Judges Guild Makes Statement About Goodman Controversy [Updated]

Judges Guild--the company which owns the City State of the Invincible Overlord property which Goodman Games has controversially licensed for an upcoming crowdfunding campaign--has put out a statement covering the situation, amongst other things.

Much of the lengthy statement by JG owner Bob Bledsaw II is a political monologue about keeping politics out of games while simultaneously speaking at length about Bledsaw's own political views and positions, and his criticisms of opposing viewpoints. It's not entirely clear why everybody else is expected to keep politics out of gaming while Bledsaw himself won't stop talking about them, but for those who wish to read it in full, it can be found here. [edit—the post seems to have been deleted now, but you can read it at the end of this article]

However, the update does raise some interesting facts:

• Joseph Goodman originally asked to make City State of the Invincible Overlord in 2010, but it was not until 2022 (two years after the 2020 outbursts which caused Goodman Games to cut ties with Judges Guild) that Bledsaw agreed to it.
• Goodman Games will be producing 5 years of the Dungeoneer fanzine, after which Judges Guild will take it over.
• Judges Guild has plans for a range of products over the coming years.
• The charitable donations on sales of JG products on GG's website being made after the 2020 outbursts were ended in 2022 because JG and GG agreed it was time for the Guild to make some cash.

This information, if true, stands in contradiction to Goodman Games' own statements. In February 2020, Goodman Games said:

• Goodman Games has stopped selling our previous Judges Guild products through all distribution channels.
• Judges Guild will no longer receive income from Goodman Games products now that sales of their titles have ceased.
• We have one remaining product to release, which is a collector’s edition focused on the works of Jennell Jaquays.
• After this final volume, we have no plans to release future Judges Guild titles.

It's not clear how all these statements line up, given that some contradict others. Judges Guild products are currently available on Goodman Games' website.

I did reach out to Goodman Games, but was just referred to their public statements on the subject.

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Bob Bledsaw II (Judges Guild)'s statement in full:

