A Song of Ice and Fire RPG, Take Two
It wasn't so long ago that a company called Guardians of Order got the RPG rights to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire... and then promptly went the way of the Dodo bird. Now another RPG company has reached an agreement with Martin to publish a new version of the fantasy epic - industry fan favorite, Green Ronin Publishing.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GREEN RONIN TO PUBLISH A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE RPG
Industry Leader to do RPG Adaptation of Best Selling Fantasy Series
April 24, 2007--SEATTLE, WA: Green Ronin Publishing has reached an agreement with New York Times bestselling author George R.R. Martin to license his fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire. Green Ronin will publish a roleplaying game in 2008 that will allow fans of the series to have their own exciting adventures in Westeros. Subsequent books will continue to explore the world and characters of A Song of Ice and Fire.
"A Song of Ice and Fire is the most exciting thing to happen in fantasy fiction in decades," said Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, "and we are thrilled to be able to bring it back to the gaming world."
"I've had a lot of interest in the role-playing rights to A Song of Ice and Fire since they became available once again," said George R.R. Martin. "There were days I felt like Scarlett O'Hara at the Twelve Oaks barbeque. In the end, though, the enthusiasm and professionalism of the folks at Green Ronin convinced me that was the place to go. I've seen the quality of the games that Green Ronin puts out, and the care that they put into them, and I'm eager to see what they do with the world of Westeros and A Song of Ice and Fire. I think my fans and readers will be pleased."
Green Ronin has already done successful RPG adaptations of fantasy classics like Thieves' World and the Black Company. "Creating a great RPG for A Song of Ice and Fire seemed like the perfect next step," added Pramas. "2008 is going to be a great year for fans of George R.R. Martin's work."
About George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin sold his first story in 1971 and has been writing professionally ever since. He has written fantasy, horror, and science fiction, and for his sins spent ten years in Hollywood as a writer/producer, working on Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and television pilots that were never made. In the mid 90s he returned to prose, his first love, and began work on his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. He has been in the Seven Kingdoms ever since. Whenever he's allowed to leave, he returns to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he lives with the lovely Parris and two cats named Augustus and Caligula who think they run the place.
About Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle-based company known for its dedication to quality books and games. Founded in 2000, Green Ronin has won more awards for excellence and innovation than any other game company in the new millennium, and took home the coveted ENnie Award for Best Publisher an unprecedented three years running. With great licenses like Thieves' World and the Black Company, groundbreaking games like Mutants & Masterminds and Blue Rose, and a roster of top flight designers and illustrators, Green Ronin Publishing is a leading light in the hobby game industry.
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good luck to them
Anyone want to start taking bets on whether they use True20, or make it non-system-specific like they are doing with the new version of Freeport? GR has already admitted that the days of releasing new concepts as d20 products are in the past...
edit...I was looking on the GR website and their message board and it looks like they are working up a whole new rules set just for this.
I wonder how much of the feel of GRRM's books can be injected through this (or any) campaign setting. It has to have some interesting political mechanics, IMO.
In addition, I'm not certain how interesting this campaign world is without the characters and plot of the books. (I have a similar apprehention regarding Dragonlance, for example).
The same can be said of the Wheel Of Time setting. Even the campaign they released for it (Prophecies of the Dragon) leaned heavily on the plot of the books as a backdrop to make the setting interesting. Though I did steal a mechanic or two from how the Aes Sedai magic worked to use in my own setting.
The same could be said about the roleplaying games Serenity, MERPS (Middle Earth Roleplaying System), Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or Robotech. Yet all of these games were either highly successful or extremely well written (Serenity was the latter).
These games are for people who want to explore the world or who love the setting, not for people to relive the source material. I personally am setting up to run a Star Wars adventure based loosely off of the Knights of the Old Republic game and the Man-Kzin Wars novels (which I barely remember, having last read them almost 20 years ago).
And I can't wait to play a game based off the new BattleStar Galactica!
But... That's just me.