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Chaosium

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Chaosium Inc.
Founded1975;49 years ago(1975)
FounderGreg Stafford
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationAnn Arbor, Michigan
Key people
Publication typesGames, Books
Fiction genresRole-playing games,Board games,Fantasy fiction,Horror fiction,Weird fiction
No.of employees16
Official websitechaosium

Chaosium Inc.(/keɪˈɒsiəm/kay-OSS-ee-əm[1]) is a publisher oftabletop role-playing gamesestablished byGreg Staffordin 1975.[2]Chaosium's major titles includeCall of Cthulhu,based on thehorror fictionstories ofH. P. Lovecraft,RuneQuestGlorantha,Pendragon,based onThomas Mallory'sLe Morte d'Arthur,and7th Sea,"swashbuckling and sorcery" set in a fantasy 17th century Europe.

Many of Chaosium's product lines are based upon literary sources.[3]While Stafford himself has been described as "one of the most decorated game designers of all time"[4][better source needed]and "the grand shaman of gaming",[5][better source needed]multiple other notable game designers have written for Chaosium. These includeDavid Conyers,Matthew Costello,Larry DiTillio,Paul Fricker,David A. Hargrave,Rob Heinsoo,Keith Herber,Jennell Jaquays,Katharine Kerr,Reiner Knizia,Charlie Krank,Robin Laws,Penelope Love,Mark Morrison,Steve Perrin,Sandy Petersen,Ken Rolston,Ken St. Andre,Jonathan Tweet,John Wick,andLynn Willis,among others.

History

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1975–1980

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Greg Stafford founded "The Chaosium" in 1975, deriving the name partly from his home, which was near theOakland Coliseum,combining "coliseum" with "chaos". His purpose was to publish his first board gameWhite Bear and Red Moon(later renamedDragon Pass), a board game set in his fantasy world ofGlorantha.

In 1978, Chaosium published Steve Perrin's roleplaying gameRuneQuest,also set in Glorantha, following up with a second edition in 1980 and various supplements over the next six years.

1980s: Growth and licensing with Avalon Hill

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In 1980, the company officially incorporated as Chaosium Inc. That year, Stafford and Lynn Willis simplified theRuneQuestrules into the 16-pageBasic Role-Playing(BRP). Thesesimulationist,skill-based generic rules formed the basis of many of Chaosium's later"d100"RPGs, most notablyCall of Cthulhu,first published in 1982.

Chaosium entered into a licensing agreement withAvalon Hillin 1983 to produce a third edition ofRuneQuest.Avalon Hill manufactured and marketed the game, while Chaosium was responsible for acquisitions, design, development, and layout.Ken Rolstonmanaged the line as "Rune Czar".

One of the first RPGs by a female lead designer was published by Chaosium:Kerie Campbell-Robson's 1986 releaseHawkmoon.[6]1986 also saw the release ofGhostbusterswithWest End Games.Designed by Sandy Petersen, Lynn Willis, and Greg Stafford, it was the first RPG to use thedice poolmechanic. West End would also use the system as the basis ofStar Wars: The Roleplaying Gameand, eventually, theD6 System.[7]: 249–250 

Late 1990s–early 2010s: Financial struggle

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In 1996, it was prematurely reported that Chaosium had secured the rights to publish a collectible card game based on the video gameDoom.[8]

In 1998, following the financial failure of the collectible card gameMythos,Greg Stafford resigned as Chaosium president and left the company, along with Sandy Petersen (although they both remained shareholders). Chaosium effectively split up into various successor companies, each maintaining its focus on a few of the company's products. Stafford took the rights to his game setting Glorantha, setting up the companyIssaries, Inc.to continue publishing this line (later licensing it toMoon Design Publications,along with the gameHeroQuest).

Long-time employees and part-owners Charlie Krank and Lynn Willis remained at Chaosium as President and Editor-in-Chief respectively, continuing on withCall of Cthulhuas the main product line. Lynn Willis retired in 2008 due to poor health and died in 2013.

Mid 2010s: The return of Stafford and Petersen

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Problems and delays fulfilling theKickstartersfor the 7th edition ofCall of Cthulhuled Stafford and Petersen to return to active roles at Chaosium in June 2015.[9]Charlie Krank subsequently left the company.

