Mad Brew Labs

Jonathan at The Core Mechanic is running this month’s RPG Blog Carnival: Monsters & Map Madness. I decided to make a world map as my contribution to the carnival. I wanted to achieve a semi-realistic map using program(s) I already own. Looking at my suite of software tools, I chose the venerable Photoshop in CS4 dress. I thought about creating the map using painterly techniques, but I doubted my skill would meet my realism goal. So I turned the web to find some tutorials. I wound up at the Cartographers’ Guild, which is probably the best resource on the web for fantasy cartography.  The Cartographers’ Guild is a member of the Fantaseum Alliance, which includes the world building forum, The Campaign Builders’ Guild, and the Plot Storming website.  This is the description their website gives:

The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs-all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge. Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand. The Cartographers’ Guild is a friendly, open community, welcoming to everyone who pursues cartographic excellence. We love to share our maps, to help one another improve our maps, and to pool our mapping resources. Please enjoy your visit, and feel free to join our ranks!

I found a tutorial created by a fellow that goes by Ascension on the guild’s forums (you must be logged in to download). The tutorial is available as a lengthy (27 page) Word document. It can sometimes be difficult to follow along with some of the layer creation/linking, but I spent about an hour tinkering with the tutorial with Photoshop and created the map below:

Somehow I screwed the hill layer up and the reef layer doesn’t look fantastic, but given a few more practice runs I think this method of creating beautiful continental maps will become one of my favorite tools in the ol’ gaming toolbox.  If you’re interested in learning techniques to make some gorgeous maps, I recommend you visit the Tutorials/How-to section of the Cartographers’ Guild forum.

Listening to: Pantera - Far Beyond Driven - Slaughtered

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Roleplaying Philosophy Series:

• RPP-000: RPG Theory Bibliography
• RPP-099: Mad Brew’s Gaming Philosophy
• RPP-100: Defining Game
• RPP-101: Defining Roleplaying Games
• RPP-310: Roleplaying Promotes Wellbeing
• RPP-399: 10 Reasons to Play Games at the Table
• RPP-401: RPG Community
• RPP-450: Roleplaying is a Pastime
• RPP-499: Gamer Elitism

There has been a recent surge of interest in the study of Roleplaying Games as an academic subject.  I have also seen quite a few questions arise that are rooted in defining quintessential elements of Roleplaying Games.  For the faithful zealots that follow the Labs (are there any?), it is well established that I have a great interest in the theory behind my beloved hobby.

This entry in the Roleplaying Philosophy series is a bibliography of sources I have come across during my research.  I do not claim to agree with any of the mentioned resources, nor do I even vouch that they have well constructed arguments or accurate observations.  However, for the seriously interested, I recommend reading as much prior study as possible.  To know where we are going we should probably know where we have been.

New Blood: The IJRP

One of the recent publications that have graced several blogs of note is the International Journal of Role-Playing, which was released on December 30th of 2008.  The IJRP is definitely distinguishing itself by offering collegiate level essays.  The aim and scope as defined by the IJRP follows:

The aim of The International Journal of Role-Playing is to act as a hybrid knowledge network, and bring together the varied interests in role-playing and the associated knowledge networks, e.g. academic research, the games and creative industries, the arts and the strong role-playing communities.

Edwardian Theory

Another journal style approach can be seen with Push: New Thinking about Roleplaying.  I was hesitant to even read it at first because it looked like it was heavily influenced by Ron Edwards‘ GNS model.  Still, it provides some food for thought and is probably one of the better things to be spawned from that cesspool.

And there are also the Oracle Essays from RPG.net.  These are the surviving copies of some of the original essays written on the subject that appeared in now defunct magazines.  You can find a handful of articles written by Robin Laws, Greg Costikyan, and Chris Pramas there.

