Retrospective: City State of the World Emperor

In the early days of the Old School Renaissance, one would regularly read effusive praise for Judges Guild. I think that's completely understandable. If the point of the OSR is the re-evaluation – and appreciation – of older roleplaying games and their products, it stands to reason there would be a lot of discussion of Judges Guild. Judges Guild was, after all, the earliest official licensee of Dungeons & Dragons and, over the course of the company's existence, it published an immense amount of material. Surely, there must be some, if not many, under-appreciated gems among them.

For the most part, I share this perspective. The Caverns of Thracia, Wilderlands of High Fantasy, Dark Tower, The First Fantasy Campaign, and, of course, City State of the Invincible Overlord are all rightly regarded as classic D&D supplements from the early days of the hobby, as are several others. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Judges Guild's output was, in the words of Patrick Amory, "masses of rubbish, poor art, and typos." No glasses are rose colored enough to turn many JG publications into a forgotten tour de force.

Then there are products like 1980's City State of the World Emperor, which occupy a strange middle ground, being neither pure gold nor completely worthless. Consisting of three books, it details the city-state of Viridistan, ruled by Hautulin Scheitt, the last member of "a once haughty and powerful race." Hautulin is also known as the Green Emperor on account of his skin color, evidence of his descent from the mermen of the Trident Gulf. In addition to ruling the city, he is high priest of the evil water god Armadad Bog, who is reputed to actually dwell beneath the emperor's palace within Viridistan. 

Though the Green Emperor has maintained his rule for 150 years, Viridistan is nevertheless rocked with intrigue. The city-state's monarchy is theoretically hereditary, but most of its emperors have been usurpers, having formerly been part of the local aristocracy before seizing the throne. The infighting between the nobility has slowly weakened the city-state and its hold over the surrounding territories. Consequently, it teeters on the brink of rebellion, civil war, or outright collapse – a terrific set-up for adventures or even a whole campaign.

Unfortunately, the bulk of City State of the World Emperor consists of tedious – and, worse, uninteresting – information about bureaucrats, sanitation, tax collection, and endless army barracks. There are descriptions of local businesses, but most of them are inns, taverns, or similar establishments. Now, obviously, inns are important, even vital, parts of many fantasy settings but how many does one need? Certainly not more than fifty and yet that's exactly what City State of the World Emperor offers. The cumulative effect of all the seemingly endless details of the city-state's civil servants, soldiers, and barkeeps is to undermine the high-level situation established earlier.

More useful are encounter and rumor tables, along with information on the local legal system. There's also an extensive treatment of the oppressed Mycretian religion. About 10% of the population of the city-state belong to this faith, which is peace-loving almost to the point of pacifism. Complementing these details is a new character class intended to represent devotees of the faith, complete with unique powers and abilities. I've always been fond of the Mycretians, in part because of how oddly they sit within the larger Wilderlands setting. 

In the end, City State of the World Emperor holds a lot of unfulfilled potential. The general frame of the city-state is a good one, perfect for intrigue-based adventures and campaigns. I absolutely love the notion of the Green Emperor's being the last of his kind, a throwback to the ancient days when gods walked among men. I likewise love the suggestion that the upper echelons of Viridistan's society are wracked with division and sedition. It's incredibly evocative, which is why it's a shame that so much of the product's three books are filled with pointless, dull minutiae – a wasted opportunity. 

Retrospective: Wilderlands of High Fantasy

I think it's fair to say that two of the lasting effects of the old school renaissance are the popularization of the term "sandbox" to refer to an open-ended campaign setting and the holding up of Judges Guild's The Wilderlands of High Fantasy as the premier example of a sandbox setting. The term "sandbox" is one I'd never heard, let alone used, in a tabletop RPG context until a few years ago, being, ironically, borrowed from the world of video games. And, while I knew of The Wilderlands of High Fantasy and even used it (briefly) back in the day, I never held it up as a model I wanted other campaign settings to emulate. How things change!

Originally released in 1977, The Wilderlands of High Fantasy is one of oldest published settings for use with Dungeons & Dragons. Nowadays, the release of a new campaign setting is often met with disinterest and even eye rolls, in part, I suspect, because campaign settings have become a very common product in the years since this was released. In 1977, though, this wasn't the case and one sometimes gets the impression that there was some skepticism among even their creators that gamers would have any interest in such a thing. Consider, for example, that the credits to The Wilderlands includes the following disclaimer:

All within are merely inspiration for the active and pontifical judges of the guild. Please alter, illuminate, expand, modify, extrapolate, interpolate, shrink, and further manipulate all contained to suit the tenor of your campaign.

I really like that quote and it nicely highlights one of the continually fascinating things about the Wilderlands setting: it's very flexible, even protean. Every time I have ever encountered or heard of a referee using it for their home campaign, I've been struck by just how different his home campaign is, not only from the "official" Wilderlands as published by Judges Guild but also from every other Wilderlands campaign run by other referees.

A big part of why this is the case is that The Wilderlands of High Fantasy, despite focusing on five of the sixteen regions of the overall Wilderlands setting, nevertheless devotes a lot of its 32 pages to collections of random tables and new rules. Thus, there are tables for ruins, caves, and lairs, in addition to rules for hirelings, prospecting, and income, among other topics. These tables and rules are clearly designed to facilitate campaigns where the characters wander about the world, exploring it hex by 1056-foot hex, in search of fame and fortune according to their own lights rather than any overarching plan concocted by the referee beforehand.

Another big part of why Wilderlands campaigns differ so much from one another is the sketchy nature of the setting information The Wilderlands of High Fantasy presents. A typical settlement is given a name, a population, a racial "type," general alignment, the name and characteristics of its ruler, and its primary resource. Hexes containing features of interest get a single line of description, such as "The crystallized skeleton of a dragon turtle is buried on the sandy beach. The skull houses a giant leech." There are no game stats or explanation here, just a very basic idea for the referee to read and, it is hoped, to be inspired by.

As a younger person, the Wilderlands didn't thrill me much and the presentation of the setting in products like The Wilderlands of High Fantasy was the main reason why. From my youthful perspective, I felt that authors Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen hadn't done "enough work" for me. Sure there were maps, including player's maps that didn't have complete information about settlements and geographic features, but what I really wanted was a lengthy historical overview of the setting and more detailed information about its peoples and locales. The Wilderlands of High Fantasy gave me none of that, instead expecting that I'd fill in those blanks myself, using the vague details, random tables, and new rules as raw materials from which to craft my own setting. After all, that's what being a referee is all about, isn't it?

REVIEW: 100 Street Vendors of the City State

This is probably one of my more melancholy reviews, given that James Mishler, writer of 100 Street Vendors of the City State and owner of Adventure Games Publishing has announced that this would be his last product for sale and that AGP would be closing. This is unfortunate news on numerous levels but particularly so because 100 Street Vendors is a very good and, above all, useful product, even if one is not using Castles & Crusades or the Wilderlands settings. Indeed, this is one of the most useful -- and meaty -- offerings Mishler has produced to date. That it is the last of its kind contributes greatly to my sense that one only really appreciates what one has after it is gone.

I called 100 Street Vendors "meaty" and so it is. Consisting of 60 pages of the densely packed text for which Mishler's products are well known, it presents, as its title suggests, 100 different NPCs, each one a vendor on the winding streets of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. Now, that probably sounds a lot less interesting than it is, for the real genius of this product is that it's far more than a mere rogues gallery of non-player character names and statistics (though it is that as well). Each entry is a kind of "mini-sourcebook," providing information about the City State and the Wilderlands in general, along with numerous plot hooks and rumors for the referee to use in creating his own adventures. For example, a fishmonger by the name of Ferka is described as being of the

Great Black Bass Clan, the most prominent fisher-folk of the western Roglaroon (though the Great Blue Bass Clan would deny that at the point of a dagger); he is one of several fishmongers of the clan, as he is more capable of interacting with the "land lubbers" than most of the clansfolk, which tend to be ornery, xenophobic, and inbred (after long ago absorbing a bit of Merfolk blood, to be sure.

