Is it ok to ... ?

[Simon Marks]

Hello people.

I am in the midst of (re)designing an LRP (LARP?) System being used here in the UK. The current system is established, published and successful.

Now, as pointed out on your forum for Indie RPG design, Redesigning a Game is normally a No-No, but in this case I am re-designing the System because I am being asked to by the person who owns the system.

So, in this case it's not me 'doing X system right' but is "Simon, can you design a system that supports these events I am running that looks and feels enough like the old system that I don't lose players?" - so I guess thats ok?

Now, originally I was thinking of posting it into Indie RPG's but... it's not an RPG, it's not really Indie (in the terms of UK LRP - it part of the mainstream) and finally what I really want to talk about is how the hell you deal with reward systems for an event numbering in the 1,000's - all with differing styles of play. Which would make it theory?

I want your feedback on the concepts - but they are fairly long threads, partly dealing with theory, partly dealing with mechanics - mostly dealing with LRP, but with crossover.

So... What do I do?

[Andrew Morris]

Simon, LARP discussion is okay, but I'm not sure your game is actually "indie." As I understand it, the term (as it is used here) refers to creator-owned games. Since you're doing this for someone else, it's not really your artistic endeavor. So, I'm not certain, but I don't think a game like this fits the requirements. I'd wait to hear from some others, though -- it's quite possible I'm entirely off base.

[Andrew Cooper]

I'm not a site moderator so I would suggest waiting for one of them to respond but as someone who has been around the Forge for a little while at least, here are my thoughts.

Is the game a commercial game (like D&D or White Wolf) or is it just really popular in the UK?  I'm not real sure how much it would matter.  I ask for advice on D&D campaign stuff all the time.

I've seen threads on LARPs before.  I don't think that would be a disqualifier.

My suggestion for actual threads is to break your queries up into small, discrete chunks and concentrate on 1 question per thread.  You'll get better response that way.

[greyorm]

For the purposes of this site, "Indie" refers solely to creator ownership. That is, there is no one else who is or can pull the strings. Whether it is "mainstream", "the number of people playing" or "the size of the business checking account" has absolutely nothing to do with being or not being indie. It does not matter if your game is played by all six billion people on the planet, if it is creator owned, it is considered indie by the Forge.

That said, given that you are developing this for the guy who actually owns the game, that may easily fall outside the purview of the Forge's mission statement.

[Simon Marks]

For the purposes of this site, "Indie" refers solely to creator ownership. That is, there is no one else who is or can pull the strings.

That said, given that you are developing this for the guy who actually owns the game, that may easily fall outside the purview of the Forge's mission statement.

That definition of Indie isn't explicit anywhere that I can find.
Not saying it isn't the case - just that it's not explicit in either the Sticky Policies on this forum or the Indie Design forum.

Anyhow, can we pretend like it's independant? Assume the guy who is running it has no interest in the mechanics of the system - he's just my Patron.

I dunno, I suppose I would really like to discuss this here - but if it's not on-topic (as it were) I'll have to slink off again.

[Eero Tuovinen]

That definition of Indie isn't explicit anywhere that I can find.
Not saying it isn't the case - just that it's not explicit in either the Sticky Policies on this forum or the Indie Design forum.

"About the Forge", the first link up there on the page. First paragraph. Just because everyone loves being a wise-ass.

Anyhow, can we pretend like it's independant? Assume the guy who is running it has no interest in the mechanics of the system - he's just my Patron.

Maybe that's possible. Although it's even simpler to just decide that you're only going to licence your mechanics to him, not work for hire. In that case you're still the owner of the mechanics even if they're used in his game. If you're all really not-commercial and don't speak about these things in any way with the guy, you can just decide unilaterally that this is what you're doing. The guy probably won't mind, as long as the "licence" is free. And it won't ever come up, unless you want to stop him from using the mechanics at some point for some reason. Most importantly, then there's no reason why your LARP mechanics wouldn't be indie.

Or, if you don't really mind not owning the mechanics in the strong sense, release them under a Creative Commons licence. That way you still have all the rights that are relevant for indie-status at the Forge, but also relinquish the chance of controlling their use by the LARP guy.

[timfire]

There's only one way this issue can possibly be resolved, Simon needs to PM/email the content moderator -- who everyone knows is Ron Edwards -- and ask him. I'm not sure how he would answer this question.

But Simon, if you want to discuss LARPs and design principles in general, you can do so freely. Doing so, you can skirt around the policy issue, though because the discussions will be general and non-specific, they will only be of limited use for designing the system. But if you want specific comments on your design, then you should discuss the matter with Ron.

[Simon Marks]

That definition of Indie isn't explicit anywhere that I can find.
Not saying it isn't the case - just that it's not explicit in either the Sticky Policies on this forum or the Indie Design forum.

"About the Forge", the first link up there on the page. First paragraph. Just because everyone loves being a wise-ass.

*Simon looks really embarrased*
Oh yeah, so it does....

Ok, I'll PM Ron about this.

[Ron Edwards]

Hello,

Been away from the internet for a couple of days.

I responded to Simon's PM, but I'll repeat it here, because it's so easy.

When in doubt about this issue, post in RPG Theory forum. Phrase the issue appropriately, from a historical or a conceptual discussion perspective.

You'll get what you need and the site will be enhanced for everyone. We all win.

Best,
Ron