Then of course, there is the infamous The Forge.  Though not a publication, and currently closed to new threads and comments, the archive of the RPG Theory, GNS Model, and Game Design forums are still there to read.  These forums are strongly influenced by Ron Edward’s System Does Matter, Gamist-Narrativist-Simulationist, and Big Model theories.

Nordic Meeting Points

The annual Knutepunkt conference, first held in 1997, is the bastion of Scandinavian (Nordic) Live Action Roleplay.  Event hosting alternates between the nations of Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.  Every year since 2003 (along with a booklet in 2001) Knutepunkt/Solmukohta releases a collection of essays presented at the convention.

2003: As LARP Grows Up
2004: Beyond Role & Play
2005: Dissecting LARP
2006: Role, Play, Art
2007: Lifelike
2008: Playground Worlds

The Scandinavian stuff is focused primarily on LARP (which is far difference from American style LARPs), but I think many of the ideas can be applied at the table where theatrics and roleplay are concerned.  If you would like to read more on LARP, I suggest looking through the Journal of Interactive Drama and these university papers: LARP Environments as Information Systems and MIT’s Tensions in LARP.

Spinning Theory on the Web

Though it is found in the lonely corners of the web, there is much RPG Theory that exist right here on the internet, sneaking around in hypertext.  Of course, there are my articles right here at the Labs on Roleplaying Philosophy.  Brian Gleichman from Whitehall ParaIndustries, while a new-comer to the blogosphere, is an old hat in the realm of RPG Theory and has many excellent posts on the subject.

Wikipedia has a short entry on RPG Theory, too bad it doesn’t link to full treatises on the theories it mentions.  Perhaps the final resting place of the Threefold Theory and much of the early, flame ridden, debates about theory is the Google Group for Rec.Games.FRP.Advocacy.  There are probably a few gems of theory in there if you can stomach searching through all the junk.

There are a few websites that collect some of the homeless theory out there.  John Kim’s website has various collections of older material and links to offsite resources (though many are now broken).  RPGStudies.net has an excellent bibliography of publications, dissertations, essays, and case studies for research.

Interdisciplinary Papers

With various overlapping genres, there is no doubt that theory will apply across different categories.  GameStudies.org, a computer game research journal, published a paper on pen & paper RPGs and rules while this essay looks at connecting ritual acts with roleplaying.  The Daedalus Project has nice collection of works focusing on the psychology of MMORPGs.  The Questing GM even looked at how RPGs could be an academic study, and it is interesting to see how RPGs can actually require a strong foundation in the liberal arts.

Moldy Tomes

There are a number of books that explore heavier subjects surrounding RPGs, and it would take a month of proper researching to find any worth looking at, but I am going to present the few I have encountered, sans description.  A warning, many of these books focus on video games, but I think we can still take a lot from their approach and even from what they have to say:

• Role-Playing Masteryby E. Gary Gygax
• Master of the Gameby E. Gary Gygax
• Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to RPGs by Lawrence Schick
• Second Person: Role-Playing and Story in Games and Playable Media by Harrigon & Wardrip-Fruin
• Shared Fantasy: RPGs as Social Worlds by Gary Fine
• The Fantasy RPG: A New Performing Art by Daniel Mackay
• Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games & Narratives by Jeff Howard
• Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster
• Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals< by Salen & Zimmerman
• The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology by Salen & Zimmerman
• Gaming As Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity & Experience in Fantasy Games by Williams, Hendricks, & Winkler
• Warlocks and Warpdrive: Contemporary Fantasy Entertainments With Interactive & Virtual Environments by Kurt Lancaster
• Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture by T. L. Taylor
• MMORPGs: The People, the Addiction & the Playing Experience by Richard Kelly

Future Research

I think my future research will include a trip to the alma mater to look through the university’s database of journals and periodicals.  But until I can set aside some time to sit in the library, Google has a new search engine called Google Scholar that might be of use.  Sometime in the near future I want to compile this into a downloadable document that just lists the links and names of the resources.