Later, the same entry notes:

An ancient temple of the Sea God has been discovered in the fens of the Mermist Swamp; it is said to be overrun by trolls and giant toads that guard a gold-plated statue at the heart of the temple.

Between those two small sections of one entry, there are lots of ideas a clever referee can use in creating his own adventures and in fleshing out the Wilderlands setting -- and there are 99 more entries of similar or even greater detail. I don't use the Wilderlands for my OD&D campaign, but I've already found lots of inspiration in the pages of 100 Street Vendors. If one is running any kind of city-based campaign, it's even more inspiring, as it goes a long way toward making a seemingly ordinary trip to hire a locksmith or employ a sage into something memorable. If one is running a campaign that involves the City State, it's even more valuable, as Mishler has helpfully included several excellent indices of the vendors (by street, by market, and by quarter), along with discussions of local coinage.

If 100 Street Vendors of the City State has a flaw, it's that its bare bones, illustration-free presentation might be overwhelming. The information contained within its 60 pages is vast and the text uses a very small point size, which might by off-putting. These would be unfortunate but understandable reactions and I have to admit that, before I started reading the book, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about doing so. But I am glad I did and this book will now enjoy a place of honor in my collection, along with a very small number of other useful referee tools. I consider that very high praise and a fitting conclusion to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy line. Grab a copy while you still can.

Presentation: 5 out of 10
Creativity: 8 out of 10
Utility: 8 out of 10

Buy This If: You're looking for a vast collection of idea fodder in the form of NPC descriptions, rumors, and setting details.
Don't Buy This If: You never use prepackaged NPC descriptions.

Sad News from AGP

James Mishler has announced on his blog that Adventure Games Publishing is closing its doors for good.

The decision to close AGP was neither easy nor quick; it has been brewing in my mind for a long time. It is the end result of far more mistakes being made than successess being earned. At one point a good friend, who knew of my work on Comics & Games Retailer, asked me point blank why I did not take the very good advice I dished out in that magazine. I still do not know why myself.

The closure is, essentially, the final result of ever fewer sales on each new product, both print and PDF, such that at this point, I'll end up paying people to take my next product. 100 Street Vendors of the City State, barring a handful of sales of Noble Knight Games, sold a grand total of three print copies. Yes, you read that right, three copies. The PDF sales were not much better, a grand total of 13 copies sold as compared to 15 copies being taken free by reviewers (and many, many thanks to the two of you who have actually posted reviews!)

As though the dreadful sales on what I considered to be my best, most tied-in work of the Wilderlands was not enough, this is also tax time, and looking over the results of the prior year was most educational. The end result, even after pinching every penny and keeping all expenses down to the bare minimum, was a grand total net income such that I earned a total of less than $2 per hour for all my work on AGP in 2009. Were this simply a sideline to a full-time job, that would truly be a nice result. As this is supposed to be my "day job," that result is, as we call it, a "reason to quit."

And so we are done.

While I cannot fault James for his decision, it's sad nonetheless. I've consistently enjoyed his work, some of which has been truly excellent, including his recent 100 Street Vendors of the City State, which is, ironically, the next item in the queue for review here. I regret now that I hadn't been able to review it sooner, although it sounds as if a single review, even a glowing one, wouldn't have made much difference in the end. James says that, sometime in the future, he plans to take up writing again, this time likely as a hobby, and I am glad of that at least.

Good luck, James, and thank you for all the hard work and creativity you've shared with us these last few years. I adore the copy of XXXI I bought from you two years ago and hope you'll share more of your marvelous imagination with us in the years to come.

The City-State Map

As I mentioned in a previous post, Bill Owen and Bob Bledsaw Jr are offering reproductions of the original map of the City-State of the Invincible Overlord (when it was still called "No Name City") for sale. Copies are available here and Mr Owen has stated that the sale of this map will cease after Christmas (or sooner, if all 144 copies made are purchased before December 25). If you're interested in obtaining a copy, there's only a few more days to do so.

My own copy arrived just this morning and it's really a thing to behold. First, it's huge. I mean, really big. It looks like a set of blueprints (although it's white, not blue). Those familiar with the City-State will immediately recognize its layout, although there are a few differences from the published version. The map is also less complete, in the sense that not every location in the city is named or otherwise keyed. Consequently, it's more of a historical artifact than a gaming product, although one could certainly use it in-game if one wished. I'm certainly glad I have a copy and wish more materials like this were made available by other pioneers of the hobby. Kudos to Mr Owen and Judges Guild.

REVIEW: The Majestic Wilderlands

(In the interests of full disclosure, I've worked with Rob Conley on a couple of old school projects, including The Cursed Chateau, so bear this in mind when reading this review. I make no claims to any absolute objectivity in my reviews, including this one, but it's not unreasonable to expect me to admit when I'm reviewing a product by someone with whom I've had a past business relationship.)

Supplement VI: The Majestic Wilderlands is cartographer extraordinaire Rob Conley's first foray into self-publishing and he doesn't fail to impress. Conley had already penned (along with collaborator Dwayne Gillingham) two superb installments of the Points of Light series, published by Goodman Games, along with articles in Fight On! and a D20 revisions to classic Judges Guild adventures, so I expected good things from The Majestic Wilderlands and I was not disappointed. It's a 140-page digest-sized supplement to Swords & Wizardry, although it's easily usable with "all editions based on the original 1974 roleplaying game." The book is available in three formats, two print (one with the cover pictured to the right and another with an "original style" cover), and one in PDF. Both print editions sell for $12, while the PDF carries a $7 price tag. Given the density of the text and small font size, there's quite a lot of material packed in its pages, so the prices are more than reasonable for what you get, especially when compared with many other old school products these days.

As its title implies, The Majestic Wilderlands is a licensed product, presenting Conley's vision of the venerable Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. This vision is based on his having used the setting over the course of three decades, adding to it and expanding it as the demands of his players and campaign demanded. The result is a setting that's at once familiar and new, a version of the Wilderlands that's a bit more "realistic" than the standard one, which is to say, one that's more concerned with sociological and political concerns than you'd expect. That's not to say The Majestic Wilderlands is a dry read -- it's not -- but it definitely has a different feel than the original Judges Guild material on which it's based. That said, fans whose visions of the Wilderlands are more "traditional" will still find a lot to like here, as Conley's included lots of little details that could be imported into campaigns based there (or indeed most fantasy campaign settings). Conley's vision of the Wilderlands doesn't completely mesh with my own, but it's difficult not to admire his craftsmanship in world building. The Majestic Wilderlands, as presented here, is clearly a work of love and imagination in the best old school tradition.

The Majestic Wilderlands bills itself as "Supplement VI," a nomenclature that might strike some as odd. It's obviously a reference both to the original OD&D supplements and to Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa, which claimed the title of "Supplement V." I don't want to rehash the controversies surrounding Carcosa here; I think everyone who has an opinion on the subject has already expressed them. That said, I was critical of McKinney's decision in my own review of Carcosa and I haven't changed my mind on this score. Much as I admire OD&D and its supplement -- indeed, because I admire them -- I don't think it appropriate to add one's own work to the canon, so to speak. That's a judgment for others to make. Doing otherwise could be misconstrued as arrogance, or at least cheek, and might turn off people who would otherwise enjoy the content of one's book.

