Adventures in the original Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

 I made another map. This one showing where all the known adventures and supplements were set in Judges Guild Wilderlands of High Fantasy prior to it first shutdown in the early 80s. 

Note that some of the great JG Adventures like Dark Tower, The Thieves of Badabaskor, the ADnD modules, etc. don't have a Wilderlands location and largely presented as their own thing. Even some of the locations depicted in Book of Treasure Maps 1 to 3 don't have a Wilderlands location. But all the ones that have a location are noted on the below map. Just open the image in a new tab to get the full scale view. 

Plus many of the above modules gained a location in Necromancer Games Wilderlands Boxed Set and Goodman Games remake for 3.5.  For example Badabaskor is located in Hex 2906 on Map 2 Barbarian Altanis. 

Link to Map Image

Majestic Fantasy RPG Release, Wilderlands Deal, and more.

 Happy New Year everyone! It is 2021 and several Bat in the Attic Games items are happening right out of the gate. 

Basic Rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPG.

I got the proof copies of the Basic Rules and and they look good. At the urging of a friend I took the time to create the cover for Hardcover version so you will have the option picking either as your budget allows.

The Basic Rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPG, Softcover, $14.99

The Basic Rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPG, Hardcover, $19.99

The Basic Rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPG, PDF, $9.99

A set of rules for creating and advancing characters from level 1 to 5. Has the Burglar, Cleric of Mitra, Fighter, and Magic User classes, plus backgrounds, combat rules, equipment, and spells. For the referee there are lists of monsters, NPCs, and magic items suitable to challenge and reward your players during a campaign. These rules feature abilities for use for when character do things outside of combat and spellcasting. Along with advice for referees on how to use the available mechanics to craft rulings. Finally, a basic overview of how to bring the world outside of the dungeon to life is provided.

A 204 page RPG compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules 

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Majestic Fantasy, Basic Rules,  Reference Cards

This is a series of printed (or PDF) aids that I use to help players to quickly generate characters for the Basic Rules for the Majestic Fantasy RPG. This aid is in the form of printed cards or tiles. There is an initial card that you hand the player that outlines how the character generation process works. From there, the players pick a class, a background, and buy equipment using the individual cards as a reference to fill out their character sheet. 

The print version is made using 8” by 10” coated stock. They are quite sturdy and appear to be resistant to spills and stains. The printed version has 20 cards that support up to 5 player generating characters. Five common cards and three cards for each of the classes and three spell reference cards.

Majestic Fantasy, Basic Rules,  Reference Cards (Cards) $14.99

Majestic Fantasy, Basic Rules,  Reference Cards (PDF)   $3.99

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Quick Reference Cards for Swords and Wizardry Complete

This is a series of printed (or PDF) aids that I use to help players to quickly generate characters for Swords & Wizardry Complete by Frog God Games. This aid is in the form of printed cards or tiles. There is an initial card that you hand the player that outlines how the character generation process works. From there, the players pick a class, a background, and buy equipment using the individual cards as a reference to fill out their character sheet. 

I have refined these cards  over the past decade while running convention and game store sessions and found that it will allow a player to completely generate a character within 15 to 20 minutes. 

These cards contain all of the information needed for assassins, clerics, druids, fighters, magic-users, monks, paladins, rangers, and thieves, for level 1 to 6. On the back of each class card is an equipment list.

Quick Reference Cards for Swords and Wizardry Complete (Card) $24.99

Quick Reference Cards for Swords and Wizardry Complete (PDF) $3.99

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Wilderlands of High Fantasy Deal of the Day

By happy coincidence, Wilderlands of High Fantasy Maps is the Deal of the Day over on DriveThruRPG.  The deal will go live at 10 am Eastern Time, Saturday January 2nd.

Note that buying this will get you the Guidebook PDF as well. There are 18 maps to the Wilderlands divided into four sets of guidebooks and maps. This deal is for the first set of five maps including the City State of the Invincible Overlord.

The guidebook has an introduction and map commentary by me,. Each map in the guidebook is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles & Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins & Relics, and Lurid Lairs. Any statistic or rule is compatible with Swords and Wizardry and various classic editions of the original roleplaying game.

