Call of Cthulhu d20 out of print?

[buzz]

But I never thought that Chaosium was in a bad shape.

They are in the sense that the company is sorta poorly run, and hasn't really done much more than reprint old material for quite a while now. The seem to shaping up a bit, but whether this is permanent remains to be seen. We'll probably never see Pulp Cthulhu, though.

At least Delta Green d20 seems to still be on track. Probably because a company other than Chaosium is responsible for it.

 

[Dr. Fank-N-Furter]

How and why did the license expire? Does that mean that no other 3rd party publishers cna't publish anything for it?

 

[Olive]

How and why did the license expire? Does that mean that no other 3rd party publishers cna't publish anything for it?

They just got the licence to do the one book. There was never any intention for WotC to do any more for it, and no 3rd party publisher could publish for it anyway, even during the licence, as it was all closed content (no OGL).

This makes no change to the situation, except if the above part about the website is true, in which case a few things might have been pulled off (a couple of monsters that were lft out), and if the book is OOP.

 

[Welverin]

They didn't "lose" the license; it simply expired. I think you can still get the book used or order directly from Chaosium. If you can get it, it's a good setting book for d20 Modern.

The Electronics Boutique (sort of) near me has a couple of copies for $15.

 

[Cowpie Zombie]

They are in the sense that the company is sorta poorly run, and hasn't really done much more than reprint old material for quite a while now. The seem to shaping up a bit, but whether this is permanent remains to be seen. We'll probably never see Pulp Cthulhu, though.

At least Delta Green d20 seems to still be on track. Probably because a company other than Chaosium is responsible for it.

When is this coming out? (The Delta Green d20, that is).

 

[buzz]

When is this coming out? (The Delta Green d20, that is).

"Real soon".

This is a revision of the original BRP Delta Green, and Pagan has been pretty clear that it'll be coming out whenever the heck they manage to get it done.

S'okay. It's worth the wait, from what I've heard.

 

[VorpalBunny]

They are in the sense that the company is sorta poorly run, and hasn't really done much more than reprint old material for quite a while now. The seem to shaping up a bit, but whether this is permanent remains to be seen. We'll probably never see Pulp Cthulhu, though.

At least Delta Green d20 seems to still be on track. Probably because a company other than Chaosium is responsible for it.

It's not that Chaosium is "poorly run." The fact that they were a hair's breadth away from bankruptcy just last year means they have to take their time and pick their projects. They just released the excellent Cthulhu Dark Ages (not a re-print, and unfortunately not dual-stat), Call of Cthulhu 6.0 is due out soon as well as some other books that have been in the pipe for a while. Give 'em a chance.

BTW, last I heard Pagan has less people than Chaosium, and AFAIK, Chaosium has *four* full time employees. So it may be a little while longer for DGd20.

 

[buzz]

It's not that Chaosium is "poorly run." The fact that they were a hair's breadth away from bankruptcy just last year means they have to take their time and pick their projects.

Nearly going into bankruptcy with as well-known a property as CoC would seem evidence of poor management to me. Admittedly, I only know what I've read here and there in various industry fora.

They just released the excellent Cthulhu Dark Ages (not a re-print, and unfortunately not dual-stat), Call of Cthulhu 6.0 is due out soon as well as some other books that have been in the pipe for a while. Give 'em a chance.

FYI, CoC6.0 is simply the special edition released a few years ago in a non-limited format. It's not actually a revision of any sort; like the special edition, it's just a new layout. And isn't CDA the first new (in as much as a book with the standard Cthulhu BRP rules, but medieval, is "new") RPG they've done since Nephilim came out in '94?

I dunno. I certianly want to give them a chance. Chaosium was my favorite company back in the '80s; never was there a better company with cooler products. I'm not trying to flame them; I sincerely hope that they have all the success in the world.

Nonetheless, I don't think there's any denying that they've lost some of their magic. The key creative people have long since left the company; what you have left are some very dedicated CoC fans with only moderate business savvy. New products are sporadic, and reprints are frequent. The release of CoCd20 could have been a huge boon to them, but they pretty much blew it. Pulp Cthulhu (something d20 people were really clamoring for) is vaporware, and general support for CoCd20 has been too little, too late.

All in all, it depresses the heck out of me. At least they finally revamped their Web site...

 

[buzz]

They just released the excellent Cthulhu Dark Ages (not a re-print, and unfortunately not dual-stat)...

Actually, CDA *is* a reprint. The game was orignally published, in the original German, by Pegasus Games in 2002 as Cthulhu 1000AD. Not that printing and english version isn't a great idea, mind you. I just hope that a) it's a good product, and 2) they don't let it linger and die like they did CoCd20.

 

[barsoomcore]

It mystifies me that you wouldn't try to immediately capitalize on a book as good as CoC d20 was. It's one of the best RPG books, ever. The chapters on Gamemastering and Adventure Design ought to be required reading for every DM. The magic system is brilliant. The combination of the Sanity mechanic with d20 works perfectly (largely because they have NOTHING to do with each other). It's beautifully designed.

Sigh. Why wouldn't you base a whole line off that book? I don't get Chaosium sometimes.