Fortunately, with only a couple of exceptions, the content of The Majestic Wilderlands is top-notch. Conley boldly divided the book into three sections modeled on the three volumes of OD&D. The first, "Men & Magic," provides new character options. Among these are several new sub-classes, such as Berserkers, Knights, Soldiers, Paladins of Mitra, Myrmidons of Set for Fighting Men, and Mages, Artificers, Wizards, Rune-Casters, and Theurgists for Magic-Users. The classes are all well-done, both mechanically and stylistically. I have some issues with a few of them (the Soldier seems unnecessary, for example), but I like many a great deal, particularly the Myrmidons of Set, which would work nicely in my Dwimmermount campaign as elite warriors of Typhon. Conley provides new options for Clerics too by describing each faith of the Majestic Wilderlands, often imposing new restrictions on the class while at the same time opening up new possibilities. It's a nice approach, one that takes the kernel of a good idea in 2e's specialty priests while avoiding its pitfalls.

Section I also introduced a new class and its attendant sub-classes: the Rogue. Rogues are characters who are neither good at fighting or magic but instead excel at certain abilities, which is to say, skills. All Rogues (Burglars, Thugs, Mountebanks, Claws of Kalis, and Merchant Adventurers) depend heavily on the skill system introduced in The Majestic Wilderlands. As you'd expect, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I like the idea behind several of these classes, particularly the Mountebank, but skills make me very uneasy in a class-based game. The skill system Conley presents is simple enough: roll 1D20, modified by appropriate class and ability bonuses (if any), and score 15 or higher to achieve a success. As such systems go, it's pretty inoffensive. I'm simply not convinced that it's needed, but I realize I may be eccentric about this point. I'm probably also eccentric in disliking the idea of NPC classes, particularly for "non-adventurers." The Majestic Wilderlands gives us several of these: Craftsman, Hedge Mage, Priest, and Scholars. All remind me of the "cut-down" NPC classes we saw in D&D III and, again, I don't really see the necessity for them, particularly in an old school game.

The section continues with an overview of playable races, with a few new options, including some specific to the Wilderlands. There are also some nice new rules for combat that are simple yet flavorful and should do a lot to making OD&D-style combat more tactically rich. Following that is a section of magic that, among other details, introduces "rituals," which enable a spellcaster to cast a spell straight out of his spellbook without having to memorize it beforehand, but the spell is slower than normal and carries a material component cost dependent on its level. As Conley admits outright, "The intent of this system is that most utility spells are cast via rituals in
the Majestic Wilderlands." As you'd expect, I don't much care for the concept of rituals, precisely because it changes the complexion of spellcasting character classes in a profound way. Without the so-called "utility spells" taking up spell slots, spellcasters no longer have to weigh combat effectiveness against the unpredictable needs of adventuring. Should I memorize find traps or hold person is a significant decision for the player of a 4th-level Cleric, who only gets a single 2nd-level spell. Rituals obviate the need for such a decision, thereby changing the way the class -- and the game -- is played. Again, I'm sure many will find rituals a welcome addition to the game, but, for my part, I think it does serious violence to the class structure of D&D and would never allow the rules to be used in my campaign.

Section II is "Monsters & Treasure" and introduces several new monsters and magic items. It's the shortest section in the book (only 10 pages), but nevertheless manages to inject some new approaches to some staples of the game. Section III, "Underworld & Wilderness Adventures," takes up close to half the book and presents Conley's vision of the Wilderlands setting, complete with maps and a gazetteer of it all. Nearly the entirety of this vast setting gets at least some discussion, with the area around the famed City-State getting the most. Conley shows a remarkable ability to say a lot in a few words and, while no region gets dozens of paragraphs devoted to it, each one provides enough detail to inspire a referee -- proof positive that campaign setting books need not be huge technical manuals consisting of hundreds of pages to be satisfactory. The various cultures that inhabit the Majestic Wilderlands gets more detail and it's here where Conley's vision comes through most clearly. He cares a great deal about society, culture, and (especially) religion and it's these forces, moreso even than monsters and magic, that drive the Wilderlands in his estimation. This helps give the whole a "serious" quality to it that, while not wholly to my taste, is nevertheless extremely attractive. Conley's love for the setting is palpable and infectious.

In the final analysis, The Majestic Wilderlands is a terrific book and another great example of old school game design. Both in terms of its game mechanics and its setting material, this product proves the old adage that "less is more." It likewise counters the notion that, without reams of precise rules and setting detail, you don't have enough material to run a RPG campaign adequately. The Majestic Wilderlands is a model of compendiousness, providing all that's needed to play without being cryptic. And while I dislike some of the rules included, for both philosophical and practical reasons, they're easily omitted. Moreover, Conley provides so much in these pages that, even eliminating those sections I dislike, there is still plenty to admire and, most importantly, use in one's own campaign. The Majestic Wilderlands is a triumph and a nice capstone to a year that has seen the old school movement prosper and diversify. Here's hoping we see more products of this sort, from Robert Conley and others, in the years to come.

Presentation: 7 out of 10
Creativity: 9 out of 10
Utility: 9 out of 10

Buy This If: You're either a Wilderlands fan (or looking to become one) or interested in some excellent supplemental rules to Swords & Wizardry (or any OD&D-derived game).
Don't Buy This If: You have no interest in the Wilderlands or prefer to keep your OD&D-derived game free from supplemental rules.

REVIEW: Tharbrian Horse-Lords

Tharbrian Horse-Lords is the first Player's Guide for Adventure Games Publishing's Castles & Crusades-based "Wilderlands of High Adventure" setting. The product is available in two formats: a 22-page PDF costing $5.00 or a 36-page digest-size booklet costing $7.00. This review is based on the PDF, so I cannot comment on any changes made to the print version, if any. Like most previous AGP Wilderlands products, Tharbrian Horse-Lords is text-dense and without any illustrations. The layout is a simple two-column one that's easy to read and the text is both clear and well edited.

Of course, it's the actual content of the product that matters most and Tharbrian Horse-Lords offers plenty of content, most of free of game mechanics. This makes it very easy to use with game systems other than C&C, although some sections of it are written as expansions to the variant barbarian class presented in Barbarians of the Wilderlands 1. The Horse-Lords of the title are a barbarian culture best described as "Celtic Mongols." That is, their culture reminded me of an amalgam between the continental European Celtic peoples (primarily the Gauls) and central Asian horse nomads. While ethnologists among us might balk at this, I found the mixture easy to grasp, which suggests that players would find it equally easy to portray a Tharbrian as a character.

The bulk of the product describes the history, society, and culture of the Tharbrians, sometimes in more detail than I felt necessary. However, since each section only adds to one's overall sense of what Horse-Lord culture is like, it can be argued that additional detail is never a bad thing. This is clearly a taste issue; for myself, I prefer broader strokes in my gaming products, with less specific information and more general ideas that I can use as a springboard. This is particularly true in the case of settings like the Wilderlands, which has always been a "big tent" setting, whose most detailed areas were still very sketchy compared to those of contemporary settings.

I worry somewhat that, given the amount of information provided in this product about one barbarian nation, the Wilderlands of High Adventure will soon find itself weighted down in canon, no matter how well written and interesting. And it is interesting. James Mishler has described the Tharbrians in sufficient detail that I can easily imagine playing an entire campaign within their roaming lands, making this product almost a mini-campaign setting within the larger Wilderlands. In that respect, it's quite remarkable and the level detail it provides is exactly right. Given that, perhaps I should clarify my worry somewhat: taken in itself, I think Tharbrian Horse-Lords strikes a good balance between too much and too little detail; taken as part of a larger whole, I see a trend toward fleshing out every nook and cranny of the Wilderlands and that remains worrisome to me. But, as I said, it's a matter of taste and many gamers will find eight paragraphs of information about the Tharbrian diet exactly the sort of information they need in their campaigns, while I find it a bit too much.

