Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, Final Three Days

My Kickstarter for Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches is now in its last three days.     

Link to the Kickstarter

Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms:  Northern Marches is built from the ground up for sandbox play. It’s a fully detailed hexcrawl formatted setting with dozens of lairs, dungeons, and adventure hooks, designed not just to be read, but played. Every location, encounter, and faction was refined through actual campaigns using classic rulesets, then polished for publication. Whether you’re running Swords & Wizardry, Shadowdark, AD&D, Old School Essentials, GURPS, or adapting for 5E, you’ll find the Northern Marches easy to run and rich with potential. It’s a World In Motion, where player choices matter and nothing stays static.

So far, I have released 5 previews covering the major regions of the Northern Marches.

Preview #1
Preview #2
Preview #3
Preview #4
Preview #5

This isn’t just another fantasy setting; it’s a tested framework for long-term play, a living world that supports real agency. I’ve built this to help referees run the kind of open-ended campaigns I’ve run for decades. If you want a setting where exploration matters, choices have consequences, and players carve their own path through the unknown, then Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: Northern Marches is ready. Back it now and make this sandbox setting yours.

The Old School Renaissance

 Debates about what the OSR is have been going on since at least the late 2000s. Lately I seen more rounds of discussion on this topic on various forums and on youtube like this panel discussion.

What sets the OSR apart, from the beginning, is that, unlike most corners of the hobby, it hasn’t been driven by a single author, company, or creative vision. While it grew from interest in out-of-print editions of D&D, its creative output quickly became rooted in open content under open licenses. That foundation created not a canon, but a commons.

And from that commons emerged a kaleidoscope of creative visions: rulesets, zines, hacks, adventures, philosophies, and play styles. The movement thrived not because it had a unified voice, but because it didn’t. It was, and remains, a productive chaos of competing, overlapping, and deeply personal creative visions.

Digital publishing supercharged this. The barriers to creating and distributing game content collapsed. Suddenly, anyone with the time and drive could turn their vision into a PDF, a print-on-demand book, a boxed set, or a full-blown system, no approvals required.

The OSR is shaped daily by those who publish, those who share, those who play, and those who promote. You can see just one slice of this activity on DriveThruRPG, with nearly 15,000 titles tagged OSR. Itch.io adds another 5,000+ projects under the same banner, each one a different take on what an “old school renaissance” can mean.

Many have tried to define the OSR. All of them fail, because definition implies boundaries, and the OSR has none that aren’t self-imposed. At its core, the OSR is an invitation. If you have the interest, the ideas, and the willingness to build, then it’s yours.

That’s the point. The OSR is what you make of it.

Into the The Majestic Fantasy Realms: The Northern Marches is now Live

I'm excited to announce the launch of Kickstarter Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches

A Sandbox Fantasy Setting

What if your players could shape a world that remembers them?

From the frostbitten ruins of the Wild North to the magical storms of the Ring Islands, The Northern Marches is a massive sandbox setting built for classic fantasy play.

Created by Robert Conley, the author of Blackmarsh, How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox, and Points of Light, this 200-page hexcrawl expands Blackmarsh into the Northern Marches and briefly describes the larger world of the Majestic Fantasy Realms for the first time. With new lands, factions, mysteries, and rules for overland, sea, and underwater travel.

For the Table of Contents and a Preview, please click on this link.

This Kickstarter will fund:

• A 200-page guidebook
• A travel and encounter system
• 5 referee maps (12"x18")
• 5 player maps (12”x 18”)
• A Creative Commons SRD for open use.

Explore. Discover. Change the world!

Find Adventure in the Majestic Fantasy Realms and the Northern Marches.

Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: The Northern Marches pre-launch.

I'm excited to announce that my third Kickstarter launches on Wednesday, May 28th, just two weeks away! Click the link below to get notified when it goes live.

Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: the Northern Marches

A Sandbox Fantasy Setting

What if your players could shape a world that remembers them?

From the frostbitten ruins of the Wild North to the magical storms of the Ring Islands, The Northern Marches is a massive sandbox setting built for classic fantasy play.