This deal on the first set is a good way to see if folks like the series without having to invest all at once. You will be credited the cost of the PDF if you decide the buy the PDF bundle later. Finally if you decide to buy print, I include the PDF of maps and guidebooks at no additional charge. The print version of each map is two 12" by 18" poster maps. They also have a generous overlap to make joining the map easy or to track features across the map boundaries.

Wrapping it Up
This weekend has been pretty busy with releases and promotions. I hope you find my offering useful and above all fun! Here is to the new year and it all its possibilities including gaming. 

I am thankful for having all of you on board and looking forward to your feedback and input. The next thing up on my plate is wrapping up the Wild North which expands the Majestic Fantasy Realms to the region north of Blackmarsh.

Black Lives Matter Charity Drive

The job isn't done. Borrowing from the words of Martin Luther King used in his last speech, we have crested the mountain and descended part way down the slope but we as a nation and society still have not reached the promised land for black americans or ourselves.

Now is the time to complete the journey as one nation to fulfill the promise of our Declaration of Independence. That all are created equal. That everyone's unalienable rights are not denied. That all enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Onebookshelf has reached out to myself and other publishers about a charity drive to support various organization dedicated to civil rights. Three charities were offered, Black Lives Matter, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the National Police Accountability Project.

I have opted to contribute the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Maps as part of the charity bundle for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.  Keep in mind the Wilderlands map comes not only with the map PDFs but the PDF for the guidebook as well. The charity drive also features individual products made by African American authors on DriveThruRPG. This is the link for the entire charity drive if you are interested in contributing to one of the other bundles or authors involved.

This only a small effort given the larger events happening. However the mighty river is born of numerous small streams. If each of us contribute what we can when we can, we will all reach the promised land together.

Black Lives Matter.

Covid-19, the Wilderlands and Printed Poster Maps

I just got a notice from Onebookshelf that their card/poster printing facility was shut down as part of their state's efforts to combat the spread of Covid-19. All card and poster options are set to private.

Accordingly any purchase of any Bat in the Attic Wilderlands Map PDFs product made on or after March 21st (this covers a handful of existing purchases) will be matched with a discount coupon to buy the print copy at cost plus $1 (so it shows as a sale).

The only issue is that I won't be issuing the coupons until after Onebookshelf starting printing cards and posters again. This is because these coupons work on private projects. However OBS makes it easy to identify (by customer #) who purchase products and to issue a discount coupon.

The print copies of the guidebooks still can be purchased.

The at-cost prices
Wilderlands of High Fantasy $4.80
Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde $4.80
Wilderlands of the Magic Realm $3.84
Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches $3.84
Bundle: $17.28

Wilderlands of High Fantasy reduced in price!

Given the what happened recently with Judges Guild I have not been promoting my products even though I still offer them for sale. Still I have been getting a steady stream of sales and I thank everybody who purchased one of my products.

With problems caused by the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) many companies been offering various products for free or at reduced price. Most of these have been foundation products like Green Ronin's Fantasy Age Basic Rules.

DriveThruRPG link for Fantasy Age.

I am offering the PDFs of first set of maps for Wilderlands of High Fantasy for half off and reducing the price of the print version by $5. Remember the PDF of the guidebook comes with the maps so you only need to buy the guidebook for $5.99 if you want a print copy.

Rob's Note: Offering a combo map/book product was also an experiment. You can't bundle them due to the fact that OneBookshelf has two different printing services for posters/cards versus book. I thought I would make the map the primary product and the guidebook the add-on.

In hindsight this would have been better if the guidebook was the primary product with all the PDF including those of the map. And the poster product was the add-on. The PDF option for the poster would be free and be a promotional brochure. I will talk more about this when I release the Wild North.

As for the Wild North, I am in the midst of drawing up the towns. There are five important towns in the setting. The major difference is that Russian houses are built on lots and have fenced in yards. So it is more open then a traditional medieval city. Of course at the center is the kremlin or citadel. Most of town at this point in the history of the Wild North only have wooden kremlin.