I can say, without hesitation, that Tharbrian Horse-Lords is an excellent product, well written and interesting and a good companion to the other Wilderlands product AGP has published to date. The key here in gauging one's own interest in it is whether you deem the approach Mishler has adopted in those other products as felicitous or not. I personally find them a little information-heavy at times, but I realize not everyone shares my preferences. For me, the glory of the "classical" Wilderlands is its lack of detail, which makes it easy to remake the setting in any way I choose as the situation demands. Mishler's Wilderlands of High Adventure variant presents a particular interpretation of that setting and then fleshes it out in increasing detail. That's not a bad approach and, as I feel compelled to reiterate, Mishler does so excellently; it's just not my preferred approach. Whether it is yours will determine how you feel about Tharbrian Horse-Lords.

Presentation: 5 out of 10
Creativity: 7 out of 10
Utility: 7 out of 10

Buy This If: You're looking for a fully-fleshed out barbarian culture to use in your game.
Don't Buy This If: You're not interested in fantasy ethnography

Little Colored Books

James Mishler of Adventure Games Publishing has just produced 11 booklets that reproduce his PDF products in printed form, some of it for the first time ever. I have to admit I'm very fond of the smaller format of these booklets. Having spent the last nine months using the little OD&D books in my Dwimmermount game, I am completely convinced of the the superiority of this size, which is small enough to be able to keep at the table without cluttering it up. Plus, they're very handy for carrying around with me as I travel. I'd love to see more publishers adopt the format, so kudos to AGP for doing so.

AGP Customer Appreciation Sale

James Mishler of Adventure Games Publishing has announced a Customer Appreciation Sale. All sixteen of AGP's products are now reduced in price as a way to say thank you for those who've purchased them in the past.

I've reviewed most of AGP's products here in the past, so here's a handy set of links to the individual reviews:

100 Calamitous Curses
100 Exciting Encounters & 100 Treasure Troves
2008 Wilderlands Jam
Adventure Games Journal, Issue #1
Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium
Barbarians of the Wilderlands I
Forn Sidthr: The Old Custom
Martial Artist Class
Monsters & Treasures of the Wilderlands I (Revised Version)
Wilderlands Maps

James Mishler is one of the hardest working guys in the hobby. His output is amazing both in terms of volume and quality. If you've ever thought about buying one of his many terrific products, now's a good time to do so.

Retrospective: City State of the Invincible Overlord

When one thinks of the greatest city in the history of pulp fantasy, one immediately thinks of the City of the Black Toga, Lankhmar. And when one thinks of the greatest city in the history of fantasy roleplaying, one immediately thinks of Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord. First published in 1977, CSIO made a huge splash at the time of its release and it remains, in my opinion, the gold standard for urban sourcebooks over 30 years later.

One reason for that was its huge 34" x 44" map (in four sections), detailing over 300 individual locations, along the NPCs who inhabited them. This opened urban adventuring to sandbox-style play with great ease. Players could send their characters to wander aimlessly through the City State, checking out its various shops and sights without the referee having to worry about the daunting task of creating it all himself. Of course, in typical Judges Guild fashion, these details were sparse and open-ended. This let each referee tailor the City State to his own campaign, making this product very much a "playing aid," just as it bills itself.

CSIO really was a very flexible and easy to use product. I have filed off the serial numbers and re-tooled it for use in many campaigns, most memorably my Greyhawk campaign of old, where it stood in for the City of Greyhawk itself (there being no official alternative at the time). The City State is also the basis for Adamas in my current Dwimmermount campaign. Oddly, I've never actually used it in a genuine Wilderlands campaign. My few Wilderlands campaigns were all set far away from the City State, which makes me a bit unusual, I suspect.

I don't think it's an understatement to say that Judges Guild played a bigger part in establishing most of what I consider the essential elements of old school play than any company outside of TSR. Beyond that I'd say that JG did even more than TSR when it came to developing certain elements, most notably wilderness/sandbox and urban play. CSIO shaped many people's perceptions of what a D&D city ought to be and, as I said, I've yet to see a more immediately useful urban environment for gaming than this one. Like the Wilderlands of which it's a part, the City State is a terrific pulp fantasy goulash that borrows gleefully from many sources of inspiration, creating a city that's not only a great place to adventure in its own right but one that feels as like a D&D city should -- boisterous, somewhat incoherent, but brimming with possibilities.

You can still find copies of this great game aid on eBay and from used game sellers, but they're often very pricey. Necromancer Games produced a 3e version of it several years ago and, like all their JG stuff, it's excellent. It really is a pity that they're not continuing to produce new Wilderlands material, but that leaves an opening for guys like James Mishler, so I can't really complain. In any event, City State of the Invincible Overlord remains one of my favorite RPG products of all time and, in terms of its influence, it certainly ranks highly indeed.

Monsters &Treasure of the Wilderlands Updated

Back in September, I wrote a review of Adventure Games Publishing's Monsters & Treasure of the Wilderlands I, giving it a perfect score of 5 out of 5 polearms. Well, the indefatigable James Mishler has been hard at work, expanding the product by adding eleven new monsters (27 as opposed to 16), artwork by Peter Bradley (including a full-color cover), and more information on how to integrate these creatures into the Wilderlands of High Adventure campaign setting. The PDF version of the expanded product sells for $8.00, twice the cost of the original version, presumably because of the cost of art and cartography. A print version will retail for $10.95 and should be available soon.

The new monsters are as good as those in the original release and it's nice to see illustrations of these beasties, even if Bradley's art isn't quite my cup of tea. If you didn't pick up a copy of the original release, I have no hesitation about recommending the expanded version, as it's well worth the price. Mishler's products are extremely good at providing a lot of useful flavor in addition to game mechanics. That is, there's no "fluff" here. Instead, what you get are nice little details that in themselves suggest adventures or that make an encounter more memorable. There's no gilding the lily here, just good old-fashioned creativity in the service of great gaming. And Mishler's magical treasures continue to be some of the best written in many a moon. They're weird and mysterious and, best of all, dangerous. They're perfect for swords-and-sorcery style games and I absolutely adore them.

This expanded version is another milestone along Adventure Games Publishing's journey to restore the Wilderlands to its former glory as one of the pre-eminent settings of fantasy gaming. Between the little touches in the monster and treasure descriptions and the maps that provide a wider context to it all, you can see just how much Mishler loves adding gameable details to this setting. That love is infectious and, while I still worry that AGP's Wilderlands offerings could result in too much detail, we're clearly not at that point just yet. Instead, we have another excellent bit of work that testifies to the lasting power of Judges Guild's products and ideas.

REVIEW: Forn Sidthr: The Old Custom

Forn Sidthr: The Old Custom is a 13-page PDF released by James Mishler's Adventure Games Publishing and selling for $3.00. Describing the worship of the Aesir (and Vanir) gods, this product is the first in the "Faiths of the City State" series for use with AGP's Wilderlands of High Adventure setting, but it's generic enough that it'd be useful in any setting that includes the Norse pantheon. Likewise, though Forn Sidthr written with Castles & Crusades in mind, makes no specific references to C&C's game mechanics, thereby making it easy to use with any fantasy RPG, old school or otherwise.

The product begins with a one-page overview of the religious life of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. The overview gives a good sense of the riotous polytheism of the City State and, by implication, the Wilderlands as a whole by introducing five ranks to measure one's devotion to a particular faith: irregular, regular, semi-exclusive, initiate, and priest. What's nice about these ranks is that, in addition to providing context for the setting, they also include practical guidelines about what level of religious devotion qualifies one for each. It's a small thing, admittedly, but I appreciated it, since, as we'll see shortly, there are consequences to whether one is devout or lax in his observances.

Five pages are devoted to Old Custom itself, with information on the religion's history, deities, symbols, hierarchy, and so forth. There's also a section detailing the Forn Sidthr's beliefs and dogma. Again, this information is presented very practically, with eye toward how it can be used in play. This is not an abstract flight of fancy into fantastical theology but rather a brief but specific discussion of how adherents to the Old Custom behave -- or are expected to, at any rate -- and what this means. I also appreciated the way that these five pages gave a sense of the Forn Sidthr as being a unified pantheon with a proper "church." All too often, fantasy games have no notion of ritual, hierarchy, or doctrine, treating religion as individualistic and atomized, with no regard for how its various pieces fit together. Forn Sidthr nicely avoids that error, but without committing the concomitant error of getting bogged down in pointless detail.

