Citadel of Fire in stores now (JG/Goodman Games)

[IvarBoneCrusher]

Citadel of Fire has been placed on the Goodman Games “Coming Soon” page with a tentative May release date! Check out the preview of the cover and some sample text on the Goodman Games website: http://www.goodman-games.com/4601preview.php

A preview will be posted in the near future.

This is a massively revamped version of the Judges Guild classic 1970’s version by Bob Bledsaw and Marc Summerlott. Aside from the expected 3.5 updating, there is a huge amount of new material in the updated release written by myself and Steve Edwards. There is fantastic art by William McAusland, an utterly stunning cover by Stefan Poag, the usual outstanding maps and layout from Rob Conley, all lovingly compiled and edited by Eostros Games (Greg and Kara Geilman) with the overarching direction and blessing of Bob Bledsaw, founder and owner of the Judges Guild.



The updated Goodman Games release of Citadel of Fire will contain the town of Aztlan (fully fleshed out from the initial tidbit I wrote for the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Boxed Set), an evil temple and (for lack of a better blurb) witches’ coven, the notorious graveyard on the edge of Aztlan is brought to life, and the Citadel itself (along with the underground levels) are given a tremendous reworking to add excitement and challenge and to generally tighten it up. There’s a new climactic finale’ involving a new and powerful artifact, and all of this is absolutely tied into the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Boxed Set from Necromancer Games (Elphand Lands, Map # 1, etc.). In fact, there are loads of ‘plot threads’ and references in this adventure to help you sew further adventures to your Wilderlands (or other) campaign. To sum it up, there’s a lot more “Fire” to Citadel of Fire in the new version.



We are very excited about the upcoming release of this adventure, and are very grateful that Goodman Games supported its development. Make sure you head over to your local hobby shop and tell them you're expecting them to have some copies on hand!



Thanks,



Steve Stottrup (co-author, a.k.a. IvarBoneCrusher)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Wow, I haven't heard that name in so long. Very, very cool.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Wow, I haven't heard that name in so long. Very, very cool.

I was impressed with Goodman's re-release of Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor, so I'll definitely be picking this one up, too.

 

[Soel]

Gimme, gimme!!!!

 

[IvarBoneCrusher]

Citadel of Fire -Judges Guild/Goodman Games (Old School, baby...)

Wow, I haven't heard that name in so long. Very, very cool.

Yeah, the thing with Judges Guild is that it's a double-edged sword. Any D&D fans over 30 likely have some kind of recollection/perception of the Judges Guild, and I've found that it's largely very positive and very nostalgic. I myself used to walk the halls of the Judges Guild's 2nd home on Sunnyside road in Decatur and game with some of the legends, not really knowing or understanding who they were (bothering Bob, for instance, by being an 8th grade brat running around underfoot while he was trying to run the store, etc.).

My memories of playing Citadel of Fire, Treasure Vaults of Lindoran, Operation Ogre, etc. seem much more magical and fun than when I crack them open and re-read them today. They were fantastic adventures in their day (1978, 1979, 1980...), but under the harsh light of modernity, they quite obviously need some sprucing up if they have any chance of being relevant to a modern gamer. Adventures need more background and more plot today than they used to. Credit pioneering adventures like Dark Tower for bringing that about, but many old classics us old timers love so well need either a little or a lot of tweaking to make them current, in my view. Citadel of Fire needed a lot more overhauling than Dark Tower is going to. But the original concept is still fantastic, and at it's core, the re-release keeps true to that very cool 'nugget' of the original idea which Bob Bledsaw and Marc Summerlott wrote so long ago.

As far as production quality, all you need to do is buy Rob Conley's revamp of Fortress Badabaskor (in stores now, by the way) to get a good idea of how CoF is going to look and feel. Goodman Games is the publisher, so you know you've got a top notch operation behind this. Rob Conley did the maps and layout for both, and he's terrific. The art is really great (see the cover for yourself on the preview), and Eostros is the project managing editor on both. The only difference is the sheer amount of overhauling and new material, and you can blame or praise myself and Steve Edwards for those bits as you see fit. I welcome all comments on the matter. But, of course, you'll have to wait for the release to get your hands on it (he he he....).

