MOB

Could quote an excerpt from that page of 'A Guide to Wargaming' (1980), but it's all pure #grognard gold... "A newcomer to the world of wargames is the field of fantasy. Wargamers are in two camps as far as fantasy is concerned. Some are definitely in favour, as it affords an outlet for their aggressions and personal fantasies, and an alternative to the standard battles between the British and Germans, etc.) No one objects to hacking an orc to bits (apart from the orc, that is), whereas many people now question the ethics of perpetuating wars long ended, some of which are best forgotten. Others say fantasy games are utter rubbish. They do have their point, in that many of the works on which fantasy games are based are pulp novels, with no real value, i.e. the Conan adventures et al."

To summarise (using Jeff's responses): Q: Does Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Magic World, the Basic Roleplaying system, Pendragon, or 7th Sea come under the provisions of an Open Game License (OGL)? A: No. Q: Is there a System Reference Document (SRD) for Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Magic World, the Basic Roleplaying system, Pendragon, or 7th Sea? A: No. [Update: in March 2020 Chaosium released the official SRD for the BRP rules engine.] Q: Can I rely on the Mongoose RQ SRD to publish material? A: No. Mongoose’s license for RuneQuest was terminated in April 2011. At that point, Mongoose lost all rights to continue using the RuneQuest trademark, or to create and publish material derivative from the previous copywritten material, or to issue any sublicenses based on that agreement. Since Mongoose no longer had any rights to RuneQuest, it has no ability to issue a third-party license to that material (which is all an OGL is). For more information, see https://www.chaosium.com/fan-use-and-licensing-q-a Q: Isn't an OGL perpetual? Mongoose may have said its license was perpetual, but its license with Issaries was not perpetual. Mongoose did not have the ability to issue a perpetual license to Third Parties, only a license with a duration equal to its own right to use the IP. (Think of this like subletting a property you are renting on a monthly basis from another party. You might tell your subletter that their lease is perpetual, but if your landlord ends your lease, both you and your subletter are out.) Q: What about Mongoose's Legend? A: Legend is its own thing and not under license from Chaosium or Moon Design Publications. Mongoose was perfectly entitled to take their work, remove from it those elements that were derived from RuneQuest or Glorantha and give it its own name, and then do with it as they see fit. Legend is not RuneQuest or BRP or Call of Cthulhu, and nor does it purport to be. If Mongoose wants to do a OGL of their original work, that is not Chaosium's issue or concern. [wearing mod hat] we're closing the thread so that for anyone's future reference our summary is easy to find here at the end. If you would like to discuss this matter further on BRP Central, you are most welcome to start a new thread.

That was a project that came out 26 years ago, under completely different management, editorial, and production processes (and completely different people too). My comment about how we work with licensees relates to current practice. We are by no means perfect, but we are striving to have processes that ensure our products (and those of our licensees) are announced and then later released in a timely fashion.

That extension expired yesterday (June 30th). On the Horrors of War Kickstarter, Adam Scott Glancy's most recent update (April 1st) said this: Unfortunately, we have heard nothing from him. In fact, we have had no contact from Scott at all since we granted the most recent extension, back in November last year. This project is now 4 1/2 years past its original estimated delivery date (February 2015). At Scott's request, from August 2017 Chaosium has graciously extended his license three times (to August 2018, then to 31 Dec 2018, and then to 30 June 2019), on undertakings from Scott that completion was in hand, which we took in good faith. We understand and appreciate that Scott has had various family and work-related challenges getting this project done. But in this time we've also been contacted by unhappy backers about the lack of progress, the lack of communication and updates, frustration at seeing Scott on social media talking about newer projects he's involved with, and asking us about refunds - all matters out of our control, although our company and the Call of Cthulhu name are linked to the project. In the absence of anything from Scott, it is time for us to definitively review our options.

The license Nocturnal Media secured with the owner of the Prince Valiant IP has expired. We hope to be able to renew it, but in the mean time the Prince Valiant line is unavailable.

We talk to all licensees at the conceptual stage to ensure projects don't overlap or compete with stuff being done or planned by other licensees, or by Chaosium itself. This is pretty standard practice everywhere, and is to everyone's benefit and protection. Usually this is just a brief discussion with the relevant line editor. Note: an exception to this is community content (the Miskatonic Repository, and soon, the Jonstown Compendium). There you can literally do what you want, and there is no approval process whatsoever - we don't view, vet, or approve anything in community content before it goes live. Just follow the guidelines.

Yes. Hence posting it here in the RQ forum too.

A young Vingan runelord has stopped to ask the way from a settler of Sartarian heritage from Zola Fel valley.

Carcosa Con 2020 has announced its first guest of honour - Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu maestro Mike Mason.

Thanks, fixed!

