Mongoose's New IP: Traveller is BACK

[Ranger REG]

I mean, sure, there are whole bunch of rulesets available for Traveller right now, both new and old. So? It seems to me that the real selling point of Traveller is not the mechanics; it's the setting IP.

That's not stopping third-party d20 publishers from making d20 products compatible to D&D, especially when Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Eberron are off-limit (at least without having exclusive licensing agreement with WotC).

 

[prosfilaes]

That's not stopping third-party d20 publishers from making d20 products compatible to D&D, especially when Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Eberron are off-limit (at least without having exclusive licensing agreement with WotC).

But D&D is rules with a bunch of settings; besides the five you mention, I can think of at least seven others. On the other hand, people are fan(atic)s of Traveller the setting, not Traveller the rules system. You can make a Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms-esque adventure because WotC has made the major races and most other setting features open. But Dragonlance or Eberron-eque adventures, without kender, warforged or draconians, are much harder. If they make the major races and other details open, then you will probably see products compatible with Traveller; if they don't, you can't really make a decent Traveller-eque adventure, and you may as well be writing in D20 Modern or some other sci-fi RPG.

 

[bolen]

Is that one of the Far Future's or Marc Miller's criteria requirements for granting the license?

How big was GDW when they had the Traveller/MegaTraveller license back then?

How big is QuikLink Interactive/RPG Realms when they were granted the right to publish Traveller for d20 System?

No, that's not what I meant not did the OP. (I think) It would seem to me that for Mongoose must have a fairly large cash reserve in order to finance all their licensed properties they have

- Elric
- Runequest
- Starship Troopers
- Conan
- Traveller
+ whatever I missed


That has to cost a fair amount as these licenses are kind of big as RPG's go. A small company's profits would be eaten up by license fees before they got any net profit out of having the licenses. At least it would seem to me but what do I know.

 

[buzz]

That's not stopping third-party d20 publishers from making d20 products compatible to D&D, especially when Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Eberron are off-limit (at least without having exclusive licensing agreement with WotC).

The difference here is that D&D is the most popular RPG on the face of the earth by an enormous margin. You want to get in on the market attached to that ruleset, because its attachment to that ruleset is universal even among the sub-groups that prefer one campaign setting over another.

On top of that, the SRD does include a certain amount of recognizable D&D IP.

The Traveller fanbase is exactly the opposite. The commonality among all fans is the love of the IP. What divides them up is the ruleset. Giving publishers access to one of those rulesets (never mind one that's long in the tooth) but not the IP seems pretty unappealing.

Honestly, I have the same opinion of the MRQ SRD. I really think Mongoose has this OGL thing bass-ackwards.

 

[qstor]

How big was GDW when they had the Traveller/MegaTraveller license back then?

How big is QuikLink Interactive/RPG Realms when they were granted the right to publish Traveller for d20 System?

AFAIK GDW was a group of like 5 people, Loren Wiseman, Frank Chadwick, Lester Smith and one or two others.

QLI is basically one person. Hunter Gordon.

Mike

 

[qstor]

The Traveller fanbase is exactly the opposite. The commonality among all fans is the love of the IP. What divides them up is the ruleset. Giving publishers access to one of those rulesets (never mind one that's long in the tooth) but not the IP seems pretty unappealing.

Honestly, I have the same opinion of the MRQ SRD. I really think Mongoose has this OGL thing bass-ackwards.

AFAIK some of the Traveller IP is controlled with each license, QLI can use the Gateway Domain in the 990 Traveller ERA and D20 stats only. SJG can use the 1120 timeline where Emporer Strephon wasn't assassinated with the GURPS rules set. Loren Wiseman has a license to product ship books. BITS has a dual license for adventures using Classic Traveller and GURPS Traveller rules sets with some of the Traveller setting licensed.

Marc Miller was very unhappy with what Imperium games did in the '90s and has been chosey in granting licenses after that.

I'm still confused on what Mongoose is going to do. Third party authors have been working on recent adventures and supplements using Classic Traveller for about two years now. I don't see how or what Mongoose adds to the equation apart from the marketing efforts.
And I don't know if any of their writers have worked on Traveller products in the past?

Mike

 

[Ranger REG]

No, that's not what I meant not did the OP. (I think) It would seem to me that for Mongoose must have a fairly large cash reserve in order to finance all their licensed properties they have

- Elric
- Runequest
- Starship Troopers
- Conan
- Traveller
+ whatever I missed


That has to cost a fair amount as these licenses are kind of big as RPG's go. A small company's profits would be eaten up by license fees before they got any net profit out of having the licenses. At least it would seem to me but what do I know.

So, you're concerned whether Mongoose (as a business) are making revenue for themselves, after the royalties are paid out.

I hope so.

 

[trancejeremy]

A small company's profits would be eaten up by license fees before they got any net profit out of having the licenses. At least it would seem to me but what do I know.

Well, unlike most RPG companies (and most d20 startups), Mongoose seems to be run by a guy who knows how to run a business. They are very quick to adapt to the market and drop product lines which aren't profitable. They also seem to minmize the cost of producing books - I think first by using Chinese printing, now they have their own printer, they also seem to use artists from Eastern Europe, who presumably work much cheaper. And they probably also skimp on the editing/proofreading, too, at least based on their books I own.

I also think they must have racked up a lot of sales early on with their Quintessential/Slayers Guide splatbooks.

 

[trancejeremy]

TNE 1248 does a lot to recover the setting and make it playable again, allowing you to have a near-CT feel to the setting, if you like. I am greatly pleased with the direction that the setting has gone with the addition of 1248. It restores my faith in the timeline and gives me the OTU back.

I dunno. For one, it seems way too soon to have a proper 4th imperium not even 50 years from the start of TNE. From the description of it, it sounds like it's just TNE, only they've renamed the RC and Regency "the 4th Imperium".

Still, POD books from a small 3rd party is not the key to success for Traveller. It needs to have a living, breathing setting (like the original CT, wit the TNS), not one static and set in the past (like T4 and presumably T5). 1248 sounds like a better choice than that, but it still sounds like a slightly warmed over TNE. IMHO, they need to just set the clock ahead to 1400 with a completely restored Imperium and go from there.

 

[Korgoth]

Also I will repeat an earlier question - Is starship troopers a D20 game?

Yep. At least, it was... I don't know if D20 SST will continue. Not a bad game in some ways, but with some silly mechanics.