If you have some interesting theory floating around on your blog or know some that I missed, please place it in a comment!

Listening to: Dethklok – The Dethalbum – Bloodtrocuted

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As a player, whenever I receive more healing than my character needs I get a little wistful knowing some of it was wasted. So I figured I would create a magic item that could alleviate this sadness, the talisman of false life.  Though I do provide an interesting twist on how it gains its hit points that may prove a hindrance in certain situations.

Talisman of False Life

Aura faint, moderate, or strong necromancy; CL 3rd (4 hp), 6th (8 hp), 9th (15 hp), 12th (12 hp), 15th (24 hp)
Slot neck; Price 1,000 gp (4 hp), 3,000 gp (8 hp), 9,000 gp (8 hp), 27,000 gp (12 hp), 81,000 gp (24 hp); Weight 0.5 lb.

DESCRIPTION

This ornate talisman consists of an eliptical gem set upon a golden sun.  The gem actually syphons energy from any healing energies directed at the wearer.  The talisman provides tempory hit points from this stored healing.

Whenever the person wearing the the talisman is the target of a spell or potion that restores hit points, the talisman receives the healing first.  Once the talisman has reached its hit point limit, the character then receives any remaining healing.

If the wearer of the talisman has temporary hit points from another source, he loses those temporary hit points first.  The talisman also loses stored hit points at the rate of 1 hit point per hour.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, false life; Cost 500 gp (4 hp), 1,500 gp (8 hp), 4,500 gp (12 hp), 13,500 gp (16 hp), 40,500 gp (24 hp)

Listening to: Rob Zombie – Educated Horses – Let It All Bleed Out

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Here is a pair of new wondrous items for use with the Pathfinder RPG.  I actually created them for a villain in one of my defunct D&D campaigns, but I wanted to revamp them for Pathfinder and release them upon the masses.

Marble of Arcane Abatement, Lesser

Aura moderate abjuration; CL 7th
Slot -; Price 21,000 gp; Weight 0.5 lb.

DESCRIPTION

Clouds of read smoke can be seen swirling inside these small glass marbles.  They are found in pouches usually containing three such marbles.  After speaking the command word, a marble may be thrown as a splash weapon with a range of 15 feet.  Upon impact, the marble shatters releasing a storm of energy that drains magical items.

A direct hit with a marble drains 1d8 charges from every magical item with charges possessed by the target.  Every creature within 5 feet of the impact lose 1d4 charges from every magical item with charges possessed.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, dispel magic; Cost 7,500 gp

Marble of Arcane Abatement, Greater

Aura strong abjuration; CL 16th
Slot -; Price 92,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION

These marbles are much larger versions of their less powerful siblings. Greater Marbles of Arcane Abatement are found by themselves or in mixed in with a pouch of Lesser versions.  These marbles function just like a Lesser Marble of Arcane Abatement with the following except it affects any creature within 10 feet of the impact.

Also, every creature within 10 feet must make a DC 25 Reflex save or suffer 6d6+ the number of charges drained of magical damage.  Creature who successfully save only take half damage.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, explosive runes, greater dispel magic; Cost 46,000 gp

Listening to: Brain Storm - Downburst – Falling Spiral Down

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One of White Wolf’s recent ventures is a game called Scion.  It utilizes the familiar d10 based Storytelling System rules that has become the foundation of White Wolf games like the World of Darkness and Exalted.  But what does Scion bring to the game table any of the other White Wolf games, or any game for that matter, doesn’t already?

Two words: Epic Mythology.  Scion allows players to take the on role of the modern day children of the gods as they struggle against their mortal enemies, Titanspawn.   While the game could be played in any timeline, it is intended to be set in the modern world; a modern world without the bleak outlook of the World of Darkness… a more heroic world.

Scion is built on a three tier system, with a book for each tier that provides character options targeted at the character’s stage of development.  A Scion ascends to full godhood starting with the Hero tier, progressing through the Demigod tier, and arriving at the God tier.