Later that year atGen Con2015, Stafford and Petersen announced Moon Design Publications were now part of the Chaosium ownership, and the four principals of Moon Design (Rick Meints,Jeff Richard,Michael O'Brien,andNeil Robinson) had become the new Chaosium management team. Chaosium once again became the licensed publisher forRuneQuest,HeroQuest,and other products related to Glorantha and continued to publish theCall of Cthulhuline.[10]Stafford served as chair of the company board and creative consultant until his death in October 2018. Since retiring from the board in 2019, Petersen has done occasional freelance work for the company, as did original RuneQuest creator Steve Perrin until his death in 2021.

As part of its financial reorganization, the new management closed the company office and warehouse inHayward, California,ending Chaosium's long association with theSan Francisco Bay Area.[11]The company is now based inAnn Arbor,Michiganand uses afulfillment housemodel for distribution of product.

Delivery of the core rewards of the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Kickstarter finally commenced in April 2016.[12]The new edition went on to win nine of the ten awards it was nominated for at theGen Con2017ENnie Awards.[13]

Late 2010s to Present: Expansion

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After the consolidation and reorganization of the mid-decade, the company was again poised to expand its offerings through a combination of acquisitions, new licenses, and distribution deals.

Greg Stafford'sKing Arthur PendragonandPrince Valiantroleplaying games returned to Chaosium ownership on December 11, 2018.[14]

On April 2, 2019, Chaosium acquired the rights to the7th Seaproduct line (both Second Edition and Khitai Kickstarters) from John Wick, including back stock of books published so far.[15]

On November 30, 2019, Chaosium acquired the rights to produce a role-playing game based onBen Aaronovitch'sRivers of Londonurban fantasy novels.[16]

In the spring of 2020, Chaosium took over distribution of the English translations of Spanish fantasy gameAquelarre[17]and French Ice Age roleplaying gameWürm,[18]both of which had been successfully kickstarted byNocturnal Media.In February 2021, they addedUpwind,[19]an original game kickstarted by Nocturnal Media andBiohazard Games,to that list.

On August 20, 2021, Chaosium acquired the rights toCthulhu BritannicaandWorld War Cthulhu,formerly produced under license byCubicle 7until 2017.[20]

On October 26, 2021, Moon Design Publishing announced it was forming a partnership with Black Monk Games of Poland and a new company, The Chaosium Group, was being formed to manage both.[21]

Fiction

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Chaosium began publishing a line of non-game books (primarily fiction) in 1993. Many titles are themed around H. P. Lovecraft'sCthulhu Mythosand related topics, although the first work published was Greg Stafford's fantasy workKing of Sartar,set in his mythic worldGlorantha.

Cassilda's Song,a 2015 anthology based onRobert W. Chambers'sKing in Yellowand written entirely by women, was nominated for two 2016World Fantasy Awards.[22]

In May 2017, Chaosium appointed award-winning author and editorJames Lowderas executive editor of fiction.[23]Lowder had previously served as a consultant for Chaosium, helping the company and freelancers resolve payment and contract problems with past fiction projects.[24]

Although not published by Chaosium, the ongoingWild Cardsseries ofsuperheroscience fiction originated from a long-runningSuperworldcampaign gamemastered byGame of ThronesauthorGeorge R. R. Martinand his circle of fellow writers who played in his game.[25]

Magazines

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Three magazines have been published by Chaosium to promote its products:

  • Wyrm's Footnotesran for fourteen issues from 1976 to 1982.[26]For the first ten issues, it was a source of supporting material forWhite Bear and Red Moon.In 1981, starting with Issue #11, it became the officialRuneQuestmagazine.[27]The last edition published during its initial run was Issue #14, dated April 1982.[28]The magazine was revived in 2012 byMoon Design Publications,continuing the issue numbering at 15, despite the 30-year hiatus. Issues 1 to 14 were republished in PDF format in 2019.
  • Different Worlds.Forty-seven bimonthly issues fromDifferent Worldswere published. Chaosium, from 1979 to 1985, published the first thirty-eight andSleuth Publications,from 1985 to 1987, the final nine.Tadashi Eharawas the editor of the magazine during the periods concerned by both publishing houses.[29]
  • Starry Wisdom,aLovecraft-themed magazine, three issues of which Chaosium published in 1997.[30]

Reception

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Chaosium won the 2017 SilverEnnie Awardfor "Fan’s Choice for Best Publisher".[31]