Hello Friends and Guild Family,
As the Guild's 50th Anniversary approaches, I wished to let you all know about plans we have set for the coming few years. Some are thru licensees and some through our own internal processes. We have good things in the works for 2026, and beyond.
Let me remind you all that I am no liar. Keep that in mind. I have always been honest with others in this industry, and my record will show my candor, generosity, and good-will toward all. Like my father, I encourage other game publishers, welcome joint ventures, and leave politics out of my business life. I consider that a part of being an American. I do not expect others to conform to my way of thinking, but the weaponization of politics to harm people, or the competition in our industry, is becoming more and more common. I find it hypocritical that persons who would cancel, or effect a boycott, against an individual would themselves support laws that would criminalize the boycott of certain countries. But there you have it; laws for thee, none for me. It will ruin our industry, as it has others.
Dave Arneson foresaw all this, and we spoke in 2008 of what would happen as more liberal johnny-come-latelies pushed into our industry. Regardless of what the woke may wish, it was an industry created largely by White, Christian, stragegists; most very active in their respective churches. Sadly, the current trends would attack or change the achievements of others; burn an industry down, rather than create their own. It is always easier to destroy something than to create it. I created the company logo at age 13, but only with my father's instigation, but I challenge you to find a more bad-ass company logo anywhere in the world.
Dave believed that once the game industry made more money than the movie industry, they would come in a wave like it was the California Gold Rush... producing small private game companies, likely producing a lot of bad games, and moving them thru their own small game stores, while touting them thru media outlets. He said it would be no different than the way they pushed poor films thru their own small theaters for decades. They would flood the market with so many distractions that honest publishers would not stand a chance against their profit margins. And, as for the big players, "they do not care about what we created, they are fine with destroying it."
Dave knew that what Gygax had done was all sold, and he advised me to never allow the Wilderlands, or the Guild IP as a whole, to be sold away to "the heartless beast," as he called it. He understood that the Guild represented what was left at the heart of it all. It created the game-module, it created the stand-up, it proved the market to TSR. But 50 years later, TSR is no more, and the industry pioneers are dying away from us, and D&D suffered a dismal 50th; due largely to leftist posturing, and everyone wishing for more of this or less of that.
The founders were all good men, family men, and people who understood humor without pearl-clutching, yet we work to include everyone at our game-table, even today. We are not out to promote a way of thinking, or an agenda. We try hard to make good products at a fair price, but the Guild must compete against publishers who use cheap Chinese labor houses. Once, Joseph Goodman came to me, having found paper like our original maps had been printed on, but I said no to it, because the paper came from China. He knows what people want, so I trust he will always make top-notch products. We just could not find it in America.
That is not always easy here. Our policy from the beginning was to produce ALL AMERICAN products, and we always have. We were literally founded on July 4th 1976, on the nation's bicentennial. I remember the day well, and watched the fireworks over the lake from Bill Owen's hilltop home. Joseph Goodman recently commented on how much he loved my father's work, and I do not doubt that sincerity, but it set wrong with me, maybe it is my age talking, but I was there! It was my work also; from the company logo, to the first map, and Tac Cards on... It was MY work also. Many of the covers, much of the layout; I was a part of the Guild Family, and that included everyone working with us. There were Whites, Blacks, Muslims, Jews, Gays, Catholics, Native Americans, South Africans, City Intellectuals, and Country Farmers, all working under the Guild banner, in-house, and in all those years, never an argument over politics or religion. THAT IS AMERICA, a mutual respect for diversity! Not at all what overshadows our industry today, and I see all that for what it is; a self-righteous power-grab.
Nevertheless we work on, and the Overlord is Invincible. As it is currently planned with Goodman Games, City State of the Invincible Overlord, our flagship, will see revisions in 5th Edition, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. Now, the Goodman folks jumped ahead of us; we were to have a planned rollout in July of this year. The Guild version, in Bob Bledsaw's JG Universal format will include materials Bob wrote but has never been used. The page count has doubled, and will likely come in 2 Volumes. We know this will make for a great product, because the same process of applying Bob's draft content to The Thieves of Badabaskor resulted in many great reviews and happy letters.
It is true that Joseph Goodman has long wished to do CSIO, and asked about it as far back as 2010, but I was always opposed to that as D&D was becoming more magic-heavy with each new rule-set, and my father's original Wilderlands was magic-light. I did not think it was a good fit. But by 2022, after having seen the successes of his DCC system, and always assuming that our own version would come, I agreed, because it would allow a whole new generation to see the City State with the lenses of their choosing. He told me it was bound to be grand, shipped internationally, and for the first time, printed in 5 languages! That is great guns! Joseph has a great team and he will always be considered a dear friend.
Now back in 2020, I had no problem with giving the Guild's royalties to the ADL, as it seemed the right thing to do after my irrational posts, but we agreed it was time for the Guild to make some cash, and so it was set down in 2022, but I allowed Joseph to pick his own timing, because he had more important projects, after having acquired Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia. I assumed Jennell Jaquays would be working with Goodman over the next several years; so I provided her with copies of her many Guild letters from our files to help stir some creativity. I also hoped to gain her help on another project I will mention later, after having given her the freedom to produce a revision of Night of the Walking Wet. Sadly, Jennell passed away, and it made me all the more glad for that hug at our last parting. I always respected the talented artist she was.
Also, speaking of unpublished material, our Imperial Pegasus magazine will see revival, as a periodical, but with a likely format change. It will certainly not be a 94 page monster, but will allow us to produce all manner of content, crawls, Wilderlands expansions, sci-fi material, industry comment, and reviews. As planned, Goodman Games will produce 5 years of Dungeoneer, whereupon JG will take over production of the classic fanzine, and this will allow us to use all the Jennell Jaquays material and art that was unpublished. You may wait a bit longer than that, but the Jaquays influence will live on in the coming Dungeoneers; her original dream. As a fellow artist, I think it is fitting that those works see use in this way. I still have some of her original paintings that would make lovely prints or future covers.
Other products are here being readied for release before our Anniversary: Village Books I & II, Book of Rumors I, Amulets & Talismans, Island Book II, Washbears of the Wilderlands, Citadel of the Lion, and a first ever fantasy novel set in the Wilderlands. The Book of Rumors will be a series, providing detailed lore for each of the Wilderlands Maps areas. Island Book II, will host islands, less Mediterranean, but with a Coral Sea flavor. My fiance of 3 years, her father a provincial healer of Bukidnon, has provided much rare folklore from the Islands of the Philippines, translated from Bisayan and Mountainyard languages. And although the 2014 Maps cannot be completed, a friend from my college years has just this month found us very similar paper, made in America, that will be test printed in the coming days. Over the coming months of 2025, we hope to make use of our YouTube Channel, and provide more support for our product line, in the form of free downloads. I hope news brings many smiles. We are happy to be working with good-hearted partners, and we do thank you for supporting us all.
Sincerely, Bob Bledsaw II

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UPDATE! Goodman Games Says Bledsaw Is Not Correct!

