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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 1940192" data-attributes="member: 22882">I recently picked up the Conan RPG.  Although a huge REH fan, I probably won't play in a Conan campaign.  I will, however, almost certainly use some or all of the Conan rules.  The quality or lack thereof of Conan's ruleset isn't my issue here, though; rather, it's the outrageous request that Conan be d20 rather than OGL <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":eek:" title="Eek!    :eek:"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":eek:" /> Making Conan OGL gives Mongoose:A potential player base not limited to existing roleplayers in general and D&D players specifically.A chance to improve (ITHO) on the not-insignificant problems with D&D 3.x in general.A chance to tailor the mechanics to fit the system.No chance of having their license revoked by a future corporate decision at Hasbro/WotC.No chance of having their license revoked by CURRENT corporate decisions at Hasbro/WotC that could, in theory, result in most of the existing Conan product and any genuinely Howard-flavored later products being recalled and destroyed.The first consideration is by far the most important.  If I were considering introducing a new player to d20-based games, I would never suggest Dungeons and Dragons, nor any other fantasy d20 game.  I might suggest Grim Tales (one book), d20 Modern (one book), Conan (one book) or one of Mongoose's OGL offerings (one book each).I would suggest the Iron Kingdoms, if it were OGL.  But now I won't.  The complete IK campaign setting requires at least five books for the DM (the DMG, the PHB, the IKCG and the forthcoming IKWG, and either the Monster Manual or the Monsternomicon, if not both).  Even with online discounts, that will run our first-time GM more than $100; it's ludicrous.  Players probably need a PHB and an IKCG: $70 in-store, probably $50 online.I would suggest Warcraft the RPG - but not when it's not OGL.  The core Warcraft experience is probably available with just D&D's core three and the Warcraft core book, but that's still a sizable investment.I'm not going to ask a NEW PLAYER (you know, the single most important market in the industry) to enter into a game that requires between two and five books and typically over a hundred dollars American just to have the basic core material.  Mongoose should be strongly commended for not doing so, either.Mongoose makes a lot of licensed products: Conan, Babylon 5, Judge Dredd, Lone Wolf, etc.  These products are, presumably, targeted toward fans of those products as much as they are toward veteran roleplayers.  That puts Mongoose in a unique position to bring in many new players - and new GMs - to the hobby.A new player is far more likely to buy a single $40 book (or its forthcoming $20 pocket version) than a $90 case of the core, or, God forbid, a $160 investment like the Iron Kingdoms.</blockquote>

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