The last six pages of the PDF are devoted to a discussion of the afterlife and the disposition of the soul of a follower of the Old Custom. In it, we're introduced to a new system that tracks the virtues and sins of members of the faith, so that the referee can keep a running tallying that determines the fate of a character's soul after death. The section catalogs the major and minor acts that earn one approbation or condemnation in the eyes of the Aesir and gives a table that enables the referee to see what happens to your character should he die at any given point. Depending on his faithfulness, he could be rewarded with a seat at Odin's table in Valhalla or cursed to wander the earth as an undead draugr -- or anything in between. The table also shows how effective raise dead and similar spells will be on a character whose soul is in each category, which I found to be an excellent bit of forethought on Mishler's part.

I can find almost nothing to dislike in Forn Sidthr: The Old Custom, except perhaps its somewhat pedestrian three-column layout, but that's a small quibble, because, boring though it may be, the layout is nevertheless easy on the eyes and free from errors. This is an excellent product and a good example I think of how much Mishler has learned since he began publishing his Wilderlands products. Earlier products tended to be a bit too "heavy" on minutiae for my liking, whereas his more recent endeavors have been eminently "practical" in their approach. They don't skimp on details by any means, but the details are carefully chosen for maximum utility. That is, they're useful in play and not just as bits of trivia that gamers can swap while talking about playing rather than actually doing so. For me, this quality is exactly what old school gaming products should possess and Mishler has shown he understands it well. I continue to be very impressed with AGP's PDFs and look forward to future releases with great anticipation.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 polearms

REVIEW: 2008 Wilderlands Jam

2008 Wilderlands Jam is a limited edition 48-page supplement for Adventure Games Publishing's "Wilderlands of High Adventure" setting. Originally released at GenCon this past summer, a number of copies are still available for sale for $12.00. Like all previous AGP releases, Jam is written for use with Troll Lord's Castles & Crusades system, but the vast majority of the material in its pages are easily convertible to most D&D-derived games, regardless of edition. Unlike previous AGP releases, however, this one includes no art beyond three hex maps. The book instead consists primarily of three-column pages of dense text. Truth be told, I didn't particularly miss the art, but I did find the print quality of this book noticeably poorer than in other AGP products. Although it doesn't harm legibility overly much for me, I wouldn't be surprised if it make the book less readable to those whose eyesight is worse than my own.

2008 Wilderlands Jam consists of four parts of varying length. Three of them are not new, having appeared in other forms before this product, while the fourth is an excerpt from an upcoming product. The first part, entitled "Warrior-Mages of the Wilderlands," is the shortest (at 6 pages) and is still available as a free PDF from the AGP website. This part introduces a new C&C character class called, as one might expect, the Warrior-Mage. The Warrior-Mage exists for players who wish to create characters that immediately combine fighting prowess with spellcasting without the need to multiclass. The result is a class that's less puissant at arms than a Fighter (a lower Base to Hit and Hit Dice, for example) but just as magically adept as a Wizard. Of course, the class is very slow to advance, needing nearly 5000 XP to reach level 2, so there is a price to be paid for such versitility.

Where the Warrior-Mage stands out, though, is in the various "traditions" Mishler describes. These traditions are different culturally-based "schools" of Warrior-Mage training, each with its little twists on the core abilities of the class. Each tradition includes a focus weapon used for the casting of spells (and the various bonuses associated with it), a list of weapon and armor restrictions, and some special abilities that enable the Warrior-Mage to use his spells in creative ways. Three sample traditions are described and Mishler provides a list of special abilities from which to construct one's own traditions or to use models when creating new special abilities. Rounding out this part, there are also descriptions of fourteen new spells unique to the Warrior-Mage.

I like the idea of the Warrior-Mage. I've often felt that D&D suffered a bit for never including a baseline class that included both fighting and magical abilities, particularly given the way elves are portrayed in a lot of fantasy literature. I've also been of the opinion that multiclassing has often been much too clunky in its implementation to succeed in combining aspects of multiple class archetypes. That said, I'm not completely happy with the Warrior-Mage, which is a fairly complex class once you take into consideration all its special abilities. Some, particularly those more inclined toward the 3e and later approaches to class design, might not have any problems with this, but I found myself wishing the class could have been presented more simply than it was. I am also baffled by the use of seven-sided dice for Hit Dice, which strikes me as needlessly quirky.

The second part, "Sorcerers of the Wilderlands," is 10 pages long. It too was previously released as a free PDF. I very much enjoyed this section of Jam for several reasons. First, its take on "sorcery" -- dark pacts with Demon Lords -- is a good example of how I prefer the handling of such dubious activities in a RPG. This part includes lists of "petty," "lesser," and "greater" evils which a sorcerer must commit in order to enter into and/or maintain a dark pact. However, beyond noting that this or that act constitutes a "greater evil" as opposed to a "lesser evil," very little detail is given, thereby allowing each referee to expand upon it or not as they wish. Second, there's simply no question that anyone entering into a dark pact with a demon lord has committed an objectively evil act. In addition, entering into a dark pact starts a character down the road to damnation, becoming Chaotic Evil in alignment and a thrall to demonic powers from which escape is well nigh impossible. Had Carcosa shown a similar lack of ambiguity, I would have had far fewer problems with it.

The third thing I really appreciated about this part of 2008 Wilderlands Jam was its mechanical open-endedness. Although guidelines are given for the kinds of things a demon lord might grant as a result of a dark pact -- familiars, spell-like abilities, wealth, etc. -- as well as guidelines for what he asks in return, they remain just that: guidelines. The referee is free to mix and match pact requirements and benefits as he wishes, allowing him to tailor them to suit the demon lord and the character involved. This flexibility also gives wide scope for creating NPC sorcerers whose special pact-granted abilities might be quite unexpected, such as a Fighter who can cast certain spells or a Cleric with a demonic familiar.

This part also includes information on sorcerous summonings, curses, and spells. Sorcerous spells are special evil spells learned either through a dark pact or through scrolls/spell books. These spells have a chance to backfire if cast by individuals who haven't entered into a dark pact in order to learn them, with the result typically being the caster becoming the spell's target. These spells all have a wonderfully swords-and-sorcery feel to them; Mishler clearly has a knack for that style of fantasy and it comes through strongly in the text. I'll reiterate that I think he took the right tack in his presentation of the material, staying firmly on the "vague-but-suggestive" side of things. "Sorcerers of the Wilderlands" also includes two new monsters and a single new treasure.

The third part, "Monsters & Treasures of the Wilderlands I," takes up 17 pages of Jam and is identical (so far as I could tell -- if there are differences, I did not notice them) to the previously released PDF product that I reviewed here.

The fourth and final part, "Valley of the Dead Queens Preview," occupies 10 pages and is an excerpt from AGP's upcoming Southern Reaches Gazetteer. The preview describes three hexes in some detail, noting their geographical features, monster lairs, settlements, and other points of interest, tied together with a brief background detailing a fallen kingdom of priestess-queens who once rules the area. If one loves sandbox style campaigning, this part of Jam is for you. Mishler manages to cram a lot of terrific ideas into a comparatively small amount of space; it's not hard to be inspired after reading his entries. Otherwise banal locations are infused with a healthy dose of possibility, which is key to the success of sandbox play. If I have a complaint about this part of the book, it's that some of the entries are longer and more detailed than I think is necessary. The original Judges Guild products were masters of verbal economy and, while Mishler is good on this score, I think he could still stand to take a page or two more from his illustrious predcessors.

