So I'm working out this tactical RPG ruleset. At some point, I might like some commercial compensation. For the basic structure of the magic system, I decided to "borrow" a bit from the old DOS game Master of Magic, specifically the 5 colored schools of magic, red=chaos, blue=sorcery, green=nature, white=life, black=death, as well as the "personalities" of those colors. I recently played a few games of Magic: the Gathering for the first time. You see where this is going. My system isn't quite identical; for instace, white and black are completely opposed, so you can't have a B/W caster. The remaining elements have a paper-rock-scissors relationship. So basically all my system has in common with M:tG are the colors and their personalities. So I'm a little worried I may have to scrap all this, which will be drainingly frustrating. On the other hand, I understand there are some issues with how enforceable M:tG's patent is. I can only wonder why Microprose didn't get sued for MoM, and I hope it wasn't merely because M:tG was very young. Edit: apparently the patent has more to do with CCG's rather than the concepts I mentioned. Oh yeah, and if you aren't familiar with M:tG, it's based on the aforementioned 5-color system. Still, what does Gamedev think?

I wouldn't forsee any issues regarding the way your system is set up. I don't know how it would be implemented, if you were using a card based system that resembled M:tG too much you might have problems. The whole color scheme with magic is very old coming from ancient sources. In medieval times as well as today, magic or (magick as it is spelled to differentiate between stage illusion), consists of a lot of metaphor and correspondences. For example, elemental magick deals with the poetic expressios of the five elements, Earth (Green, Black), Water (Blue), Fire (Red, orange), Air (Yellow), and Spirit (White). Planetary Magick deals with the poetic expressions of the Planets. For example using Planetary Magick for Love I would construct a ritual based around Venus.

This all may sound fantastic but we need to remember that all Magick is a form of Neuro Programming.

The book Cosmos and the Psyche by Richard Tarnas is in interesting read regarding how the positions of the planets influence the archetypal imagery of the mind, ala Carl Jung.

Sorry for getting off topic too much, but I think a game using a similar style of magickal system such as that used in the past and today, whether real or not, would be interesting. I remember an old game called Sorcerian that made heavy use of this sort of thing and was really interesting because you could mix and match different elements and planets to create magical items with different effects.

I doubt MtG can patent a 'concept' that black=death and white=life, for example. They can concept their art, their cards, the names on their cards, and the ruleset governing the use of those cards, but I would think conceptual/mythological stuff is not copyrighted. I would go ahead with it, can't see you having any problems if those are your only similarities.

so even if blue = meta-magic, red = unbridled offense, black = magic power, and etc, you think I'm safe?

I mean, I just found out the basic system I am ripping off was ripped off from a system that has gotten much, much more profitable and popular in the last 12 years.

It was really wierd for me to play M:tG the first time and understand conceptually what the colors meant.

I hope you all are right, but I'm still a bit frightened.

I suggest that, if you have a legal question, you get some advice from a legal professional licensed to practice law in your state or locale. Gamedev.net is not a legal advice site, and members are not licensed legal professionals. Do not take action based just on opinions expressed by members on this site.

That being said: have you thought of just calling (or writing) them and asking?

If all you've copied is the colour-to-school mapping, then I'm fairly sure you'd be safe. That's a bit general to trademark, and the connontations of those colours are pretty much set in our culture (particularly the white=life, black=death, green=nature ones).

If you've copied anything else, like artwork or proper nouns for names of things, then you'll need to change them to something else.

Of course, as hplus0603 suggests, check with the IP holders or a lawyer if you're really concerned!

Using the colors should not be an issue. They've been in use for thousands of years in traditions ranging from magic to elementals.

Feng Shui, for instance, uses colors and elemental pairs. From what I've read, the different groups who practice Feng Shui argue about what the pairs, directions, and locations mean, but they all have basically the same basis.

As for the specific five elements... Neither Wizards of the Coast nor any other company has ownership of the ideas. [google] Five Element Theory

The game "Sacrifice" comes to my mind ( pretty good game with an amazing gameplay! )

Contains 5 different type of magics ( air/water, Death, Life, Earth and Fire)

You have to control the land to gain mana to cast spells (by controlling mana vault around the land)

You can summon creatures to help you out

I mean it's pretty damm close to what Magic the Gathering is about and they never had any trouble

Quote: Original post by Ciment
The game "Sacrifice" comes to my mind ( pretty good game with an amazing gameplay! )

Contains 5 different type of magics ( air/water, Death, Life, Earth and Fire)

You have to control the land to gain mana to cast spells (by controlling mana vault around the land)

You can summon creatures to help you out

I mean it's pretty damm close to what Magic the Gathering is about and they never had any trouble

Those concepts are all thousands of years old. No company owns the ideas. They are present in countless games from Japan and other Asian countries; just look at the various magic systems in the different versions of Final Fantasy. The Crystals in the original version and character types on the original NES (White, Black, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue); later in other Final Fantasy games, especially the Materia system, very closely mirror the Five Elements and the associated colors in Feng Shui.