What is Conan's d20 line future with Mongoose

[Bygoneyrs]

Hello Mongoose guys,

What is the future of the Conan d20 line with Mongoose? Will there be anymore new products in 2010, or at all? Have you decided to just allow the license to expire and write the whole line off? Can you give us any feelings or advise us as to what is happening? I know there is some "talk" of a Chaosium - BRP Conan version. IS there any truth to that rumor?

Just for the record I have managed to collect almost everything for Conan v1 and all of Conan v2. I am sad to see it fade from your product line, and despite any past issues...I still think Mongoose is the best. BTW your Traveller line is AWESOME keep up the good work with that please.

Just a FYI I am also a fan of BRP as well too, but d20 is very much liked by me as well. I have a huge collection of D&D ver 3.5 and have continued to collect Pathfinder D&D d20 ver 3.5.1 revised stuff as well too. For me I would like Conan to stay in your hands and use d20, but if it goes to BRP ...I can go with that as well too.

Penn

 

[MongooseMatt]

I believe it is very unlikely there will be any more Conan D20-based products. Beyond that. . . I am afraid I really don't know. We will be chatting to the licensors in the near future, so we'll have a clearer idea then.

 

[francisca]

I believe it is very unlikely there will be any more Conan D20-based products. Beyond that. . . I am afraid I really don't know. We will be chatting to the licensors in the near future, so we'll have a clearer idea then.

Good luck, and please do keep us posted.

 

[p1fx]

it looks like this game is totaly dead, what a waste of cash and space it was for me to collect it all. ebay perhaps??

 

[Strom]

I don't think it was a waste of money but this "we will not support the game in 2010 except in S&P" sure is a waste of a year. And no commodity is more precious than time.

Mongoose should give the Conan RPG a big send off with one final big book. This death by water boarding is not a fitting send off for such a great RPG.

C'mon Matt - delegate someone to finish the line off right. Feels like you took our money and now you are done with us.

One more book. Lets finish the Mongoose Conan RPG the way it started - with a beautifully inspired book, filled with tribute to Conan's creator Robert E. Howard.

Who's with me?

 

[Phobos]

Me, but I think (know) that this is not a Mongoose caprice, if they have their hands tied with the licence.

 

[Clovenhoof]

Right. Mongoose had some real awesome plans for the Conan RPG, like a leather-bound atlas or something like that, and lots more, but the brand owners vetoed it. Can't blame the 'goose for this one.

 

[p1fx]

the licence holders have been planning a atlas for a while and didnt quite like the idea of mongoose trying to do something which they had already decided to do, also the idea of switching to a d6 system when this wasnt agreed within licence kind of pissed them off a little, cant blame them as mongoose does have a reputation for ditching systems in favour of whichever one they are trying to punt at the time, eg judge dreddgoing to traveler etc. so as a result the licence is now up for grabs and as a result mongoose are not allowed to print any new material, equalling the death of this rpg.

mongoose really havnt done themselves any favours with their support for many games (ogl horror etc)and the changing of systems, if im buying a new system i expect it to last longer than 4 years like runequest did, thats just milking a already small community(us rpg players). i now have a big job on selling all my now redundant books, which means all conan, all runequest, the ogl games, all judge dredd and others which i bought despite not having the most spare cash and one by one have been made redundant by moneygoose over the past few years in favour of whatever new system they have accuried.

 

[p1fx]

have to wonder if the rush to change from d20 ogl based systems has anything to do with being able to print material for 4th edition d+d and therefore increase the income levels

 

[MongooseMatt]

the licence holders have been planning a atlas for a while and didnt quite like the idea of mongoose trying to do something which they had already decided to do, also the idea of switching to a d6 system when this wasnt agreed within licence kind of pissed them off a little, cant blame them as mongoose does have a reputation for ditching systems in favour of whichever one they are trying to punt at the time, eg judge dreddgoing to traveler etc. so as a result the licence is now up for grabs and as a result mongoose are not allowed to print any new material, equalling the death of this rpg.

Umm. . . None of what you have said above is true. . .

 

[Deleriad]

i now have a big job on selling all my now redundant books, which means all conan, all runequest, the ogl games, all judge dredd and others which i bought despite not having the most spare cash and one by one have been made redundant by moneygoose over the past few years in favour of whatever new system they have accuried.

I hate to ask, but in what ways are these books "redundant"?

Are you currently playing or running any of them? In which case, is there any reason not to play them any more?

If you are not playing with them, have they become any less readable on your bookshelf?

I must admit that I buy rpg stuff for two primary reasons. Some books I buy purely to read because I'm interested in the background, rate the author's work or am interested to see if they have any neat new mechanics. Occasionally bits of these books find their way into something I'm running.

Some books I buy to play. If the rules get revised in a new edition I tend to buy the new stuff on its merit. If the new edition suits my taste more, I'll but it. If not, I might buy it and cannibalise it for parts or simply carry on my own way and, if good supplements come out, I'll buy them and fit them to my purpose.