Wobblerocket reached out to Goodman Games and got a response from Joseph Goodman who said that Goodman Games is NOT going to be producing the Dungeoneer fanzine. In Bledsaw's statement (above), Judges Guild said "As planned, Goodman Games will produce 5 years of Dungeoneer, whereupon JG will take over production of the classic fanzine". Joseph Goodman says "I think it’s best if Goodman Games speaks for what Goodman Games is doing. And Goodman Games is definitely not doing Dungeoneer."

He only refutes Bledsaw’s claim that Goodman Games will be producing Dungeoneer. He does not respond to the questions about the timing of the Invincible Overlord agreement, and was not asked about the redirection of the charity donations back to Judges Guild.

Wobblerocket: In a post on Facebook yesterday, Judges Guild stated that they agreed to allow Goodman Games to publish City State of the Invincible Overlord in 2022, two years after Goodman Games stated they were no longer going to be publishing Judges Guild projects.

Judges Guild also stated that Goodman Games is planning to publish Dungeoneers, but you have stated in your videos that you aren’t publishing any more Judges Guild projects after CSIO. I couldn’t find any information about this on your website.

Could you clarify for me if this information is correct?

Joseph Goodman: Hi — in short, this information is not correct.

Wobblerocket: Thank you.

What are the plans for the Dungeoneer magazine? Is that an IP that Goodman Games licensed from Judges Guild?

Joseph Goodman: Hi – to make a long story short, Goodman Games has or had rights to quite a few Judges Guild titles, and we have no plans to release any except CSIO.

The contracts have confidentiality clauses so I’m quite limited in what I can say. But in short…the information you emailed about is incorrect. I think it’s best if Goodman Games speaks for what Goodman Games is doing. And Goodman Games is definitely not doing Dungeoneer.

 

[mamba]

And how do they fund the 3 years of work it took for Michael Curtis and the team of writers and artists to make the DCC and 5E versions with new content?

I have no idea how much work they did, it’s not like the books / pdfs are available right after the KS, so I would expect much of the work is still ahead of them and the three years were mostly spent on the content of other KS.

Yes, GG will have to eat some costs if they cancel the KS, that is the price of running a business and making bad decisions. They will also lose some customers from following through with it

 

[billd91]

The accusations like that sound like performative outrage. None of this means Goodman is bad. His crime is bad PR. He could have handled this better.

I'm not sure there's any PR that redeems working with Nazis for a hobby market.

 

[Umbran]

Real Frazetta paintings look nothing like what's in books and one could never understand the magnitude of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling unless they've stood in that space.

But... I found the Sistine Chapel to be annoyingly underwhelming.

The problem with being "experiential" is that not everyone walks away with the same experience.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

But... I found the Sistine Chapel to be annoyingly underwhelming.

The problem with being "experiential" is that not everyone walks away with the same experience.

Yeah, American Gothic was "yeah, that's the original, pretty cool I guess".

Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte, on the other hand, was "holy bleep it's big... and look close, oh my bleep..."

 

[marurun]

And how do they fund the 3 years of work it took for Michael Curtis and the team of writers and artists to make the DCC and 5E versions with new content? And they're not really funding Nazis. They're funding the creative teams at Goodman Games. They're refunding the people that were ripped off by Nazis. Goodman said the Crowdfund will stop once they reach the funding total that would be enough money to refund backers.

And if there's any money left after refunding backers of JG's older crowdfunding campaign, because people don't file for a refund or because documentation is squirrely, JG gets that overage. This is also a kind of "crowdwashing" which bails out JG and assumes their obligation to refund backers. Great for those backers, but it also distinctly benefits JG as well, even if not in the form of direct income. So essentially, Goodman Games is helping to prop up JG with this. So yes, Goodman is funding AND supporting JG, abhorrent views and all. Thing is, Goodman Games' past positive behavior doesn't imbue them with full immunity free pass. This isn't an "Oops, we screwed up, we're sorry. We won't do it again. We totally get why this is a problem and we've learned." This is an unforced error, where they decided the desire to get their mitts on CSIO was worth making a deal with Nazis.

 

[The Firebird]

But... I found the Sistine Chapel to be annoyingly underwhelming.

The problem with being "experiential" is that not everyone walks away with the same experience.

