Mongoose Publishing

msprange · Site Admin Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 8494

I'll get the apologies done first. Sorry. We have been fighting hard for agreements over the past couple of weeks, but things have not gone as planned. After agreeing our new plans for Conan a few months ago, the licence holders contacted us seven days before the core development was due to start to tell us that they had decided we should not proceed. As you can imagine, the timing of this was not too good.

This is what we were planning to do. . .

First, Conan would have been released as a setting for RuneQuest, properly tweaked for maximum bloody combat against vicious enemies and dark sorcery. The new range was to have been bound in real leather with a reptilian finish - not as a limited edition, but as standard across the entire Conan range. The interior would have been in full colour. These books would have looked _gorgeous_. New campaigns were planned, with Gareth Hanrahan to be unleashed on the Slaves of Turan, a new epic.

This would have pleased a great many RQ players, but we knew there would be many who would want to stick to the 2nd, or even 1st, edition. So, we had commissioned Vincent Darlage to write a 13 volume atlas to Conan's world - systemless or near systemless, so _all_ Conan players could use them. At around 200 pages each, the detail Vincent was going into was just incredible, and we had geared up some new cartographers to give you the best maps yet seen in Conan - not just overviews of the different nations, but going right down to map out the individual cities, forts and ruins. If you were ever a fan of our 'nation' books for Conan, this series would have made you dippy.

Finally, we had been working alongside Pinnacle and one of our Flaming Cobra studios to produce a full colour Savage Worlds Conan book, giving you three different choices on how you want to play Conan.

All of that is now gone, swept clear with a single decision.

This all, as you can imagine, puts us in a bit of a quandry. We are currently 'regrouping' with regards to Conan and debating how to move forward on this line.

Once again, you have our deepest apologies for this happening and if there had been anyway to avoid it, we would have done so. There will not, unfortunately, be any 'big' announcement for Conan in the State of the Mongoose this year and so I wanted to let you, our best fans, know what was happening as soon as possible.
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Matthew Sprange

Mongoose Publishing
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com

warzen · Banded Mongoose Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 316

msprange · Site Admin Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Posts: 8494

rabindranath72 · Lesser Spotted Mongoose Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 689

darn bad news Sad

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Williams and Holland law:
"Everything can be demonstrated by statistical methods if you have enough data"

Krushnak · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:59 am Post subject:

why the hell would they turn down the atlas? was it because it would make them look bad for having allowed all those inaccurate versions to be circulated around?

blow to all gamers, sucks to hear about this.

rabindranath72 · Lesser Spotted Mongoose Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 689

I would have bought the SW and RQ versions in a heartbeat. And the atlas too, perhaps. Licence holders sit on gold and they do not even know it. Evil or Very Mad

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Williams and Holland law:
"Everything can be demonstrated by statistical methods if you have enough data"

PrinceYyrkoon · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:24 am Post subject:

WTF?

That sounded fantastic. RQ version, atlas, Savage Worlds. WTF.

Sorry to hear this indeed. Crying or Very sad

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''Yyrkoon,'' said Elric, ''this is unwise of you.''
''I was never a cautious man, cousin, as well you know.''

PrinceYyrkoon · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:25 am Post subject:

Oh, and yes, thanks for telling us what the hell it was.
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''Yyrkoon,'' said Elric, ''this is unwise of you.''
''I was never a cautious man, cousin, as well you know.''

PrinceYyrkoon · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:26 am Post subject:

Does this mean Conan grinds to a halt?
_________________
''Yyrkoon,'' said Elric, ''this is unwise of you.''
''I was never a cautious man, cousin, as well you know.''

Mongoose_Will · Stoat Joined: 02 Sep 2008 Posts: 76

As an addition Guys n Girls...

I had started working quite deeply in regards to the design of the new editions both atlas and the new system book...

Safe to say i too am very disheartened by this desicion, i had incredble artists in line to work on the interiors...

Not to mention the work i have already done on the interior design (borders, boxes) it really was going to be an excellent looking product.

Also for anyone that noticed the 'Teaser' in signs and portents, this was the cover art for the Atlas, think our Mega City One Archive or Pathfinder Style covers, We really wanted to head in a different direction with the design and have it alot more grungy and in my opinion more Conanesque.

But this is mearly to let you know that we are disapointed within Mongoose aswell as outside.
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My Life for a Man Drawer

PrinceYyrkoon · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:35 am Post subject:

I dont understand. Why would the licencees reject plans for something like an atlas, when its pretty much what the realm books were anyway?

I get the fact that the licence only includes one version of the rules, this is well known, but to also stop further sourcebooks seems pretty weird. Confused

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''Yyrkoon,'' said Elric, ''this is unwise of you.''
''I was never a cautious man, cousin, as well you know.''

The King · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:47 am Post subject:

Leather bound as a standard? Shocked

Quite bad new but isn't it the same that happened 2-3 years ago when there was (already) talk of a Conan version of RuneQuest?

I'm curious to know why the licence holder rejected the project. Anyway the Atlas should find some acceptance under D20 rules.

Now I'm just hearing all the D20 fans laughing and shouting their pleasure (you know the old "if Conan goes RQ I leave... blah blah). I wonder whether D20 has turned into a kind of sect.
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The shadow of the night is a mere reflection of the day

PrinceYyrkoon · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:51 am Post subject:

The King · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:55 am Post subject:

You know what Matt, I'am sure that if you had shared this project with us from the beginning, we would have made our voices clear enough to support you in this and show the licence holders that we aren't only a gaping mouth waiting for the Conan books to fall from heaven but that we take pleasure to follow the progress and the evolution of the line.
You shouldn't underestimate the "power" of your fan base (D20 fanatics aside - those crying D20 or naught).
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The shadow of the night is a mere reflection of the day

Troll66 · Mongoose Joined: 26 Oct 2007 Posts: 182

Mathew
Your plans for Conan (RQ and Savage worlds etc) would have been simply Awesome and Wonderful and far far beyond my expectations. Ths would have been the deal of the century. I would have purchased all in an instant. I sincerely hope this situation can be resolved.

Where does this leave you? Can you choose only one rules system as a new edition?

D20 has had its day and has had a mighty good crack at Conan...but time for a new adventure. Long live Conan RQ or Savage worlds. I would have to put my vote for savage worlds at the end of the day...its so pulptastic a system.