"Writing rules specific scenarios for sale" Topic

I am considering writing some scenarios for a new rules set and selling them, probably through Wargames Vault.

I was wondering if there is any legal or moral issue with this?

I have no connection to the author of the rules

I am UK based

I understand there have been lawsuits in the past, from the larger publishers.

Might be a good idea to check with the publisher of the ruleset first.

I often see such scenario booklets with a list(3 or more) of rules they can be used with. The rule writers have no authority over this but it is nice to get along with them and it might have some mutual benefits?

You are welcome and invited to write scenarios for any PP rule set.

Good luck with it Dave.

martin

Make sure that they are as generic as possible.
Do not include any capability modifications. This would pinpoint a rules which limits the target sales group and may make the designer mad.
A number of scenario books are out there which are generic. Especially for WW2, ACW and Napoleonic. Rule specific scenario books are out there. It is best to connect with the designer.
I have done both styles and have a WW2 and another Napoleonic scenario generation system. Back in the 1980 and 1990s they were published in magazines of the time.
I have also worked with the creation of Army List books for Fields of Glory and Mighty Armies. Fun and labor of love. The joy for me was in conducting the research.

Never hurts to ask first

Frederick +1 – ask first, see if they will support you and have some guidelines. Sometimes you'll be surprised at how helpful they may be. Then you can tailor your books right for the rules. Of course some will be possessive and reject it, so you'll have to make your scenarios more rules generic.

"Never hurts to ask first"

They might say no.

"Never hurts to ask first"

They might say no.

Better than getting sued, I think,

Harder to sue than people think. The industry has had several high profile lawsuits of which I have had the honor of being friends with a person involved.
You need to copyright your work. In some cases in the USA simply mailing a copy of the work to yourself and leaving it sealed counts as documentation about when a work is completed. Not sure about UK.
When you file for a copyright, one data entry is what other work did you draw concepts from. This would be where you list the rules that you are supporting. So you can see why making them as generic as possible is helpful.

Avalon Hill sued over 3rd party Squad Leader scenarios. The outcome was that scenarios that didn't use any graphics from an Avalon Hill game did not infringe. Critical Hit started producing its own counter art. Others got permission to use art, maybe paying a small amount in royalties.

In the bigger picture, third parties producing content that encourages people to play your game is all to the good.

Suits of the past, let's see what I remember.
The Westwall Bunker produced some wonderful Star Wars 25mm back in 1977. He took them to the producers but was rejected for Kenner doming the range in plastic. He was ordered not to cast them unless seven changes were made on each model. Hence the bunny trooper etc.
Later the company produced a range of 15mm fantasy. Paramount was required to hold the release of their film until the name issue was resolved.
In the early years, Zocchi at Gamescience produced a series of Star Trek ships and was sued by Paramount. Judge ruled that Paramount had failed to failed to register the terms early enough and allowed him to produce STOS but not any later ships. Honestly I do not recall if SFB parent company was involved or not

For a specific rule set? That references the game's name and includes specifics of the game's mechanics? Then sold for profit? Without the company/designer's express written permission?

My vote is 'No'.

Now generic scenarios that are compatible with several rule sets in the same genre?

Possibly.

However, you can not use any logo, imprint, or suggest in any way, your item is affiliated or endorsed by the core game company. Unless you have express written permission or are creating in the framework of an Open License.

Even then, there are usually a number of mandatory requirements/attributions/acknowledgments that must be prominently displayed/mentioned.

My .02