I don't think that is a problem as much as a feature.

 

[Umbran]

I don't think that is a problem as much as a feature.

Sure.

The point is that there's no clear way to know what experience you really ought to preserve. You cannot preserve all possible experiences forever - that scope is too large for the resources available to apply to the work of preservation.

 

[Metroido]

Sure.

The point is that there's no clear way to know what experience you really ought to preserve. You cannot preserve all possible experiences forever - that scope is too large for the resources available to apply to the work of preservation.

Sure, and that's part of the Art Historian's job. And you'll find just as many people who think Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is worth teaching in English class as you will people who think it should be banned or burned.

But, ideally, the people making such decisions are people who are actual artists themselves. You may have found the Sistine Ceiling to have been underwhelming, but every Classically trained artist knows why it's interesting, important, and groundbreaking. Every artist I've ever known, including myself, was stunned to silence and awe upon walking into that room.

Similarly, any writer worth their salt knows why Mark Twain or Dostoevsky are important. A train musician understands better than I why Bach or Miles Davis are important and worth preserving.

No one else has put forth much of an effort to preserve TTRPGs in any serious way besides Joe Goodman. And Joe Goodman and Michael Curtis are serious designers. They have a better understanding than most as to what was groundbreaking, historically significant, and worth preserving. They're also some of the few that actually see this stuff as "art." Most people see this stuff as mere disposable "content." And to be fair, most TTRPG products are.

 

[The Firebird]

Sure.

The point is that there's no clear way to know what experience you really ought to preserve. You cannot preserve all possible experiences forever - that scope is too large for the resources available to apply to the work of preservation.

I guess I'd say you're not preserving an experience, which is basically impossible. You're preserving the art that produced the experiences. And that's based on which art people have found meaningful before.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Yes and no. Goodman Games is a business, but from their beginning in the 3E era, it's been one laser-focused on keeping a certain style of gaming -- basically TSR 1978 through 1982 -- alive.

That's been manifested in their 3E Dungeon Crawl Classics modules, which absolutely nailed the early 1E D&D tone, and the later Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG line.

The OAR books are a product, but they are very clearly mostly aimed at an audience of one: Joseph Goodman. Prior this past month, 99% of the complaints about them were "you got peanut butter in my chocolate/you got chocolate in my peanut butter" when the people who wanted 5E adaptations of Isle of Dread discovered there was a giant history book about the module taking up the first third of the book and vice versa. I don't know how many people were demanding oversized books going into laborious detail about the origins of Keep on the Borderlands, combined with a big 5E adaptation and expansion of it, but Goodman did it.

I think it's highly likely the OAR books would have sold much better than they did -- and they seem to have all been big sellers -- if they had been normal sized, on less heavy duty paper and didn't come with a built in history book. And, conversely, I don't think a history book version of each adventure would have sold very well if it wasn't attached to a big 5E revamp. We already have Shannon Applecline's very nice histories of most of this stuff over on DriveThruRPG for free, for instance.

The extremely idiosyncratic nature of the line is because it's what Goodman seems to think is necessary to get these histories out into the world for others to enjoy. It's not a product most of us would create, even within the TTRPG space, but it's very clearly one he feels strongly about.

I'm also not sure there is a museum or academic who would be interested in compiling and archiving this material if Goodman wasn't doing it. (Especially in the current moment, when I suspect a lot of the more idiosyncratic collections at colleges and universities are going to either be cut by the budget axe or make administrators nervous about sudden unwelcome attention from Washington, DC.)

Until this most recent project came to light, the OAR line was the harmless eccentricity of a small business owner. Business owners, broadly speaking, are entitled to pursue their pet projects when no one else is getting hurt.

But is it worth what he's doing to get this next one out? The broad consensus seems to be "good lord, no." Bledsaw II certainly seems to think he's benefitting from this project. And when an unrepentant racist, sexist, homophobe, etc. is celebrating something, it's almost certainly hurting those people he hates.

In Goodman's mind, this isn't just business. But that's unfortunately true in a way that he doesn't seem to have intended. He seems to have deeply, deeply lost his way on the CSIO OAR.

Isn't this the ideal way to create TTRPG products? For the creators to produce what they truly desire instead of chasing trends? To keep the game as it was instead instead of trying to appeal to new audiences by changing what you are? To care about history more than getting more customers?? To be willing to offend people to stay true to your vision?

At least that's what I hear when people complain about Hasbro/WOTC.