Deal of the Day for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

Today I put up the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Maps as the Deal of the Day over on DriveThruRPG.  The deal will go live at 11 am Eastern Time.

Note that buying this will get you the Guidebook PDF as well. There are 18 maps to the Wilderlands divided into four sets of guidebooks and maps. This deal is for the first set of five maps including the City State of the Invincible Overlord.

The guidebook has an introduction and map commentary by me,. Each map in the guidebook is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles & Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins & Relics, and Lurid Lairs. Any statistic or rule is compatible with Swords and Wizardry and various classic editions of the original roleplaying game.

This deal on the first set, is a good way for folks to see if they like the series without having to invest all at once. You will be credited the cost of the PDF if you decide the buy the PDF bundle later. Finally if you decide to buy print, I include the PDF of maps and guidebooks at no additional charge. The print version of each map is two 12" by 18" poster maps. They also have a generous overlap to make joining the map easy or to track features across the map boundaries.

Journey's End (for now), the Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches has been released!

I am pleased to announce the release of Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches. This is the fourth of four products covering the eighteen maps that encompasses the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. This product covers four of the maps as detailed below. The four sets combined will cover a region equal in size to Western Europe providing years and decades of adventuring for you and your group.

Unlike many setting products, the Wilderlands sketches out the overview and history in light detail. Then presents a comprehensive list of local detail in a compact format that is customizable. This eliminates much of the tedious work involved in creating a setting and allows the referee to focus on the campaign and the grand adventures the players face as their characters.

This is presented as two products both in PDF and Print on Demand.

The first product is a 44 page guidebook containing a brief overview of and commentary on Maps Fifteen to Map Eighteen of the Wilderlands along with lists covering details on Villages, Castles, Lairs, Ruins, and Islands.

Due to the extensive use of monsters from the supplements to the original edition, this release details 7 monsters and provides full statistics suitable for use with Swords and Wizardry and similar RPGs.

The Guidebook for the Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches also includes charts, tables, and rules concerning the Triumphant Grand Tactical mapping system used by the Wilderlands, how to build strongholds, and establishing baronies. In addition information has been added on the demographics of the Wilderlands along with new rules governing pastoral and nomadic cultures. Because Tula, the City of Wizards, plays a prominent role in this region, rules for potion and magic item creations has been included. Finally as the Isle of the Blest straddles the corners of four maps, a combined map and list has been added as a bonus chapter. This includes the background originally written by Scott Fulton in Pegasus #3.

Included with the Guidebook are letter sized blank map of the Wilderlands that can be used to take notes during a campaign. A PDF with the map legend. A letter size black and white guide to the placement of each of the 18 maps within the Wilderlands.

Finally a giant sized preliminary version of the master map that I used to crop the individual maps from. With the right printer this can be printed as a full scale map 5 feet wide and 8 feet long. With the PDF you can selectively copy out regions as complete maps that overlap the borders of the 18 maps. After the release of the final set of maps this file will be updated as a layered PDF allowing for custom maps of the Wilderlands to be copied or created.

The second product is a set of four maps:  Isles of the Dawn Map Fifteen, Southern Reaches Map Sixteen, Silver Skein Isles Map Seventeen, and Ghinor Highlands Map Eighteen. When ordered via print on the demand they are printed in two overlapping halves each on a 12" by 18" poster. In addition each map is presented as a 22" by 17" PDF file.

The maps have been redrawn from the original in a color style. Instead of the distinct symbols of the original maps, terrain has been drawn as a transparent fill and vegetation represented by colored areas. This allows both terrain and vegetation to overlap. Representing more accurately the complexity and diversity of the Wilderland's geography.

This release is the final book in a series of four covering the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

A preview PDF

The Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches Guidebook

The Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches Map

Bundles

I now offer bundles of all four sets of guidebooks and maps at 25% off buying separately. There are four bundles two sets of print or PDF for the guidebooks, and two sets of print or PDF for the maps. DrivethruRPG doesn't allow maps and books to be mixed in the same bundle (or order).

