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Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, actively publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties Traveller, Judge Dredd, and Paranoia, as well as fantasy titles Conan: The Roleplaying Game and RuneQuest.
Mongoose Publishing was founded in Swindon, England, in 2001[1] by Matthew Sprange and Alexander Fennell.[2] Sprange initially wanted to publish a miniatures game, but he went with a less expensive alternative using Wizards of the Coast's d20 System Trademark License.[3]:104 It grew out of the d20 System boom sparked by Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition. The first release, the Slayer's Guides, concentrated on different monster types for the d20 system, while the subsequent Quintessential books, detailed specific character classes. The latter were to span three years and thirty-six different titles.[4]
In 2003 the company released the magazine Signs and Portents, a house organ aimed at supplementing and supporting Mongoose's products, as well as a range of generic standalone products based on the d20 System, collectively known as the "OGL series". Further acquisitions followed the same year, including the rights to a roleplaying game based on Conan the Barbarian (which saw light of day on January 2004), the roleplaying game Paranoia (2004) and a joint venture with d20 System portal EN World, the EN World Gamer quarterly magazine. Signs & Portents was turned into an online magazine after two years.[5]
As of 2007, Mongoose Publishing has released role-playing and miniatures games based on the Starship Troopers license, as well as the rights to RuneQuest and Traveller.
In 2008 Mongoose announced that it was ceasing production and marketing of its miniatures ranges and would, for the time being, concentrate solely on the production of RPGs and miniatures rules.
In September 2008, Matthew Sprange announced that Mongoose Publishing had "joined the Rebellion Group, becoming a sister company to Rebellion itself."[6]
In October 2008, Sprange announced that Mongoose Publishing would be publishing the new Lejendary Adventure line for Gygax Games.
In May 2011, Sprange announced that Mongoose Publishing and Issaries Inc had parted ways, meaning that Mongoose will cease to produce RuneQuest and Glorantha, though they retain the RuneQuest II core rule system which will become Wayfarer later in 2011.
Since obtaining licenses for the Traveller and RuneQuest role-playing games, Mongoose Publishing quickly established them as in-house core rules systems -- Traveller for science fiction, and RuneQuest for fantasy. This allows a faster time-to-print for the development of new licenses, as well as permitting the fast production of minor or one-shot licenses. For example, Hammer's Slammers was produced as a one-book release; relying on Traveller for its core rules allowed the product to focus on setting-specific rules and colour.
Games which already use another rule system, however, have not changed (for example, Conan and Paranoia) as there is no desire to change systems, but rather to have core systems that facilitate the production of new properties which fit sci-fi or fantasy settings.
Isle of Man, India, Canada, European Union, British Overseas Territories
Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Avalon Hill, Chaosium, Steve Perrin
United Kingdom, Angles, Cornwall, Isle of Man, English language
Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast, D20 Modern, Gurps, Role-playing game system
Fantasy, Wizards of the Coast, D20 System, Hasbro, Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings
World of Darkness, French language, White Wolf Publishing, Dungeons & Dragons, Japanese language
Games Workshop, Science fiction, Greg Costikyan, Doctor Who, Eric Goldberg (game designer)
Rebellion Developments, Human sacrifice, Fomorians, Gaels, Irish mythology
Japanese language, Mecha, White Wolf Publishing, Wizards of the Coast, Espionage