Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

That question is not really phrased clearly enough to get you an answer. What I understand you to be asking, and I may be misunderstanding you, is whether there is a risk of copyright infringement if you produce and sell a real or virtual book for a board game based on (that is, "derived" from) a video game series. What you are describing is a "derivative work", and I think you know the answer is yes, and that is why you are asking. Copyright infringement analysis is a fact intensive thing and is not susceptible to a general answer based on a vague question such as you have posed. To get a meaningful answer you need to give a copyright lawyer the details of the video game you will work from, the details of the board game you will work from and the specific language of the book and/or pdf you propose to make. Only then can a meaningful answer be given as to whether you have avoided being a "derivative work." But, certainly you have an uphill battle to argue and prove your work is not a derivative work. The basic question is whether your proposed book or pdf copies or is derived from the original artistic content of the video game or board game of another author. There is obviously a serious risk here since you are basically saying your book or pdf will be derived from the original, and derivative works are normally infringements of the original.