Is Conan dying?

[MGBM]

This is pure speculation, but still, read on.

Been reading the foruns for a while ever since the State of the Mongoose Matt posted a few weeks ago.

Now, after reading everything about that and reading some posts in this forum, I came naturally with the question: Is this line doomed? Will Conan RPG die?

Now, I'm not being pessimistic, I'm just asking.

However, The Long Cold Wait, no news about sourcebooks other than a bestiary, a 2nd edition in order to probably boost sales, Matt's post about sales of Mongoose's products here http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24713 and many more signs don't picture a very bright future.

It all seems to come together and tell that Conan is, indeed, a dying RPG line.

And I don't want that to happen! I want Vincent to keep writing those excellent sourcebooks for Conan. I want to see one sourcebook every two months at least. I don't want Conan to die, it's my favourite world to play in, Hyborian Age.

As for me, I have bought everything that came in print for Conan, but it worries me that COnan is not selling enough and may get canceled. Who knows?

Anyway, this is pure speculation. However, feel free to say your opinion here about this topic. ANd it would be good to see someone from Mongoose to reassure us that Conan will not die for the next years.

 

[Evil_Trevor]

I would doubt that the Conan line is in imminet danger, Mongoose have recently negotiated an extension to the licence which they would not do if they meant to kill the line. They are advancing plans for a revised version of the main rulebook again not a action that indicates the end of a line.

The reason that particularly Runequest sells much better is that overall Runequest (and the other games) are very popular and much better established than Conan is.

 

[MGBM]

I would doubt that the Conan line is in imminet danger, Mongoose have recently negotiated an extension to the licence which they would not do if they meant to kill the line. They are advancing plans for a revised version of the main rulebook again not a action that indicates the end of a line.

Might be true, but don't forget the announced Conan skirmish miniature line which could also be the main reason for the extension to the license.

 

[Strom]

I should've copyrighted " The Long, Cold Wait" :lol:

I don't think the line is dead or even dying. Runequest is new - I remember when the Conan line started out in 2004 and it was one of the best sellers for Mongoose. There is always something exciting about a new product - even a reboot. I think that is what Mongoose is hoping to capture with the 2nd edition launch. This time Mongoose is changing their philosophy and going to support the launch with more adventures and campaigns and a bestiary.

Much like ACTA and B5, the new Conan miniatures game should supplement the RPG and visa versa. Especially if it is a skirmisher game which I hope it is. The Long, Cold Wait is gonna suck big time but I don't think the line is dead or dying. But, as always a quick response from the 'Goose would be nice.

 

[The King]

I think the line is just following its "cruise speed" after the several and massive (?) releases in 2004 et 2005 which is usual for most games. The norm is 1 book every 2 months and they just said they were waiting to release the 2nd before anything else.

 

[quigs]

Perhaps the Conan line might sell more if they could actually manage to publish a decent quality book worth buying.

Now don't get me wrong, the books have great content as far as the fluff goes but there are a few things that turn me off of buying them usually.

- maps are generally of poor quality, don't contain enough detail, or are totally incorrect according to the accompanying text (haven't seen ruins of hyboria yet mind you)

- rules and stat blocks are usually incorrect, require errata, or are missing entirely. check out Free Companies and Scrolls of Skelos for instance.

- books are generally soft cover or black and white and are extremely awkward to handle. those softcover books don't stay open on the gaming table, and they bend or get damaged too easily.

If Mongoose could publish some nice full colour hardcover books with passible editing, like WotC for instance, I would be much more inclined to purchase them.

Just an idea

 

[thulsa]

If Mongoose could publish some nice full colour hardcover books with passible editing, like WotC for instance, I would be much more inclined to purchase them.

While I agree with your complaints about the Mongoose books, it seems even WotC can't get their stat blocks correct these days. Check out the many reviews by John Cooper on EN World for some examples (here's one: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3256627 ).

- thulsa

 

[rgrove0172]

Perhaps the Conan line might sell more if they could actually manage to publish a decent quality book worth buying.

I kind of take offense to this comment. You might not like every aspect of every book but to claim they are of poor quallity and not worth buying is pretty harsh. Ive got every book in the Conan line and I cant think of one that is anything below high quality in appearance. Some are more useful than others to me as the GM but thats a matter of opinion and individual taste.

I can understand your frustration on some of themaps and such but I cant figure out your comment about color and soft covers at all. Easily 80% of the books are hardback and in full color!

 

[quigs]

My main gripe was that the books are hardback and not hardcover. There's a big difference there despite the similar terminology. All of the recent books in the Conan product line seem to be going the route of hardback with full colour. I don't like hardbacks because they crease and fold easily, especially when carted around or used at the game table, and they don't stay open on the pages you need, which forces you to hold the book open while you're playing.

The main Conan RPG book was actually very well done, and so was Road of Kings which is by far my favourite book of the product line. These were both hardcover and full colour. Quite durable and very portable.

My comments were not meant to offend anybody but were merely an explanation as to my expectations of getting the most bang for my buck.

