2008.05.11
James Maliszewski reviews Adventure Games Journal #1 on his blog at Grognardia, giving it 4 out of 5 polearms!
2008.05.05
James Maliszewski reviews XXXI on his blog at Grognardia, giving it 4 out of 5 polearms!
2008.05.04
Wayne Tonjes reviews Adventure Games Journal #1 on Gaming Report, giving it rating of 4 out of 10, or two out of five stars. Click here to find my reply to this review.
2008.04.19
Bob Bledsaw, Founder of Judges Guild, Passes Away
Born May 18, 1942 in Decatur, succumbed peacefully to cancer April 19th, 2008 in the home of his son, surrounded by family. A graduate of Lakeview Highschool and Richland Community College, attended Millikin University. He was employed as an engineer by A.W.Cash, Grigoliet, Essex Wire, General Electric and Zexel Illinois, contributing to the developement of quadrophonic sound-systems.
In 1976, with partner Bill Owen, founded The Judges Guild Game Company of Decatur, manufacturers of role-playing games and supplies. Through this venture, he became known world-wide as an author and pioneer of Fantasy Gaming, and president of the company.
Robert was a faithful member of the Parkway Church of the Nazarene, with deep affection for his church-family there. Politically, he was an active liberal Democrat, who hated all war, and supported our constitutional liberties. He contributed to many charities, and was a devoted and loving son, brother, father, uncle, and grandfather. He touched, through his life and works, many lives throughout this world.
He was survived by his father, Walter C. Bledsaw of Decatur, IL; two brothers, Jim (Lynette) Bledsaw of Chanhassen, MN, Bill (Priscilla) Bledsaw of Niantic, IL, and three sisters, Judith (Decie) Huffaker of Murfreesboro, TN, Kathy (Patrick) Eytchison of Lincoln, IL, and Debi (Marc) Summerlott of Decatur, IL; his former wife, Norma Ellrick of Latham, IL; three sons: Robert E. (Jenny) Bledsaw Jr. of Harristown, IL, Bruce A. (Tammy) Bledsaw of Warrensburg, IL, and Walter S. (Kathy) Bledsaw of Decatur, IL; seven grandchildren: (Robert Jr.) Robert E. Bledsaw III, Martin F. Bledsaw, Samuel J. Bledsaw, Aaron J. Bledsaw, Jason W. Bledsaw, Courtney L. Bledsaw, and (Walter) Zane T. Bledsaw; several nephews, nieces, great nephews and great nieces.
He was preceded in death by his loving mother, Dorothy E. "Dort"; infant daughter, Kathleen Sue and infant granddaughters: (Bruce) Elizabeth, Lucinda, and Hope.
Services to be held at Parkway Church of the Nazarene, 2701 E. Faries Parkway, Decatur, Illinois at 10A.M. Wednesday, April 23rd, followed by interment at Graceland Cemetery. It is the wish of family that any memorials in his honor be made to this good church.
2008.04.02
AGP Announces Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands Revised Editions
IOLA, WI – April 2, 2008 — Adventure Games Publishing, publishers of Wilderlands of High Adventure™ products for the Castles & Crusades® role-playing game, is pleased to announce the release of revised editions of the Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. The Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands included the core rules and information for fans to adventure in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, and has been out of print for some time. The new revised editions will enable fans new and old to enjoy the Wilderlands using their favorite role playing game.
“The Wilderlands of High Fantasy is the classic sword and sorcery role-playing game campaign setting,” said James Mishler, President of Adventure Games Publishing. “The core rules needed to play in the setting should always be in print and available to the fans. With the new revised editions we will be able to provide the material needed to maximize fans’ enjoyment of the setting with their favorite fantasy role-playing game system.”
The material from the original Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands, published by Necromancer Games under license from Judges Guild, will be divided into three 48-page booklets. The first on the schedule is the Player’s Guide to Races & Classes, designed for use with the OGL for the Revised 3rd Edition. Races & Classes includes all the rules details and extensive information on Wilderlands-specific races, classes, prestige classes, skills, feats, and equipment. Soon to follow will be the Player’s Guide to the City States, a gazetteer filled with details on the history and geography, city states and settlements as the players would know it. Finally, the Judge’s Guide to Monsters & Treasure includes all the new monsters and treasures of the Wilderlands, designed for use with the OGL for the Revised 3rd Edition, for judges to use in their campaigns.