The original three core books: Hero, Demigod, and God included six pantheons: the Pesedjet of Ancient Egypt, the Dodekatheon of Greece & Rome, the Scandinavian Aesir, the Aztec Atzlanti, the Amatsukami from the land of the rising sun, and the African-Caribbean Loa.  The new Scion Companion introduces a new pantheon, the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish-Celtic mythology.

A Warning

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this delve into the Scion Companion I should clarify something.  One, mythology (or cultural) purists may find the perspective on Celtic mythology in the book a little annoying.  There is a prevalence to equate Celtic mythology to Irish mythology, which isn’t necessarily one and the same.  But regardless, the Scion Companion does really good job presenting this rich mythology within the context of a game.

The Mythology

The Tuatha Dé Danann (pronounced too-ha day dah-nan) are the last non-human occupiers of what would become known as Ireland.  Their name means People of the Goddess Danu.  Having originated in four mythical cities called Falias, Gorias, Finias and Murias, where they also learned their magic and skills from the druids there.

When they came to Ireland, they found the land in the control of the Fir Bolgs.  They defeated the Fir Bolgs, who had allied themselves with the Fomorians,  in the First Battle of Magh Tuiredh.  The Fomorians are huge, deformed, and vicious with a taste for human flesh.   However, the victory was not without cost, for the king of the Tuatha, Nuada, lost his right hand in battle.  This forced the Tuatha to choose a new king, for their tradition prevented anyone of imperfect body to be king.

They chose Bres to be their new king, which proved unfortunate for the Tuatha.  Bres was cruel and forced the rest of the Tuatha into slave labor for the Formorians.  So the Tuatha turned to magic and replaced Nuada’s hand with a silver one and forced Bres to step down and named Nuada king once again.  But Bres fled to his father, the king of the Fomorians, who sent aid and met the Tuatha in the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh.

However, the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh was the first time the Tuatha’s Scions fought beside them and they levied the worse defeat the Fomorians had ever been dealt.  The Morrigan, Lugh, and Nuada slaughters wave after wave of the titanspawn.  The surviving Fomorians went into hiding and have been regaining their strength ever since.

Soon a group of mighty warriors came to Ireland, the Milesians.  Their force was so strong that the Tuatha ceded Ireland to these men who are the descendents of modern day Irish.  The Tuatha retreated to Tir na nÓg, the Land of Eternal Youth, where they guided the people of Ireland.

The Pantheon

Aengus

Aengus is known for his beauty and silver tongue.  His scions are found in professions where these attributes are in high demand: attorneys, salesmen, models, actors and politicians.

Associated Powers: Animal  (Birds), Enech,  Epic Appearance, Epic Charisma, Epic Manipulation, Health
Abilities: Animal  Ken,  Art,  Empathy,  Medicine, Occult, Presence
Rivals: Aphrodite, Artemis, Hel, Izanami, Tlazoltéotl

Brigid

Brigid fills the roles of maiden, mother, and crone and is the patron of poets, smiths, and healers.  Her scions are creative and charismatic people with an interest in the arts or healing.

Associated Powers: Animal (Swan), Enech, Epic Stamina, Epic Strength, Fire, Health, Water
Abilities: Art, Craft, Empathy, Integrity, Medicine, Melee
Rivals: Apollo, Loki, Sobek, Tlaloc, Xipe Totec

The Dagda

The Dagda is known for his appetite for food, women, and battle.  His scions are drawn from guardian professions (policemen, firemen), athletes (boxers, wrestlers), or social professions (salesmen, politicians) depending on what attributes they inherit.