Created by Robert Conley, the author of Blackmarsh, How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox, and Points of Light, this 200-page hexcrawl expands Blackmarsh into the Northern Marches and briefly describes the larger world of the Majestic Fantasy Realms for the first time. With new lands, factions, mysteries, and rules for overland, sea, and underwater travel.

This Kickstarter will fund:

• A 200-page guidebook
• A travel and e
  ncounter system
• 5 referee maps (12"x18")
• 5 player maps (12”x 18”)
• A Creative Commons SRD for open use.

Explore. Discover. Change the world!

Launching in two weeks on Wednesday, May 28th, 2025.

An Update on the Majestic Fantasy Realms

I noticed an increase in visitors, and since my last post was in March, I figured a quick update was in order.

The writing for The Northern Marches is complete, and I’m now working on the Kickstarter setup. Expect a preview page soon, with the full launch planned for two weeks after that.

The last section I worked on was the travel rules and encounter tables. These expand on the travel rules presented in How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox. I believe I’ve developed an elegant solution for determining travel speed across various terrain types. The rules also include underwater travel, with new encounters for Descents underwater, alongside the existing Journey, Voyage, and Trip encounters.

Traditional encounter tables are also part of the system, tailored to the various regions of the Northern Marches.

Expect a post soon on the Kickstarter details. 

I’m aware of the current situation surrounding Goodman Games’ City-State Kickstarter. My feelings remain unchanged since I posted Voyaging into Strange New Worlds. My kickstarter will have what I’ve discovered along the way, and hopefully, it opens the gate to new adventures with friends and family.

Wandering through the Majestic Fantasy Realms

It's time for another Bat in the Attic update! 

I am halfway through the first draft of my upcoming project, Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northern Marches. 

It will be divided into two sections. The first half focuses on the Northern Marches, which combines and expands Blackmarsh, Southland, and the Wild North into four 12" by 18" maps.

Rob's Note: The dark grey blobs are outlines of mountain ranges. 

The second half provides a brief overview of the larger Majestic Fantasy Realms. It will be formatted like the old Greyhawk Folio booklet and detail some history, important terrain, and various regions. 

The Northern Marches

The Northern Marches is the project's main focus, consisting of six major regions: The Wild North,  Blackmarsh, The Southlands, Vasa, Northport, and the Grey Sea.

While the first three are based on products I already released, the last three, Vasa, Northport, and the Grey Sea, are brand new. 

Wild North - Fight On! #3

Southlands - Points of Light

Blackmarsh - Bat in the Attic

Combined Southland Map

The Northern Marches region got its name from being the frontier of the Bright Empire. A thousand years ago, the Bright Empire dominated much of the Majestic Fantasy Realms under the rule of the Imperial Princes and the United Church. Castle Blackmarsh was the northernmost outpost of the empire.

The Wild North

The Wild North is a realm of unforgiving beauty and ancient magic, a place where ice and wilderness shape the destiny of its inhabitants. Among them are the Rurasin, the descendants of Viking explorers, and the original elk-hunting tribes, the Sorobes, who inhabit the region. They are divided into rival city-states ruled by princes and merchant councils. Looming over the lands is the remnant of the Great Glacier, which once covered the Wild North in its icy grip. 

 

Blackmarsh

A fiery mountain fell from the sky and impacted the Northern Marches. Over 2,500 years ago, it created the Smoking Bay and caused widespread disasters and storms. Several early civilizations collapsed, and the continent saw widespread migrations as different cultures and tribes sought better conditions after the chaotic weather. 

In the desolation around the Smoking Bay, the adventurous found viz, magic in physical form.  And there was more. Strange artifacts and stranger creatures that survived The Mountain That Fell were scattered amid the landscape. Over the centuries, many came to Blackmarsh seeking to plunder its riches. Then the elves came into Blackmarsh, expelled the feuding races, drove the monsters out, and healed the land. The elves created the Blackmarsh Rangers to stand watch over Blackmarsh.  Anyone willing to defend the land and its people is welcomed into their ranks. 

The Blackmarsh Rangers and the elves continue to stand watch over the region, along with a few realms that were able to peacefully co-exist, like Castle Blackmarsh and the Duchy of the Ostrobards. But lurking in the wilderness are those with designs and plans for Blackmarsh, including Dark Elves, Vikings, Orcs, and Goblins.