2008 Wilderlands Jam is difficult product to review. Only one-quarter of its text is actually new and that distinction won't last once the Southern Reaches Gazetteer is released. Of course, most of the material in the book is excellent. If you haven't read any of its contents already, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend buying it. Likewise, if you're like me and you prefer print products to PDF ones, it's also a worthwhile purchase. I can't deny that it's somewhat pricey, given its length and the fact that 16 of its 48 pages are available for free online already. However, I've come to accept that the market for old school material is limited and thus prices will inevitably be higher per page than on more "mainstream" RPG material. If you understand this as well, 2008 Wilderlands Jam may be just what you're looking for.

Final Score: 4 out of 5 polearms

Hurrah!

Scott Driver has returned after too long an absence to his Wilderlands OD&D blog. Be sure to check it out.

REVIEW: Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium

Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium is the latest PDF from the prolific James Mishler of Adventure Games Publishing. This 12-page product (10 pages of text, plus a title/table of contents and a full-page ad for an upcoming AGP product) retails for $2.50 normally, but is currently on sale for $2.00. Either price is, quite, frankly a steal, considering the terrific ideas to be found here. It's true that the PDF is very "bare bones," consisting of three-column pages of small type and no illustrations. However, I'd argue that's a point in this product's favor, since Mishler was able to pack quite a lot of great ideas into only 10 pages and it's great ideas that distinguish AGP's products.

In principle, the Eldritch Compendium is designed for use with Castles & Crusades and AGP's variant Wilderlands setting, but its contents should easily translate into almost any D&D-related fantasy roleplaying game. Mechanics aside, there's plenty of ideas here that should be easily usable in any RPG with a swords-and-sorcery feel. One of the many things I most appreciate about about AGP's products is their high degree of utility. Whether I'm playing OD&D, AD&D, or C&C, I'd be able to pick and up and use them without worrying a difficult process of converting their game mechanics. That may seem like a small thing, but it isn't and it's one that old school gamers should particularly appreciate. In this respect, AGP is following in the illustrious footsteps of Judges Guild: creating products that are packed with ideas and light on mechanics.

The Eldritch Compendium's actual contents consists of two separate sections. The first details twelve new wizard spells, ranging in level from 1-9. The spells themselves are diverse and interesting, with just enough flavor and idiosyncrasies to make them memorable yet not so specific that they'd be difficult to import into most fantasy campaign settings. A good example is the spell Blood Childe, which enables the caster to create a semi-independent clone of himself that might (if he's lucky) do his bidding. The spell description is lengthy and filled with plenty of information on the process by which the blood childe is created and grows over time, as well as the likelihood that the clone is defective in some way and thus prone to rebel against its "parent" when the time is right. Most of the spells are similarly interesting and not always without dangers in casting them, which appeals to me greatly. Also to be found amongst the spells are a few sly references that struck me as the kinds of silliness Gary Gygax and others foisted on their players in days of yore, such as the spell Chirurgeon ex Nihilo, which summons an extra-dimensional doctor of a race called "Djeeps." Long-time fans of Popeye will immediately recognize the race's origins.

The second half of the PDF consists of formulae for the creation of different potions made from the eyes of a prysmal eye. For those not in the know, a prysmal eye is C&C's ersatz beholder, since the beholder is IP of Wizards of the Coast and not part of the D20 SRD. There are eleven formulae -- one for each eye -- and their descriptions not only explain their effects and how to make them, but also the possible unintended side effects of imbibing them. I think these side effects, many of them quite unpleasant for the imbiber, are pure gold. They're exactly what I want to see more of, since they remind players that magic is unpredictable and often dangerous. They very nicely exude a swords-and-sorcery vibe that I think is not only great fun but also in keeping with the pulp fantasy roots of the hobby. Rounding out the chapter is a formula for the creation of plate armor made from the hide of the prysmal eye; it too has potentially horrible consequences. I sincerely hope Mishler continues to create new magic items in this same vein.

If I have a complaint about Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium, it's that it's too short, but that's my love of good ideas talking rather than any objective judgment on the PDF's length. At 10 pages of small text, the product is full of great ideas and a real bargain, even at its regular price. Like Mythmere Games' Eldritch Weirdness, Book One, this product does more than provide new "toys" for use in one's campaign; it provides plenty of hooks from which to hang dozens of adventures. Few of these hooks are explicitly spelled out -- doing so is the referee's job -- but they're there aplenty and they really do inspire me. That's probably the highest praise I can give any product and I gladly give it here.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 polearms

REVIEW: Barbarians of the Wilderlands I

Barbarians of the Wilderlands I is a 20-page PDF, retailing for $4.00, written by the prolific James Mishler and intended for use with Adventure Games Publishing's Castles & Crusades-based Wilderlands of High Adventure setting. Of those 20 pages, 17 are devoted the text of the product itself, the other three being a cover, a table of contents/OGL page, and an illustrated dedication to "the Last Celt" (Robert E. Howard, for those curious). As with all of AGP's releases, Barbarians of the Wilderlands I is illustrated by Peter Bradley, who also acted as its graphic designer. The PDF has a clean, three-column layout that's easy on the eyes. The text is likewise clear and free of any egregious typographical or grammatical errors. From a purely technical standpoint, this is a solid product (though I must admit that I'd love to see other artists and art styles used in future products, if only to introduce some of the variety I tend to associate with the old school).

The PDF dedicates six pages to a variant barbarian class intended either to replace or to supplement the standard barbarian from the C&C Players Handbook (now dubbed a "savage warrior"). The variant's basic abilities are similar to those of the standard class, with some tweaks to make it more generalized and a bit less like a berserker. I appreciate this, since one of my biggest beefs with 3e is the way it conflates the berserker archetype with the barbarian archetype. The two are related certainly, but many pulp fantasy barbarians were not berserkers, so it's nice to see an attempt being made to broaden the class a bit. Of course, the variant barbarian still possesses a "primal rage" ability, but it doesn't overshadow its other abilities.

Among the variant barbarian's other abilities are what are called "tribal abilities." A 1st-level barbarian gets three of these abilities, depending on his native culture. The run the gamut from animal handling to horsemanship to sound imitation. The wide variety of tribal abilities should enable the referee to create many distinctive barbarian tribes, each with their own unique cultures and "specialties." Mishler clearly took a cue from the barbarian class in AD&D's Unearthed Arcana, which certainly reveals his long association with the hobby. In my opinion, though, this product's barbarian is much more playable and appealing than its UA predecessor. One way it does this is through a class ability called Versatility, which allows the barbarian to pick up minor class abilities from other classes, simulating the way that barbarian wanderers sometimes become jacks-of-all-trades over the course of their travels. It's a nifty little idea and I'm curious to see how it works in play.

The remainder of the product discusses some of the barbarians of the Wilderlands of High Adventure, providing specific information on their societies, cultures, and how to present them using the new rules. Each barbarian nation is given a single page write-up, which is, in my opinion, just about perfect. This way the referee gets a good overview of what, say, the Altanians are like -- their physical appearance, tribal structure, religion -- without bogging down in unnecessary details that just tie his hands. In each case, the barbarian nations are given one or more real world historical cultures from whom they are descended. At first, I thought Mishler had intended to say that, for example, the Skandiks were similar to Earth's Vikings, but the text clearly uses the words "are descended from." I asked him what he meant by this and he explained that many of the cultures of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy are literally descended from historical Earth cultures, brought to Ghenrek IV by various means throughout the ages. Mishler added that further details about this, as well as alternative explanations/options for those who prefer their Wilderlands to be "pure" fantasy, will be found in an upcoming product.

