Mongoose's plans for d20 Conan RPG?

[Aus_Snow]

But if they don't plan to move to 4E I think they could expect to see that market dry up come July-ish unless they plan to do systemless stuff.

Why?

 

[DragonBelow]

But if they don't plan to move to 4E I think they could expect to see that market dry up come July-ish unless they plan to do systemless stuff.

Fully OGL games are less reliant on new editions of D&D than games those games that explicitly require D&D core books, look at M&M and True20, Modern20 and so on.

If you are a D20 gamer that happens to be interested in conan, it might be a problem.

If you're a Conan enthusiast that happens to not care about the system, then it is not.

 

[Darkwolf71]

But if they don't plan to move to 4E I think they could expect to see that market dry up come July-ish unless they plan to do systemless stuff.

Conan d20 doesn't require any of the 'core rules' to function. It is a fully stand-alone product that uses the OGL for it's base. There is no need to update it, no pressure from the fans to do so, (in fact such an announcement would likely be very poorly recieved) why would they?

 

[Plane Sailing]

I thought I had heard a rumour that they were planning to convert Conan to their Runequest mechanics, although I can't substantiate that at all.

Cheers

 

[Azgulor]

But if they don't plan to move to 4E I think they could expect to see that market dry up come July-ish unless they plan to do systemless stuff.

If Mongoose's Conan forum is any indication, the number of Conan RPG fans expressing apathy or dislike for 4e would indicate that this will not be the case.

It seems that most of the Conan RPG fanbase prefers it over 3.x - specifically because it removes many of the less-appealing "D&Disms" while maintaing the d20 core. (Specifically, Vancian magic, high-fantasy magic as tech, proliferation of non-human races, reliance on magic items, etc.) [Less appealing to those who prefer classic swords-n-sorcery, such as myself, to the D&D-Fantasy genre. YMMV]

Considering Mongoose listed Conan as one of their "evergreen" product lines (meaning consistent performance month after month) in their state of the company address - there appears to be little incentive to marry the Conan RPG to 4e.

 

[Azgulor]

I thought I had heard a rumour that they were planning to convert Conan to their Runequest mechanics, although I can't substantiate that at all.

Cheers

There were rumors of Conan "2ed" being a RuneQuest book or possibly a RuneQuest conversion book. The Conan OGL fanbase (myself included) was very vocal about their desire to maintain the RPG as an OGL game. [Primarily around the idea of continued support and prior investment in books. - Sound familiar to a more recent situation?] If memory serves, there was also an issue with the Conan license owners being against having the RPG with multiple rules sets in print.

In any event, there are numerous Conan supplements in the pipeline for 2008.

While I've yet to complete my Conan collection, I will add that a GM can easily run a game with just the core rulebook. However, each supplement adds to the game for those who want the additional depth. I do not have one Conan supplement that I wouldn't give a 4- or 5-star review.

 

[WayneLigon]

If Mongoose's Conan forum is any indication, the number of Conan RPG fans expressing apathy or dislike for 4e would indicate that this will not be the case.

Hopefully that will be the case for them but messageboard posters are famous for saying one thing and actually doing another.

It seems that most of the Conan RPG fanbase prefers it over 3.x - specifically because it removes many of the less-appealing "D&Disms" while maintaing the d20 core.

Aha; I was not aware of that. It sounds like they did much like Mutants and Masterminds, and used the OGL as the basis for, effectively, their own game with some familiar d20 elements thrown in. That should protect them quite a bit from an edition change. I guess we still don't know how many people play most of the third-party games because of their closeness to D&D allowing a minimum of 'gear shifting'. M&M/True20 is probably about as far as you can go in that direction and they seem to be holding up pretty darn well.

 

[Azgulor]

Hopefully that will be the case for them but messageboard posters are famous for saying one thing and actually doing another.

Aha; I was not aware of that. It sounds like they did much like Mutants and Masterminds, and used the OGL as the basis for, effectively, their own game with some familiar d20 elements thrown in. That should protect them quite a bit from an edition change. I guess we still don't know how many people play most of the third-party games because of their closeness to D&D allowing a minimum of 'gear shifting'. M&M/True20 is probably about as far as you can go in that direction and they seem to be holding up pretty darn well.

True. I can only speak for my personal experience, but it was OGL/d20 games that brought me back to D&D. It was only after seeing that I could run classic swords-n-sorcery with the d20 engine that I began buying D&D 3.x books for supplemental tidbits.

While I suspect I'm in the minority, I don't think it's an inconsequential minority. If it were, I don't think any 3rd-party publishers would be surviving, let-alone thriving today.