Wilderlands Guidebook Bundle (PDF)
Wilderlands Guidebook Bundle (Print)
Wilderlands Map Bundle (PDF) 
Wilderlands Map Bundle (Print)

Four more Maps! The Wilderlands of the Magic Realm, Revised Edition is released!

I am pleased to announce the release of the Wilderlands of the Magic Realm. This is one of four products covering the eighteen maps that encompasses the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. This product covers five of the maps as detailed below. The four sets combined will cover a region equal in size to Western Europe providing years and decades of adventuring for you and your group.

Unlike many setting products, the Wilderlands sketches out the overview and history in light detail. Then presents a comprehensive list of local detail in a compact format that is customizable. This eliminates much of the tedious work involved in creating a setting and allows the referee to focus on the campaign and the grand adventures the players face as their characters.

This is presented as two products both in PDF and Print on Demand.

This product is a 48 page Guidebook for the four maps of the Wilderlands of the Magic Realm. The books has an introduction and commentary by Robert S. Conley who has used the Wilderlands as his main fantasy campaign for nearly forty years. Each map is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles and Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins and Relics, and Lurid Lairs.

Due to the extensive use of monsters from the supplements to the original edition, this release details 17 monsters and provides full statistics suitable for use with Swords & Wizardry and similar RPGs.

Because the maps for Wilderlands of the Magic Realm are dominated by ocean; charts, tables, and rules concerning water adventures have been included from various Judges Guild publications. A three page summary of the ships presented in Dave Sering's Wave Riders & Sea Steeds are also included along with ship illustrations.

Included with the Guidebook PDFs are letter sized blank map of the Wilderlands that can be used to take notes during a campaign. A PDF with the map legend. A letter size black and white guide to the placement of each of the 18 maps within the Wilderlands. This guidebook covers the Ghinor Map 11, Isle of the Blest Map 12, Ebony Coast Map 13, Ament Tundra Map 14.

Finally a giant sized preliminary version of the master map that I used to crop the individual maps from. With the right printer this can be printed as a full scale map 5 feet wide and 8 feet long. With the PDF you can selectively copy out regions as complete maps that overlap the borders of the 18 maps. After the release of the final set of maps this file will be updated as a layered PDF allowing for custom maps of the Wilderlands to be copied or created.

The second product is a set of four maps:  Ghinor Map Eleven, Isle of the Blest Map Twelve, Ebony Coast Map Thirteen, Ament Tundra Map Fourteen. When ordered via print on the demand they are printed in two overlapping halves each on a 12" by 18" poster. In addition each map is presented as a 22" by 17" PDF file.

The maps have been redrawn from the original in a color style. Instead of the distinct symbols of the original maps, terrain has been drawn as a  transparent fill and vegetation represented by colored areas. This allows both terrain and vegetation to overlap. Representing more accurately the complexity and diversity of the Wilderland's geography.

This release will be followed by the Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches covering the last four maps of the Wilderlands.

A preview PDF

The Wilderlands of the Magic Realm Guidebook

The Wilderlands of the Magic Realm Color Map

Figuring out the scale of Viridstan's Map

One of the mysteries of the original run of Judges Guild products is the scale of the map of the hexes on the City State of the World Emperor.

Nowhere on the above the map or in the text of CSWE is how big each hex is and has remained a minor mystery for the past 35 years.

Recently I realized that the city map to Tarantis is drawn in a similar style to CSWE. While it doesn't have hexes it does have a scale.

So I superimposed a section of Tarantis on top of CSWE and resized Tarantis until the main street, alleys, and building look comparable to the same on the CSWE map.

I then made the Tarantis map transparent and moved the scale over on of Viridstan's hexes. And viola! It looks like each hex is 120 feet.

While my works is an elaborate guess it makes a lot of sense. It unlikely to be 240' feet, but it could have been 60 feet. Or the 60 yards of the Thunderhold Map. Making the scale 120' would make the size of the building comparable to those in Tarantis.

If I ever get around to drawing the City State of the World Emperor that the scale I will go with.

