Thor: Welcome back to The
Barbarian Chronicles Alex! One of the things I greatly miss about my e-radio days is our periodic conversations. Let's
start with your early years: When and how did you discover gaming? And what were some of your favorite
games?
Alex: When I was around
10 a teaching assisstant at my junior school introduced some of us to the Tunnels & Trolls roleplaying game, and
for the next few years through secondary school we played that, Dungeons & Dragons, Paranoia and many other roleplaying games. We also played games such as Car Wars, Kings and Things, Block Wars and
of course Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when that came out.
Thor: You decided, at some point, to make gaming
your livelihood. How did this come about?
Alex: In a nutshell,
Matthew and I both wanted to do something else for a living. We had talked at length in the past about starting a games company
but in 2001 the time seemed right for us to try. As with many good ideas, this one came about in a pub.
Thor: Why Mongoose Publishing?
Does the Mongoose hold any special significance for you?
Alex: The origins of the name Mongoose are lost to myth
and mystery. I can tell you that it does involve hand gestures :)
Thor: When we first came into contact Mongoose was a small
gaming company with products that were compatible with Wizard of the Coast's d20
system under their Open Gaming License. Your niche was creative, a bit edgy and highly practical. How did you determine
where to enter the gaming arena?
Alex: When we first entered
the market there were no sourcebooks being produced by third party publishing companies. We looked at what was not being offerred
and that's what we started publishing. We started with monsters books (The Slayers Guides) and quickly moved to Magic books,
class books, race books, settings books and so on. We wanted to create books we thought would be useful to people who already
played Dungeons & Dragons but wanted more than additional scenarios.
Thor: I am truly impressed with what you did with the Slaine
and Conan RPGs. Two of my favorite barbarian heroes and their worlds are remarkably simulated and very engaging. These
were your first licensed product lines, were they not?
Alex: Our first licenced product was Judge Dredd, a very successful line at the time. Slaine came on the back of that and we secured
the licence to Conan shortly before making the announcement that we would be producing Babylon 5 roleplaying books.
Thor: What are some of the other licenses Mongoose has acquired?
Alex: I've mentioned
some above. We also have product based on Starship Troopers, Runequest, Paranoia,
Jeremiah (the TV show), Lone Wolf, Lankhmar and Macho Women with
Guns.
Thor: You've managed to revive and revitalize many
of your favorite childhood games, Paranoia and Lone Wolf for instance, and introduce them to a whole new generation. How does
that make you feel?
Alex: It feels great
to be able to bring back some great games. I hope a new crowd of people get as much out of them as I did when I first played
them.
Thor: And you're still publishing your own original
d20 gaming material as well...
Alex: We don't do do
much d20 material any more. As that market became saturated with companies and product we started moving towards our own games
systems for our roleplaying games. Some are similar to the d20 system (Conan and Babylon 5 for instance) but some are very
different, most notably Paranoia and RuneQuest, which is a system we have made Open in it's own right.
Thor: Mongoose also publishes magazines and
novels, miniatures and wargames... and has its own Demo Teams. What inspired you to move into these frontiers?
Alex: We always wanted to product more than just
roleplaying games. The success of the roleplaying games allowed us to start looking at other types
of games as well. Of these other types, miniature wargames is the biggest and is almost as large as the roleplaying
side of the company.
Thor: You've recently revamped and re-released RuneQuest,
one of the most original RPG variants that emerged during the hobby's early days, and with it your own Open License for
third party publishers. What types of products, besides updates of Glorantha, can we expect to see?
Alex: As well as third
party releases (there are quite a few scenarios available at the moment for Runequest by other people), you can expect to
see more core books for RuneQuest (one upcoming book is a setting book for pirates) as well as some really cool licences,
which we'll be able to announce very shortly.
Thor: Where do you see Mongoose going in
the future? How would you like to see it grow?
Alex: We're looking to
carry on doing what we are at the moment. Continue to publish great games that people enjoy.
Thor: Mongoose has maintained a fairly brisk release schedule with an increasingly diverse product
line. How do you manage to maintain such a high standard of quality in your products?
Alex: We have a very
dedicated staff at Mongoose Publishing who help us achieve the quality and variety of products that bear our name. Rumours
that we whip them are completely unfounded!
Thor: You had a dream and you made it happen... you're still making it happen. What advice do you have for folks
who know their passion but are afraid to make a go for it?
Alex: If you know what you want to do, do it and
give it your best shot! if it works that's great, and if it doesn't work you will have known that you tried. Everyone should
try to make their dreams come true.
Thor: Thank you Alex!
I wish you great success with Mongoose's continued growth and look forward to sharing thoughts again sometime
soon.
Alex: No problem! Take
it easy.