Associated Powers: Animal (Pigs), Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Stamina, Epic Strength, Guardian, War
Abilities: Animal Ken, Command, Fortitude, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Horus, Huitzilopochtli, Odin, Ogoun, Tezcatlipoca, Zeus

Danu

Danu is the ancestress of the Tuatha and abhors violence.  Her scions are teachers, environmentalists, and scientists.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Perception, Epic Stamina, Earth, Fertility, Guardian, Water
Abilities: Animal Ken, Awareness, Command, Empathy, Fortitude, Integrity
Rivals: Baron Samedi, Hera, Osiris, Raiden, Tlazoltéotl

Dian Cécht

Dian Cécht is the god healing and is responsible for Nuada’s silver hand.  His scions are exclusively found in the medical fields.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Dexterity, Epic Intelligence, Epic Perception, Health, Magic, Water
Abilities: Craft, Empathy, Medicine, Occult, Presence, Survival
Rivals: Apollo, Damballa, Hephaestus, Isis, Miclántecuhtli

Lugh

Lugh is the god of versatility.  His scions usually come from backgrounds with varied jobs, but they all tend to be athletic.

Associated Powers: Animal (Dog), Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Dexterity, Epic Wits, Guardian, Health, Illusion, Magic, Sky, War
Abilities: Art, Athletics, Integrity, Melee, Occult, Thrown
Rivals: Loki, Tezcatlipoca, Tlazoltéotl, Kalfu, Set

Manannan

Adopted into the Tuatha from a much older pantheon, Manannan serves a psychopomp and a trickster.  His scions are known for their humor and wit and usually hail from professions involving the ocean or death.

Associated Powers: Animal (Horses), Death, Enech, Epic Manipulation, Epic Wits, Illusion, Magic, Prophecy, Psychopomp, Water
Abilities: Animal Ken, Athletics, Brawl, Control, Investigation, Occult
Rivals: Amaterasu, Hades, Hera, Miclántecuhtli, Shango, Tyr

The Morrigan

The Phantom Queen is fear even by her fellow Tuatha for her prowess in battle.  Her scions are the strongest, fiercest, and cruelest of their ilk.

Associated Powers: Animal (Corvids), Animal (Cattle), Chaos, Death, Enech, Epic Appearance, Epic Strength, Fertility, Prophecy, War
Abilities: Animal Ken, Brawl, Fortitude, Marksmanship, Melee, Thrown
Rivals: Ares, Odin, Quetzalcoátl, Raiden, Tyr

Nuada

The First King of the Tuatha is the god of justice and leadership.  His scions are found in the arenas of law enforcement, armed forces, and politics.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Charisma, Epic Strength, Epic Perception, Guardian, Justice, War
Abilities: Athletics, Command, Integrity, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Apollo, Huitzilopochtli, Loki, Ogoun, Set

Ogma

Creator of the Ogham alphabet, Ogma is the wisest of the Tuatha.  His scions strike a balance between brain and brawn and many of them come from intellectual fields of physics, chemistry, computers, linguistics, and mathematics.

Associated Powers: Enech, Epic Dexterity, Epic Intelligence, Epic Strength, Guardian, War
Abilities: Academics, Art, Empathy, Melee, Presence, Thrown
Rivals: Ares, Kalfu, Loki, Susano-o, Thoth

Geasa & Enech

The Scions of the Tuatha Dé Danann are bound by geasa which are taboos against specific types of behavior or required actions under a certain circumstance.  Geas define how Scions of the Tuatha interact with the world and breaking geasa levies penalties against a Scion.

The Purview specific to the Tuatha is called Enech.  Enech is honor or a measure of one’s worth.  Men must constantly work to prove their honor and worth.  The Tuatha Purview taps into this Enech to allow a Scion to bring up his allies and bring down his foes.

Want to learn more about Scion? Read on…

• Atomic Array: Episode 016: Scion
• Scion Preview: Demo and Adventure
• Game Cryer: Review by Chris Perrin
• Fear the Boot: Manifestation of Ichor
• RPGAggression: Celstial Bureaucracy
• Flames Rising: Companion 4 Review

Drop by RPG Now to pick up your copy today!