Keyed City State of the Invincible Overlord PDF

Since the fall of 2018 Steve Wachs of Red Pub Games has been working on a new version of the City State of the Invincible Overlord PDF. This version has the text of original entries formatted as notes on the map. Just hover or click over a named location and the text will appear. This will be useful a quick reference if you use a laptop, tablet, or mobile device as a referee aid during a session.

Steve put a lot of work into this. The original CSIO has several hundred entries of different location. In addition Steve spearheaded a community project to come up with description of previously undescribed locations.

For example the Misty Passage Saloon in the village outside of CSIO.

Cronyn Wildhair MU, NG, LVL:4, HTK:9, AC:9, SL:5, STR:13, INT:7, WIS:15, CON:14, DEX:10, CHA:13, WPN: Dagger

Dolmay the Mouser, bartender, FTR, N, 3 LVL, 16 HTK, AC 9, Dagger; Zahra Brighteyed, cook, TH, NE, 3 LVL, 12 HTK, AC 9, Dagger; help Cronyn.  They may all (20%) be off adventuring for 1-4 weeks.   Skeleton crew runs in their absence.  Frequented by Caravan Drivers, Fighters, Merchants, and Sailors, NA 4-24, 1-4 LVL.  Specialty is fried fish and ale, 2 gp.  425gp, 687sp, and 2 Ioun Stones in Catoblepas Head mounted above bar.  Disturbing it causes it to fall, 2d6 crush damage. 

Rumor: The ship The Briny Beholder, laden with golden treasure, ran aground south of River Torn and north of Sea Rune.  All attempts at recovery have been thwarted by Giant Crabs.

Everybody who has gotten a copy of the PDF of the CSIO map will have their file download updated.

All that Steve asked for are physical copies of the CSIO and Wilderlands material I produced and that it be released free to the backers of the CSIO project.

For those who haven't gotten the map or the PDF use the following link.

City State of the Invincible Overlord, Color Map
remember the PDF option for print is  free so pick Print+PDF not just print.

Wilderlands of the Magic Realms
This should be coming out in late February/early March. I will be including some of the underwater and sailing rules and encounters found scattered throughout various Judges Guild supplements. The Wilderlands of the Magic Realms and Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches have maps that are dominated by oceans and seas.

In addition there will be an extensive list of open content monsters as the last two Wilderlands booklets incorporated creatures from the later supplements of the original rules. And many of these creatures don't have open content equivalents or are found in less well known sources.

The next five maps are avaliable! Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde is released

I am pleased to announce the release of the Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde. This is one of four products covering the eighteen maps that encompasses the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. This product covers five of the maps as detailed below. The four sets combined will cover a region equal in size to Western Europe providing years and decades of adventuring for you and your group.

Unlike many setting products, the Wilderlands sketches out the overview and history in light detail. Then presents a comprehensive list of local detail in a compact format that is customizable. This eliminates much of the tedious work involved in creating a setting and allows the referee to focus on the campaign and the grand adventures the players face as their characters.

This is presented at two products both in PDF and Print on Demand.

This product is a 38 page Guidebook for the five maps of the Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde. The books has an introduction and commentary by Robert S. Conley who has used the Wilderlands as his main fantasy campaign for nearly forty years. Each map is detailed with the following listings: Villages, Castles and Citadels, Idyllic Isles, Ruins and Relics, and Lurid Lairs.

Included with the Guidebook are letter sized blank map of the Wilderlands that can be used to take notes during a campaign. A PDF with the map legend. A letter size black and white guide to the placement of each of the 18 maps within the Wilderlands. This guidebook covers the City State of the World Emperor Map Six, Desert Lands Map Seven, Sea of Five Maps Map Eight, Elphand Lands Map Nine, and Lenap Map Ten.

Finally a giant sized preliminary version of the master map that I used to crop the individual maps from. With the right printer this can be printed as a full scale map 5 feet wide and 8 feet long. With the PDF you can selectively copy out regions as complete maps that overlap the borders of the 18 maps. After the release of the final set of maps this file will be updated as a layered PDF allowing for custom maps of the Wilderlands to be copied or created.

