Writing Novella want to say it's in a Pathfinder Universe...


Tales


As you read above I'm writing a High Fantasy novella about a child who's captured and his tribe destroyed. The child is forced into slavery under a rich mercenary company owner and molded into a perfect soldier.

I'd like to simply have the novella be "In the Pathfinder Universe" on the cover and in It's description. I'm not seeking any kind of official publishing I simply want to describe it as that so It's more clear what kind of high fantasy it's in. Preferably I would say It's in the D&D universe but we all know how Wizards Of The Coast are. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd like to sell the novella for a pittance so I might be able to use the money for education and such. But I don't simply want to go ahead without asking and end up getting in alot of trouble later.


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I'd go for "as in your favourite role playing game" or similar.

You can use paizo's community use license, but only if you don't charge for your novella.

The pathfinder compatibility license doesn't seem to apply (as it isn't actually "compatible" per se).

Ultimately, any trademark holder is going to be protective of their IP (or they wouldn't have bothered registering the trademark), so I'd go for something more generic - it seems to me you'll get the same point across without naming a specific system.

Grand Lodge

Capn Fox wrote:
Preferably I would say It's in the D&D universe but we all know how Wizards Of The Coast are.

Why would you think Paizo "are" any different? Let's be clear. You want to use Paizo's trademark to sell your work. If this can be done for a novella, it will require the Pathfinder Compatibility License (FAQ).


Steve Geddes wrote:

I'd go for "as in your favourite role playing game" or similar.

You can use paizo's community use license, but only if you don't charge for your novella.

The pathfinder compatibility license doesn't seem to apply (as it isn't actually "compatible" per se).

Ultimately, any trademark holder is going to be protective of their IP (or they wouldn't have bothered registering the trademark), so I'd go for something more generic - it seems to me you'll get the same point across without naming a specific system.

Do you have any ideas of things I could say? I'd hopefully like to be able to justify finishing writing the novella


Capn Fox wrote:

As you read above I'm writing a High Fantasy novella about a child who's captured and his tribe destroyed. The child is forced into slavery under a rich mercenary company owner and molded into a perfect soldier.

I'd like to simply have the novella be "In the Pathfinder Universe" on the cover and in It's description. I'm not seeking any kind of official publishing I simply want to describe it as that so It's more clear what kind of high fantasy it's in. Preferably I would say It's in the D&D universe but we all know how Wizards Of The Coast are. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'd like to sell the novella for a pittance so I might be able to use the money for education and such. But I don't simply want to go ahead without asking and end up getting in alot of trouble later.

This can not happen unless they grant you a license. Maybe you can say it is inspired by your experiences playing games such as ____ on your dedication page, but don't quote me on that. I am not a lawyer.


Capn Fox wrote:


Do you have any ideas of things I could say? I'd hopefully like to be able to justify finishing writing the novella

I'd go with what a previous poster wrote and say something like "inspired by fantasy role-playing games". And in the novella, don't include anything so specific that it connects your story to Pathfinder's IP (e.g. Pathfinder's lands, gods, etc.).


Pathfinder Maps Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Fantasy is such a common genre these days, some even consider it to have crossed into mainstream.

You can't set your independent work in a proprietary universe. At best you could submit it to Paizo and see if they want to publish it. I'd be suprised if they didn't have a contributors FAQ around here somewhere.

But the beautiful thing is that you don't need to say anything like what you're talking about. So it's set in a fantasy universe. So what? Why would it need to be set in Golarion as such? Or the Forgotten Realms, for that matter.

As long as you invent your own place names, your own fantasy historical background, your own gods, cultures and characters, you really, really don't need to piggyback on anyone else's universe.

If your writing is any good, you'll find a literary agent and a publisher, or for short fiction, a magazine that'll take it. And if you can't, then it's just "fan fiction", and in fan fiction you can say anything you like.


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Wheldrake wrote:
At best you could submit it to Paizo and see if they want to publish it. I'd be suprised if they didn't have a contributors FAQ around here somewhere.

