Quesgion about copy right, Final fantasy Materia system and dungeons and dragons Dice rolls

[Azdak]

Hi I am making a game and I am getting down to the weapons and skills aspect.
I was thinking of giving weapons dice number rolls like you have in some western RPGs like dungeon's and dragons, Baldur's Gate.

So my question is; is it ok to have weapons that say they do "1D6" damage (One dice, six sides) and 2D4 etc etc
or is the whole "1D6" thing owned by dungeons and dragons?
I have looked online but can not find an answer.

Also...

A quick Final Fantasy question;
I have just found a great plug-in script, that allows you to have a "materia" system like the one you find in
Final Fantasy 7.
If I call it something else, would it be ok to use it, or is the whole materia system in FF7 copyrighted?
(I would put a link to the youtube video of the script, but I'm not sure if that is aloud.)

Sorry if these questions have been asked but I could not find the answers,
Thank you for taking the time to read my questions, any help is much
appreciated :)

Thanks again!

 

[Lore]

Hi @Azdak,

Firstly, this is the wrong forum for this sort of question; it should be posted in MV Support. Don't worry though, one of the admins will move it for you.

About your first question. While Dungeons & Dragons certainly do use dice for damage, skills, etc, it is certainly not copyrighted to them specifically, as many games use dice to calculate damage and such. I would then presume that weapons that do "1D6 damage" would be ok, provided of course that you don't replicate the DnD system completely. If you are only using the dice system to calculate damage, defence, etc. it should be ok. If you are using it for everything, then that's where it becomes a grey area.

Regarding your second question, you should be able to use a system similar to the materia system from FF7, provided that it is not identical. Posting a YouTube video to show the script is also fine as it helps to supplement your question.

 

[CT_Bolt]

Hi @AzdakDon't worry though, one of the admins will move it for you.

Thanks for "report" Lore.

...yup I would say basically like Lore said above...

Is the whole "1D6" thing owned by dungeons and dragons?

No I don't believe they have any claim to that. I know they don't own the formula and I don't believe they have copyrighted "1D6" or anything.

Is the whole materia system in FF7 copyrighted?

Simply put... no. Just don't take the graphics & terms used. Due to the script being written repeatedly form FF7 and the code wasn't extracted to be used, this would be ok.
Also if you could add a unique skill combo or extra modification using that system that is only in your game could help your claim.

..that is not to say there are still some grey areas of what is 'legal'.

 

[Azdak]

Hi @Azdak,

Firstly, this is the wrong forum for this sort of question; it should be posted in MV Support. Don't worry though, one of the admins will move it for you.

About your first question. While Dungeons & Dragons certainly do use dice for damage, skills, etc, it is certainly not copyrighted to them specifically, as many games use dice to calculate damage and such. I would then presume that weapons that do "1D6 damage" would be ok, provided of course that you don't replicate the DnD system completely. If you are only using the dice system to calculate damage, defence, etc. it should be ok. If you are using it for everything, then that's where it becomes a grey area.

Regarding your second question, you should be able to use a system similar to the materia system from FF7, provided that it is not identical. Posting a YouTube video to show the script is also fine as it helps to supplement your question.

Thank you so much for the reply, that helped a lot! I am wanting to use "1D6" for weapons and armour and that's about it, I don't want to use any other DnD aspects. (apart from the going in dungeons and maybe fighting dragons...)
I just didn't want to spend hours working on weapons and stuff it only to be told I can not use it. So that is great to hear!
Thanks!

I was not sure if it was ok to post links, if it is I will post it below in case any one is interested.

So if I rename everything, Calling "Materia" by a new name like... "Balls of Magic" it would be ok?

Thanks again for the reply :D
[doublepost=1525655024,1525654603][/doublepost]Thank you for the replies, I really appreciate it.
I think I understand things a bit more now.
As long as you do not take to many liberty's you should be ok as long as you rename things
and try to add your own spin on it.
Great information, thank you!