Moon Design running Chaosium?

[Hexelis]

Trifletraxors site here is awesome and an integral part of my BRP knowledge/news

Yes, this site is awesome. It's the only rpg site I visit daily, and the people are awesome as well. Everyone is helpful and respectful that I've interacted with. I've devoured the d/l section and I would expect if BRP was killed off (which I don't think will happen) it would live on here. I don't really play anything else. This site is home for me.

[RosenMcStern]

I second this. This community is a little gem in the rpg ecosystem, a place where friendliness is the norm and not an exception. An additional guarantee that - whatever happens - BRP will never go away.

[Nakana]

This site IS my online rpg go-to. 

Only when I'm feeling masochistic will I go to that other site. 

[auyl]

Yes, this site is awesome. It's the only rpg site I visit daily, and the people are awesome as well. Everyone is helpful and respectful that I've interacted with. I've devoured the d/l section and I would expect if BRP was killed off (which I don't think will happen) it would live on here. I don't really play anything else. This site is home for me.

can't agree more. Although I go to the mongoose forum regularily this forum is definitely more the place to be for any d100 activity and interests.

[MrJealousy]

... (For instance, I strongly suspect that Aces High could be redone with a tweaking of Renaissance. All the Aces High material already published re-edited for Renaissance and pulled together into a core book and a scenario book would be welcome at least by me.)    

Ah, um, sorry. That probably wont happen.

I originally wrote AH as a home brew mixture of CoC and RQ3 many years before I even knew what BRP was and it probably wouldn't have gotten any further until I stumbled across Chaosium calling for BRP monographs. I submitted it because I really like their system and have always played it, not because they paid me for it (!) or even because I thought someone else might like it.

I submitted it purely because it was Chaosium.

While this recent 'kickstarter issue' did/does bother me somewhat (understatement) I would need some serious convincing and soul searching before I even started to consider defecting to another company or d100 derivative. I have a lot of time and money invested in Aces HIgh but nowhere near as much as I have invested in Chaosium over the years. If BRP dies, or, (unknowable horror!) Chaosium dies it is entirely likely that Aces HIgh will die with it in a funk of the deepest darkest depression. Anything I have that I think might be worthy may end up here, probably at the same quality level that I submitted the first two AH books.

That said, I am human, and all things are open to negotiation...

[seneschal]

On the other hand, if you could market it to Alephtar, no mechanical changes needed. 

But, yes, it'd be a shame for venerable Chaosium to vanish at this late date.  I mean, TSR is long gone, Game Designer's Workshop is history, Hero Games has died and resurrected several times, Steve Jackson Games and Palladium Games exist but are shadows of their former selves.  BRP's birthplace is one of the few first generation role-playing game companies still kicking along under the same name and same owners (well, sort of).

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Rick has posted on the Acaeum asking about interest in reprints!

Go and say you're interested! 

https://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=241907#p241907

Edited August 8, 2015 by Vile

[seneschal]

I would like to see Superworld available again, if only as POD.  I find the powers useful for all sorts of non-superhero-y things, such as creating monsters, aliens, and boss villains.  Another thing I'd like to see is a reprint of Call of Cthulhu's back catalog of adventures.  Everyone boasts about how there is 30 years of material for the game, but the truth is that most of it is out of print with surviving mouldering manuscripts available at Amazon or e-Bay at outrageous prices.  Again, POD is the place to be.

[RosenMcStern]

On the other hand, if you could market it to Alephtar, no mechanical changes needed. 

In order to publish it "as is", Alephtar would need its license to publish products based on the BGB to be continued, like any other publisher. Nobody has stated that these licenses are gone, but Chaosium has certainly stated that they will be changed in the near future.
So please do not consider Alephtar as a "guarantee of the status quo", as we are not. Chaosium gets to say what continues, what goes away, and what is changed. Not us.

[RosenMcStern]

Rick has posted on the Acaeum asking about interest in reprints!

Font reduced to save space, not to minimize Vile's excitement

Now, this is definitely good news. The "marketplace for all previous editions" is an effective business model, as taught by WotC. And if there is someone who knows how to make a reprint of old Chaosium materials that appeals to fans of the system, that person is Rick Meints, current President of Chaosium.

