Reddit mentions: The best magic tricks books

Excellent question! I posted about this elsewhere, so I'll copy pasta.

Obligatory "I am not a lawyer."

Background: I have producer contacts at the Report, but my coauthor and I first approached Comedy Central's product licensing people in May to see if they wanted to be involved. After a preliminary back and forth, they declined on behalf of themselves and the show. The latter struck us odd, but time was of the essence, so we took it at face value and didn't push the issue.

We knew that unofficial fan guides existed for other shows, so ours wouldn't be that different. However, it was more challenging than expected to reach a good comfort level.

Everything I initially read about the Harry Potter Lexicon case (Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books) seemed like it was gonna be bad news for us. Guy ran a fansite for ages which was essentially a dictionary of all the terms and characters in the Harry Potter universe. Rowling was fine with the website and was actually a fan of it, until the guy wanted to put it into book form. She took him to court for copyright and trademark infringement, and won.

Now, you'd think, like I did, that it was simply because he used the Harry Potter brand to make and sell something without her permission.

But it wasn't about that at all. It was the fact that his book's content was simply a regurgitation of her books, and he wrote it in her voice -- using slight rewordings of her original language to "define" the words in the dictionary. He added nothing to it, really.

I actually ended up reading through the entire judge's decision in this case, and it's pretty fascinating.

One of the examples cited is....

> from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix reads: For a moment it seemed suspended in midair, then it soared toward Ron, spinning as it came, and what looked like ribbons of moving images flew from it, unraveling like rolls of film.
> (Pl. Ex. 8 at 798.)
> The Lexicon entry reads in part: . . . When Summoned, the brains fly out of the tank, unspooling ribbons of thought like strips of film, which wrap themselves around the Summoner and cause quite a bit of damage (OP35). . . .

Like, geez... yeah, you definitely can't do that. You can directly quote to a degree, but you can't just reword someone else's content and sell it.

The judge in that case determined "the Lexicon’s rearrangement of Rowling’s fictional facts does not alter the protected expression such that the Lexicon ceases to be substantially similar to the original works."

Applying that idea to our book... Had we written a book from the perspective of a member of the (semi) fictional "Colbert Nation," that would have elevated our risk in that direction (though not to that degree). Like, talking about Stephen as a true hero who brings his Nation the truth every night, via these insightful segments. (Which I think we can agree would be a terrible book.)

But our book isn't that. It's from the perspective of the real-life outsider looking in, always framing the show as satirical and clearly stating the difference between the character and the performer. Plus, there's a significant amount of information included that isn't taken from the show's content.

Now, that's only one part of it. But ultimately, it's primarily an issue of "fair use." Which is never clear-cut, it's just a sliding scale of risk that only a judge can truly decide. But we're confident the book's content meets the criteria. Another confusing aside: in Canada, where I and my business are located, we have a thing call "fair dealing" which is similar but different, and not one case like this has ever gone to court since the law was put in place, so there are no benchmarks established here.

The frustrating thing is, no lawyer would ever say "yup, you're good to go, what you're doing is totally legal." Which is what I wanted to hear. All a lawyer will ever do is tell you what your level of risk is. Once I understood that, I was much happier.

But yeah, it was a long process to understand why books like these were fine to sell...

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Harry-Potter-Spellbook-Chooses-ebook/dp/B00FEQOJPC
http://www.amazon.com/Fiction-Folklore-Harry-Potters-World/dp/1571744401
http://www.amazon.com/Magical-Worlds-Harry-Potter-revised/dp/0425223183

...but the Lexicon wasn't.

All that aside, at the end of the day, Colbert is not litigious. There are already unauthorized bios about him out there, along with lots of stuff that isn't legal and uses his image commercially. Colbert's brother is actually a very well-known intellectual property lawyer, so he could've had all that and more shut down with one phone call ages ago.

I also had a conversation with Stephen recently, and told him about the book. He now has a copy in his possession, no doubt sitting in a "to glance at in 2015" pile that he'll get to eventually. I did get a nice email from someone else at the show, though, and he seemed quite pleased with it.

From a human perspective, I think the intent of the book is clear, and from a legal perspective, we've done enough to make sure we're covered. That doesn't automatically stop someone like Comedy Central from sending an angry letter if they wanted to, but it sure would make a great news story if they did.

Well if she's pregnant, she really shouldn't be adventuring anymore, because there's a whole load of stuff that can go catastrophically wrong that has a huge chance of killing the game's mood. No one wants to deal with "The boss just disemboweled her? But she was PREGNANT!"

That said, if you really do want to keep going with this, there is an entire CHAPTER of pregnancy rules in [The Book of Erotic Fantasy] (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X) (from 3rd edition, but it works with PF.) I highly recommend you read it if you're going to bring sex into your game, as it has a lot of advice on how to deal with it in a mature way that's right for your group. Sure, sex is fun, but it also makes things complicated, and it's always good to take precautions so you don't fuck up your group.

