Just curious if you guys ever work with new designers offering feedback and suggestions on games not directly related to BW. I am also curious as to what aspects of BW are available for other designers to use without running into legal trouble of some sort.
Torchbearer specifically has a commercial (Sagas) and a non-commercial (Dungeoneers & Dragonslayers) license. I’m not aware of any open license for other Burning Wheel games.
Thank you, that at least lets me know that life paths, BIT’s etc. are exclusive to BW. Will have to figure out another way to add depth to characters for my game.
Strictly speaking, Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits are all present in Torchbearer. Lifepaths have been around in various forms (I think Traveller, Mechwarrior) for a long time, although maybe the name “lifepath” is BW IP, I don’t know.
Look at some other games with lifepath-like mechanics. Chances are you can feel out the common ground and create an original mechanic that does whatever you would need lifepaths to do. Good luck!
Burning Wheel itself is not available to license.
That said, we’re always happy to look at your designs for a few minutes at shows or conventions we attend.
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Hypothetically: if I made a computer game that included mechanics inspired by - among other things - BW’s Fight! subsystem. Do you have any requests, guidelines or rules for how you would like me to treat game mechanics inspired by yours?
So I’d thought I’d ask: where do you draw the line between inspiration and theft? I’d rather be on the side of the line that doesn’t piss off people whose work I sincerely enjoy.
Please don’t copy our game text, lifepaths, traits, skills. Please don’t copy our systems.
And if you’re truly inspired by our work to make something new, please credit us.
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