References

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  1. ^"Meet Dustin | Chaosium Interview".YouTube.October 13, 2023.RetrievedDecember 30,2023.
  2. ^"Fictitious Business Name Statement 1975".Twitter.Twitter.RetrievedAugust 31,2020.
  3. ^"About Us".Chaosium Inc.Archivedfrom the original on October 12, 2019.
  4. ^"Prince Valiant Storytelling Game by Greg Stafford".kickstarter.RetrievedNovember 18,2016.
  5. ^"Interview with Robin D. Laws".Juegos y Dados.July 19, 2016.RetrievedNovember 18,2016.
  6. ^Appelcline, Shannon (2014).Designers & Dragons: The '70s.Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Evil Hat Productions. p. 267.ISBN978-1-61317-075-5.
  7. ^Appelcline, Shannon (2014).Designers & Dragons. '80-'89: A history of the roleplaying game industry(2nd ed.). Silver Springs, MD, USA: Evil Hat Productions.ISBN978-1-61317-081-6.
  8. ^Varney, Allen (February 1997), "Inside the Industry",The Duelist,no. #15, p. 84
  9. ^"Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition".Kickstarter.RetrievedJune 11,2015.
  10. ^O'Brien, Michael (July 30, 2015)."Greg Stafford Announces New Ownership Group For Chaosium At Gen Con".Chaosium Blog.RetrievedNovember 18,2016.
  11. ^"Chaosium Leaves California".Yog-Sothoth.September 23, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^Riggs, Ben (April 29, 2016)."Cthulhu Company Kickstarted itself to Death, Then This Happened".Geek and Sundry.Archived fromthe originalon June 29, 2016.
  13. ^"2017 Noms and Winners".ENnie Awards.Archived fromthe originalon March 17, 2018.RetrievedMarch 17,2018.
  14. ^O'Brien, Michael (December 11, 2018)."Greg Stafford's King Arthur Pendragon RPG returns to Chaosium ownership".Chaosium press release.RetrievedDecember 7,2021.
  15. ^O'Brien, Michael (April 2, 2019)."John Wick joins Chaosium".Chaosium press release.RetrievedApril 3,2019.
  16. ^O'Brien, Michael (November 30, 2019)."Chaosium Announces Rivers of London Roleplaying Game".Chaosium press release.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  17. ^O'Brien, Michael (May 28, 2020)."Announcing Aquelarre, the" best RPG not available in English ", now available in English!".Chaosium press release.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  18. ^O'Brien, Michael (April 28, 2020)."Announcing Würm - The Ice Age Roleplaying Game".Chaosium press release.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  19. ^O'Brien, Michael (February 2, 2021)."Chaosium is distributingUpwind,the RPG of lost science, elemental magic, and unchartered skies ".Chaosium press release.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  20. ^O'Brien, Michael (April 2, 2019)."Chaosium acquires Cubicle 7's Cthulhu Britannica and World War Cthulhu lines".Chaosium press release.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
  21. ^O'Brien, Michael (October 26, 2021)."Moon Design Publications and Black Monk Games join forces to form The Chaosium Group".Chaosium press release.RetrievedOctober 27,2021.
  22. ^"2016 World Fantasy Awards Finalists".Locus Online News.July 10, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon August 19, 2016.RetrievedNovember 18,2016.
  23. ^O'Brien, Michael (May 7, 2017)."Chaosium appoints James Lowder as new Executive Editor of Fiction".Chaosium(Press release).RetrievedJuly 28,2017.
  24. ^O'Brien, Michael (August 26, 2015)."Chaosium Appoints James Lowder as new Consulting Editor for Fiction".Chaosium(Press release).RetrievedJuly 28,2017.
  25. ^Appelcline, Shannon (2011).Designers & Dragons.Mongoose Publishing. p. 87.ISBN978-1-907702-58-7.
  26. ^"Wyrm's Footnotes Submissions".chaosium.Chaosium. September 6, 2017.RetrievedJuly 12,2020.
  27. ^"Glorantha Magazine Indices".Erzo.org. Archived fromthe originalon February 20, 2012.RetrievedDecember 18,2014.
  28. ^Rolston, Ken(July 1983). "Companion fills the Glorantha gap".Dragon(75).TSR, Inc.:70.
  29. ^"Different Worlds Magazine Cover Listing - RPGnet RPG Game Index".Index.rpg.net.RetrievedDecember 18,2014.
  30. ^"Starry Wisdom Issue 1".chaosium.Archived fromthe originalon March 16, 2015.RetrievedAugust 25,2015.
  31. ^"2017 Noms and Winners | ENnie Awards".ennie-awards.Archived fromthe originalon August 23, 2019.RetrievedMay 15,2022.
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