The second product is a set of five maps:  City State of the World Emperor Map Six, Desert Lands Map Seven, Sea of Five Maps Map Eight, Elphand Lands Map Nine, and Lenap Map Ten.. When ordered via print on the demand they are printed in two overlapping halves each on a 12" by 18" poster. In addition each map is presented as a 22" by 17" PDF file.

The maps have been redrawn from the original in a color style. Instead of the distinct symbols of the original maps, terrain has been drawn as a  transparent fill and vegetation represented by colored areas. This allows both terrain and vegetation to overlap. Representing more accurately the complexity and diversity of the Wilderland's geography.

This release will be followed by the Wilderlands of the Magic Realm in a few weeks covering the next four maps of the Wilderlands.

A preview PDF

The Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde Guidebook

The Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde Color Map

Recommendations for the original Wilderlands of High Fantasy

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The first five maps and guidebook for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy is available for sale!

I am pleased to announce the release of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. This is one of four products covering the eighteen maps that encompasses the Judges Guild Wilderlands setting. This product covers five of the maps as detailed below. The four sets combined will cover a region equal in size to Western Europe providing years and decades of adventuring for you and your group.

Unlike many setting products, the Wilderlands sketches out the overview and history in light detail. Then presents a comprehensive list of local detail in a compact format that is customizable. This eliminates much of the tedious work involved in creating a setting and allows the referee to focus on the campaign and the grand adventures the players face as their characters.

This is presented at two products both in PDF and Print on Demand.

The first product is a 24 page guidebook containing a brief overview of and commentary on the first five maps of the Wilderlands along with lists covering details on Villages, Castles, Lairs, Ruins, and Islands.

Included with the Guidebook are letter sized blank map of the Wilderlands that can be used to take notes during a campaign. A PDF with the map legend. A letter size black and white guide to the placement of each of the 18 maps within the Wilderlands.

Finally a giant sized preliminary version of the master map that I used to crop the individual maps from. With the right printer this can be printed as a full scale map 5 feet wide and 8 feet long. With the PDF you can selectively copy out regions as complete maps that overlap the borders of the 18 maps. After the release of the final set of maps this file will be updated as a layered PDF allowing for custom maps of the Wilderlands to be copied or created.

The second product is a set of five maps: City-State of the Invincible Overlord, Barbarian Altanis, Valley of the Ancients, Tarantis, and Valon. When ordered via print on the demand they are printed in two overlapping halves each on a 12" by 18" poster. In addition each map is presented as a 22" by 17" PDF file.

The maps have been redrawn from the original in a color style. Instead of the distinct symbols of the original maps, terrain has been drawn as a  transparent fill and vegetation represented by colored areas. This allows both terrain and vegetation to overlap. Representing more accurately the complexity and diversity of the Wilderland's geography.

This release will be followed by the Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde in a few weeks covering the next five maps of the Wilderlands.

A preview PDF

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy Guidebook

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy Color Map

Announcing the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Revised Editions

Wilderlands of High Fantasy Announcement 
In November I promised to revisit the issue of the Wilderlands maps if nothing has been released by March for the Judges Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord Kickstarter. I was able to work out a publishing agreement with Robert Blesdaw II to release the 18 maps I drew for the kickstarter project. In addition I am permitted to publish a series of revised guidebooks to accompany the maps.

Each guidebook will be around 20 to 32 pages and will contain the original listings edited for known errata and corrections. To avoid the issues of cost that accompanied other releases of Wilderlands of High Fantasy, I am following the pattern of the original releases.

The maps and guidebooks will be divided into four products, the Wilderlands of High Fantasy,

Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde, Wilderlands of the Magic Realm, and the Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches. Unlike the original releases, Map 6 Viridistan will be included in Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde although edited down to the format of the other four maps.

The retail cost is yet to be determined as I am testing the various print options. I am targeting $20 per bundle of printed map and guidebook. The maps will be printed as two 12” by 18” sheets. There will be five maps in Wilderlands of High Fantasy and Fantastic Wilderlands Beyonde, and four maps in Wilderlands of the Magic Realm, and Wilderlands of Fantastic Maps. The backer and retail costs will reflect the quantity of maps within a product.