Listening to: AC/DC – Ballbreaker – The Furor

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Intellectual Property.

In today’s world of high consumerism and corporate welfare, the owners of popular intellectual properties [IP] can get rich by merely selling the rights to allow other products to use their IP for branding and flavor.  Billions are made from Star Wars licensing alone.  The same can found with professional sports licensing.

While the sales are significantly smaller, the world of roleplaying games is not any different.  Gamers will often buy product just because its cover is branded with their favorite system or setting logo.  The product is often purchased without regard to quality or value.

Thus the keepers of lucrative IP zealously guard their rights and often bring hell upon those that would sip from their holy grail.  There are entire organizations dedicated to keeping works out of the hands of the people (RIAA and MPAA may be the largest).

Dungeons & Dragons has a storied past of IP conflict including the TSR vs. Judge’s Guild, Mayfair Games, and Game Designer’s Workshop cases (which never made it to court).  Intellectual property concerns have reared their ugly heads recently in the RPG Blogosphere with regards to who owns a comment on a blog and the 2008 Anthology of RPG Blogs currently being edited by Jonathan Jacobs.

The most recent ripple in the online community is the closing of Ema’s Character Sheets site.  Wizards of the Coast sent a cease and desist letter to the popular site and the website complied by shutting down activities.  If you would like to read more about it, Geek Related and the World of Alidor have more information.

Hopefully, this article will shed some light on what the forms of intellectual property protection are available and how they relate to table top roleplaying games.  Though, I should say that I am not a lawyer and this is merely how I understand things and is in no way, shape, or form to be considered legal counsel.

IP Protection Intent

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution states:

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

The intent of Intellectual Property Law is to encourage new creative works by providing a limited time monopoly to IP developers, but after that period of time elapses, it allows these works to fall into the public domain to be utilized without restraint.  IP law is not about protecting an author’s interests indefinitely or to protect corporate cash cows; however, current legislation would appear to prove otherwise.

Methods of Protection

United States intellectual property law affords protection of IP assets under four different methods:

• Copyright: protects the expression of original works of authorship (literary, musical, or artistic)
• Trademark: protects the use of logos, slogans, names, and trade dress for marketing
• Patent: protects against the use of an invention (machine), process, or compositions of matter
• Trade Secret: uses contracts and non-disclosure agreements to keep information secret

Copyright

U.S. copyright law is pretty clear on whether or not a game can be copyrighted.  It can’t be.   At least the rules that is.  Ideas cannot be copyrighted, only the expression of those ideas.  So the manner in which the rules are presented and expressed are protected by copyright, along with any images published to support the game.

Also, works do not need to be registered to be protected.  As soon as a work is fixed on a tangible medium (this could even be a webpage or a hard drive) it is protected by copyright.  So the presentation of the rules of a game can be copyrighted, but not the rules themselves.

The United States Copyright Office Flyer 108 states:

Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form. Copyright protection does not extend to any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in the development, merchandising, or playing of a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles.

So while someone cannot recreate a publisher’s rulebooks wholesale, intellectual property law does allow the system to be utilized in another author’s work.  Rules, systems, and devices are all the purview of patents.

Trademark

Trademarks are the slogans, names, and logos used to market a product (Dungeons & Dragons, “Fast, Furious, Fun”, and the “D&D” logo).  It also refers to the trade dress of the packaging of products which can include the three-dimensional shape, color, graphic design, and even smell or sound (shape of a bottle of soda, Fed Ex graphic design, and THX’s “Deep Note”).

Trademarks may be established through actual use in the marketplace or through registration.  Which explains difference between the ^TM (not yet registered) and ® (registered) symbols, if you were ever curious.

It is important to note that a trademark may [eventually] be ruled as generic, and cannot be protected under trademark law.  Much like salt is the common (or generic) name of sodium chloride.  Such is the case with cellophane and aspirin, which were at one time trademarked brand names (victims of their own success).  So a publisher needs to maintain distinctiveness with their trademarks, lest they become public domain through common use.

