Open License
His Majesty the Worm was designed to be accessible and easily hackable. As such, we've chosen simple language to communicate that you can create derivative or supplemental content.
We would love for the community to make content for His Majesty the Worm. Make dungeons. Make extra rules. Make alternative rules. Make monsters. Make Indesign templates. Make art. Make random generators.
You can publish your content for free or sell it (without us taking a cut).
The text that governs the free spirit of innovation is below:
Legal
Permission is granted to photocopy the book and otherwise reproduce for personal use.
Redistribution of copies or translations without prior written consent is prohibited. All creators retain the right to be identified as such. In all cases this notice must remain intact.
The mechanics and game text of His Majesty the Worm may be reused freely. Third-party compatible works are welcomed. Art may not be reused—all artists maintain copyright of their work.
If your product declares compatibility with His Majesty the Worm, you must state the following in your legal text and on any websites from which a commercial product is sold: “His Majesty the Worm is copyright Joshua McCrowell. [product name] is an independent production by [publisher name] and is not affiliated with Joshua McCrowell or Exalted Funeral.”
The Basics
If you adhere to these terms you are allowed to publish free or commercial material based upon or declaring compatibility with His Majesty the Worm without express permission. (However, please email us with what you make! We'd love to share it around!)
The mechanics and rules of His Majesty the Worm may be reused and referenced freely.
By default, art from the game may not be reused, unless it in the public domain or released through an open source license.
You have the explicit permission to use the names of locations and entities of the game world.
You are expressly forbidden from creating NFTs, cryptocurrency, or other blockchain-related content using this license.
Logos and Brand
Your product cannot use the His Majesty the Worm logo unless you have explicit permission.
You are allowed and encouraged (but not required) to use the “Adherent of the Worm" logo.
You’re not allowed to give the impression that this is an official His Majesty the Worm product or that we endorse or sponsor you in any way unless we’ve made special arrangements with you.
Creator's Kit
To help folks make beautiful third-party supplements, we've provided the Creator's Kit. It includes everything you need to get started, including:
Both an InDesign (.indd) and Affinity (.idml) template with pre-set master pages and styles to create content that looks like the main game
A PDF that describes the graphic design elements for prose and dungeon layouts
Fonts used in the original game
“Adherent of the Worm" images to use to declare compatibility with His Majesty the Worm
Streaming Agreement
In short: Yes, you can stream His Majesty the Worm!
You're allowed to stream and create videos of His Majesty the Worm gameplay for your own channel.
You may make content with or without commentary.
You are allowed to monetize these streams and videos with ads.
You're allowed the use of His Majesty the Worm artwork and logos in conjunction with these streams and videos.
(And if you stream the game, please let us know!)