Wasted Time and Effort

I recently saw a Reddit post where the author said they had spent "thousands of hours" creating a sourcebook to play Star Wars with the D&D system. 

I got a little sick to my stomach. Why would someone do this?

There is a current Star Wars system on the market that is excellent. The old D6 version is still around and is incredibly playable. If you want to use a D20 system there is Star Wars Saga from when WotC had the license.

But the worst crime committed here is that all that work was wasted on a property the creator does not own. 

While you can create games using D&D rules under the OGL, creating something using trademarked material like Star Wars is foolish.

The Reddit post's author can never do anything with that book. It can never be shown to anyone who officially works on the Star Wars property. It can't be sold and maybe it will even get the author a Cease and Desist letter if he keeps sharing it on the Internet.

Sadly, this isn't an isolated incident. I see people talking about their Fallout RPG or their Skyrim RPG or Marvel RPG.

Why do people do this?

Confession

Ok, I'm not being hard on anyone. I've done this too. 

I am a huge Star Trek fan. I got the FASA RPG when I was 11 and I still love it to this day.

I have spent decades optimizing the system, creating planets and other content including content revolving around trademarked characters and material.

Why did I do this? I did because I loved it. 

Wasted No More

A number of years ago I realized I was wasting my creativity. I swore to myself I would never spend so much time creating something for a property I don't own again.

From now on, if I create something for an RPG session I am running I do my best to publish it.

Also, I learned that the experience I gained while creating all of that Star Trek material helped prepare me to write the resources I publish.

Redirect Your Energies

If you are creating a Star Wars RPG or a Game of Thrones RPG, please stop. Or better yet, see if you can rework it shedding any trademarks. Then publish it.

If you have created tons of material for Forgotten Realms or another D&D-related world, you're in luck. You can publish that material through the DMs Guild and get paid for your effort.

Have you been creating a huge campaign world for your gaming group? Use your gaming group as a playtest and then publish it.

The world needs more creators and roleplayers need more incredible worlds to discover.

Keep Gaming!
Matt
www.dicegeeks.com