The PDFs will be free to all kickstarter backers. The printed cost to backers for all 18 maps will be slightly less than $20. The printed cost of the guidebooks for backers should be around $3 to $4 depending on which print format works out the best. I am tacking on a one dollar charge so it will count as a sale on both OBS sites, RPGNow and DrivethruRPG. There will be shipping charges from One Bookshelf.

I am doing this because as a Judges Guild licensee, the problems of this kickstarter affect my sales of the Majestic Wilderlands along with other projects using the Judges Guild IP. The above is what I can do to help with the resources I possess. Robert Bledsaw II is aware of what is going on and has worked with me to come up with a solution to get a portion of the product you paid for into your hands.

I will have the package of the first five maps and guidebook released by mid April as the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. I am trying to have remaining maps and guidebooks done by the end of May so I can release them for North Texas Con, a convention focused on older edition gaming. But it may not be until June until I get Fantastic Reaches out. The PDFs will be done first and I will release preliminary copies as soon as I am able.

City State Map spotted in the wild.

Thanks to Allan, Jon, and the Black Blade Publishing crew, my color City of the Invincible Overlord map made it debut at Gary Con. Wish I could have attended. But still if you want a copy the map is available on RPGNow for $10 print + shipping (around $3 to most of the USA).

Thanks to +Allan Grohe and +Guy Fullerton for the photos.

Update: I just learned from +Allan Grohe of Black Blade that they just all sold today. That was quick! Again thanks to the Black Blade Publishing crew for display my books and maps.

The many maps of the City State of the Invincible Overlord

Sales of the City State of the Invincible Overlord color map has been good, with 100 copies sold so far. I ordered another copy of the map for myself to see what it would take to assemble into a single map.

I started by dabbing some two way glue on the overlapping areas. Once it turns clear it act like sticky tape. I can carefully pull apart the two maps and adjust the alignment. Once I got it right. Then I use clear packing tape make a solid join. After I got all four maps together and taped I took it to Staples and got the map laminated.  I was happy with the result but look forward to the day RPGNow gets posters added to the paper sizes they support for print on demand.

While doing this, I was reminded of how many times I dealt with different version of the CSIO Map.

So I pulled them all out and took pictures with my lovely wife Kelly Anne.

The one on the right is the color map joined together and laminated. The one in the center is the original map I got in 1980. As you see the color map is slightly longer but the same width. The one on the left is the map for the Necromancer Games version of City State. I didn't draw that one but did proof it for the cartographer.

The above is a photocopy of the original no name city map drawn by Bob Bledsaw. I used to double check the original printing. The offset printing process required the original handdrawn map to be photographed to the paper size which causes a small loss of detail.

Around 1986 my CSIO map was getting worn as you can see in the first photo. And the setting was developing into the Majestic Wilderlands. I was studying for a geography minor so had access to light table and a set of technical pens and rules I had to buy for class. So I put the original map on a light table, a piece of vellum on top and proceeded to draw. 

Here a closeup of that map

Then around 1993 I bought a copy of CorelDRAW 4 as well had access to a HP 12" by 12" drawing tablet. When I drew the hand drawn map, I drew just the ink line (walls, buildings, shorelines). Had it photocopied on a blueprint copier and then added the color detail. 

I still had the master I photocopied off so I had it reduced to to fit the table and used it make a rough sketch of where everything was located. Then built the map up layer by layer to the below result. 

This was my first major map drawn using CorelDRAW. Which after much practice led to the below.

At some point I will modify the Majestic Wilderlands version of CSIO to this style. 

Hope you enjoyed this. Those of you attending Gary Con (and later North Texas Con) will be able to purchase the maps at the convention from Jon Hershberger and the Black Blade Publishing crew. In addition to the map themselves I am sending the following cover sheet to use in the packaging.

Kellri's Wilderlands Index

Kellri is a longtime blogger and writer who has contributed a number of useful Old School References, notably CDD #4 Encounter Reference.

Yesterday he released the Wilderlands Index a spreadsheet that summarizes nearly all of the original Wilderlands of High Fantasy material. It is an outstanding reference if you are using the Wilderlands for your campaign.

