Dresden Files!
Apr. 6th, 2010 10:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesSo, the last two blog posts have been on the Dresden Files RPG*. Plus, today marks the release of the next Dresden Files novel. I'll be heading to Borders after work** to get it.
Also, in seeing the RPG and new book, I also discovered Jim Butcher's fanfiction policy. Basically, like Mercedes Lackey, he's allowed fanfiction to be posted under a Creative Commons license. So, any non-commercial derivative work based on Alera or the Dresdenverse can be posted to the 'net, as long as it is under a CC license***. (He also notes that he's still not reading fanfic, so don't ask.)
It came up because the RPG writers noted that they really can't put out the Dresden Files RPG under an Open Gaming License, except for the rules that were already under that. But that they intend to use things like the spellcasting rules as a basis for other work that is not part of a licensed property, which will let them publish under the OGL. And that since Jim Butcher allows derivative works, anything from the Dresden Files RPG is free game for non-commercial discussion -- game stories, characters, Dresden-fied settings, house rules, etc. So, for example, I can't lift the spellcasting rules and publish a FATE Dungeon Crawl, but I could probably use them to run a non-Dresden FATE game using the magic rules (and talk about it via the internet). (Would that be like a crossover?)
Anyway, good on Jim Butcher! As a shameless writer/artist/gamer who plays with derivative works, I appreciate authors who see them as signs of a healthy fanbase, rather than threats. I mean, no matter how many times people write Harry/Thomas, Harry/Marcone, Harry/Carlos†, it doesn't change that the original Harry Dresden lives in Jim's head and the rest of us are working from copies.
--
* Still reading, and I already know I'm going to need to make cheat sheets for spellcasting. Probably for character gen and combat, too -- mostly because I've never run FATE before, and it's not a variant of a familiar system like True20 was. One advantage of the old-school 'DM's screen' is that you can stick all the useful cheat sheets and tables to it, so you don't have to play the 'what page was that on?' game.
** That is, if the Ithaca Borders decides it's going to stop being a prat about never having SF books on the release date, no matter how well they might sell. It could just be the computer hasn't updated yet. I really need to see if there's something other than 'Borders, Barnes and Noble, the university bookstore, and various used bookstores' in town.
*** Meaning I need to modify my Dresden Files and Codex Alera fic to show this. My fic journal has a convenient spot for a disclaimer, that I can alter, but I should also get my archived work.
† It's usually either slash or porn, or slash porn that gets authors' undergarments in knots and full of sand. Somehow 'Harry Dresden versus Edward Cullen, hidden heir to the Glitter Court†† of Vampires' doesn't offend. (At least not Jim Butcher, though Stephenie Meyer may object.)
†† Not original. Someone already wrote fanfiction with Thomas using the Meyer-pires as an excuse to meet pretty women with things for vampires. And Harry laughing his ass off at Thomas's use of body glitter.
Also, in seeing the RPG and new book, I also discovered Jim Butcher's fanfiction policy. Basically, like Mercedes Lackey, he's allowed fanfiction to be posted under a Creative Commons license. So, any non-commercial derivative work based on Alera or the Dresdenverse can be posted to the 'net, as long as it is under a CC license***. (He also notes that he's still not reading fanfic, so don't ask.)
It came up because the RPG writers noted that they really can't put out the Dresden Files RPG under an Open Gaming License, except for the rules that were already under that. But that they intend to use things like the spellcasting rules as a basis for other work that is not part of a licensed property, which will let them publish under the OGL. And that since Jim Butcher allows derivative works, anything from the Dresden Files RPG is free game for non-commercial discussion -- game stories, characters, Dresden-fied settings, house rules, etc. So, for example, I can't lift the spellcasting rules and publish a FATE Dungeon Crawl, but I could probably use them to run a non-Dresden FATE game using the magic rules (and talk about it via the internet). (Would that be like a crossover?)
Anyway, good on Jim Butcher! As a shameless writer/artist/gamer who plays with derivative works, I appreciate authors who see them as signs of a healthy fanbase, rather than threats. I mean, no matter how many times people write Harry/Thomas, Harry/Marcone, Harry/Carlos†, it doesn't change that the original Harry Dresden lives in Jim's head and the rest of us are working from copies.
--
* Still reading, and I already know I'm going to need to make cheat sheets for spellcasting. Probably for character gen and combat, too -- mostly because I've never run FATE before, and it's not a variant of a familiar system like True20 was. One advantage of the old-school 'DM's screen' is that you can stick all the useful cheat sheets and tables to it, so you don't have to play the 'what page was that on?' game.
** That is, if the Ithaca Borders decides it's going to stop being a prat about never having SF books on the release date, no matter how well they might sell. It could just be the computer hasn't updated yet. I really need to see if there's something other than 'Borders, Barnes and Noble, the university bookstore, and various used bookstores' in town.
*** Meaning I need to modify my Dresden Files and Codex Alera fic to show this. My fic journal has a convenient spot for a disclaimer, that I can alter, but I should also get my archived work.
† It's usually either slash or porn, or slash porn that gets authors' undergarments in knots and full of sand. Somehow 'Harry Dresden versus Edward Cullen, hidden heir to the Glitter Court†† of Vampires' doesn't offend. (At least not Jim Butcher, though Stephenie Meyer may object.)
†† Not original. Someone already wrote fanfiction with Thomas using the Meyer-pires as an excuse to meet pretty women with things for vampires. And Harry laughing his ass off at Thomas's use of body glitter.
