Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games including multiple Origins, ENnie, Pen & Paper, and Inquest Fan Awards.
Predecessor | Ronin Publishing |
---|---|
Founders | Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | Seattle, Washington |
Distribution | Diamond Book Distributors[1] |
Publication types | role-playing games |
Owner(s) | Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos |
No. of employees | 12 |
Official website | greenronin |
History
In early 1996, Chris Pramas acquired The Whispering Vault rights from Mike Nystul and formed Ronin Publishing with his brother, Jason Pramas, and their mutual friend, Neal Darcy. The company published two role playing game supplements, The Book of Hunts (1997) for The Whispering Vault and Blood of the Valiant for Feng Shui. Ronin Publishing came to an end when Chris Pramas went to work for Wizards of the Coast in 1998.[2]:369
Pramas founded Green Ronin Publishing with his wife Nicole Lindroos in 2000.[2]:370 Green Ronin published its first book in July 2000: Ork! (2000), a beer and pretzels RPG about playing orks.[2]:370 Working at Wizards of the Coast, Pramas had inside information on the d20 license, and Green Ronin's lead d20 offering, Death in Freeport (2000) went on sale on August 10, 2000, the same day as the new third edition Player's Handbook (2000) for D&D.[2]:370 In 2001, Green Ronin expanded beyond their early Freeport adventures and went into the business of publishing sourcebooks and other gaming material.[2]:371 In March 2002, Pramas was laid off from Wizards of the Coast and took this as an opportunity to go full-time with Green Ronin, doubling the company's production that year.[2]:371 Green Ronin's first new RPG was Spaceship Zero (2002); Toren Atkinson of the rock band The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets had contributed artwork to Ork! and Death in Freeport and asked Pramas to publish a game based on the band's album Spaceship Zero Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2000).[2]:371 Green Ronin's other RPG of the year was Mutants & Masterminds (2002), created by Steve Kenson who Pramas had asked to design a new d20-based superhero RPG based on his freelance work on a number of superhero RPGs.[2]:371 In 2003, former Pinnacle Entertainment Group graphic designer, art director and Deadlands RPG brand manager Hal Mangold joined as partner, and the company formally established itself as an LLC. Mangold was Green Ronin's primary graphic designer and art director on a freelance basis since soon after the company's founding, doing the layout and design for the majority of the company's print output. (Ork!, laid out by Nicole Lindroos, and the Mutants & Masterminds game line, handled by the Super Unicorn design studio, were notable exceptions.)
On May 12, 2010, Green Ronin Publishing announced a third edition of the superhero role-playing game Mutants & Masterminds would debut in the fall.[3] This announcement came just 9 days after the publisher announced that it would debut a new DC Adventures game in August, based upon Mutants & Masterminds.[4] According to Green Ronin President Chris Pramas, the two new games will "share a common ruleset."[3]
In 2013, Green Ronin Publishing used crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to redesign and enlarge the Freeport campaign setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.[5]
Games and products
Green Ronin wrote the second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, which was published by Black Industries. Other notable products include Freeport: The City of Adventure, "Green Ronin’s signature city setting" and "home to thousands of RPG campaigns since its launch in 2000",[6] Thieves' World, and The Black Company d20 settings, Mutants & Masterminds, Blue Rose, and True20. Licensed products include the A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying game, the Dragon Age roleplaying game, and DC Adventures, a licensed roleplaying game based on the characters and setting found in DC Comics.
The Spirosblaak (2005) setting from Green Ronin's Mythic Vistas series was supported by Misfit Studios.[2]:372
References
- Our Publishers
- Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- Green Ronin Web Team (2010-05-12). "Green Ronin to Release Mutants & Masterminds Third Edition". Green Ronin Publishing. Archived from the original on 2010-05-16. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- Green Ronin Web Team (2010-05-03). "Green Ronin to Release DC Adventures RPG Books". Green Ronin Publishing. Archived from the original on 2010-05-06. Retrieved 2010-05-14.
- Bonanno, Janelle (28 March 2013). "Put More Pirates in Your Pathfinder With Freeport". The Escapist. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- "Freeport: The City of Adventure". greenronin.com. Green Ronin Publishing.