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The Vintage RPG Podcast

Rick Meints Interview

·55 min·5 clips
Rick Meints reveals how he and a new team rescued Chaosium from near-bankruptcy after disastrous Kickstarters.
The episode is an interview with Rick Meints, president of Chaosium, conducted by hosts Stu Horvath and John McGuire on The Vintage RPG Podcast. Meints begins by explaining how he joined Chaosium in 2015 as part of a new management team that rescued the company from near-bankruptcy after failed Kickstarters. He details his background in the automotive industry and his long-standing relationship with Chaosium founder Greg Stafford. Meints describes his passion for collecting RuneQuest and Glorantha materials, highlighting his book 'The Mainz Index to Glorantha' as a comprehensive visual guide. He talks about his role as 'head of the Department of Nostalgia,' where he cold-calls former creators to document their stories. The conversation covers the rarity of his collection, including unique items like original artwork and unpublished manuscripts. Meints recounts Chaosium's origins as a wargame publisher in 1975 and the debut of RuneQuest in 1978, coinciding with the Ramones' UK concert. He outlines plans for Chaosium's 50th anniversary in 2025, including conventions and special publications. The hosts and Meints discuss recent and upcoming releases for Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, and the Elf Quest Classic Kickstarter. Meints explains licensing challenges that prevent reissues of games like Ringworld and Thieves World. He also touches on the collectible card game market crash that nearly bankrupted Chaosium in the 1990s. The episode concludes with Meints teasing a potential Chaosium-wide index book and the hosts sharing their own projects.

As heard by us

A warm, slightly wandering conversation about Chaosium's survival, stewardship, and 50th anniversary plans.

Rick's conversation with the Vintage RPG Podcast treats Chaosium's endurance as a mix of lucky timing, shared labor, and steady care for the company's past.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get Chaosium's 2015 management-change story, its 50th anniversary convention plans, and enough book-hauling talk to make the hobby feel pleasantly real.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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