We have just entered all the data that our May releases use. This won't appear on the web site until it 'rolls over' at the end of the month but, just for you devotees of Planet Mongoose, try the links below for access to some cool new titles.

Note that the first has a mock cover on at the moment - the real one will be appearing in a couple of weeks or so.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1795
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1796
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1797
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1781
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1772

Its been a while since I posted: RuneQuest II has kept me very busy, so I thought I'd bring you up to date on projects on this side of the Atlantic and the US Border.

Well, the biggy is that RQII is now available in all its glory. This game was a labour of love and the reaction has been very favourable so far. In the wake of completing RQII I've been working on the following titles.

Arms and Equipment: an updating of the previous edition. Obviously some things have changed but much is familiar. The book contains the ship rules, enchanting and alchemy rules so its not just concerned with equipment.

Monster Coliseum: Lots of familiar RQ creatures (and a few new ones) get the RQII treatment. Each creature entry also comes with notes on its combat styles and how it performs in an arena environment. The book also includes arena rules for playing gladiators, racing chariots, and using the arena as a backdrop. An arena with personalities and NPCs rounds out the book so GMs have somewhere to use all those beasties for the purposes of carnage-based entertainment.

RQ Empires: a popular book in its first edition, this has undergone an extensive makeover. Empires has a new combat system (faster and leaner) and extensive rules to facilitate solo play. The structure of events during a state's year, and those for solo adventuring, are brand new and take their cues from Traveller's extremely popular lifepath system. In fact, one wet wintry day when I'm not writing, I intend to roll up a few RQII characters, create an empire or three, and play through a few years' worth of solo Empires campaigns. This book is capable of doing that. Finally, I've also included guilds and factions in there as their structure fits neatly with the book's wider themes.

Mega City Archives vol 3: Lawbreakers. Having great fun working through the annals of Dredd and writing the entries for this popular series. Its helped cook-up some ideas for a Dredd scenario or two that I have mulling around in my head.

So that's the recent spate of work. What's next?

First will be Cults of Glorantha. I intend this to be a comprehensive, accurate, very usable compendium of cults for Second Age Glorantha, complete with myths, magic and so forth. All the major cultures will be represented and organised for easy reference: so Draconic, God Learner, Storm Pantheon, Solar Pantheon, Nomad Pantheon, City Gods, Pamaltelan and so on. Its a major undertaking, but one I'm looking forward to.

Following that will be The Abiding Book, a deep-dive into God Learner culture, tradition, history and myth. Everything you need to know about the Middle Sea Empire will be in this tome which will, of course, write itself without me having to lift a finger. I like easy projects like this one...

Later in the year sees a return to the world of Elric, which I always love writing. An update of the core rules, Cults of the Young Kingdoms and a new book, Cities of the Young Kingdoms. Cities is an interesting poser: do I go to town (pun intended) on two or three key cities, or provide a broader-brush overview of several? What I can guarantee is that this book will have tons of adventure seeds and those of you who know me of old and may have played in my Elric convention games can be assured that one city in particular will feature in this book.

Oh and as if that's not enough, I'll be getting 'Living Glorantha' underway for its Continuum debut. If anyone reading this is in southern Ontario and fancies getting involved in some Living Glorantha in the Trenton/Belleville area, do drop me a private message via the Mongoose message boards - my handle is Loz.

So, lots going on for 2010. A busy year that, even this early on, has been filled with surprises and shocks. But the Canadian Writers Studio here in Brighton presses on and I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Lawrence

Or MultiPlayer GameBook, as we have come to call it. For you hoary old veterans, this is the new Lone Wolf RPG, based on the same quick and easy to learn rules as the solo gamebooks.

The core book (in the small 'pocket' format that we do) is already on the web site among March's releases, but we have plenty of support on the way for this new game. Take a look at some of the other titles we have planned for 2010;

Terror of the Darklords
If you have enjoyed the adventure in Book One, stand by for an entire campaign! The Terror of the Darklords is a series of linked adventures for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Fantasy Game, taking you right across Magnamund in a desperate bid to save Sommerlund from the horror of invasion by the Darklords. Become true heroes as the balance of power in the world rests on your shoulders!

Heroes of Magnamund
If your Kai Lords have become Masters with access to all the Kai Disciplines, this book is for you! Learn the secrets of the Magnakai and Grand Masters as your Kai Lords become legendary heroes. Or, if your prefer, try a different sort of hero – a Brother of the Crystal Star wielding arcane magicks, a Knight of Sommerlund, or one of the Border Rangers.

Sommerlund
The great kingdom of Sommerlund is laid before you in exquisite detail in this book, allowing you to set adventures across the length and breadth of the realm with exhaustive fidelity. Complete with maps, this book charts the people, places and great events that have shaped Sommerlund, and where they might be found in the current day. This is the essential companion for any Games Master planning to create adventures in or around Sommerlund.

Magnamund Bestiary
Many dangers and terrors lurk throughout the darker places of Magnamund – and this book covers them all. From the cruel and vicious Giaks to the ghoulish Ciquali, this mighty tome will give a Games Master everything he needs to populate his own adventures with the nastiest, deadliest and most fiendish foes his players could ever fear to meet! Each creature comes with a full description of where it is likely to be found, how it fights and how best to use it against your players.

Many people have been asking us if we would ever reprint the Magnamund Companion - it should be clear that this set of books will be an all new Companion for those wanting to delve ever deeper into this great fantasy setting!

And we are back!

After the Christmas break (where I more or less accomplished everything I wanted to do), everyone is back at work here at Mongoose, eager and ready to work on 2010's exciting releases.

We have had a nice surprise already this morning - the first copies of RuneQuest II have arrived in the office in all their leather-bound glory. This is one seriously nice looking book, doing justice to the hard work Lawrence Whitaker put into the rules set itself.

So, when will you be able to get a copy for yourself? We'll have a date a little later this week, but the answer will be very, very soon. The book is already at our warehouse and jusrt has to rattle through the distribution system to be present and correct on the shelves of your local games store. We have also had preview copies of the RQII screen as well, though that will not arrive at our warehouse in bulk until nearer the end of the month, so it will likely be very early February before you see it on shelves.

As a last note, some interesting facts about our Strontium Dog book. It turns out that, because we use part-recycled paper in our books, the printing of Strontium Dog in this way saved 8 trees, 3 million BTUs of energy, 3,858 gallons of water and over 800 Lbs of greenhouse gasses. . .

Well, Mongoose HQ is just about shut down now - today, it is just me, Charlotte and Dom from Cubicle 7 underneath the air conditioning that is straining away to keep the worst of the winter cold at bay.

It has been a fun year, and we are looking forard to 2010. RuneQuest II is now at print (check out the second preview, just posted - there is also a preview of Traveller's 1,001 Characters up), and we cannot wait to get our hands on its leatherbound goodness. The last of the mail orders have gone out, and no more will be posted until January 2nd. If you have made an order in the past two days, please be patient, we'll be right on it in January!

Which just leaves me to thank all our fans for supporting Mongoose for another year, and to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.