Topic: Director's Briefing - 4th December 2012

[PhillipAEllis]

Regarding game worlds based on existing material (eg. books) -- what about basing them on material in the public domain? For example, say we were interested in horror gaming, we could work on a sourcebook that opens up the world of Dracula to a significant degree, maybe even incorporating other of Stoker's books. As a reader of Stoker, and as an RPGer, that would interest me.

So: where there is that possibility, it could be an option to look at it. The campaign worlds that result may not be bigger than Ben Hur: they may turn out to be Ben Hur.

[craggles]

Oh yes, a store presence is needed and I was assuming that was the case in my scenario for random gamers in the shop noticing and picking up an ICE product.

There's definitely things that need to be done before any effort is put into licensing something but I think it is a viable option to think about - but earlier comments about using license-free 'worlds' is an excellent idea as it saves money on the licensing but also means more purchasers from the people who already love those established 'worlds' and who wouldn't have normally bought ICE rulesets (Rolemaster, Spacemaster, HARP etc) otherwise.

The horror and Steam Punk ideas are great and they're both very popular subjects. As to actually creating those things, I remember Nicholas asking for writers in another thread.

(I'm saying that these things could be good move personally - I am merely a contractor and this no way represents the will of ICE. I realised that last paragraph didn't sound right)

[ironmaul]

I think you'll find that specific themes is what's wanted.

I am pretty much 99% certain one of the newest ICE's goals is to go to GenCon as that will provide the biggest single thing they can do to get their name out there, but they need a nice polished product to do it with.  Until they have that product there's not a whole lot of point in putting loads of effort into advertising.

I totally agree with Cory here. If you haven't got anything shiny to show apart from a game system...what's the point? I like the idea of a steampunk setting, heck you could even have a steampunk horror setting!

As I've said before, ICE needs to branch out in other areas of the gaming industry such as board and card games etc. But I can't see this happening until they recruit a game developer. It may be fine that they have a RPG designers team but you'll find it's a whole new thing to develop board and card games. A big IP license I don't believe is totally necessary to grab new customers. Do it through a novel. Take the above example of a steampunk horror setting. Approach a willing author and run the idea with them to produce a cracker of a story, then use that as a basis for the official RM game world. Then you can always expand it to board and card games. This is probably harder to do than I make it sound.

[markc]

D-Punk, that would be interesting.
MDC

[PhillipAEllis]

Thre could be room for developing material based around, say, the weird fiction of William Hope Hodgson. I'd love to see a campaign set in the world of The Night Land with its end-of-the-world strangeness, for example. It's a thought....

[PhillipAEllis]

There could be room for Cthulhu-Punk

[jdale]

There could be room for Cthulhu-Punk

That's a fun genre, but it's been done before. I actually ran a game myself for a while.

[PhillipAEllis]

That's a fun genre, but it's been done before. I actually ran a game myself for a while.

Even if taken more literally...

"I say, Wingate, that shoggoth has a large safety pin through its, er, amorphous appendage...."

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

Lots of interesting points in this thread.

Some random factoids - Green Ronin has the rpg license for Games of Thrones, Cubicle 7 is publishing The One Ring (the current Middle-earth licensee).

It is extremely unlikely that GCP or Aurigas-who-are-ICE will be returning to a Middle-Earth license. (I do not say impossible)

Licenses from non-rpg media can be expensive, impose constraints on what can be done, be difficult to manage, are essentially temporary and are not guaranteed to make a company rich.

Licensing other rpg settings is similar but on a lesser scale. There are other rpg settings that I like enough that I could be tempted to get a license for GCP, but we do have five official settings already to work with - Shadow World, Cyradon, Tintamar, Privateers, and the pre-SilentDeath Imperium - and they have first priority in getting developed.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

[Cory Magel]

Licensing other rpg settings is similar but on a lesser scale. There are other rpg settings that I like enough that I could be tempted to get a license for GCP, but we do have five official settings already to work with - Shadow World, Cyradon, Tintamar, Privateers, and the pre-SilentDeath Imperium - and they have first priority in getting developed.
Best wishes,
Nicholas

You may not be able to answer this as of yet... but is the intention to continue supporting all of the existing settings at some point in the future if reasonably possible or do you foresee dropping one or more of them?

[GrumpyOldFart]

There could be room for Cthulhu-Punk

Why did Cthulhu cross the road?

Because he was safety-pinned to a chicken.

 

[Old Man]

...
Licensing other rpg settings is similar but on a lesser scale. There are other rpg settings that I like enough that I could be tempted to get a license for GCP, but we do have five official settings already to work with - Shadow World, Cyradon, Tintamar, Privateers, and the pre-SilentDeath Imperium - and they have first priority in getting developed.

<<Q deleted>>

[PhillipAEllis]

Why did Cthulhu cross the road?

Because he was safety-pinned to a chicken.

 

I couldn't help myself, but had to laugh.

[markc]

Lots of interesting points in this thread.

Some random factoids - Green Ronin has the rpg license for Games of Thrones, Cubicle 7 is publishing The One Ring (the current Middle-earth licensee).

It is extremely unlikely that GCP or Aurigas-who-are-ICE will be returning to a Middle-Earth license. (I do not say impossible)

Licenses from non-rpg media can be expensive, impose constraints on what can be done, be difficult to manage, are essentially temporary and are not guaranteed to make a company rich.

