Underworld License Info

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So you want to write your own underworld (or add to an existing underworld) for Sword Opera? You've come to the right place! We're offering an open license that will let you make and sell your own works that build on the game settings, under the terms below. We can't wait to see what neat new Underworlds the community creates!

The Short Version

The legal language of the license is what's binding, not this explanation, but in short you can use the underworld settings in Sword Opera and the Sword Opera: Underworlds supplement in creating new supplements for Sword Opera as long as:

  • You give us credit.

  • You offer the new text that you create under essentially the same license so that others can build on it, too.

To avoid confusion, we ask that you not include "Sword Opera" in your title, though you are welcome to describe the work as compatible with or intended for use with Sword Opera.You do not have permission to imply that any of us endorse your work, nor to use the Mythic Gazetteer logo.However, scroll down for a handy "Underworlds" logo you can use to identify your work as building on Sword Opera.

License to Use the Text of Sword Opera

The underworld settings of Sword Opera (not the game text or the art) are offered under a CC BY SA 4.0 license, meaning that you are free to distribute the text and to adapt it within the scope of the license, which requires that you give us credit and that you share your adaptations under similar terms. Please credit the authors of the underworld:

  • San Mercurio, Hot Town, and San Dimas 2190: Eric Farmer and Eli Kurtz

  • A Lingering of Lilac: Tan Shao Han

  • Heart’s Haven: Drew Mierzejewski and Alyson Grauer

Please also credit the publisher, Mythic Gazetteer LLC. The text of Sword Opera is additionally offered under a license having the terms of CC BY SA 4.0, except: (1) if the Adapted Material is a literary work (such as an RPG book), then the Adapter’s License need only be applied to the text (not, for instance, illustrations) and (2) you must include this and the following sentence in your licensing terms. The CC BY SA 4.0 license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

What's this "additionally offered" license stuff?

Some people have expressed concern that the sharealike provision in CC licenses could be read to require that the art in a subsequent book be licensed out and not just the text. That’s not the result we want. The extra language beyond just the vanilla CC BY SA 4.0 license is intended to make it clear that when you publish a work like an RPG book or supplement, you only have to offer the text under the open license.

How should a new work credit Sword Opera?

Wherever you put your own copyright info, add the following text (in the same size as your other copyright info):"This work uses material from the Sword Opera roleplaying game (found at https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/533188/sword-opera), designed by Eric Farmer and Eli Kurtz, and published by Mythic Gazetteer LLC, pursuant to the open license available at https://mg-underworld-license.carrd.co/.”

How should a new work comply with the sharealike provision?

That’s a question for your lawyer (which we are not), but feel free to use our language as a model:The text of this work is offered under a CC BY SA 4.0 license, meaning that you are free to distribute the text and to adapt it within the scope of the license, which requires that you give us credit and that you share your adaptations under similar terms. The text of this work is additionally offered under a license having the terms of CC BY SA 4.0, except: (1) if the Adapted Material is a literary work (such as an RPG book), then the Adapter’s License need only be applied to the text (not, for instance, illustrations) and (2) you must include this and the following sentence in your licensing terms. The CC BY SA 4.0 license is available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

License to Use the Underworld Logo

You are not required to use the Underworlds logo below, but we give you permission to do so for works that build on Sword Opera as long as you include the following text:Sword Opera™ is a trademark of Mythic Gazetteer LLC. The Underworlds Logo is © Mythic Gazetteer LLC, and is used pursuant to the open licensing terms at https://mg-underworld-license.carrd.co/.