Open Gaming and Independent Publication Resources

OpenRoleplaying.org's mission is to help promote and provide resources for open gaming projects and independent publications (especially using open licenses) in all their forms. The links below are intended as a jumping off point to acquire further information about the industry, copyright/copyleft, independent publication, etc.

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OpenRoleplaying.org

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• Open Gaming Directory Entries
  Our gaming directory entries related to open gaming.

• Free and Indie
  Our discussion forum dedicated to open gaming and indie publication topics.

Licenses

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• Open Gaming Foundation
  The premier site dedicated to open gaming. Distributor of the Open Gaming License and the d20 System System Reference Document. There's also a good list of other open gaming licenses.

• GNU Project
  The GNU project; specifically about free, copylefted, software, but has links to many licenses suitable for free gaming distributions.

• Creative Commons
  The Creative Commons is "devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others to build upon and share." The have a variety of license options for your work. Creative Commons is becoming a rather popular choice for open publication.

• Open Publication License
  A good alternative to the GNU Project's Free Documentation License.

• Free20
  Free20 is a new logo intended for use with the Open Gaming License. It designates a work that is freely distributable, and who's entire contents are Open Game Content.

• BSD Documentation License
  The standard BSD documentation license. Also a viable option, but might require slight modification for an RPG.

• Common Documentation License
  Apple's CDL, which is similar to many of the above licenses, but may be useful to assure commercial releases.

Publishing

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• The Forge: Indie RPGs
  A site dedicated to the promotion, creation, and review of independent role-playing games.

• ePublisher Guide
  A PDF and print-on-demand guide to publishing role-playing games both online and offline with advice from those who've done it before.

• RPGPublishing.com
  An online FAQ dedicated to getting started in the RPG industry.

• GameCodex.com
  The GameCodex concentrates on providing independent retailers with the same tools that their larger competitors use.

• RPG Freelancers Guide
  An online PDF guide for freelance writers to find out who's looking for submissions and what the submission guidelines are.

Printing

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Note: All printers listed below have been recommended from various online sources and smaller game company representatives.

• Morgan Printing
  402 Hill Avenue, Grafton, MD 58273. Phone 701-352-0640. Fax 701-352-1502. Provides services for saddle stitched or stapled books, perfect binding, brochures, posters, flyers, inserts, bulk mailing, hand insertion, and labeling.

• Brenner Printing
  1234 Triplett, San Antonio, TX 78215. Phone 210-349-4024. Fax 210-349-1501. Brenner printing specializes in the production of magazines, brochures, comic books, posters, trading cards, and related items.

• Whitehall Printing Company
  4244 Corporate Square, Naples, FL 34104. Phone 800-321-9290. Fax 941-643-6439. Specialized in the printing of softcover books from school books, software manuals, and novels, to directories, catalogs, and religious books.

• Publishers' Graphics, LLC
  Offices in Chicago and Nashville. Services include print-on-demand, adhesive bound softcover books, mechanical bound books, 3-hole drilled documentation, index tabs, software manuals, saddle-stitched booklets, programs, directories, galleys, and tape binding.

• 58k.com
  58k.com brings the country's 58,000 printers together with millions of commerical print buyers in a centralized auction market. You can put your job online and have printers bid on it.

Online Publishing

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• Adobe Acrobat Reader
  Information about and download links for Adobe Acrobat Reader, required to read PDF files, a common online publishing document format. Also includes links for the full version of Adobe Acrobat, required to create PDF documents.

• PayPal
  PayPal is one of the easiest ways to send and receive money online. Useful for taking online payments for products, but also for paying freelancers. Provides personal and business accounts, as well as auction payments and shopping cart features.

Intellectual Property

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• Copyright Basics
  Copyright basics from the U.S. Copyright Office/Library of Congress.

• US Code : Title 17
  The complete text of US Code Title 17--US copyright law.

• Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Paris Text 1971)
  The complete text of the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) or Berne Convention adopted in 1971 by many nations as a means to univerally protect copyrighted material.

• TradeName.com
  Offers name searches and trademark registration/protection in the United States and Canada.

• Yahoo! Directory Listings for Copyright and Intellectual Property
  A good resource for additional information on copyrights and legalities.

Organizations

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• Game Manufacturers Association
  GAMA is an international non-profit trade organization serving the adventure game industry.

• The Game Publishers Association
  The GPA is a professional association of small and alternative press publishers, focusing on adventure hobby games and related products. Click here to read their mission statement.

Articles

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• One Writer's Walk Through Open Publishing Licenses
  An article by Sandy Antunes of RPGnet looking at IP, open game alternatives, and some issues surrounding free/open content.

• Do Open-Source Books Work?
  A good article discussing the Internet and book publishing.

Projects

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• ORPS - The Open Role-Playing System
  A relatively new open-source gaming project to release under the GNU Free Documentation License.

• Open Dice RPG
  A semi-open-source, but free, RPG project by Michael Wagman. It releases under its own Open Dice RPG License.

• Four Colors al Fresco
  A primarily open-source gaming project utilizing the October Open Game License.

• Jazz v2.0
  Jazz is an open-source role-playing game system developed by Brandon Blackmoor. It utilizes the October Open Game License.

• Action! System
  Action! System 1.1 ("The multi-genre, open license role-playing game system from Gold Rush Games") is released under the Open Gaming License.

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To submit additional links for possible inclusion on this page, use our contacts page. However, in an effort to keep this page as informative as possible, not all submitted links will necessarily be added.