Each book not only includes revised materials and information from the original, but also new material, including additional races, information, monsters, and treasures not included in the original Player’s Guide to the Wilderlands. After the first three books are released, a second series, designed for use with the parallel world of the Wilderlands of High Adventure and designed for use with Castles & Crusades, will follow. Plans are also in the works to support the Wilderlands of High Fantasy with further Player’s Guides when 4th Edition is open for use by third parties.
More information on these products will be available in the next few weeks on the Adventure Games Publishing website at www.adventuregamespubs.com.
2008.02.14
Jon Hershberger, a Charter Adventure Games Journal Subscriber, reviews XXXI, posting the review on Troll Lord Games Forums, Dragonsfoot, and Goodman Games Forums. He gives it 5 out of 5 stars!
2008.01.31
The first issue of Adventure Games Journal ships to subscribers. Included with the subscription are Campaign Map 18: Southern Reaches, a reproduction of the first issue of the Judges Guild Journal, a Charter Subscriber Card, and a Super Secret Subscriber Card.
2008.01.17
Added the Adventure Games Journal #1 Preview PDF to the Adventure Games Publishing website.
2008.01.16
Added Games of the Week section to the Adventure Games Publishing website.
2008.01.08
Added the Tell Qa Player's Map PDF to the Adventure Games Publishing website.
2007.12.28
I've been prodded (rightly so) to post an update, so here goes...
The reason I've been so silent is because most folks who were speaking up were wondering why I was posting and not writing... so I shut up and kept writing. Then of course folks who wondered why I wasn't posting started speaking up and... only proved to me you can't win for losing.
But here's an update...
The first issue of Adventure Games Journal is in final layout. I had hoped to have that complete before Christmas, in order to have it at the printer before the new year, but holiday stuff got in the way. So it looks like it will go to the printers the first week of January.
The first Campaign Installment, Player's Guide to the Southern Reaches, is not yet complete. However, part of the production process has shown me that working on two very different products at the same time slows both products down, so I have decided upon a new shipping format, to fit my new production format...
The magazines and campaign installments, rather than shipping together, will be stagger shipped. AGJ #1 will ship in January. CI #1 will ship in February. AGJ #2 will ship in March, CI #2 in April, and so forth. The effect is still the same, two 48-page books every other month, but subscribers will get a book every month rather than two every other month. Shipping will be First Class rather than Priority; I'm going to end up eating it a bit on the shipping to current international customers, but I think it's a better way of getting product out there. Goodies will ship with each mailing (the freebie color maps will usually ship with the CI, but in the case of the first it will ship with the AGJ).
So there's the latest and greatest. AGJ #1 in January, CI #1 in February, and (ideally) a regular monthly schedule thereafter.
I offer a 30-day money back guarantee on all products (I should post it on the site, now that I think of it). If you don't like the product, ship it back and I will refund your money. If someone wants out of a subscription, I will refund them the portion remaining (at this point in time, all of it), no questions asked. I'm not out to steal anyone's money.
Things simply have not gone as smoothly as I'd hoped. I should have known after all these years in the industry that nothing ever goes as planned, no matter how prepared you think you are, and set aside more time to get things started. Harsh lesson relearned.
2007.09.05
Adventure Games Publishing, publishers of Wilderlands of High Adventure products for the Castles & Crusades Fantasy Role Playing Game, is pleased to announce the October 2007 launch of a new bi-monthly print gaming magazine, Adventure Games Journal. Adventure Games Journal is dedicated to providing players and judges of role-playing games extensive materials to assist in game play, including new monsters and treasures, organizations, races, classes, locations, adventures, and other game elements to enhance and expand the role-playing game experience.
"Adventure Games Journal is all about the cool, fun stuff that players and judges want to bring to the table," said James Mishler, President of Adventure Games Publishing and Publisher of Adventure Games Journal. "The models I used to build the Adventure Games Journal format were all from classic magazines and fanzines, which were chock-full of new and unique elements to add to your game. There's no room for whining about "post-modern game theory" in the pages of Adventure Games Journal. It's all about playing games and having fun."
