1KM1KT Free RPG Community

This is just a day dream but, I would be fun to grab any and all dead games, that is Pay to plays who's companies have gone the way of the dodo, and place them in a PDF form. then have them for download for free or even free in pdf and pay for to have them Reprinted POD style.

cause I can think of a few that I'd want... what do the monkeys think

I think it would be great. The only problem is that sometimes many things that are thought to be dead, aren't. It's strange how companies tend to hold onto the rights well after anyone thought possible... to have a sudden revival when an interest is taken again. Tis' the thin line many people in the abandonware world walk.

very true

Mmmm. Abandonware.

I think it's a great idea.

I like the idea, but I can see running into
issues with some authors that might not want
their works put up for "free" as abandonware.

Gotta love that term

Can't hurt to try though. Worse anyone can say is stop.

I certainly want to see this happen. A number of games in my collection took a while to find since the publisher disappeared. Only last month, I found a copy of the "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" RPG. However, that still leaves a good number of books to be found. (Amongst the List: OVA, Random Anime Source-books, Orpheus, Miscellaneous Jovian Chronicles supplements)

Are you thinking of something as extensive as "" - the virtual museum of old games? What about a paid-for distribution like ""? Some sort of (legal/accepted) file sharing system for PDFs might be nice.

Of course, I have to bring up questions of legality here. I certainly hope that authors created their games to be played, and would be happy to know that interest in their work out-lasted their company. Furthermore, I am willing to excuse justifying out of print works via file-sharing, as it ca no longer harm the company that produced them - its not like they would be able to make a profit selling us that book anyway.

Yet I certainly empathize with the amount of work that goes into making a game, and I can see why people might not want it taken for free. Furthermore, in a case like this it is very much the idea that has the value, rather than the physical object. (As opposed to say, stealing a car, where there is utility and metal value.) Copy-right laws are there for a purpose, and while a community might strangle a game through lack of interest, only the authors who can declare it dead.

Technically, I think they have more legal recourse than simply asking us to stop. I know that some video games are protected by an association and they can sue for a large sum.

I'll leave off by saying that on the hosting & sharing service , there is a user called "Lost RPGs" who has out of print stuff for the Babylon 5 RPG, d6 starwars, BESM, and a few others. These materials have been out of print for 5-10 years and probably couldn't be reprinted again for legal reasons. do you think these should or shouldn't be downloaded?

to Be honest I'd be happy with a system to allow authers to place their dead (not just out of print but lacking even a company that curently have printing rights to it) back in print or pdf. Yes like most here I would prefer it to be free, but I'm a realist and not everone will be so kind about their blood,sweat, and tears....

Something like Home of the Underdogs would be ideal. They even have a system for copyright holders to request the material be taken down and post where you can get copies of the game. So, it'd be still be useful for people looking for old games.

I would avoid doing physical copy distribution unless express written permission was received by the copyright holder, unless the copyright has expired.

There's a lot of source books and additional material books that are still excellent resources, but you literally cannot find a copy anywhere. I've got a PDF of "Edge of the Sword Vol. 1 - Compendium of Modern Firearms" by Kevin Dockery. You can't find the exacting, detailed information about firearms anywhere on the web, especially in the context of Tabletop RPG's. I can't imagine the number of books that have been lost from the 1980-1990's era of table top gaming from small companies that are no longer in existence.

I don't know the format to use to post the information, but a MediaWiki or something similar would be a good start.