I was initially somewhat unsure about the utility of this product. I've stated before that I think one of the virtues of the Wilderlands is how skeletal it is as a setting. My great fear is that AGP might spend too much time fleshing out its every nook and cranny and publishing products filled with minutiae of interest only to the hardest of the hardcore fans. That's clearly not the case with Barbarians of the Wilderlands I. Instead it's a terrificly usable product that gives just enough information to save the beleaguered referee time but without burying him in mounds of details that he could just as soon create himself through play. Because of this flexibility, I'd recommend it even to those who don't use the Wilderlands setting or even play C&C. It's full of good ideas and ought to inspire anyone who wants to add pulp fantasy barbarians to their campaigns.

Final Score: 4½ out of 5 polearms

REVIEW: AGP Wilderlands Maps

Under review today are three different products produced by James Mishler's Adventure Games Publishing. They are: Rhadamanthia Continental Map, Southern Reaches Judges Map, and Southern Reaches Players Map. All three are PDF-only products and sell for $5, $4, and $1 respectively. All three maps consist of a single page and were drawn by Peter Bradley. Likewise, they are all intended for use with AGP's Wilderlands of High Adventure setting.

The Rhadamanthia Continental Map is a full-color 17" x 22" map that shows the entirety of the continent on which the Wilderlands is situated. The area described in the various Wilderlands materials over the years constitutes only one-fifteenth of the whole of Rhadamanthia, which should give you a good idea of how large area is depicted on this map. Unfortunately, the map is at a very high scale -- approximately 160 miles to the inch -- which limits its utility as a playing aid. To be fair, the map is jam-packed with suggestive place names, such as the Ironbound City of Shackles, the Forest of Long Ago, the Desert of Lost Dreams, and many more.

None of these locations is described; they're just names on a map. The impression I get is that the map is intended just as an overview of new regions of Ghenrek IV, regions that might one day get detailed in future AGP products. I'm of two minds about this myself. On the one hand, the eighteen regional maps of the Wilderlands are already more than enough to keep referees and players occupied for years. On the other hand, I also understand the desire both to learn more about the world beyond the Wilderlands and to have new areas to explore and within which to adventure. It's a delicate balance, to be sure, and, based solely on this product, it's hard to know precisely what AGP intended in producing it. What we have is an attractive map that's more art than gaming aid, which I think means its primary audience is diehard Wilderlands fans rather than the general gamer looking for a setting for his sandbox campaign.

By contrast, the Southern Reaches Judges Map oozes utility. Not only is extremely well drawn and attractive to the eye, it's also filled with the kinds of details that a referee needs to run his campaign. This map is drawn at a scale of 11 miles per inch and effectively replaces Regional Map 18 of the Wilderlands. The map pinpoints the location of dozens of towns, cities, ruins, and geographical features. Many of these can be found on the original Regional Map 18, while many are unique to this map. In a few cases, locations from the original map have been renamed or replaced with entirely new ones. This is in keeping with the fact that AGP's version of the Wilderlands is a variant one, with its own idiosyncrasies. I personally find this approach a refreshing one, since most of the changes are small enough that most gamers won't notice but significant enough that they add a level of "freshness" to the setting, while purists may disagree.

As with the Rhadamanthia Continental Map, the Souther Reaches Judges Map is a single-page product, with no accompanying text of descriptions. Presumably, the referee will simply use original Wilderlands materials for such things or, in the cases where the locations are new, make up the descriptions himself. Because the scale is so small, I didn't find the lack of descriptions problematic. Instead, they were inspirational, since I felt I had enough information (in the form of names and geographic relationships) to indulge my whims and creative urges with abandon. This is a product that demands to be used and I appreciate that wholeheartedly.

The Southern Reaches Players Map also demands to be used -- quite literally. The map itself is mostly empty, a field of blank hexes with a few large terrain features, such as coastlines, rivers, and major cities noted on it. This map is a tool for engaging in a classic Judges Guild "hexcrawl," as the adventurers traipse across the countryside, exploring the wilderness and noting what they discover on this map. While I absolutely love the idea behind this map, I can't help but think that AGP might have been better off bundling it with the Judges Map or even making it a free download from their website. At $1, it's hardly expensive, but, given that the map is mostly blank, I think it might have been more useful as a promotional product that would help market the Judges Map or even to better explain the concept of the hexcrawl, since I have little doubt it's alien to many younger gamers.

Taken together, these three maps nicely illustrate the glories and pitfalls of selling a fantasy campaign setting. There needs to be a balance struck between providing too much detail and too little. In my own personal opinion, the Rhadamanthia Continental Map is an example too much detail; I'm simply unsure of what purpose it serves beyond scratching a completist itch that I think is the bane of many a setting. The Southern Reaches Judges Map, on the other hand, strikes a perfect balance and is a terrific example of how campaign setting maps should be presented. The Players Map also has its virtues, but primarily as an aid to play rather than as a product in its own right. It's a fine illustration of how to run an old school sandbox campaign and very much in keeping with the best Judges Guild traditions. I wish that it were better used to help promote that style of play than it is, but I am nevertheless glad the product exists.

I look forward to future Adventure Games Publishing Wilderlands materials and am intensely curious to see what lessons they may have learned from their first forays into publishing new maps for use with the Wilderlands of High Adventure.

Final Scores:

Rhadamanthia Continental Map: 3 out of 5 polearms
Southern Reaches Judges Map: 4½ out of 5 polearms
Souther Reaches Players Map: 3½ out of 5 polearms

REVIEW: Monsters & Treasures of the Wilderlands I

Monsters & Treasures of the Wilderlands I (M&T henceforth) is a 17-page PDF (one of which is a credits and OGL page) written by James Mishler of Adventure Games Publishing and sells for $4. The product is extremely text-heavy, with three columns of what looked to be 8-point type throughout. The typeface was easy even for my aging eyes to read, but I would not be surprised if others found it less legible, particularly given that there are no illustrations to break up the text. This isn't a criticism so much as a simple acknowledgement that you're getting a lot of words for your $4 -- and very good words at that.

M&T describes 16 new monsters and an equal number of new magical items for use with AGP's "Wilderlands of High Adventure," a variant of the classic Judges Guild campaign setting for use with Troll Lord's Castles & Crusades. Although C&C is derived from the D20 SRD and is, in many ways, a kind of "3e Lite," it's most admirable feature is that enough of the cruft and accretions of 3e have been stripped away so that products written for C&C work well with older editions of D&D and their retro-clones/simulacra without much effort. This ease of conversion works to the advantage of M&T, whose contents would make great additions to many old school games. Despite this, I will note here that I think C&C still retains a little too much of 3e's obsession with mechanical exactitude, which is why many of the otherwise excellent entries in this product are longer than they need to have been. Given the density of the text, this is a small blemish and I can hardly fault Mishler for having stayed true to M&T's native rules set.

The monsters described herein range from low-level foes, such as giant vampire bats, to much mightier ones, such as fallen demigods known as the angrasinamru and everything in between. I appreciated the breadth of the entries, both thematically and mechanically. I also enjoyed the fact that many of them were worthy of the fine Gygaxian tradition of taking the germ of an idea from myth or legend and reworking it into a unique creature for use in one's fantasy campaign. Several monsters contain a "Death" entry indicating the unusual consequences of its being slain, such as the earth and stars mourning the death of the aforementioned angrasinamru or how the gorgosphinx turns into a statue of rock salt capable of petrifying anyone who is so foolish as to consume part of it. It's little touches like these that elevate the monsters in M&T above the usual fare found in monster books. I also note with approval that many of these creatures contain honest-to-goodness save or die effects of the sort that are so out of fashion these days.

The magical treasures described in this product are similarly good, demonstrating a terrific combination of creativity, whimsy, and old school sensibilities. I was particularly taken with the Demon Die of the Mandarin-Lords, an arcane dodecahedron once used by servants of an ancient emperor devoted to Chance and whose rolls determine the justice meted out against those accused of crimes. Naturally, there's a D12 random table that's suitably nasty, since "the Accursed Emperor was fond of chance, but liked to hedge his bets!" Many of the magical treasures exhibit negative qualities in addition to their beneficial ones. There's a price to pay for using them, in keeping with the traditions of pulp fantasy on which D&D was founded. Unsurprisingly, I think very highly of this approach.

