Traveller Developer's Pack

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Matt, how does the Open/Closed content work with regards to NPCs?

Say I am going to sell an adventure and I create an NPC using the career tables in the TMB or Mercenary or HG.

If I list the Events/Mishaps that my NPC went through, is that NPC Open or Closed?

I would be abreviating the Event into 2-3 words, but it would be listed. If I can't do that, how do I stat NPCs created from the TMB, Mercenary or HG for an adventure?

 

[EDG]

Mercenary was easy, High Guard will be somewhat more stressful! I am still hoping to get it done before the end of the month, though Conception may interfere.

How does this work, out of curiosity? Do you guys not decide what the OGC in the book is while you're writing it and set that aside for later publication? From what you say here it sounds like you're figuring it out after you've published it.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Matt, how does the Open/Closed content work with regards to NPCs?

Say I am going to sell an adventure and I create an NPC using the career tables in the TMB or Mercenary or HG.

If I list the Events/Mishaps that my NPC went through, is that NPC Open or Closed?

I would be abreviating the Event into 2-3 words, but it would be listed. If I can't do that, how do I stat NPCs created from the TMB, Mercenary or HG for an adventure?

The stats of an NPC will always be Open. His description might not be.

 

[MongooseMatt]

How does this work, out of curiosity? Do you guys not decide what the OGC in the book is while you're writing it and set that aside for later publication? From what you say here it sounds like you're figuring it out after you've published it.

In a nutshell, if it is rules, it is Open, if it is description, we cut it out of the SRD (and we literally take the final text, and delete the bits we want to remove).

We also remove duplication, such as with the careers (it does us no good to have every career in the SRD, and removing them encourages creativity on the part of writers ).

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

Matt, how does the Open/Closed content work with regards to NPCs?

Say I am going to sell an adventure and I create an NPC using the career tables in the TMB or Mercenary or HG.

If I list the Events/Mishaps that my NPC went through, is that NPC Open or Closed?

I would be abreviating the Event into 2-3 words, but it would be listed. If I can't do that, how do I stat NPCs created from the TMB, Mercenary or HG for an adventure?

The stats of an NPC will always be Open. His description might not be.

Thanks for clarifying that Matt, and me and RTT needed that to be able to continue working on our next project.

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

Matt: just so that everyone is clear on this:

If anyone uses TMB/Merc/HG to generate a character for a 3rd party commercial product (say for CB2... ) the NPC's stats are always OGC - yes? no? cabbage?

 

[dmccoy1693]

Matt: just so that everyone is clear on this:

If anyone uses TMB/Merc/HG to generate a character for a 3rd party commercial product (say for CB2... ) the NPC's stats are always OGC - yes? no? cannage?

Yes. (slight technical issue, you can't use the TMB, but you can use the SRD.)

Examples: If you make Fantasy Traveller and create a dragon. The dragon can breath fire. The stats for the dragon must be OGC. The info for the fire breath, including damage, do not have to be.

If you describe a character wielding a Glock 9mm, the gun has slightly different stats from the auto pistol, but you completely rewrote the description of it to match the real world weapon, the stats for the character must be OGC, the stats for the gun (except damage) must be OGC, but the desciption does not need to be open content since it is all new text.

If you're a particular grav carrier and are merely taking the description from the SRD and modifying it where needed. Both the stats and description must be OGC. The name for the carrier (and any other proper names used in the description, if any, that are indicitive to the setting) do not need to be OGC.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

My concern isn't with creatures or rules as such, I think I understand that.

IF I am writing an adventure that I want to SELL and I list an NPC that was created using the TMB (or HG or Merc). In my description of the character, I list Events and Mishaps that happened to him during his career.

Those specific Events and Mishaps are NOT in the SRD (the idea of them is, but not the specific Event). If I list them under the character description, am I accidently turning Closed content into Open?

From what I read from Matt's post, if I list that NPC, then the stats etc are now OGC. Any personality traits, bad habits, girl friends etc, that I give that NPC are Closed, but the HISTORY created using the TMB are now OGC.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Matt, how does the Open/Closed content work with regards to NPCs?

Say I am going to sell an adventure and I create an NPC using the career tables in the TMB or Mercenary or HG.

If I list the Events/Mishaps that my NPC went through, is that NPC Open or Closed?

I would be abreviating the Event into 2-3 words, but it would be listed. If I can't do that, how do I stat NPCs created from the TMB, Mercenary or HG for an adventure?

The stats of an NPC will always be Open. His description might not be.

