Cthulhu no D20?

[JoeGKushner]

Does anyone else wonder if the new books coming out from Chaosium are going to be D20 like Dreamlands, Creature Compendium, and the University book? Two hardcovers and a creature collection would make some nice instant d20 sourcebooks.

I get the felling however that Chaosium is just riding the D20 wave and will keep their core books pure and have BRP stats in all their D20 books. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Sir Apropos]

Here's what's on the Chaosium website regarding your concerns. Hope this clears things up a bit.

4/24 -Our d20 plans & the fate of BRP

While we've tried to make it clear in the past that Chaosium is not abandoning our classic lines, we're still getting email from upset cultists who think we're switching entirely to d20. So it bears repeating: Chaosium will continue to support our Basic Role Playing Call of Cthulhu & Stormbringer lines. While some of our future releases will be dual stat releases (including BRP & d20 material), we will continue to print BRP only releases as well. We've been publishing BRP system books for over 20 years, and with your support, will do so for the next 20 years as well.

So why are we printing ANYTHING using the d20 system? Because there are thousands of gamers out there we'd like to introduce to our game lines, who might not look at our books otherwise. We want and need those extra sales, and those new Chaosium gamers, so we can continue printing Books and Games for another 26 years. So we hope most of you will see this as an opportunity to find more Chaosium players, and ensure we can keep printing the books you want.

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

I don't think Chaosium is serious about the d20 market

They have a monopoly on CoC d20 supplements, so they can take their own sweet time to come out with stuff for the d20 market without worrying about the competition eating their lunch. No-one else can publish adventures for CoC d20, for instance, since the Sanity rules are not OGC.

It's a pity, since I think the market opportunity is huge, but they've survived this long without d20, and they'll probably do just fine going forward.

 

[Ranger REG]

Actually...

John Tynes (co-author of CoC d20) and Pagan Publishing are doing a Delta Green d20 supplement for the aforementioned core rulebook.

I don't know what their full release schedule, but Chaosium is planning to put out a GM screen by May or early Summer, and a Pulp Cthulhu supplement by late Summer.

 

[hellbender]

Re: I don't think Chaosium is serious about the d20 market

They have a monopoly on CoC d20 supplements, so they can take their own sweet time to come out with stuff for the d20 market without worrying about the competition eating their lunch. No-one else can publish adventures for CoC d20, for instance, since the Sanity rules are not OGC.

It's a pity, since I think the market opportunity is huge, but they've survived this long without d20, and they'll probably do just fine going forward.

Actually, not everything from Lovecraft is locked in to Chaosium. Some ideas, concepts and names are public domain, not to say that a person could not create d20 horror scenarios and make an Insanity rule that differs from the Sanity rule, but is essentially the same.

And, taking their own sweet time to publish d20 would not really lure more people to BRP, but would, if anything, cause people to question Chaosium's ability to support game lines. If d20 Elric (Dragonlords) were my only exposure to Chaosium, I would wonder how the company stayed in business as long as it has. Which goes to show that the d20 system is a double-edged sword.

hellbender

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

d20 CoC

And, taking their own sweet time to publish d20 would not really lure more people to BRP

Well, if they had competition, they wouldn't be taking their own sweet time. Competition is good for the consumer, and good for the customer, so I wish Chaosium had some competition in producing d20 CoC adventures and supplements.

Think about it this way: if they really supported d20, I'd be buying more products from them, so not supporting d20 is just shooting themselves in the foot. And rest assured, I will be buying the d20 Delta Green supplement once it comes out.

 

[BadMojo]

Actually...

John Tynes (co-author of CoC d20) and Pagan Publishing are doing a Delta Green d20 supplement for the aforementioned core rulebook.

The Delta Green book is actually a reprint. Delta Green is currently out of print (and kinda difficult to find too). The reprint will contain BRP & d20 stats, so it's not exactly d20 DG. Still, it's definitely a good thing.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, from what Chaosim states and from what appears to be a lack of d20 material in the core Cthulhu books, all I can say is... I won't be buying Pulp Cthulhu. I may mix CoC D20 with some other D20 Pulp setting, but I really don't want any BRP material, especially if there is going to be BRP material without D20 stats like the university, like the dreamlands and like the monster collection. My support won't make or break 'em, but I feel that you can't have your cake (i.e. CoC Pulp D20 with BRP) and eat it (no core CoC with D20.)

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Yeah. Maybe a CoC BRP boycott will catch their attention



Well, ok, I'm not calling for a boycott. If they don't have what you want, don't buy. I'm certainly not buying. I'm now going to convert all the old CoC adventures I have laying around.

 

[Ranger REG]

Honestly, is having a supplement with dual stats (for both rules system) a bad thing? I hear a few from both camps (BRP fans and d20 fans), and that is the one thing both agree on: it's a bad thing, because they don't want material of the other rules in the product they purchase with their money.

Is it really? I mean instead of the company order 10,000 copies with BRP/d20 dual stats, they would have to order 10,000 copies for each game, a total of 20,000 in one print run.