If I have a complaint about Monsters & Treasures of the Wilderlands I, it's that there's not yet a volume II. For the price, this is a superb product and I found myself wishing for more monsters and treasures from Mishler's remarkable imagination. I'll admit that I also regret the lack of art, since several of the monsters have bizarre appearances that took me some time to wrap my head around. For some, though, this is a feature, not a bug and I'm sure the lack of art helped keep the price of the product down, so it may be a boon in disguise. I encountered a few small editorial glitches here and there, but nothing worthy of specific note. I wholeheartedly recommend this product and hope to see additional entries in the series before too long.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 polearms

Hail, Hyboria!

In between all the other things I'm reading -- or should be doing instead -- I've been immersed in my various collections of Conan stories. In reading them, I've come to the conclusion that the Hyborian Age is about as perfect an example of a fantasy roleplaying game setting as you can get. It has the feel of history without the necessity for knowing any history at all. And of course, by "history" I mean "cool history." The world of Conan is like all the cool places in which you'd want to adventure mashed together cheek by jowl. Not only does this mean that your high chivalric knight can go exploring the Tomb of the Lost Pharaoh, it also means that his companions can be a Viking skald, a Mongol raider, and a priestess of Aphrodite. What's better than that?

When I was a younger man, I used to get hung up on making things as historically accurate as I could. So, if my campaign setting was a high medieval one in character, I didn't even allow Vikings, because they were from an earlier period of history. Likewise, my Egypt analog wouldn't be peopled by bald hieroglyphics-carving worshipers of Ra but by more "plausible" Arab stand-ins. Nowadays, though, I can't help but think I missed out on a lot of fun, as Two-Gun Bob understood very well. What's fun about the Conan stories is how the Cimmerian is able to wander across history, metaphorically, as he wanders across Hyboria. One story he's in what amounts to classical Greece, in another he's in medieval France, and in a third he's among a bunch of Aztecs slapped into the middle of a faux Africa. That gave Howard an opportunity to tell a wide variety of stories that drew on a vast number of pulp fantasy tropes -- and keep them fresh. No, much of it doesn't make any sociological sense, but to worry about that is to kind of miss the point, as my younger self no doubt would have.

The trick to pulling this off is twofold. First, make sure your analogs are analogs. Stygia, for example, isn't Egypt. It's a lot like Egypt, but it's not identical to the historical Egypt of any single era. Instead, it's a mishmash of many different eras, combined with stuff that Howard just thought worked in the context of the stories he wanted to tell involved Stygia or Stygians. Second, and in some ways, most important of all, the mishmash can't just be a mishmash. That is, it has to have a coherence of its own.

One of the reasons the Hyborian Age feels "right" is that Howard did a good job of giving the whole thing solidity, a sense that it held together without reference to the real world. He does this in a lot of different ways, from small details to off-hand references to imaginary histories he almost certainly never worked out in detail, but the combined effect is to make (to use my earlier example) Stygia simultaneously Egypt and more than Egypt. Stygia isn't just Egypt with the serial numbers filed off but rather an imaginary place that is immediately intelligible because it's enough like the pulp conception of Egypt to hook us, but also dissimilar enough to feel as it's not merely an unimaginative knock-off.

This is my ideal for a pulp fantasy setting. You see similar principles to those Howard used at work in both the Wilderlands of High Fantasy and in the early World of Greyhawk. I could also argue that Paizo's Golarion setting employs the same principles and that's one of the reasons their Pathfinder RPG project continues to interest me, even if I think the end result might wind up being more complex and detail-heavy than I prefer.

James Mishler Answers More!

In response to some questions and concerns I had in my review of the first issue of AGP's Adventure Games Journal, James Mishler has responded. I have reproduced the following from his email to me with his kind permission:

1) Regarding the throne, that bit is all original. In fact, the original concept was for a pegasus-based crown (the Overlord's Crown of Telepathy), but the artist, Peter Bradley, felt that would be too small in detail to show up well. So we decided to go with a pegasus-based throne which, as the shield device of the Overlord in the Wilderlands of High Adventure is a pegasus rampant, is also most excellent. Pegasi appear in many places in reference to the City State; the Knights of the Inner Circle are pegasus riders. Hygelak still has the crown, too, he actually has several, he just doesn't wear it all the time (he dislikes crowns in general, feeling them to be ostentatious; he's a simple guy in many ways, sort of like Attila the Hun in that respect).

2) Just to make sure that readers of this review who missed the replies to XXXI know, the trade dress and graphic design are developing and improving with each product. The next product will have standard covers and page counts, and beginning with Adventure Games Journal #2, we will have full-color covers. I also plan to have as many maps in full color as is financially feasable; the thought of a Wilderness Book along the lines of Shield Maidens of Sea Rune with 22 hexes in glorious color is just too cool to resist!

3) "The World of the Wilderlands of High Adventure" article was, indeed, overly long. It was needful, however, to establish the setting, geographically and thematically, with fans both old and new. Most articles will not be remotely as long, though some will deal with Wilderlands minutiae.

4) I should note that the Shopping List and Adventure Finder will not be continued; the space can be better used for other articles, plus even were the magazine to hit its bimonthly schedule, the information would always be out of date on publication! I hope to offer both to the AGP website, especially the Adventure Finder.

5) Regarding articles with Wilderlands minutiae, I will always have at least one article along those lines in each issue, though not nearly as long as the original article, as mentioned above; perhaps five or six pages or so. There are fans who enjoy these articles. These articles, as with any articles or even whole products about the Wilderlands, are all optional for use by the judge; we fully ascribe to Bob Bledsaw's "The Wilderlands is what each judge makes of it" philosophy. Nothing we produce is to be taken as canon, in that a player can point to it and say, "See, this is the way it is, you the judge are wrong." There is no Wilderlands canon, only suggestions. Any player who argues this point needs a thorough ass kicking, or at least should have his character eaten alive by ghouls.

6) As to the delays, yes, there have been unforgivable delays. There are many causes, but no excuses. At first the difficulty was getting the first issue done right, especially the establishing article for the Wilderlands. It was literally as we sent that first issue off to the printers that we found out about Bob's cancer. Then followed Gary's passing, and not long after Bob's passing. It's been a bad year so far, personally; Bob and Gary were not merely my heroes, they were also my friends. And of course, Bob was my business partner. This, combined with a horribly underperforming games market has caused no end of stress, which severely impacts my ability to write. That's been the central issue with the delays... writer's block. I'm no Steve Long mind you, but on my good days I can write upward of 4,000 words; but it's been a long time since I've had a good day, or even a poor day.

Things have cleared up of late; Gary and Bob's funerals were cathartic, and we are slowly dealing with issues, personal and business, following Bob's death. There now remain two dual humps, the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4E and the 4E GSL and the effect they will have on third-party publishers. Ideally, both will release the pent-up purchasing decisions that game consumers and retailers have held in abeyance since the announcement of 4E at GenCon. There are further issues to deal with vis a vis the GSL vs. OGL and the Wilderlands "brand," but those cannot be worked out until we actually see the GSL.

As to not subscribing, I can completely understand. Had I to do it over again, I would not have gone with the subscription method; I did it mostly out of fond memories of the Judges Guild as a "guild," a gamer's sodality, rather than any proper business sense. One of the first rules of business is to not let your emotions overwhelm your business plan; in this respect I did, and my subscribers have been the ones to suffer for my failures. Their faith will not be misplaced, though it will take some time to get things back on track. I guarantee that subscribers will get their due, and will not be disappointed. I hope in the future to evolve the subscription base into something more like a true guild of gamers, as Bob originally envisioned for Judges Guild all those years ago.