The Southlands

The Southlands is a vast frontier of deserts, plains, forests, and mountains. Here, adventurers struggle to push back the wilderness and move the boundaries of civilization forward.  Opposing them are foes ranging from orc hordes to dark elves from the Underrealm.  Renegades and traitors from the Grand Kingdom have established themselves in hidden realms.  Yet allies also exist, dwarves, elves, and halflings who stand ready to support those committed to good.

Vasa

Three centuries ago, the Vikings of Norland began expanding outward, sailing their longships throughout the Majestic Fantasy Realms to explore, trade, raid, and ultimately colonize. One wave of exploration reached the western shores of the Grey Sea over three centuries ago, where the Vikings, drawn by the region’s abundant furs, established permanent outposts and settlements. Over 250 years ago, they proclaimed the Kingdom of Vasa.

Then, fifty years later, the Vikings of Vasa encountered the expanding Grand Kingdom. They were briefly allies against the forces of the Gnoll King but afterward became bitter rivals. The conflict lasted over six decades and resulted in the Grand Kingdom's conquest of Vasa.  The surviving nobles fled and established a kingdom-in-exile at Castle Taldane in Blackmarsh. Nearly a century later, the Grand Kingdom's grip on Vasa continues to tighten.

Northport

Northport is the westernmost duchy within the Grand Kingdom, centered around the bustling port of Northport on the Grey Sea. Within the region's heart lies the city of Northport, ruled by Duke Duncan McDowell, whose family has governed the duchy since its founding by the king. The region’s wealth stems from fishing, mining, and trade across the Grey Sea and along the Water of Boyle. Since the Grand Kingdom’s victory in the Great Gnoll War and the conquest of the Vasan Vikings, a century ago, a web of noble houses loyal to the duke and the crown has ruled the land. The might of the Grand Kingdom has not quelled all conflicts and intrigues within Northport. Outlaws and druids bent on vengeance trouble the land, while smugglers ally with renegade Vikings to evade the duke's taxes.

Magical forces have shaped the region. Forests hide entrances into mysterious pocket dimensions known as wolds and lost elven kingdoms. Powerful Sidhe Lords spin webs of deceit from their mountain lairs to fuel the passions and desire of mortals to fuel their insatiable lust for power. Ancient magical orders build conclaves filled with mages pursuing mysterious agendas to perfect their mastery of magic. 

The Grey Sea

The Grey Sea is known for its storms, strong currents, treacherous reefs, and superb fishing grounds. Once reavers, Vikings, and pirates dominated the waters, but the Grand Kingdom's conquest of Vasa brought peace. Only the exiled Vasan Vikings at Castle Taldane and a few pirate ships remain to challenge the Grand Kingdom's might.

At its heart lie the Ring Islands, formed when a chunk rich in viz calved off and smashed into the Grey Sea. After the chaos of its impact settled, a ring-shaped archipelago emerged from the waves. A remnant of this chunk remained as the central island, known as the Nexus. The abundant viz channeled unpredictable magical energies, causing the archipelago islands to become perilous to explore. The Ring Tower, built on Ringwatch Island, is the only stable foothold for adventurers and seers seeking to understand the islands’ mysteries and plunder their riches.

Beneath the waves of the Grey Sea is a vast undersea realm. There are kingdoms of merfolk and Sahuagin marauders, the underwater halls of storm giants, servants of the Thunder god, and ruins of a sunken empire once ruled by the Kraken Lord, Bathynaz, a demon of great power.

Wrapping it up

I am currently writing the second half, detailing the Majestic Fantasy Realms. The first half detailing the Northern Marches is done except for the towns I plan to include. Plus, I have a list of maps to create, both large and small, that will form the bulk of the illustrations in the book. 

Viking Exploration Routes

The Kickstarter to fund editing and the art pieces is slated to begin late April. I hope to see many of you there. In the meantime, I will post various excerpts over the upcoming weeks to help folks to better understand the final product. 

I am very excited about approaching the finish line. Doing this project was the whole reason I got into self-publishing in the first place. While a lot of folks have told me how useful Blackmarsh and my Points of Light books are, I always felt it needed to be a bit more expansive to be the foundation of a campaign that ranges from an adventuring group's first foray into a dungeon to the founding of kingdoms.  Each map of the Northern Marches covers an area the size of Indiana, Ireland, or Scotland. A large enough area to take a campaign from beginning to end. Yet still small enough to fit into someone's pre-existing campaign world if they don't want to use the larger Majestic Fantasy Realms.

