While perusing the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, a set of rules for providing social context for player characters sort of tore its way out of my brain onto a bunch of index cards, and is staring intently at me, waiting for a more detailed writeup. It is set of rules for relationships for D&D player characters, integrated with alignments. The relationships - bought with what I call social traits, say who your allies, loved ones and patrons are, whether you have a patron deity, which organizations to which you belong, and whether you have any special authority with any of these. Having social traits specified for a character adds story content and, perhaps more importantly, provides bonuses for actions in line with social traits and with alignments.

All of the extra rules are in fact extra - they don't alter any existing rules of character creation, just provide additional benefits for a character. If I market these rules specifically for 4Ed D&D, I'll rely on Fair Use as a defense against copyright infringement charges, and not opt for any licence with WOTC. I can see these rules adapted for other games, perhaps even one that I design.

Is this a suitable subject for First Thoughts?

Charles

Hi Charles,

Thanks for checking in about it.

It all comes down to whether your idea is suitable for a self-published product. It seems as if you've considered this and decided that it is - in which case, go for it. It might be helpful to describe it in those terms in the thread.

Best, Ron

To clarify for readers of this thread: I had never intended it to be anything but a self published product, if I publish it at all.

Charles