Thieves’ World

[Bob Ross]

So… back in ‘81, Chaosium created a RPG for Thieves’ World.  
And not too long ago, Chaosium released its OOP collection of Stormbringer material to Drivethrurpg .

Any chance we could get the same for Thieves’ World, Ring World or other long out of print properties?

Would love to get a copy of Thieves’ World… without paying $200+ for a used set.

[Ravenheart87]

2 hours ago, Bob Ross said:

So… back in ‘81, Chaosium created a RPG for Thieves’ World.  

They didn't create an rpg. It was a setting guide for multiple systems - including AD&D, RuneQuest, Traveller, Tunnels & Trolls, etc.

2 hours ago, Bob Ross said:

And not too long ago, Chaosium released its OOP collection of Stormbringer material to Drivethrurpg .

Where did you get that? I see no Stormbringer products on DriveThruRPG. I doubt they could do that, they don't have the license anymore.

2 hours ago, Bob Ross said:

Any chance we could get the same for Thieves’ World, Ring World or other long out of print properties?

They will probably have to reacquire the rights to do that, and Chaosium seems pretty busy at the moment with keeping their current games supported. There were some pleasant re-releases in pdf and PoD recently, but none of them were licensed products. I would be happy to see Thieves World, Stormbringer, and Elric! return in print, but it seems very unlikely.

[NickMiddleton]

2 hours ago, Bob Ross said:

So… back in ‘81, Chaosium created a RPG for Thieves’ World. 
And not too long ago, Chaosium released its OOP collection of Stormbringer material to Drivethrurpg .

Any chance we could get the same for Thieves’ World, Ring World or other long out of print properties?

Would love to get a copy of Thieves’ World… without paying $200+ for a used set.

Chaosium published a multi-rule system setting boxed set adapting the Thieves World in to multiple then current RPG rule sets, and one supplement.

The Stormbringer material was available in PDF for a while, after Chaosium, Mongoose and Michael Moorcock agreed a settlement and transfer of the RPG license to Mongoose.

Mongooses license has subsequently ended: none of the Stormbringer material is legally available currently.

The Thieves World license lapsed many years a go - during the original d20 boom Green Ronin obtained a new license and released a d20 adaptation (both a set of rules for the setting and extensive setting material). That license has also ended.

Chaosium are gradually re-issue ing items from their back catalogue as PDFs (and sometimes POD): but its not a priority, and they have to prioritise their limited resources as they judge most effective.

And whilst it’s conceivable that older items with a single licensor such as ElfQuest or Ringworld MIGHT eventually see re-release, I would speculate that the complexities of agreements required to cover the something like 20 systems / trademarks  in the original boxed set of Thieves World make it probably the least likely in Chaosium’s back catalogue to get re-released alas.

[Jason D]

While products like Stormbringer, Hawkmoon, Thieves' World, ElfQuest, Ringworld, et al. are all beloved by many within the Chaosium team, we do not hold the licenses for any of these products any more and their re-release would depend on new negotiations, which are costly and, TBH, time and effort better spent on IP we own outright. 

I am speaking wholly as an individual here, so do not take this as any confirmation, denial, or hint about any upcoming plans: 

• Stormbringer, Hawkmoon, etc. would be a delight and a labor of love to work on, but this license is held by a French company now (they have the French rights to Hawkmoon and have sent conflicting messages about whether an English version is planned, and they have recently released an English quickstart for their French-language Mournblade game). Moorcock has also said in the past that he is against issuing exclusive licenses to any of his IP. Given that, a Moorcock license specific to either of those titles is extremely unlikely for the time being.  
• Thieves' World was done by Green Ronin for d20 and I'm not sure how active or well-known the license is. The multi-system aspect of the boxed set makes a re-issue almost impossible. And also, to what purpose?, as the systems covered are largely out of print or so different now as to be unusable.  
• ElfQuest is probably the most possible of these, as it is owned by a single entity (WaRP) and does not seem complicated with any movie deal or television series. 
• Ringworld would be pretty cool, but again, I think a new edition would be the way to go, tying in with all of the new material and allowing expansion into the huge amount of Known Space material (particularly the Kzinti books). 

[Ravenheart87]

22 hours ago, Jason D said:

• Ringworld would be pretty cool, but again, I think a new edition would be the way to go, tying in with all of the new material and allowing expansion into the huge amount of Known Space material (particularly the Kzinti books). 

I really hope you will consider this in the future. Ringworld is an amazingly colourful setting, plus Chaosium hasn't got a sci-fi title in their current line-up.