Yet I have some questions. And this is probably the best place to ask them.

1. Would this publishing strategy fulfill all the needs of those who expressed concern over the survival of the BRP line once RQ is again "married" to Glorantha?
2. Could such an array of reprints, in your opinion, replace the BGB (which is admittedly more a compilation of rules from other edition than something new?).
3. Would it be ok for the BGB to survive as one of these "reprints on demand"? Would you consider this a "sufficient level of support"?

Please note that #3 has an obvious answer: "If this is the only way for it to survive, better this way than OOP". The question is whether it would really make you happy or if it would leave you dissatisfied.

[Nakana]

 

1. Would this publishing strategy fulfill all the needs of those who expressed concern over the survival of the BRP line once RQ is again "married" to Glorantha?
2. Could such an array of reprints, in your opinion, replace the BGB (which is admittedly more a compilation of rules from other edition than something new?).
3. Would it be ok for the BGB to survive as one of these "reprints on demand"? Would you consider this a "sufficient level of support"?

Please note that #3 has an obvious answer: "If this is the only way for it to survive, better this way than OOP". The question is whether it would really make you happy or if it would leave you dissatisfied.

Just my 2¢...

1. While there are certainly some products I would buy, this does not fulfill all my needs wants.
2. No. I like having a compendium of the rules sans setting. (Although I like the settings summary section.)
3. I suppose I'll have to take what I can get. However, I don't see this as an opportunity for growth for BRP/BGB; it would definitely leave me dissatisfied. 

[soltakss]

I would like to see Superworld available again, if only as POD.  I find the powers useful for all sorts of non-superhero-y things, such as creating monsters, aliens, and boss villains.  Another thing I'd like to see is a reprint of Call of Cthulhu's back catalog of adventures.  Everyone boasts about how there is 30 years of material for the game, but the truth is that most of it is out of print with surviving mouldering manuscripts available at Amazon or e-Bay at outrageous prices.  Again, POD is the place to be.

Well, post it there, then ...

[Sunwolfe]

 

1. Would this publishing strategy fulfill all the needs of those who expressed concern over the survival of the BRP line once RQ is again "married" to Glorantha?
2. Could such an array of reprints, in your opinion, replace the BGB (which is admittedly more a compilation of rules from other edition than something new?).
3. Would it be ok for the BGB to survive as one of these "reprints on demand"? Would you consider this a "sufficient level of support"?

Please note that #3 has an obvious answer: "If this is the only way for it to survive, better this way than OOP". The question is whether it would really make you happy or if it would leave you dissatisfied.

Excellent quesitons, Paolo.

1. While I have much of the material in question, it would be nice to have access to those items just plain too expensive to purchase via ebay, etc. I would do so, however, only to sift from them details that I could add to my own setting and by extension BRP. I would still have concerns and a desire to see ongoing development for BRP.

 2. Because I would be looking at these books as a way of adding to my repertoire of BRP rules and mechanics, no, it would not replace the BGB.

 3. Like you pointed out, this has an obvious answer: if that’s all the support we’re going to get, well, as Henry I put it in The Lion in Winter, “There’s not much point in complaining about the air when that’s all there is to breath.” That being said and given a choice, no. I would not be satisfied with this level of support.

Cheers,

 

[Rurik]

They have new Bio pages for the new principals at Chaosium and Ben Monroe's page lists him as "Magic World/BRP Line Editor, COO, and Earth Ro-Man", which to me implies they are not killing the line. http://www.chaosium.com/ben-monroe/

The most ominous quote from I've read was that BRP "was not a priority", which has caused much speculation, including doom and gloom. I take as a good sign that there is a Line Editor (and that it is Ben). Chaosium is obviously not in the best financial shape right now, and MDP needs to focus on the money makers to get it back on track, but I for one doubt they are going to drop BRP completely, even if they push RQ as their primary fantasy line.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even RuneQuest may return to Chaosium."