Exciting news! - our friends at Critical Role are doing a Call of Cthulhu one-shot in July! As announced in Critical Role's Summer Programming Schedule: On Monday, July 29th, Critical Role's Taliesin Jaffe is stepping behind the screen once again as the Keeper of Arcane Lore for a special Call of Cthulhu one-shot, sponsored by our friends at Chaosium. Investigators Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Ashly Burch, Phil Lamarr, and Erika Ishii will attempt to survive Taliesin’s harrowing scenario, which is set in a decadent 1890s London. We’re incredibly excited to explore this classic RPG of cosmic horror through a fresh lens. VOD will be available immediately for our Twitch channel subscribers and will be available on our YouTube channel on Wednesday, July 31st. The Keeper of Arcane Lore is Taliesin Jaffe @executivegoth. The Investigators are @WillingBlam, @VoiceOfOBrien, @Marisha_Ray, @ashly_burch, @phillamarr, & @erikaishii

Over at our Redbubble store we've just added new maps to our Gloranthan Cartography collection: New Pavis, the Big Rubble, the River of Cradles, and more. https://www.redbubble.com/people/chaosium/collections/586570-glorantha-cartography And right now, they (and everything else) are 20% off: use the code DEAL20.

Great news - Windows and Mac versions of Six Ages, the 'spiritual successor' to King of Dragon Pass, announced and on the way... https://www.gog.com/game/six_ages_ride_like_the_wind

"Each year before Gen Con we always had a face-to-face board meeting with Greg at Chaosium HQ in Ann Arbor. Sadly, this will be the first year that doesn't happen. But we are very fortunate to have Suzanne Stafford and Alisha Hammer joining us on the board. In what turned out to be his final years, as company founder Greg was delighted to see Chaosium returning to its creativity, artistry and craftsmanship of old. Suzanne and Alisha are as keen to honour, sustain and build on Greg's legacy as we are." #WeAreAllUs https://www.chaosium.com/blogchaosium-board-of-directors-meets-for-the-first-time-since-greg-staffords-passing

Our newest Call of Cthulhu release Berlin: the Wicked City is due out in hardback next month*, but there's already been a lot of interest in Loïc Muzy's beautiful and evocative cover art. This image is now available as wall art, clothing, accessories and more at Chaosium's Redbubble store. *buy the PDF now and use it straightaway, and you get the full price of the PDF off the physical copy when it is out.

No worries, I didn't read it that way!

The leatherette will be available for anyone to purchase, along with the regular hardback version. They are getting shipped together, and we will have (limited) copies available from all three of our warehouses (US, UK, Aus) next month. If you buy the PDF from Chaosium.com beforehand, you will be able to apply your coupon off the cost of the leatherette instead of the regular hardback. Going forward, we are intending to do special leatherette versions of all releases (over a certain page count). We may even do a small run of leatherettes of existing 7th edition releases too, when it comes round to doing a reprint of them. We'll see what the interest is for the Berlin book. (We are proud of the Berlin book though, it has come out very nicely.)

Jason Thompson aka Mockman is a comic artist and illustrator, well known to RPG circles. You may have seen his popular series of walkthrough maps of classic Dungeons & Dragons modules ('Expedition to the Barrier Peaks', 'Tomb of Horrors', etc), enabling you to trace every step of the adventure. But did you know Mockman’s also a huge Call of Cthulhu fan? For his latest walkthrough, Jason has visited the infamous Corbitt house, setting of the classic Call of Cthulhuscenario ‘The Haunting’. This map follows the doomed path countless Investigators – perhaps even yourselves – have taken since Call of Cthulhu was first published in 1981. Sandy Petersen's ‘The Haunting’ has been in every edition of the game, and is currently available in the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Quickstart Rules. The Haunting Walkthrough Map is now available as wall art at Chaosium's Redbubble store: https://www.redbubble.com/people/chaosium/works/39492215-the-haunting-walkthrough-map-by-jason-thompson The Haunting Walkthrough Map is ©2019 Chaosium Inc. All rights reserved.

Advance copies from the printer!—the rest are on their way by ship and will be available next month. In the mean time, pick up the PDF (http://bit.ly/2KZWODJ), and you get the full price of the PDF off the physical book when it is available.

Given that Glorantha looks "Earth-like", but clearly isn't, I think it is even more MGF to give a flat world a horizon analogous to our own, and come up with mythic = scientific explanations as to why that is so. Other questions to answer for a flat world that do not have prosaic terrestrial answers: why Glorantha has "gravity", how does Glorantha have an atmosphere, why is the sky blue, etc etc. But your YGMV.

What did the kid think of the game in the end? Great recounting of the tale, BTW.

The New York Review of Science Fiction on Glorantha and Greg Stafford, who looked at RPGS and saw in them "the potential for actual art."

"Glorantha is one of the richest and most vivid created worlds in fantasy, a world where everything from the dirt to the stars is literally made of mythology... (Greg) Stafford did more to advance the art form of role-playing games, and in more roles—as publisher, designer, editor, world-crafter, and inspiration—than anyone else after Gygax and Arneson." —EDITORIAL, The New York Review of Science Fiction, June 2019 https://www.nyrsf.com/2019/06/editorial-glorantha-another-magical-world.html

The crowdfunding campaign for RUNEQUEST: ADVENTURES DANS GLORANTHA (RQG in French) went live earlier today, and already 189% funded! (Funded in 90 minutes)https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf186/runequest.html