Got distracted by something stupid.

Nothing horrible – just a technical issue about gaming permissions, at least to start – but I should not have allowed myself to get distracted by it. It ate up time that I could have spent more profitably engaged in actual writing. I probably should just shrug off the whole thing and not bother with that particular project; it would have been fun to do, but life’s like that.

Now would be a GREAT time for @SJGames to Creative Commons GURPS.

Or, heck, In Nomine. The meltdown over the new WotC Open Gaming License is still roiling, with companies promising legal action — and alternatives:

Second, we need to band together to create a non-OGL and non-WOTC version of a System Reference Document (SRD) that can forever be used by anyone. Why, you ask? WOTC has proven itself to be untrustworthy and we all need to wean ourselves off them as soon as we can. We will work with our friends in the industry and have been in conversation with many of them already about doing this.

(Via Anthony Ragan)

To which I say, mostly to Steve Jackson himself: why make something new, when GURPS is right there? It’s a point-based system deliberately designed to work in all types and genres of TT RPG campaigns, it has a plethora of sourcebooks immediately available for purchase (that should not be put under CC), and there is a fanatical cadre of players out there* who can offer advice and counsel. Handing rebellious companies a fully-realized and tested gaming system could end up making some money for SJ Games.

I’m not going to say it’s a no-brainer, because it’s 6:30 AM here and I may have missed something obvious. But I will say that the idea’s at least worth contemplating.

Moe Lane

PS: If SJ Games doesn’t want to CC 4th edition, they could always do 3rd.

*Ahem.