The Judges Guild Wilderlands Campaign setting
Back in the late 1970s a company called Judges Guild began producing content for the new Dungeons and Dragons game. They created a campaign setting called the Wilderlands and set almost all of their D&D modules in it. Even their setting independent modules could easily be placed within the world.
As time wore on they upgraded to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and eventually lost the licence from TSR and switched to their Universal Role Playing system (Which could easily be converted to AD&D).
The standard of the modules was a little disappointing, the paper used was cheap, the details sometimes very scant. But they made up for this with the lovely huge cardstock maps and sheer enthusiasm contained within the modules.
The maps were very large, around A1-A2 size, and printed on heavy cardstock paper. The world was contained on 18 large maps. Each of which was supplied as a DMs copy, with lots of detail on, and a Players copy with only the basics. The rest of which had to be drawn in by the players as they learned about it.
There were 6 large City-States in the world, three of which were detailed with large maps and a book full of locations and npcs. The City State of the Invincible Overlord was the first City to be detailed in a D&D product.
One of the most original modules was Tegel Manor, a huge old haunted mansion. Which included a sort of family tree of the owners, the Rump family.
Unlike the TSR modules and later campaign settings, these were not slick, all encompassing modules. Rather they were bags of information that you could use or discard at your whim. There was enough in each module to be played off the shelf but plenty of room for enhancement and expansion.
The setting had a history going back over 4000 years and scattered all over the land were the ruins of many previous empires. Again it was easy to ignore any bits that didn't fit in with your game style or ethos.
Judges Guild folded in the 1980s but resurfaced in the late 1990s and on into the 2000s. In the meantime Mayfair Games reprinted Tegel Manor and their own City State of the Invincible Overlord.
The Campaign setting was revitalised for 3.5 edition D&D in partnership with Necromancer Games when a Players Guide and DMs Core Box to the Wilderlands were released, along with the City State of the Invincible Overlord. A full set of maps were produced. There was also an extra Map 19 detailing the area to the north produced in PDF format, but I am not sure how official this was. It was however produced in the same format as the other maps.
Sadly the driving force behind Judges Guild, Bob Bledsaw died in 2008 and Judges Guild has waned and recently become mired in controversy which I will not detail here.
In 2014 there was a Kickstarter to update and reissue the City State of the Invincible Overlord in the Pathfinder and Judges Guild Universal System, and redraw all the Wilderlands maps. Sadly it failed to deliver. However PDF & JPEG maps were produced in various formats (Judges (Topographic and Hex) and Players)) these were published online by the artist who allegedly did not get paid for his work.
Many of the old campaign guides and modules are still available on ebay and Goodman Games has been reprinting some of the old modules. However this has now stopped because of the controversy that now surrounds Judges Guild and Bob Bledsaw's Son and Grandson.
Recently Tegel Manor was re-released by Frog God Games in 5e format.
Original Editions
The original marketing model for Judges Guild was that you took out a subscription with them and received a package of stuff every month. This was usually a map and a booklet or two. If this was a module it was usually complete, but if it was one of the larger modules or a campaign pack it would be completed over several months. These were then compiled together and released for sale as single modules. Later editions had all the booklets condensed into a single large booklet and usually had some colour covers and pages.
The original modules were originally approved for Dungeons & Dragons, and then Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Then, when they lost the licence they switched to their own in-house Universal Fantasy System. The City State of the Invincible Overlord was published initially for Dungeons & Dragons and in it's final version was for the Universal Fantasy System.
For more information on the various versions of the modules and issues visit https://acaeum.com/jg/
The Original Campaign was issued in several Modules, each of which had large maps of the area and a booklet of descriptions. These were only brief and had to be expanded on by the DM. There were also players maps with scant details on them.
The Campaign was split into 18 maps which were originally split amongst 5 modules.
In the reissued 3.5e core box the village and town descriptions were expanded and added to, to give the DM less work. The Core box came with all 18 maps and a Black and White and a Colour map of the whole Wilderlands.
This edition expanded on the locations and gave brief descriptions of many villages and towns. There was a lot more artwork for the larger or more important locations.
The products produced by Necromancer Games were:
- The Players Guide to the Wilderlands
- The Wilderlands of High Fantasy
- The City State of the Invincible Overlord
- The Caverns of Thracia (Not actually set in The Wilderlands but could be with a little work)
Some other modules have been released by other manufacturers.
This edition also included vague descriptions of the lands off the edges of the map.
D&D 5th Edition
Frog God Games re-issued Tegel Manor for 5th Edition D&D and the Swords and Wizardry system. It was a thick book with a large colour map.
Goodman Games launched a Kickstarter on BackerKit to produce the City State of the Invincible Overlord with Wraith Overlord and Campaign Map #1 for both 5th Edition D&D and their own DCC systems.
This was a limited edition run to help refund the backers who lost money on the previous Kickstarter. The profits will be kept by Goodman Games to disperse to the backers of the failed Kickstarter and any over will go to Judges Guild. Goodman Games will then make a similar sized donation to Diversity Charities.
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