If I were a Conan d20 player I would be saddened that there was nothing more coming from Mongoose but so be it. If they changed it to a different system such as RQ I would either switch if I thought I would have more fun or cannibalise whatever I found most interesting in the supplements.

 

[Strom]

Right. Mongoose had some real awesome plans for the Conan RPG, like a leather-bound atlas or something like that, and lots more, but the brand owners vetoed it. Can't blame the 'goose for this one.

That is absolutely untrue. Mongoose - and Mongoose alone - decided to not publish any Conan RPG books in 2010 the last year of the license.

I know CPI cancelled the big plans Mongoose had, but after the smoke cleared from that, Mongoose decided to just stop printing any more books with the time they have remaining with the license.

I thought that was crystal clear to everyone. Here is Matt's quote from the State of Mongoose post:

we cannot produce more material for the game (sales of further OGL Conan supplements will simply not justify the work required)

Matt justifies it by "work required" - I just think he should delegate one more final book for late 2010 release.

Bottom line - it's the bottom line that is keeping Conan RPG books from being printed in 2010 - not CPI.

Mongoose needs to respect the years customers have supported Conan and give us one more book to finish off the line with some respect - like Conan deserves.

 

[LucaCherstich]

Matt, as far as I remember (from what has been revealed in these forums in the past year or so) we have at least three ready products (or at least their texts...):
1) Empires of the Hyborian Age (Supposedely to be given free in S&P...but we will never get the whole thing, just small bits);
2) Thief's Companion (same thing);
3) Vince wrote at least 1 or 2 of the atlases, or at least so he said in these forums if I well remember,...why do not you put some d20 statistics and turn it in one last Geographic Sourcebook?

I mean, I understand the printing costs....but what if you give us some of them as PDFs?
I will pay for any of them!

 

[p1fx]

if none of what i said was true then why is that basically the statement i read from the licenceors? have they not been planning their own atlas for some time? have they not already been in touch with publishers to see about this? are you allowed to print new material in the last year of the licence or as they say only able to print currently available material? that there wasnt a savage worlds conan planned? if everything they said is false then perhaps you should speak to them regarding the statement

 

[p1fx]

The Mongoose license has always been for RPGs and supplements only. The proposed atlas series was never included in the license. Unfortunately, work was started in lieu of this without prior approval and license amendment. CPI has been considering developing a deluxe atlas to explore the Hyborian Age for quite some time, receiving interest from major US publishers.

Jay Zetterberg, Director of Publishing
Conan Properties International


so is he lying then?

 

[MongooseMatt]

if none of what i said was true then why is that basically the statement i read from the licenceors?

I believe you have misread them

have they not been planning their own atlas for some time?

No, they don't produce this kind of material themselves.

are you allowed to print new material in the last year of the licence

Honesty, I don't know. As a company, we cannot count on it.

if everything they said is false

I didn't say it was.

 

[Strom]

Right. Mongoose had some real awesome plans for the Conan RPG, like a leather-bound atlas or something like that, and lots more, but the brand owners vetoed it. Can't blame the 'goose for this one.

That is absolutely untrue. Mongoose - and Mongoose alone - decided to not publish any Conan RPG books in 2010 the last year of the license.

I know CPI cancelled the big plans Mongoose had, but after the smoke cleared from that, Mongoose decided to just stop printing any more books with the time they have remaining with the license.

I thought that was crystal clear to everyone. Here is Matt's quote from the State of Mongoose post:

we cannot produce more material for the game (sales of further OGL Conan supplements will simply not justify the work required)

Matt justifies it by "work required" - I just think he should delegate one more final book for late 2010 release.

Bottom line - it's the bottom line that is keeping Conan RPG books from being printed in 2010 - not CPI.

Mongoose needs to respect the years customers have supported Conan and give us one more book to finish off the line with some respect - like Conan deserves.

Matt - is there any chance - if we gathered an outrageous amount of support - that Mongoose would give us fans one more, final supplement, to finish the line off as a tribute to the numerous fans who supported the Conan RPG for years and helped Mongoose build to the publisher you are today by helping support you when you were just getting started?

 

[p1fx]

sorry but their statement clearly says they had plans for a atlas and interest from publishers

 

[MongooseMatt]

Matt - is there any chance - if we gathered an outrageous amount of support - that Mongoose would give us fans one more, final supplement, to finish the line off as a tribute to the numerous fans who supported the Conan RPG for years and helped Mongoose build to the publisher you are today by helping support you when you were just getting started?

I really would like to say yes. However, we have no reason to believe such a book would even get approved at this stage, and we simply cannot devote time to something that uncertain.

 

[LucaCherstich]

What if you publish it as a PDF?
What if you do not put (and so spend money) on figures but use just the text?
You could use the text of one of those books which were ready (Empires & Thief's C.) or one of the Vincent's Atlases (and publish it as a regional book)?
I know I've told it 10.000 times in these forums but I would like to know whether I'm proposing stupidities or not.