As a general rule, they don't read unsolicited submissions.


Wheldrake wrote:


If your writing is any good, you'll find a literary agent and a publisher, or for short fiction, a magazine that'll take it.

You could even indie publish it if you want.


Yeah...I don't see Paizo granting you permission to set your story in the Pathfinder universe, not unless this this is for something like the free Pathfinder fanzine or what not.

Honestly, its much better experience to create your own settings, and I would advocate that rather than sticking something in a existing setting


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Check out the excellent self published novels by Chris A. Jackson. They are not licensed by Wizards or Paizo, but they are set in a fantasy world which could easily be a campaign setting for either D&D or Pathfinder.


Capn Fox wrote:
Do you have any ideas of things I could say? I'd hopefully like to be able to justify finishing writing the novella

Basically, you can't actually place your writing in the Pathfinder universe. Certainly if this is sold, you can't reference Golarion's setting. Places, deities, organizations... all off-limits to you without a license (ie. Paizo has hired you to write for them).

I'm not sure that applies for non-sale fanfic, but certainly anything with any cost associated whatsoever.

The principle is this... aside from the legal side, Paizo wants to retain control over their setting. They have a vision, and that vision might - for instance - not include child slavery. Or mercenaries. Or soldiers.

Yes, I exaggerate, but the point is that writers are by nature creative people, and they will always look to produce a tale that has not been told yet. Paizo may not want a tale told. Or parts of it. In a well-known situation that makes James Jacobs grit his teeth, an author that was paid established that Asmodeus has paladins. James has struck that down, and has been more than clear that Golarion does not contain paladins of Asmodeus. But still... it made it into print. As the owner of the setting, Paizo wishes to retain creative control over the setting and the events therein.

So hopefully this is useful in actually explaining the why of the situation, though it doesn't give you what you want.

You could create your own setting and it'd be reasonable to say "inspired by Paizo's campaign setting", but it really can't be actually in it.


To be fair...a lot of elements in the Pathfinder are pretty generic fantasy. I don't think it would be very difficult to reskin those elements so they were not Paizo IP

Paizo Employee Developer

If you're writing the novella as fan fiction and do not have plans to charge money for readers to access it (such as posting it on a blog, or the Pathfinder Chronicler website), then you can write fiction in the Pathfinder world under the terms of the Community Use Policy. If you plan to sell the book or charge readers to access it, you cannot use Paizo's trademarks or other intellectual property without a specific license from Paizo allowing you to do so. If you have any questions about the specifics of your circumstances or situation, it is generally best to consult an attorney who can help you make sense of the Community Use Policy.


Mark Moreland wrote:
If you plan to sell the book or charge readers to access it, you cannot use Paizo's trademarks or other intellectual property without a specific license from Paizo allowing you to do so. If you have any questions about the specifics of your circumstances or situation, it is generally best to consult an attorney who can help you make sense of the Community Use Policy.

So how do you go about getting a license? Submit the fiction in to Paizo?


For fiction, you don't get a license - you convince James Sutter that you're good enough to write for Paizo, starting by getting someone else to publish your work. Paizo don't take unsolicited submissions.


Publishing as free fan fiction in the PF Chronicler helps.

Contributor

Thanael wrote:
Check out the excellent self published novels by Chris A. Jackson. They are not licensed by Wizards or Paizo, but they are set in a fantasy world which could easily be a campaign setting for either D&D or Pathfinder.

Thanks Thanael! I wrote a lot of self-published work, and got published by a small press before I got picked up by Paizo. I still write in my own world, and I'd advise any writer inspired by RPGs to create their own setting if they want to write fiction. You can check out my work at jaxbooks.com.

Previous post was absolutely correct. Paizo does not accept unsolicited submissions of any length. If you want to write for Paizo, you need to have a publication somewhere (not self-pub) before you pitch an idea to James Sutter. You may want to pitch the idea to Wayfinder Fanzine. A great way to get your work out there in front of the Paizonians and lots of fans!

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