Subscribers receive a 32-page Campaign Installment with each 48-page Adventure Games Journal issue. Each Campaign Installment focuses in detail on a region, city, town, or adventure area of the Wilderlands of High Adventure. Future Campaign Installments may include material for other worlds and even other role-playing game systems. Though Adventure Games Journal focuses on the Wilderlands of High Adventure and Castles & Crusades, Adventure Games Publishing plans to include coverage of other role-playing games both in Adventure Games Journal and in Campaign Installments. The first issue of Adventure Games Journal is scheduled for release in October 2007, with subsequent issues to follow every other month thereafter.
The first issue of Adventure Games Journal includes a guide to the world of the Wilderlands of High Adventure, details on the royal family of the City State of the Invincible Overlord, two complete adventures, two organizations, a Lost God of the Wilderlands, two new classes, a new race, and plenty of new monsters, treasures, and judge's charts. The campaign installment for the first issue is the Player's Guide to the Southern Reaches, a mysterious region of the far south caught between the monstrous Demon Empires, the accursed Kingdom of Karak, and the howling savagery of the Wilderlands.
Adventure Games Journal subscriptions are available direct from Adventure Games Publishing. Subscribers receive each issue of Adventure Games Journal, along with its related Campaign Installment, plus various special subscriber-only limited-edition items available from time to time during the period of the subscription.
Each 48-page issue comes complete with the 32-page campaign installment, plus subscribers get special FREE products and special offers throughout their subscription term. Note that ads are minimal in the magazine, and non-existent in the campaign installment, so you get a big bang for your buck!
2007.08.16
Adventure Games Publishing is pleased to announce the release of a special limited-edition product at Gen Con Indy 2007. Titled XXXI in reference to this being the 31st year of Judges Guild, the 48-page product is packed with Wilderlands of High Adventure gaming goodness, ready for Judges to use right off the page with Castles & Crusades.
"Gen Con is very important in the history of Judges Guild, and I wanted to release a special limited-edition product to highlight that relationship," said James Mishler, President of Adventure Games Publishing. "Judges Guild premiered at Gen Con IX, when Bill Owen sold the very first maps of the City State of the Invincible Overlord out of the trunk of his car on the first day of the show. The odd sales method only helped to build the mystique around the product. Bob Bledsaw showed up the next day, bought a dealer's table, and the rest, as they say, is history. Fortunately, I've no need to sell XXXI in the parking garage; it will be available at the Troll Lord Games booth (#515)."
The Wilderlands of High Fantasy was the first fantasy campaign setting published in 1977 by Judges Guild as the world built around the classic City State of the Invincible Overlord. Adventure Games Publishing's Wilderlands of High Adventure updates and expands the campaign setting, adding a modern, epic high-fantasy veneer to the classic swords-and-sorcery core of the setting, and providing Judges with all the tools, information, and campaign elements needed to pick up a product and run a fun, engrossing, and complete game session or even campaign with as little or as much additional preparation as desired.
XXXI is a special preview of what Adventure Games Publishing has to come. XXXI contains:
The complete text of the very well-received Free RPG Day product Imperial Town of Tell Qa: Northern Bastion of the Falling Empire, including 83 locations complete with NPCs, plus details on races, cultures, military defenses, local Mycretian cells, adventure rumors, recent history, and streets and market places, and a gorgeous yet eminently useable map of the town;
20 entirely new and highly detailed random encounters designed specifically for use with Tell Qa;
Complete and revised details on the Mycretians for use with the Wilderlands of High Adventure and Castles & Crusades. Designed as a major foil for the use of the Judge, the Mycretians and their lone god, Mycr, have always been among the most mysterious and interesting protagonists of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy. XXXI presents the Mycretian's motives and methods, and three entire Mycretian sects, plus the completely revised Mycretian class along with complete details on all-new Mycretian gifts;
A couple of other surprises...
XXXI weighs in at 48 pages and retails for $10.
2006.08.22
www.adventuregamespubs.com goes live!
2006.08.12
James Mishler and Bob Bledsaw discuss the formation of Adventure Games Publishing, and the future of the Wilderlands of High Fantasy and the Wilderlands of High Adventure, with fans at the "Death & Resurrection of Judges Guild" seminar at Gen Con.
2006.08.10
The formation of Adventure Games Publishing is announced at Gen Con 2006, with flyers announcing the Wilderlands of High Adventure line and the Ravaged Ruins of the Roglaras product at the Troll Lord Games and Gamescience/Judges Guild booth.
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