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Ring World


AndrewMorton

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I used to play Chaosiums Ring World a lot back in the 80's - a friend used to run it. I'd love to find a copy that won't require a mortgage to buy. Do you think there is any chance Chaosium could be persuaded to re-issue it as a pdf?

Incredibly unlikely. A few die-hard Ringworld fans encouraged Lynn Willis and Charlie Krank to pursue this option as part of an attempt to perhaps writing a Known Space game. However, although Larry Niven had no problem with the idea (or of reissuing the Ringworld RPG), his agent, who handles the licensing, instructed that various film and TV contracts preclude a roleplaying game version from appearing.

Obviously the Ringworld rules could be stripped from the Ringworld-specifics, and some have for use in BRP, but you'd be left with a very vanilla-flavoured SF game. But a PDF version of the full Ringworld just won't happen: its not only out of print, but the license lapsed, and can't be renewed, many years ago.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

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I think they would have done so already if they could or intended to. Superworld is up there for example. As Lawrence said above, it is probably licensing.

That being said, there are fan efforts. This site is a good start:

Larry Niven's Ringworld

...and if your looking for something harder or to add harder elements to your vision of the Ringworld, I'd encourage you to check out the Cthulhu Rising monograph, and the associate web site:

[ CTHULHU RISING: CALL OF CTHULHU ROLEPLAYING IN THE 23RD CENTURY ]

SDLeary

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I did wonder if it was a Licence issue. It's a shame because it was a great game.

The license was pulled not long after the original game was published. Film rights were sold and they precluded the license to the gaming rights. Hence, an entire campaign pack planned for Ringworld never saw print, even though the components were commissioned and written. So this was circa 1986/87.

The passage of time clearly hasn't changed matters, which were investigated in 2004 for a possible Known Space game. My understanding is that the SF Channel had commissioned a Ringworld mini-series for TV broadcast, but I've no idea where that stands. Clearly though, the licensing ties-up the whole Known Space IP, and not just Ringworld.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

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  • 2 weeks later...

Set up a saved search on Ebay. That way you can see the stuff show up with out having to spend time trolling for it. You would be surprised how often stuff that you now is a high ticket item goes for fairly cheap. Also check other bookseller services like Alibris.

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