 

[VincentDarlage]

My main gripe was that the books are hardback and not hardcover. There's a big difference there despite the similar terminology.

What?

I looked up the definitions of both words and... guess what? They are synonyms. They mean the same thing, therefore no difference. What definitions are you giving the words?

 

[weasel_fierce]

meh. I'll never understand why gamers are so eager to jump ship if there's no more books being published (or even just fewer books).

Even if Mongoose decided to print a single Conan book ever again, why would that invalidate the stuff you already have, and enjoy ?

 

[Yogah of Yag]

meh. I'll never understand why gamers are so eager to jump ship if there's no more books being published (or even just fewer books).

Even if Mongoose decided to print a single Conan book ever again, why would that invalidate the stuff you already have, and enjoy ?

You're exactly right.
If the Conan line ended, we dedicated fans could start our own forum to continue to develop rules, fixes, adventures, online campaigns, etc. perhaps on http://www.conan.com
The important thing is that there is an online presence, a community.

 

[rgrove0172]

I like the sound of that. Ive been roleplaying for almost 30 years and Conan is tops for me. Itll live on in our group regardless but of course Id love to see it officially grow and prosper.

 

[urdinaran]

If Conan RPG ended, it would be a real shame. IMHO it is the best alternate campaign setting ever for the D20 system. Heck, the whole D&d thing is partially based on REH's works, among other notable authors (Tolkien, Leiber, etc.).

 

[Scorpion13]

The only thing wrong, IMHO, with the Conan RPG line is the editing, typos, whathaveyou. The mistakes are almost absurd, in some cases.

Beyond that? Its all gold baby. Never before have I seen the crunch flow so well with the fluff. The Conan RPG has the kind of books that you dont even need to use in a game: just sitting down and reading them is a joy. its hard for me to think of many other RPG products that do that for me.

So to sum up, the only, and I mean ONLY, flaw in the line is the editing goofs, and even those seem to be getting much better.

 

[emirikol]

Our group has played Hyborian campaigns since before Mongoose picked up the license and will probably continue in that world long after ConanRPG goes out of print. We just like the world and it's feel for gaming.

As for comments regarding "poor quality," I don't necessarily agree that they are "poor" quality as much as just not very exciting. Many of the source material just isn't "in-touch" with the reality of what a DM or player wants in regards to campaigning or gaming. In otherwords, I neither find it fun to read, or very useful as a DM and my players really wrestle with where they fit into purchasing anything.

I know another poster noted he likes to sit down and read the sourcebooks. I find them dry and not inspiring. There is use in them though.

Mapping is the one thing that I have a real big pet peeve about so far. Of all the artwork that needs to be in-depth, referenceable, and of high detail in mutiple layers, this has been a big disappointment to me in the Conan line.

Without being totally unconstructive, I'd like to suggest the following things:
As a DM, I'd like to see:
* more regional, local, adventure-locale, and city maps with keys and accurate entries (I don't like the cop-out of "well, it's unclear." It needs to be clear.)
* local and ancient history and activities about regions that I can drop into my games. Nothing worse than going into generic ruins with no markings on the walls, generic monsters, and generic ongoing.
* more greatly increased regional plotlines in content and number (not just 20 one-liner adventure hooks)
* runes, markings, or local symbols (for example, perhaps some heiroglyphs might have been useful in Stygia supplement)
* shortened up entries about meaningless stuff (yes, there's plenty of that)
* more local organizations, tribes or group listings. These are crucial for ongoing plotlines in a region.
* FEWER amounts of wasted space on statblocks. Not every NPC needs a statblock.
* in supplements, more modifications considering the LEVEL of characters would be nice
* integration of the rules, feats, and whatnot into the FLUFF of the supplements
* reduction in the fear of 'breaking new ground' regarding supplementary NPC's, locations and other material


Hope that helps.

jh

 

[rgrove0172]

As Hyborian adventure involves human opponants more than anything else, Id like to see more generic NPCs drawn up and ready for use. In other convenional RPGs if you suddenly needed a Kobold, you just looked one up. In Conan sometimes its not so easy.

 

[Scorpion13]

Oh yeah.

Whipping up stats for any d20 game is a pain. With Conan, what with its various bonus to skills in certain environs, etc. is even MORE of a hassle. It was great to see lots of NPC writeups for generic Picts in ATTR. If we could see more of that in the future, Id be a happy man.

 

[Malovech]

* more regional, local, adventure-locale, and city maps with keys and accurate entries (I don't like the cop-out of "well, it's unclear." It needs to be clear.)

I agree on all these counts. I actually started purchasing Conan because I didn't want to waste me time mapping. Sadly mapping is one of the weakest features of the line. Mongoose really needs to contract out a talented cartographer.

 

[Scorpion13]

I personally enjoy the ambiguity of the setting.

Being able to put a ruined fortress any damn place you please is refreshing.

In a setting like Forgotten Realms, you have to read through tons of fluff (not much of it very interesting) and a few novels (again, not very interesting, unlike Conan) to figure out what is appropriate to have in a certain area.