Short answer is that the TABLES from the TMB are closed, but the PRODUCT of those tables (the NPC's history) are now OGC. Anything I add (like hair color) is still Closed (if that is what I want).

I think I get that now.

 

[dmccoy1693]

From what I read from Matt's post, if I list that NPC, then the stats etc are now OGC. Any personality traits, bad habits, girl friends etc, that I give that NPC are Closed, but the HISTORY created using the TMB are now OGC.

Good Summation. If it states that the NPC "discovered a world of worth to the Imperium," that's OGC because that is straight from the SRD. But if it states that the NPC "discovered 3 new world around Alpha Centari," then that does not need to be OGC.

Disclaimer: IANAL. (that goes for all the my posts in this thread)

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Honestly though, I believe that it all goes back to the original rules for the FUP:

Play Nice.

Legally, Matt can probably restrict a lot of things, but if people PLAY NICE, he won't.

Not a good lawyer answer, but a good answer none the less.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Honestly though, I believe that it all goes back to the original rules for the FUP:

Play Nice.

Legally, Matt can probably restrict a lot of things, but if people PLAY NICE, he won't.

Not a good lawyer answer, but a good answer none the less.

QFT

 

[EDG]

I think I asked this already, but will the Environmental TL Limit table (at the end of worldgen) ever be added to the worldgen rules in the SRD? It seems strange not to include it, since without it people using the SRD will end up creating nonsensical worlds (vacuum worlds with TL 3?), and it's not like it can't be figured out using other tech level material that is in the SRD.

 

[Vile]

I think I asked this already, but will the Environmental TL Limit table (at the end of worldgen) ever be added to the worldgen rules in the SRD?

It doesn't need to be in the SRD if all you're going to do is present the result of worldgen, you would only need it if you wanted to reprint the formula in another book.

But I agree that leaving it out of the SRD seems like an oversight, so I hope it gets put in there.

 

[EDG]

It doesn't need to be in the SRD if all you're going to do is present the result of worldgen, you would only need it if you wanted to reprint the formula in another book.

I think it does though, because if you're a third party publisher using the SRD as a reference for the Traveller OGL then you probably won't even realise that there is an Environmental Limit table, and so you'd generate your OGL worlds without that in mind. And if that happens, you'll get nonsensical worlds that have TL too low to allow people to live there.

 

[AKAramis]

I think I asked this already, but will the Environmental TL Limit table (at the end of worldgen) ever be added to the worldgen rules in the SRD?

It doesn't need to be in the SRD if all you're going to do is present the result of worldgen, you would only need it if you wanted to reprint the formula in another book.

But I agree that leaving it out of the SRD seems like an oversight, so I hope it gets put in there.

It's T20 that said that the tables and process were closed, and the results open.

 

[Vile]

It's T20 that said that the tables and process were closed, and the results open.

I don't know about T20. As long as the results use terms which are included in the Mongoose Traveller SRD, they can be published under the OGL. In this case, you can generate worlds using the environmental TL limit from the TMB, because when you publish the world statistics the TL will just be a TL. You could, in fact, have picked the number out of the air - as a 3rd party publisher you would probably only ever present those statistics themselves without detailing how you came by them.

As was established earlier in this thread (or it's predecessor, I can't recall) the SRD is effectively a list of non-copyrighted terms which can be used by 3rd party publishers. It is not intended to be a stand-alone system.

None of which invalidates the question as to whether this rule could be inserted into the SRD, pretty please with sugar on top. :mrgreen:

 

[Zemekis]

I have a question regarding OTU definitions and the TLL.

As stated earlier in this thread you can design a ship and say it has been commissioned by the LSP office in the Foreven sector.

But can I also give a definition of LSP like the one here?
http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Ling-Standard_Products

And if so, does it have to be verbatim or can i use my own words without changing the content?

 

[zorlak21]

Cool and thackyou .

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I have a question regarding OTU definitions and the TLL.

As stated earlier in this thread you can design a ship and say it has been commissioned by the LSP office in the Foreven sector.

But can I also give a definition of LSP like the one here?
http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Ling-Standard_Products

And if so, does it have to be verbatim or can i use my own words without changing the content?

I think if you are using the FFSLL, then you can mention Ling, but you need to word it in such a way that you are talking about how Ling is involved in Foreven.

If you wanted to produce a ship under the OGL, you could not mention LSP at all, since that is OTU and therefore closed.

Foreven is your out, but you need to tie your writeup to the Foreven Sector some how. Quoting Wiki won't do it. Technically, the wiki is FUP stuff, so cannot be sold.