Until next time!

Bat in the Attic Games and 2025

 Happy New Year Folks!

This would be a good time to update everyone on what has been happening with me and my plans for the upcoming year. 

Personal

I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a few years back. This wasn't unexpected, as my family has a history of the disease. But I didn't do myself any favors being overweight. However, I caught a break when my doctor switched me to Mounjaro. It controlled my blood sugar better and I dropped a lot of weight (100 lbs). So things are looking good in the health department. Plus, as an added bonus, I can better enjoy the outdoor activities my wife, Kelly Anne, likes to do.

Gaming

I am playing in Joe the Lawyer's AD&D 2e Forgotten Realm campaign as a half-elven druid named Darumir. I originally started out as a Human Fighter named Argyll MacDoughal from the Moonshaes but a stupid decision on my part led to the character's death when he kissed a nereid and drowned after blowing the save. Darumir is now at the 7th level and in the midst of trying to reactivate a network of old henges in the High Forest region of the Sword Coast.

For over a year I have been refereeing an online monthly DnD 5e campaign for an old friend, Dave, and his circle of friends. It started out with the group dealing with a bunch of humanoid tribes threatening Castle Blackmarsh. That wrapped up this fall, and the group found out that a priest of Sarrath, the dragon god of war and order, was the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. 

After ransacking the hidden temple of Sarrath, the group found clues pointing to the mother temple in a place called Delaquain's Fist. Which is my adaptation of the excellent Dark Tower adventure by Judges Guild based on Goodman Game's 5e version.

The fact that we have monthly sessions forced me to adapt my usual style of running sandbox campaigns. The group is fine with a more mission-style focus, especially since it consists of a paladin of Delaquain (goddess of honor and justice), a cleric of Vertas (god of truth and creation), a cleric of Mantriv (god of storm and thunder), and finally, a cleric of Delaquain. 

I created my own set of DnD 5e rules, which I have a rough draft of here. 

Finally, I am refereeing a weekly game also set in the Majestic Fantasy Realm also using my DnD 5e rules. It is a sandbox campaign centered around the exploit of four characters hunting demons and cultists, with two of them followers of the blood goddess Kalis. The first is an assassin, specifically a Rogue with the Claw of Kalis archetype from my rules. The other is a monk following the Way of Blood also from my rules. The other characters are an Elven Merchant Adventurer, another rogue archetype, and a human barbarian/druid part of the circle of the Trehaen. 

The group just wrapped up an adventure rooting out a corrupt druid in the hills south of the City of Northport, the capital of the westernmost duchy of the Grand Kingdom. From the druid's possession, they learned about his alliance with the Drow of Nightportal Keep in the middle of the Forsaken Desert.

So why all the DnD 5e? I may publish my own RPG, but my friends remain my friends, and they just like the fact they have more "fiddly bits" to play with when it comes to fifth edition. Luckily, I found that the power curve of 5e mirrors that of ODnD and my Majestic Fantasy rules, so I just sub in the 5e stats, and I can run the campaign the same way as I usually do.

However, to be clear, the key to doing this is not to use all the optional rules of DnD 5e (2014). Hence, generally, I limit characters to one feat, and that is only if they are human. I use the variant human rules and discourage multi-classing unless it makes sense in-game. Everybody having an enjoyable time trumps everything, so if the group makes a good case, I will make exceptions.

Publishing

My goal is to have three major releases this year. Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, Scourge of the Demon Wolf 2nd edition, and finally the full rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPGs.

I write fairly slowly, partly because it is difficult for me as a side effect of the hearing loss I had since I was six. However, I am confident I can do the three releases on time, as all three are fairly complete rough drafts and have the playtesting done.

Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northern Marches.

Before I got the license from Judges Guild to do the Majestic Wilderlands, I was working on a new setting that incorporated all the original material I created over the four decades I have been running the Wilderlands without any Judges Guild IP.  The result was the Points of Light books from Goodman Games and Blackmarsh. 