The Lanham Act permits a non-owner of a registered trademark to make “fair use” or “nominative use” of a trademark under certain circumstances without obtaining permission from the mark’s owner. The fair use and nominative use defenses are to help ensure that trademark owners do not prohibit the use of their marks when they are used for the purpose of description or identification (Publaw.com).

Trademarks are perhaps the biggest grey area when it comes to whether or not you can utilize the names of various mechanics and proper names from a roleplaying game.  Is “Beholder” a trademark?

Patent

If a publisher truly wanted to maintain exclusive rights over the rules of a roleplaying game they invented, then applying for a patent would be a sure-fire method to do so.  However, the rules would have to be patented within a year of their publication and would only last up to twenty years.  However, a publisher would be able to patent each significant improvement of the rules, allowing a publisher to maintain a stranglehold on any current edition of their rules.

No company to date has been granted a patent for their rules that I am aware of.  One of the primary reasons for this is the prohibitive cost of application and renewal fees involved in the process.  One can easily spend nearly $8,000 searching and filing a patent application (IP Watchdog).  I could also argue that the larger companies have done reasonably well protecting their interests with threats of litigation.

For more information on patents and trademarks, I recommend you visit the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

Trade Secret

Trade Secrets do not really apply to any published roleplaying game, so they are not of much concern.  Where they do apply would be for unpublished material that is still under development.  If a company like Wizards of the Coast were developing a sourcebook for evil outsiders, they would most likely require non-disclosure agreements before they would allow any freelancers to begin work.

Trade Secrets are meant to protect IP by keeping it a secret during development, which prevents competitors from bringing similar products to the market.  It would also apply to some secret in ingredient/process employed during the printing process (like a ritual cast upon the pages to compel readers to purchase more books).

Conclusion

I think it is fairly clear where I stand on the issue.  I am a fair use advocate.  While I think the Open Gaming License does a wonderful job at protecting both parties; it allowed game designers the freedom of developing game without worrying about legalities.  I am of the opinion that most publishers do not even need it.

Listening to: Amon Amarth - Twilight of the Thunder God - Free Will Suffice

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For readers new to Mad Brew Labs, I have been working on a rank-based d20 system called Echelon.  During Echelon’s development, I took another look at the use of square grids during tactical play in Dungeons & Dragons.  When making decisions when designing game mechanics, I try to maximize realism without sacrificing too much efficiency.  If you could graph realism and efficiency of a mechanic on a chart, the point where the two cross each other is the magic intersection called fun, at least from my perspective.

I like detailed combat systems with a plethora of options, but I also do not want play to grind to a halt while players and gamemasters try to do big calculations.  It would seem that detailed combat and ease of use are sometimes mutually exclusive.  Perhaps without any other constraints they might be.  If the rules can be executed swiftly after a modicum of familiarity, then I am happy.   This requirement also tends to shape the target audience of my game.

So the question I posed to myself was, “Are square grids accurate enough for my tastes?”  So I decided to look at other methods of creating tiled maps, but only ones that used regular tessellations.  Then I measured the pros and cons of each method and finally decided on supporting two methods which I reveal at the end of this article.

Tessellations

A tessellation or tiling of the plane is a collection of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps (Wikipedia).  This means the a pattern of two dimensional shapes that repeat without leaving space between each other or intersect each other.  The works of M.C. Escher often dealt with tessellating shapes and patterns.

A regular tessellation is a highly symmetric tessellation made up of congruent regular polygons.  Only three regular tessellations exist: those made up of equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons.  These symmetric tiles are the most appropriate patterns for use in miniature combat.  There were four elements that I used when testing mapping styles: miniature base compatibility, spell effect templates, flanking, and accurate movement

Triangles

Looking at tessellated triangles reminds me of creating custom maps for Unreal Tournament.  Many video games use tessellations to render terrain and objects.  I found several issues with attempting to use equilateral triangles for tactical combat maps.