Well, yes and yes. My current character constantly seeks sex. He now has three children because of it as well (which is thankful since the area our characters are in is plagued with infertility). One game, my character had sex 12 times with 9 women just within 2 days of in-game time. He rolled great constitution otherwise it would've been too much for any man (granted being a dwarf does help). As for Fifty Shades of Gray, kind of. My last character was a psychopathic serial killer who would seduce men into bed, pleasure them (without having intercourse herself), and either cast a spell of impotence (permanent spell, btw), chop their penis off, or kill them. She would go easier on women, leaving them with bodily scars instead. (I gave her a super fucked up back story that caused her to hate men, especially men in authority). While much darker than Fifty Shades of Gray, the BDSM aspect is there. We have this to help us with all of our sex play, since it happens so often.

I highly recommend reading the book The Amazing Cigar by Giovanni Livera. It talks about step by step instructions on the various ways of producing smoke rings (the bellow technique, using a small cough, using the tongue) and not only that, shows you about 100 or so other tricks you can do with cigars, matches, matchbooks, and other smoking paraphanalia. I read it while on a cruse and really enjoyed it.

Get yourself this book and read it.

It is the only book that I have found that explores gender and sexuality in the d20 system. I would not use what is in the book in games but it is a great way to weave an undercurrent. Just the part of the book that deals with how each race deals with childbirth is worth it. Even in a game that is PG rated I have found that some of the information there is useful. Plus it has a list of STDs for that player who keeps interrupting the game with inappropriate advances on NPCs. We all have had "That Player" before.

Alright, thank you very much for your help. So, if I wanted to start in 3.5, would I need this, this, and this?

Sigh, look up the book "Book of Erotic Fantasy." It covers sex in D&D and roleplaying in general. I know it's a good book having used it myself and knowing the people who play-tested it. it covers everything from blessing children [and them earning the half-demon/celestial template] to gestation periods for mixed race couples. Very tasteful.
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X

This should help, and yes I own a copy.

I'll just leave this here.

Seriously? Well balanced book, gives your campaign a whole new focus, and is good on both alignment issues and complex NPC interactions.

So... There is a new Magic Eye book out as of Nov 6th. link (amazon.com)

or you can search magic eye 25th anniversary on amazon.

This is my post in tribute to Magic Eye and the legacy it has left.

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http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X

I believe this is what you're looking for. It's got a rather interesting table about what creatures can mate with which. It led to rule number 1 for our gaming group, "Dragon get what dragon want."

Book of Erotic Fantasy...snicker geek porn FTW.

Thanks to this book and this book I did a lot of that as a child.

Except the smoke bubbles... Sadly I had nothing that made smoke.

I found Hiding the Elephant by Jim Steinmeyer informative

Or you can get the Kindle e-book version which you can view on Android or iOS, It is just $2.28 on Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Road-Card-Magic-ebook/dp/B0074Q41LW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

here you go

I recieved this as a gift last year.

Coin bible, http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Coin-Magic-J-Bobo/dp/1446528375/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1323064832&sr=8-3

There are some surprisingly well-written D&D rules that cover most of this.

On the other hand...

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X

I would put forth that this book beats out that one.

https://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X

Maybe you could find a PDF...

Not sure if you’re in the UK but I bet Amazon.com have this too: Dungeon Chronicle - 300 Pages https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0991478886/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LgnSCbGNT5KEW

This is actually a totally real thing.
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Erotic-Fantasy-Gwendolyn-Kestrel/dp/097420451X
That's an add on book for adding sexual encounters to your v3.5 DnD campaign. It's actually a pretty funny read, I used to open sessions as a DM by reading a passage.

So i actually knew a girl in high school who played in an dnd campaign where sex was a thing.. I wasn't sure how they roleplayed it out but i do know that they had a GIMP in the form of a cadaver in a bad of holding, which they would rape periodically.

I'm convinced it was a result of too much 4chan, (of any amount of 4chan for that matter).

When it comes to fiction and magic, the source of power behind virginity has always been the purity of the host/victim/source. Just how pure they are depends on the standards of the people in the setting.

I'd say a simple guideline is simple vaginal intercourse. YMMV though.

Edit - Just realized I didn't answer everything.

At what point does a virgin become a non-virgin? At the same point as in reality, vaginal penetration with a phallus. If you're asking when the magic of the spell or ritual takes effect? That depends on which spell/ritual you're casting. Some might be instant, but others might require the completion of the full ritual or parts of the ritual.

Sadly, as we see in many fantasy stories rape does indeed count, otherwise villians wouldn't be rescuing virgin princesses would they?

Technicalities are really up to the setting and who's telling the story. A girl who broke her hymen riding a horse or doing farming work is still pure, so the magic should work. A girl who only takes it anal to retain her purity is a bit of a joke but technically she's still pure. So that really depends on the setting/storyteller/rules of magic in your world.

What happens when someone de-flowers a virgin during a magical ritual? Well.....again, that depends on the ritual. Sometimes the virgin dies, sometimes she becomes posessed at the moment of coitus. Really, there's no limit or rule it's whatever serves the story you're writing.

If you wanna check out sex and magic with actual rules as far as gaming goes, check out The Book of Erotic Fantasy