Print option for the City State of the Invincible Overlord, Color Map now available.

When I uploaded this project to RPGNow I thought that the 18" by 12" small poster map was going to be discontinued because it was listed as being on standard paper.

From talking with my OBS rep that turned out to be not true. So I created a print version, uploaded it, and ordered a proof copy. As you can see it looks pretty good.

If you already bought the PDF I sent a email with a discount code to buy it at a low cost. I took the base price and added $1 so it will count as a sale for the site rankings.

City State of the Invincible Overlord, Color Map

If you haven't bought the map yet, the price for Print plus PDFs is $10. The price for print is raised by $2 to cover the cost that OBS charges me for the map. The print version comes with five poster maps.

• Four full scale maps of each quarter of the city. There is considerable overlap between the different section.
• One with the entire map resized to fit the 12" by 18" dimensions of the small poster.

The one downside of the poster maps is that they come folded in half leaving a crease. I already put in the suggestion that they have a tube option for uncreased maps. 

City State of the Invincible Overlord, Color Map (authorized release)

Bat in the Attic Games and Judges Guild is pleased to announce the release of the City State of the Invincible Overlord, Color Map on Friday November 24th 2017.

In 1976, Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owens went into business as Judges Guild. Their initial offering was centered on a magnificent 22" by 34" map of the City State of Invincible Overlord. First appearing at Gen Con IX, it was sold literally out of the trunk of a car during the convention.

Now forty years later that map has been redrawn in full color. It preserves all the original detail while adding new ones like rocks, foot paths, trees, and shrubbery. This has been checked against the no-name city blueprint that was the first draft of the map. This helped to clarify details obscured by the offset printing process used in the 1970s.

This map is not a scanned image of the original but has been redrawn from scratch.

This product contains several versions of the map.

• A vector based PDF with layers at 22" by 34" 
• A bitmap based PDF at 22" by 34"
• A jpeg of the map with building labels and legends removed suitable for Virtual Tabletop software.
• Instructions for using the VTT map with Roll20
• A 17" by 14" map with the city arranged in its correct location on the original 5 mile hex map published on the back of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.
• A PDF with overlapping sections of the full map suitable for printing on letter size paper.
• A PDF with a letter sized black and white only map suitable for taking notes on during a campaign.

This is a authorized Judges Guild release for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

A coupon for a complimentary copy will be offered to all backers of the City State of the Invincible Overlord kickstarter. Please check the comment section of the Kickstarter for instructions.

Link to Kickstarter

This product only contains color maps of the City State of the Invincible Overlord. The original guidebook and map can be purchased from Judges Guild on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG.

The original guidebook can be found on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG at

City State of the Invincible Overlord Revised
or
Guide to the City State (1976)

Poor quality scans for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy

Over on RPGNow and DriveThruRPG Judges sells scans of the original maps. Many have commented on their poor quality. The reason for this is because they were made in the early 2000s by a fan who had access to a large format blueprint scanner. The problem is that the blueprint scanner could only scan black or white. The scan area under each pixel could register either only black in color or remain blank i.e. white.

Even a decade later large format scanners that could do full color were rare. I tried to get my own hand drawn version of the wilderlands map scanned and the best I could do was greyscale.

When I got aboard with Judges Guild and Necromancer Games, Bob Bledsaw sent me a CD of every scan they had whether it is maps or books. Most of the published maps were in there but not many books.

The original scan looked like this.

Somewhat readable. So what can one do to improve. Luckily the PDFs of the maps Judges Guilds allow you to export the map as a full resolution image if you have a program like Abode Acrobat or another PDF editor. I recommend saving this image as a PNG or TIFF.

Once you have that image you can then using a image processing program like Gimp, Paintshop Pro, or Adobe Photoshop to blur the image ever so slightly. New version of these programs have an adjustable blur. I would keep bumping it up until the b/w cross hatching disappears. The map looks way better although you can detect the blurriness when you look close at it.

I hope this helps with getting more out of your purchase of the original Wilderlands Map.