Necromancer Games shutting down next year.(UPDATE post 93)

[catsclaw227]

Elemental Moon is available as a PDF now at RPGNow.com.

I would buy Tegel in a millisecond if it was made PDF and posted, as well as any other releases they may have/want.

I still hope that the NecroAP gets off the ground and gets published, even as PDF. The EN Publishing one is pretty good, though I don't know how well sales are going.

 

[trancejeremy]

So Bill wants to keep things going, and presumable so does Clark, but they have to find a way to publish and still operate the way they do. Not an easy combo to find.

So the big question that needs to be answered is does a publisher exist that Necromancer can work with?

I don't mean to sound critical, but it seems like the 2 Necromancer guys want to get full time profits/sales of their stuff, while only working part time on the company. Which they could do when White Wolf was handling the press, printing and distribution and all that for them. But it seems rather unfair when you have other companies like Goodman and Green Ronin who are "surviving" as one of the Necro guys put it rather patronizingly, but working at it full time:

And I am not interested in "surviving" which is what Goodman and others are doing. I dont want to do that. I want to be an industry leader, which is what Necro always has been. If we cant do that, there is little reason to be in the game in my view. "Just being there" isnt enough for me.

From:

http://p208.ezboard.com/fnecromancergamesfrm9.showMessageRange?topicID=459.topic&start=221&stop=240

At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I don't think it's reasonable to expect to be the "industry leader" without working on it full time. And if that's not something Necromancer is willing to do, then they shouldn't be putting down other companies that are. Nor should they expect other companies to help.

I mean, c'mon, Necromancer can't even seem to update its own website. That doesn't take a whole lot of effort. Yet they seem baffled when no one knows they have new products out, and blame Kenzer for the problems.

 

[meomwt]

If all else fails and no one will do them, heck, I'll sell pdfs

Darn it Bill, you know I'm into PDF's - why do you have to tempt me like this

 

[meomwt]

I mean, c'mon, Necromancer can't even seem to update its own website. That doesn't take a whole lot of effort. Yet they seem baffled when no one knows they have new products out, and blame Kenzer for the problems.

Their webmaster went MIA about a year ago, and finding a new one has been difficult. It's not like they don't want to update it, it's just that they haven't got someone to do so full time.

 

[jdrakeh]

Grr. . . dammit. I parted with my Necromancer books late last year thinking that I could easily re-purchase them later, but if they're closign their doors, I doubt if most of what I owned (if any of it) sees subsequent printings.

On a less selfish note, I'm truly saddened by the departure of Necromancer, but not horribly surprised. . . I suspect that companies like AEG, Atlas, and White Wolf getting out of d20 and others (like Mongoose) diverging into new markets are signs of things to come.

 

[TheGM]

I don't run d20 games, and I enthusiastically buy NG products because the material's worth doing the backwards conversion.

Man, what a bummer.

Same here. There are not many current 3.5 products I'll buy, but Necro products were a must-have. Only I did a lateral conversion - to C&C.

I'll miss 'em, but they have to do what they have to do.

Oh and Bill, no worries, it'll get picked up. The target market for your work is... broad, and spans systems. Might take some work, but it'll sell either way.

Don.

 

[Greenstone]

Sad indeed....

After fighting off the inevitable and sticking with my homebrew/AD&D rules for several years, player pressure finally got me to embrace d20...

... but every d20 adventure I saw, I hated... especially the trite WoTC offerings....

... so no campaign... and the players are wailing...

Then I bought LCoB... and I loved it, and we played it, and the player's loved it... so we hit FotWK... and now I'm on the lookout for what to do thereafter at 10th level....

So thanks, Necromancer, for getting me back into 'mainstream' gaming with your great products...

I would imagine that when a DM admits that if it wasn't for the purchase of one of your books, his group would still be playing poker every Thursday night, it's the best praise a publisher could hope for.

Thanks again
CMG, South Africa

 

[DJCupboard]

So, I've been putting off buying Necro stuff for, oh seven years now, at first due to some strange compunction to only buy WotC 3.x, and then due to a lack of real playing. I've always wanted the Rappan Athuk stuff, and I think this will finally be the push I need to buy Reloaded. What else would be considered the essential Necromancer products? I'm not too sure I need any more monster books, but a sufficiently hyped review of ToH (or any of its sequels) could change my mind. Also, is the City of Brass boxed set out yet?

I'd say, buy everything! we must save the staples of our hobby! but I'm a new father, so budget does need to be a consideration.

DJC

 

[Nightfall]

*thinks Trance must be living somewhere in a very dark cave to have said that...*

 

[Garnfellow]

I’ve been following these developments over on the Necromancer boards, so I’m not shocked by the news but certainly saddened by it. When the WW sale was first announced, I had no idea it would have such a disastrous effect on such an excellent company.

Necromancer Games ("Third Edition Rules, First Edition Feel") and Green Ronin ("d20 Rules Done Right") have always struck me as the two very best third party sources for d20 fantasy material, companies that have truly embodied their respective taglines. And it bums me out that the market just isn't there for their most excellent products.

I own and have used a ton of Necromancer stuff. The Tome of Horrors has probably gotten more use than all my other monster books combined, excluding the MM itself. The boxed Wilderlands set is amazing. Every time I pick it up I walk away with 2 or 3 good adventure ideas.

I can easily envision people in the not-too-distant future looking back on the last 7 years as a real golden age of gaming, and pointing to Necromancer specifically as one of the great companies from that era. It's a crying shame that so few people have understood and appreciated just how good we all have had it during this period.