City State of the Invincible Overlord

Goodman Games is starting a crowdfunding campaign for a reproduction of City State of the Invincible Overlord formerly published by Judges Guild in the late 1970s. I have talked about another City State of theirs in a previous set of posts (Tarantis).

https://goodman-games.com/an-additional-statement-about-city-state-of-the-invincible-overlord

Goodman Games often publishes these reproductions and updates to vintage adventure modules for D&D. I don’t think I’ve bought these in the past, but the reproductions look wonderfully produced and detailed. I’m eager to see what they will do with a full reproduction of this classic setting.

I have a few decisions to make - or not to make. I was a fan of Judges Guild stuff back in the 80s. Me and my players enjoyed exploring the city-states, dungeons, castles, ruins, etc. that Judges Guild presented. So, the nostalgia of once again having the whole set - plus delighting in how Goodman Games will bring this to us nearly 50 years later is a big draw.

The two arguments against buying this set are - I have quite enough setting material (including some old maps and notes from original JG materials) for fantasy RPGs. Given my history and collection, this is not an argument that will hold much weight over time.

The other argument holds more weight for me. The license holder - Bob Bledsaw, Jr. - firstly, raised money to update this set more than a decade ago and simply stole a lot of people’s money. Secondly, his outrageous horrid public statements and troll behavior 5 years ago simply have me wanting to stay away. (easy to look up - I won't give it a link).

Maybe I’ll just just enjoy the wonderful game materials I have already - for Symbaroum, Forbidden Lands, Warhammer Roleplay - and many others. I could also enjoy developing my own (see my Exploring Tarantis elsewhere on this blog). I simply don’t want to have something that has that flavor on my bookshelf.

I’m torn whether to back at all. I’m confident that Goodman Games are doing the right thing when it comes to setting aside the funds that would ordinarily go to the license holder and getting those funds to backers who were swindled years ago.

I’m also confident that the product as produced by Goodman Games will be wonderful. I have bought other Goodman Games adventures and I love their style and the end product will no doubt be great.

One idea is to gather a few old friends and revisit the adventures, characters and places we had fun with many years ago. Explore the nostalgia. Explore what our friendships can bring us now.

I would also support doing something public that would irritate the license holder. Maybe a Dungeons and Drag Queens adventure in the city.

My other dilemma is what game mechanics I would use - or to what setting I would adapt this set? My first instinct is to somehow start a Forbidden Lands campaign using this set. A simpler idea is just to use the D&D materials I have already. The other idea is to go for Dungeon Crawl Classics and set aside my D&D. I think DCC might present the closest experience to the experience we had when playing the original set. Arguments could be made to use Basic Fantasy RPG, Old School Essentials, Shadowdark, or even Dragonbane.

I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts as time goes on

Find me on Discord @PaineFull_dm and tell me your thoughts

https://goodman-games.com/dungeon-crawl-classics-rpg