, make sure you give credit where credit's due and try to get an official nod from the creator. Use your own webspace or Photobucket to link directly to images or post them in threads. Linking directly from another site is usually considered bandwidth-stealing and is very frowned upon.
http://kaitou-kage.deviantart.com/ -- My deviantART gallery
http://www.planescapemetamorphosis.com/ -- Planescape: Metamorphosis, a Planescape webcomic in the works
There's a few other image hosting services that work too, if you don't want to use Photobucket. (I'm not a fan of their fairly low bandwidth restrictions, myself.) xs.to, tinypic.com, and imageshack.us are all pretty good.
Gotcha, on all accounts. I am doing the illustrations myself, but I have been running into a whole lot of copyright issues that I never knew were in place lately.... And now I am IP-paranoid, I think. The Modron illustrations are based on not one but all the images of them I could find. They are not exact copies, but a breakdown of what physical components one would find inside of a Modron (so far, have Monodrone to Tridrone finished, and begun on Quadrone and Pentadrone). So far, because I am using the idea of interchangeable and mass-produced parts, there are a few edits between these ones and AD&D, 2e, & 3e... I am boiling that down to the fact that Primus made some prudent decisions after inheriting a dead deity's station to make some adjustments to how the Modrons are composed and how his own domain is protected (as well as his own 'body').... I think you'll all like how I combined old elements and the new ones - I am trying to keep it as rational as possible, without destroying my creative freedom and still keeping to canon; emulation without congruency or massive divergence.
Case in point: the Tridrones have better, more offensive/defensive arms which both help to stabilize their now top-heavy composition (as pictured in Dragon v.318) as well as to be better manipulated to get at areas they need on themselves (self-reach), as well as to provide a secondary mode of mobility more akin to their original 'spider-like legs' design. Still the same Tridrone as in the magazine, but you'll like the details of this one much more. All changes made between these versions and the most recent versions have been as rationalized as possible, and some play off the death of Primus and the decisions his successor would have made to better align the Modrons with the new way of logic that had to be undertaken to keep their race competitive and superior enough for continuing survival.
Gonna scan them now, and upload them to Elftown - hopefully be back soon enough to post them here - well, not on THIS thread, but on the one I made for technology stuff.
-will
You know, I only just now realized that I had the capacity the whole time to simply post them here on this site instead of linking them from external sources altogether... Leave it to me to overlook the obvious.
I pieced together the first set of illustrations and information I made about Modrons and their composition: Plugin <em></em> Not Found. Would love some input or a review of what's done so I can keep moving forward on an informed note. Working on Quadrones and Pentadrones right now - want to do the whole set, and maybe even color and detail them as vector art in Illustrator if it doesn't present too much of a hassle by the time I get done with Primus and the Hierarchs. I've noticed very few artists ever did a full run of all of them at any given time post-AD&D flesh-dice-bots. I'm trying to give them as many nods as possible.
I think you messed up your link formatting a little. This is what you meant to link to, right?
It looks like you might have done it to your Mimir.net link on your thread too. I think you're using HTML? It might be easier if you use BBCode, you just need to do [url=websiteaddressnoquotes]Text[/url]. I'm not even sure if this board supports HTML, actually.
Ew... Ick. Sorry - actually the link to the internal thread was a URL I copied from the 'New Posts' panel along the side, just thinking that it was sufficient for my needs... And I was using the [ [ url | text ] ] method for posting... I just didn't preview and check it. I am still getting used to the coding structure here... Lots of different codes used around the web now - having a hard time remembering them all, but trying. I am constantly referring to the quick guide below on here, and the other day to figure out to properly link the Modron images from Elftown as both thumbnails and links, I had to use the full coding guide in a separate window to figure it out and get it right.
Sorry for the Icks, yall. But yes, you have the right URL linked. The mimir.net URL may not be working properly - on the other thread I read that it is having issues.... But I was thinking of this one:
http://www.mimir.net/mechanus/index.shtml
Thanks, Idran.
-will
I have a question regarding the license and possible problems I could encounter.
I'm building up a site and writing material for playing Planescape with Fantasy Craft rules and I wonder if anyone at WotC would have a problem with that?
I wouldn't copy text from the books but I would have to use names (slaadi, modrons, yugoloths, etc.)
It's a non-profit, fan project.
As far as I know, Wizards of the Coast owns the license. They bought it from TSR along with the rest of D&D. Just because they discontinued the line doesn't mean they surrendered the license, sadly. You could approach someone at WoTC, but unless you've got something published already, I doubt they'll even hear you out. They do, however, publish a lot of books, and they let some real hacks write them sometimes, so there's a chance you could get a job that way.
Whatever you do though, don't write the book before you have the rights as that's just a recipe for disaster.