Guidelines for Creators

Guidelines for Creators of Games, Literature, Music and Art set in the World of Atelon

  1. Creators may create:
    • Games set in Atelon and background materials to support the game.  Game rules must conform to the physical rules of Atelon (see Wiki entries regarding Magic and Technology) as well as the cultural characteristics of the races depicted in the game.  We will work with you to minimize the impact of this restriction.  Contact editor@stonegateforge.com.  Background materials must be posted on the Wiki.  Game rules need not be posted.
    • Literature set in Atelon.  Background materials created in the literature must be posted on the Wiki (such as maps, descriptive settings, lineages).  The story need not be posted, although it would be welcomed.  If posted, you may indicate the extent to which others may use passages from your work or create derivative works using characters which you have created.
    • Images of the people and places in Atelon.  If you wish to associate your work with Atelon, you must post the images on the Wiki, however you may limit the extent to which others may reproduce your work or create derivative images from your work.
    • Other works such as music, poetry or other undreamed of artistic endeavors, which you wish to associate with the World of Atelon must be posted on the Wiki.  As with literature and images, you may limit the extent to which others may reproduce your work or make derivative use of your work.
  2. Creators who commercially exploit the material they post on the Wiki must:
    • Include the following notice in the commercially published materials: Atelon is an open source fantasy world created by Stonegate Forge, LLC.  Information about Atelon can be found at the Atelon Wiki www.stonegateforge.com  Limited use of the materials contained in this publication is permitted as described at the Atelon Wiki.
    • Pay a royalty of 5% of your net selling price (MSRP minus trade discounts) to Stonegate Forge.  This is the honor system.  Royalties will be used to support the Atelon Wiki.  Contact editor@stonegateforge.com for payment information.
    •  Include the “World of Atelon” logo and the Wiki URL on the cover of printed materials or home page of digital materials.
  3. All materials must conform to the basic elements of Atelon and, where applicable build upon existing approved material in the Wiki.  While we intend to be liberal in applying this rule, we are the final arbiters of disagreements.  Basic elements are:
    • Geography of Atelon.
      1. Major landforms cannot be moved or modified.
      2. Additive landforms must be consistent with major landforms.  For example, the course of a small river must conform to the previously mapped relief in an area and should flow to a larger river or body of water.
      3. Wild vegetation should be consistent with what has been previously mapped for that time period.  Maps of historical past should make evolutionary sense, based on existing information.  For example, it makes sense for a wild forest to have been larger in a period prior to settlement of the area.  It does not make sense for a vast forest to appear on a map of an area which is already mapped as grassland during a period which is just a few hundred years in the future.
    • Settlement of Atelon
      1. Mapped settlements cannot be moved nor have their names changed (although names can evolve over time and different cultures may have their own names for the same place).
      2. There should be a logical evolutionary link between a settlement in the historical past and its present location and size.
      3. New large settlements should not be mapped in areas where large settlements have already been mapped.
      4. New settlements should be culturally consistent with the folk who occupy that area.
      5. We want the story of Atelon to extend over many millennia.  Our constraints will be much looser on a creator who chooses to fill in information that is substantially separated in time from existing information, than the constraints on a creator working in a well-documented period.
    • Racial/Cultural Characteristics
      1. The sentient races of Atelon – L’npei, Gornarod, and Wanderer are fixed.
      2. The cultures of Atelon are fixed in the east.
      3. The cultures in the central plains, south and west are not fixed but are related to the eastern cultures and should not diverge from them in major elements.
    • Magic – the magic of Atelon is fixed.  Use of magic within each school is open, provided that the spells are consistent with the basic concepts of magic on Atelon and the style of the particular school.
  4. All materials must be submitted to Stonegate Forge for review in advance of posting on the Wiki or publication using the Atelon name and logo.
  5. Stonegate Forge reserves the right to deny a Creator the right to use the World of Atelon setting if we believe that her/his work is in violation of the Guidelines.  Generally we will contact you to discuss the problem, but we reserve the absolute right to exclude a creation from the Wiki and from the World of Atelon.

Long-time gamer, amateur cartographer, living in a world of my own making.

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