Licensing other rpg settings is similar but on a lesser scale. There are other rpg settings that I like enough that I could be tempted to get a license for GCP, but we do have five official settings already to work with - Shadow World, Cyradon, Tintamar, Privateers, and the pre-SilentDeath Imperium - and they have first priority in getting developed.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

 Great to hear what is going on. 5 Settings is a lot but I can see them being pruned down to 4 easily for 2 fantasy and 2 Sci Fi. That does leave open some source books for the stuff in the middle of the pack.
MDC

[PhillipAEllis]

Talking about settings, how do we feel about third-party settings for the games, in addition to the house settings? Myself, I'm excited by Rolemaster Rome, and that gets me excited, as well as the fantasy side of the games. Give me a good Spacemaster GM though and I'm happy to adapt....

Back to the point: yes, having a solid core of settings is integral to the game. And part of that means continued, material support in terms of supplements and adventures. However, it can also be a drawcard to say that the system is open to licensed, third-party settings in a way rarely seen before the advent of the OGL. To what degree, then, is this beneficial? To what degree is it desirable? Is it a strong element of the ICE platform, or does it detract from its brand identity?

[Mungo]

Back to the point: yes, having a solid core of settings is integral to the game. And part of that means continued, material support in terms of supplements and adventures. However, it can also be a drawcard to say that the system is open to licensed, third-party settings in a way rarely seen before the advent of the OGL. To what degree, then, is this beneficial? To what degree is it desirable? Is it a strong element of the ICE platform, or does it detract from its brand identity?

No, it doesnt detract, but so far there have been several attempts to do this and all failed at the end. Echoes of Heaven, then this old man gang (don't remember the exact name) with the post apocalyptic one, also Rome is amongst those imo because a single book is not enough. I.e. any setting needs to be driven by GCP itself, otherwise it won't work.

Concerning Nicholas post: assuming that there will be a rework of Spacemaster at some point, I would suggest to drop Privateers in the process. Would save a lot of effort and as said, I am not a fan of the one-dimensional Privateers universe.

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

For the avoidance of doubt, the fact that we have five official settings to play with does not mean that GCP only has five settings.

For instance, Aaron Smalley (nod to Aaron) is working on No Quarter under the Crown, which is based in his world of Aernth, for which we have already published City of Archendurn and Dun Cru. Subject to his real-world commitments, Aaron will probably send further manuscripts GCP's way in the future. What we won't be doing is opening up a wish list for Aernth modules. If someone wants to collaborate with Aaron on writing an Aernth module, talk to Aaron. Likewise I'm not going to chain Aaron to a wordprocessor and make him crank out X Aernth modules per year.

Whereas Terry and I expect to have a wish list for Shadow World modules to be written by people other than Terry. (Because if we don't, I will end up chaining Terry to a wordprocessor). Likewise for the other official settings.

For other settings/source material, like Aernth, which we might call "unofficial" settings/campaigns/modules, I might try to assimilate them into a main setting. An example here is Chris Seal's current work in progress, Caer Glais (nod to Chris). With a bit of joint thinking, Chris and I were able to see ways in which Caer Glais could be adjusted to fit into the Shatterings of Cyradon and have links to the rest of the Cyradon/Mithra mythos. So opening up a different part of the world, a different style of adventure, and allow Chris to press on with his good ideas.

An alternative option, for when integration (like Caer Glais) or occasional publication (like we are doing with Aernth) does not make sense, is the all-in-one setting book or the limited set of books. So if someone comes to us with a proposal for a steampunk setting or a dark faery setting or whatever, and if it is good enough, we might well put them under contract to write it, but such things are not on GCP's mandatory projects list or project wish list, so we're not actively seeking out people to write these sort of products. Yet.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

[NicholasHMCaldwell]

No, it doesnt detract, but so far there have been several attempts to do this and all failed at the end. Echoes of Heaven, then this old man gang (don't remember the exact name) with the post apocalyptic one, also Rome is amongst those imo because a single book is not enough. I.e. any setting needs to be driven by GCP itself, otherwise it won't work.

Cloven-Fruit-Games are nearly ready with AfterWorlds.

I was chatting with Graham Bottley of Arion Games at Dragonmeet and he has plans for additional Rolemaster Rome products but they need RMU to stabilise first.

Best wishes,
Nicholas

[Mungo]

Cloven-Fruit-Games are nearly ready with AfterWorlds.

I apologize for calling them "old man gang", that's how I had them remembered. Don't know why.

I was chatting with Graham Bottley of Arion Games at Dragonmeet and he has plans for additional Rolemaster Rome products but they need RMU to stabilise first.

Cool. As a setting I think Rome could potentially reach the level of Middle Earth. It's all there, from big threats to politics to warfare. Even low magic is credible (Druids,...). What is missing is

a) Production quality
b) More books. What might work is to focus on one period (like ICE did with ME: 1640 TA) and start with one area, e.g. Gaul shortly after Caesar's conquests. Or Rome during the split into east and west, or...

[PhillipAEllis]

With Rolemaster Rome, the "default" setting is 24 BC, with scope for expansion along any other period of Roman history. There may well be sourcebooks that cover these other periods (I'll talk with Graham about this if you want, as I plan on contributing material over time).