Edited August 9, 2015 by Rurik
Referred to MDP as TDM. WTF?

[NickMiddleton]

Yet I have some questions. And this is probably the best place to ask them.

1. Would this publishing strategy fulfill all the needs of those who expressed concern over the survival of the BRP line once RQ is again "married" to Glorantha?
2. Could such an array of reprints, in your opinion, replace the BGB (which is admittedly more a compilation of rules from other edition than something new?).
3. Would it be ok for the BGB to survive as one of these "reprints on demand"? Would you consider this a "sufficient level of support"?

Please note that #3 has an obvious answer: "If this is the only way for it to survive, better this way than OOP". The question is whether it would really make you happy or if it would leave you dissatisfied.

1. No

2. No

3. No

don't get me wrong, I will be ECSTATIC to see Worlds of Wonder, Questworld and other elements of Chaosiums back catalogue officially available once more. And to see Chaosium  truly embrace PDF and PoD distribution. But I want the BRP BGB and Magic World to continue as supported lines as well.

Nick

[Simlasa]

What Nick said... good on them if the old stuff becomes available again, in some form, I'd certainly buy a new physical copy of WOW... but if no new stuff is coming out for BRP/Magic World then I'm gonna be sad... though even if new stuff comes out I do expect to wait a good while for it.

If Alephtar isn't blocked from continuing their excellent support for BRP I'm less sad/cranky.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Simlasa

[rsanford]

What Nick said... good on them if the old stuff becomes available again, in some form, I'd certainly buy a new physical copy of WOW... but if no new stuff is coming out for BRP/Magic World then I'm gonna be sad... though even if new stuff comes out I do expect to wait a good while for it.

If Alephtar isn't blocked from continuing their excellent support for BRP I'm less sad/cranky.

Yeah, I only have one book from Alephtar, BRP Rome but oh what a book. I have a closet full of D20 stuff and nothing really comes close.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

What Nick said. In the big picture I hope Chaosium gets its house in order first before re-igniting BRP, if they ever do. If there are ever to be new BRP products I would hope that they are not produced under all the negative connotations of "low priority". To be honest, though, I can't see that it would make sense for any company to keep two such similar-yet-different lines like BRP and RQ going at the same time. I will be pleasantly, but very, surprised if they do.

[clarence]

I agree with many of the posters above: It's an acceptable solution but I would like to see more support for BRP than that.

But.

I keep returning to the future licensing policy. As long as there are publishers like Alephtar around BRP will stay quite healthy I think. For that to happen at least two things must be fulfilled: BGB must be kept available and licensing must be easy and not too expensive. 

What would happen if licensing was free, as FATE has done? BRP free, RQ + Glorantha not free, CoC not free?

Edited August 10, 2015 by clarence

[Guest Vile Traveller]

I never had the impression that licensing from Chaosium, Moon Design or TDM was expensive. Not that I know, but from what licensees have said it sounds more like a question of "do we trust you not to print crap with our name attached?", which is quite a reasonable attitude.

On the BRP front, yes, just keeping the back catalogue on PDF and PoD is a no-brainer and really the bare minimum any RPG company should do in this day and age. Whether BRP goes on as a living, growing system will no doubt depend on a lot of factors, primarily whether Chaosium collectively thinks it's worth diverting the resources that could be spent on other things instead. So wait-and-see (but maybe not while holding your breath).

[RosenMcStern]

Moon has a good record of allowing free licenses. HQ Gateway license is free. RQ Gateway license is free. Alephtar has already one supplement available for each of these lines.

Of course things might change. But it is too early to tell. For sure, as Clarence and I already know, the details of the licenses for BRP are going to change.

In any case, I recommend that while you discuss the licensing policy you would like to see from Chaosium, you keep this as a "wishlist" and not as a criticism. Someone has already been very vocal in expressing his disappointment for RQ not going the way he prefers, on other forums. A customer is always entitled to be demanding when it comes to product quality; criticising publishing strategies is another story. Basically, not the customer's business.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Well I would contact them directly, but their website hasn't been updated for RuneQuest yet. 

http://www.chaosium.com/contact-us/