The return of Elric?

It looks like the multiverse of the Eternal Champion Elric will be returning to the world of in-print role-playing games thanks to Goodman Games:

“Goodman Games is thrilled to announce a licensing agreement to publish official tabletop role-playing material based on Elric of Melniboné, the iconic sword & sorcery character and setting created by legendary author Michael Moorcock! 

The Classic Era of Elric will include a line of sourcebooks, adventures, maps, and additional supplements, all designed for compatibility with both Fifth Edition and Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game systems. The project is scheduled to launch via crowdfunding in 2027. Products will be released following the successful campaign and will be available at game stores worldwide.”

Despite the influence that the early Elric stories had on me (and I remain fond of them to this day), I have to confess that I’m not all that excited about this. One reason is that the setting will use 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeon Crawl Classics – two systems about which I have decidedly cool feelings. DCC was a poor fit for another cherished fictional setting – Jack Vance’s Dying Earth – and I doubt that it will be appropriate for Elric (at least not without some heavy reworking). 

A second – more decisive – reason is that I already own a lot of "Elric" role-playing books: three editions of Chaosium’s Stormbringer (including Elric!, which is the same system as 5th edition Stormbringer), and a lot of supplemental books for those editions, as well as all the Elric of Melniboné books that were published for Mongoose’s Runequest II (MRQII) system. (MRQII, as many readers no doubt know, eventually evolved into Mythras.) So I already have more than enough Elric material – as well as some Hawkmoon and Corum material – to run multiple campaigns, all using RPG systems that I much prefer to both 5e D&D and DCC.

But who knows – maybe the new material will be good! Time (and funds) permitting, I may check out what Goodman Games produces for everyone’s favourite melancholy albino.