The first problem is there is a facing issue in that the tiled triangles alternate from point up to point down.  There was also a question of how one moved from space to space.  Can one only move to a triangle that shares a side or merely a vertex.

I also found that there is not a good size to use to take advantage of current miniature scales.  A triangle large enough to fit a 1 inch inscribed circle leaves too much wasted space at the corners of the triangle.  When using larger sized minis, this problem intensified.

Squares

The default dungeon tile since I can remember.  I do not think Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2^nd Edition officially supported squared tiles, but I do remember extensively using grid paper to draw practically all my dungeons.  From 3^rd Edition on, the square has been the de facto method of presenting dungeons.

Squares obviously work well with the standard 1″ miniature base and its larger bases since D&D miniatures were designed for use with square grids.  Flanking is also cut and dry, as the 3.5 rules have clearly covered the topic when using a square grid.  Spell effects can be somewhat chunky in nature I sometimes think that targets in squares that would be partially affected in the radius of a spell should get something.

Squares allow movement in eight directions as well as making the construction of dungeons simple and clean.  In 3.5 D&D a character moving diagonal would count every other diagonal square as two squares to proximate the true distance travelled (remember the Pythagorean Theorem?).  I never did the math before, but it is a surprisingly close approximation.  Movement of 5 diagonal 1″ squares actually equals 7.0710 squares of horizontal or vertical movement (which would have been counted as 7 squares under the 3.5 method).

The 4^th Edition of D&D eliminates the need to count squares twice in the name of simplicity, but I do not think it is that difficult to count a square twice in the name of accuracy.

Hexes

Hex maps have been a mainstay of many wargames as well as the default grid for overland maps from the older editions of Dungeons & Dragons.  I can still remember getting the hex transparencies in the old box sets from 1^st and 2^nd edition.

The primary strength of hex tessellations is that the distance from the center of a hex to any adjacent hex is the same, so we do not encounter any issues where you need to counter every other move twice.  A hex map does limit movement to only six axes, but it does represent spell template radii as there are not any partially effected spaces.

The primary weaknesses of hex mapping are issues with compatibility of mini bases of the large and gargantuan sizes and by extension flanking.  These sizes look odd when demarked on a hex map and resemble triangles with their tips truncated (see the d20 Hypertext SRD for more).

Gridless

Many skirmish games simply use rulers or measuring tape to determine distance.  This of course provides the most accuracy, but also allows for more disputes (“my base was barely touching the area of effect!”).

It is fully compatible with any scale of miniature base, spell templates are accurate.  Though it produces more questions, such as how much of a base must be within the template to be affected.  Movement is not confined to a grid and is very accurate.

The biggest problem I see with abstaining from grids is determining flanking positions.  My solution is if you can draw a line through the center of the target mini’s base and the line touches any part of the bases of threatening minis on opposite sides of the target, then that target is flanked.  Of course, it could be a hassle visually checking this rule, but a laser pointer could be your best friend.

Conclusion

Obviously triangles are not conducive to tactical miniature combat.  For the Echelon Gaming System I am going to stick with 1″ squares as the preferred method of mapping.  Squares provide the most flexibility in movement, are the easiest to use, and are fairly accurate.  Not to mention most roleplayers are familiar with it.

I also plan on providing rules for going gridless with full miniature terrain.  I think I will call it the Hardcore method as it requires the most work but, in my opinion, provides the best accuracy and immersion.  I love the freedom is gives players to move around well constructed terrain.

I think that the hex may also find a home with the Dead Wastes campaign setting as the preferred method of identifying areas on overland maps.  This way when I am describing a location, I can refer to its coordinates on the hex map for easy referencing.

Listening to: Testament – The Formation of Damnation – More Than Meets the Eye

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