Ownership and License Questions

The Storytellers Vault program is not an Open Game License. Content creators are given permission to use the Storyteller System and other World of Darkness rules systems for World of Darkness owned properties only as they become available on the Storytellers Vault. Content Creator are allowed to make custom rules systems for World of Darkness properties, but products created in this manner must be clearly labeled as such at the beginning of each product. Content creators are not allowed to use World of Darkness proprietary game systems for original content unless they have a license to do so from World of Darkness which requires a separate agreement.

If you’re still not sure about what you are allowed to publish, check the table below to see if that helps.

Does World of Darkness own the content that I create in my Storytellers Vault publications?

Content creators are not allowed to create new IPs under the Storytellers Vault program, rather every piece of content created uses the World of Darkness IP. That said, if your work merits incorporation into canon, World of Darkness will contact you.

The Storytellers Vault agreement will grant other Storytellers Vault authors a license to use your original content at any time from its publication date. 

What do I include in the legal text within my Storytellers Vault title?

We recommend a legal section in this general format:

World of Darkness, Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, Victorian Age: Vampire, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Werewolf: The Wild West, Mage: The Ascension, Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade, Wraith: The Oblivion, Wraith: The Great War, Changeling: The Dreaming, Hunter: The Reckoning, Demon: The Fallen, Mummy: The Resurrection, Orpheus, Exalted, Chronicles of Darkness, Vampire:The Requiem, Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Changeling: The Lost, Hunter: The Vigil, Giest: The Sin Eaters, Demon: The Descent, Mummy: The Curse, Beast: The Primordial, Promethean: The Created, World of Darkness, Storyteller System™, Storytelling System™, and Storytellers Vault™ and their respective logos, icons and symbols are trademarks or registered trademarks of World of Darkness Entertainment AB. All rights reserved.

This work contains material that is copyright of World of Darkness Entertainment. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for the Storytellers Vault.  

©2018 World of DarknessWhite Wolf Entertainment AB, Västgötagatan 5, SE-118 27 Stockholm, Sweden.

If I use content from other Storytellers Vault authors, do I need to credit them?

As more authors contribute to the Storytellers Vault’s pool of community content, we do not expect to maintain perfect attribution every time an author re-uses elements originally contributed by another author. Such attributions are not strictly required. However, we do think two things would be best practices for all Storytellers Vault contributors:

• When re-using a larger element that you have taken from another Storytellers Vault author’s work, include a reference to the original work as a link to it on StorytellersVault.com within your PDF. For example, if you use a new Bloodline called the Shadow Weavers that you found in another author’s work, you should reference that inside your own work using an internal citation such as "Shadow Weavers from Blood Ravens by The Dark Lord".
• On your title’s credit page, make a list of such references.

Other

Illegal and Infringing content is not allowed. It is the content creator’s responsibility to ensure that their content does not violate laws, or copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights.

Content creators who wish to publish extreme material of a decidedly adult nature are required to use the Black Dog label so as to clearly identify this type of content. Content of this nature includes excessive graphic violence, nudity and graphic sexual situations, etc. World of Darkness reserves the right to inform content creators that their published material needs to be rebranded under the Black Dog label if necessary. World of Darkness reserves the right to ask content creators to remove this imprint label if its usage is not deemed necessary.

Create, don’t copy. World of Darkness reserves the right to stop publishing and selling your work if it is deemed to go against the spirit of the Storytellers Vault program. All authors should respectfully use the content originally created by World of Darkness or other Storytellers Vault creators. For example, if a Storytellers Vault author releases a series of city By Night supplements all set in the same geographic area, and another author takes those supplements, compiles them, and republishes them as a single collection, without substantive original additions or changes, then we would stop publishing and selling that collected work because it adds no value to the Storytellers Vault community content. This type of behavior will be dealt with harshly, and risks the infringer being permanently expelled from the Storytellers Vault program.

World of Darkness reserves the right to remove published content from public availability and review any piece of Storytellers Vault content at any time for any reason. Content creators who have had titles removed from public view in this fashion will be notified about it in as timely a manner as possible.