Points of Light
Points of Light 2, the Sunrise Sea

Now that I no longer have a Judges Guild license, I have returned to that setting, and the first release will be Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, the Northern Marches.

This will be four 12" by 18"maps, each 31 hex columns by 40 hex rows. The maps will slightly overlap on the edges to make tracking travel from one map to another easier. 

The maps will be the Great Glacier (NW), The Wild North (NE), Blackmarsh (SW), and Northport (SE). Each has dozens of entries covering Terrain, Islands, Lairs/Ruins, and Settlements. Like Blackmarsh each locale is keyed to a five-mile hex.

There an overview of the Northern Marches. Which is the region covered by the four maps. Along with another short overview of the Majestic Fantasy Realms as a whole.

However, unlike the World of Greyhawk Folio (and boxed set), this section will be short. Into the Majestic, Fantasy Realms focuses on a wealth of local-level details, not on a grand overview in the travelogue format of the entire continent. In addition, I designed the setting so that its various parts can be taken out and plugged into other settings like you could with Blackmarsh and the Points of Light Series.

In many ways, this process for the Majestic Fantasy Realms mirrors the development of my Majestic Wilderlands. I started out focusing on a few select regions, like around the City-State of the Invincible Overlord, in the early 80s and built out from there. The part of the continent that I will focus on for Into the Majestic Fantasy Realm are those regions that are important to the Northern Marches, like the Grand Kingdom, the Norlund Vikings, and the Ochre Empire dominated by the dragon god, Sarrath. 

The writing for the four maps is done. Also, thanks to the folks at Forge Studios, I have most of the art I need.

What remains are;

• The first draft of the overview for the Northern Marches
• The first draft of the overview of the Majestic Fantasy Realms
• Mini Maps to illustrate various locales

Plus a dozen city maps like Castle Blackmarsh but in color.

Expect a kickstarter early this year.

Scourge of the Demon Wolf, 2nd Edition

After Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms, I will release the 2nd edition of Scourge of the Demon Wolf. The adventure will be the same but will now be set in the Duchy of Northport within the Majestic Fantasy Realms.

One of the complaints about the original is that the hexcrawl formatted setting I included in the 1st edition was too terse. For the 2nd edition, I expanded it to a letter-sized map similar in word count to Blackmarsh, covering the entirety of the Duchy of Northport. The supplemental sections fully detailing Denison Crossing, the village of Kensla, and the Golden House will remain.

The Majestic Fantasy RPG

Hopefully, I will be able to end 2025 with a Kickstarter to fund the art and editing I will need for the full version of the Majestic Fantasy RPG. The rough draft of the rules has been written and will be released in five books. I designed the layout of the books based on the notebooks I used when I ran campaigns using these rules. While all-in-one rulebooks are popular, I find keeping the material as separate references to be more useful at the table and during prep.

The digest sized books will be

• The Manual of Puissant Skill
  A player's handbook for the Majestic Fantasy RPG
• The Domesday Codex
  A manual of characters for the Majestic Fantasy RPG.
• The Legendarium of the Fantastic
  A manual of monsters for the Majestic Fantasy RPG.
• The Tome of the Mundane, Strange, and Arcane
  A guide for running campaigns using the Majestic Fantasy RPG along with Magic Items and Treasures.

Beyond the stat blocks, the Domesday Codex, and The Legendarium of The Fantastic will have material on various NPCs groups and Monster ecology to help fuel ideas on incorporating them into your campaigns.

Optionally

• Libram of Spells
  An optional book that just has the spells and magic rules. This will duplicate material found in The Manual of Puissant Skill.

I know it sounds strange, but among the stuff I carry to the session is a stack of Librams to hand out to those playing spellcasters. They seem to really appreciate it. The way this will work is that the PDF for the Libram will be included, but a print copy is available for those who want a print version for themselves and don't have the time or means to print a booklet for themselves.

Finally, I will release a System Reference Document for the entire system under Creative Commons BY. 

While I am not currently running a campaign using these rules, I have run several convention and game store events using my system.

Wrapping it up.

So that where I am at and what I am planning to do. I appreciate being able to participate in this community and am glad I got to talk to many of you over 2024. I am looking forward to meeting even more of you in 2025.

Keep safe, have fun and