To sum up: this isn't a new cover on a nostalgic old relic. It's like a new car made out of some old parts with a completely new engine. And Judges Guild, while certainly not barnstorming the industry as many fans want it to, is still alive, and putting out new material. I believe that there will soon be some completely new JG material hitting the shelves in addition to the Wilderlands of High Fantasy Boxed set (Necromancer Games) and the Goodman Games JG series, not just updates of old classics. The Wilderlands world which Necro re-did is (in my view) the greatest Fantasy Game setting of all time, and it's going to be very viable again for quite a while. We'll be working to sprinkle some life into it. Stay tuned.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You toy with my emotions by mentioning Dark Tower repeatedly. My campaign has Set and Mithra in it specifically so that I can use that module if it's ever re-released.

 

[IvarBoneCrusher]

Now that you mention it...

Dusty,

We're not toying with you. There may be some good news for you about Dark Tower sometime in the near future. If you're that big a fan of Judges Guild, bookmark the Goodman Games "Coming Soon" page and check it regularly. It might make your day sometime this year.

Additionally, Necromancer Games was working on a new release of Tegel Manor, and their forums might give clues as to whether or not they are going to continue that project or not. Eostros Games (do a web search) is the primary vehicle for Judges Guild products at this point, and you ought to bookmark their page if you want to get some early warnings on JG products.

And, I'm sure you're aware of the Necromancer Games remake of Caverns of Thracia, correct? That'll tide you over until you hear more about JG releases.

Don't say I didn't tell ya!

 

[DaveMage]

I think it's so majorly cool to see these classics brought forth again.

Thank you, Steve - and to all the folks at Necromancer and Goodman Games!

 

[IvarBoneCrusher]

Judges Guild

Dave,

No problem. Just do me a favor and make sure you put your hard-earned dough where your heart is: buy the Wilderlands of High Fantasy boxed set, and the Judges Guild modules from Goodman Games. The Gaming industry is hitting another cross-roads. The viability of independent content publishers is being tested by the market. Your local hobby shop owner will likely talk your ear off if you ask him/her about this topic. "What's selling?", and "What's not selling?" There are only a handful of companies out there who are viewed as putting out top-notch material. I can't name them all, because I'm only involved in some very narrow stuff: D20-based Judges Guild projects. So I've been exposed to two of those top-notch companies: Necromancer Games and Goodman Games.

There's a movement sweeping around right now to go C&C on everything. Fine. Not my cup of tea, but if that's what people really want, fine. I'm a narrowly focused old-schooler when it comes to gaming: Just D&D. You can call it D&D, AD&D, D&D II, 3.0, 3.5 , or D20. But that's all I'm really interested in. Anything else is like putting some sprinkles on your vanilla ice cream cone and calling it a new flavor of ice cream ("Sprinkilla!!"). To me, that's the game. C&C seems an awful lot like D&D with 'sprinkles'. Whatever. As long as it's a fantasy adventure role-playing game, JG content can fit right in. To me, the key is the writing and the characters. The stats are an important nuisance which must be cared for with an eye on the details, but the setting and plot and characters in the adventure are what make it. I doubt that anybody remembers that Konah the Dissenter (famous bad-guy from Dark Tower) had 70 hp and an AC of -1. What they remember is getting fried by that dude and his skeletons when they busted in on his creepy 'black-light' hall.

JG stuff has always been great for plot/settings/characters, and we'll try hard to update it so that it's relevant and still great in regards to plot/settings/characters. Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor is in stores now, as is the WoHF Boxed set. Check 'em out, and I am very confident you will have no regrets.

Thanks,

SS

 

[DaveMage]

Dave,

No problem. Just do me a favor and make sure you put your hard-earned dough where your heart is: buy the Wilderlands of High Fantasy boxed set, and the Judges Guild modules from Goodman Games. The Gaming industry is hitting another cross-roads. The viability of independent content publishers is being tested by the market. Your local hobby shop owner will likely talk your ear off if you ask him/her about this topic. "What's selling?", and "What's not selling?" There are only a handful of companies out there who are viewed as putting out top-notch material. I can't name them all, because I'm only involved in some very narrow stuff: D20-based Judges Guild projects. So I've been exposed to two of those top-notch companies: Necromancer Games and Goodman Games.

There's a movement sweeping around right now to go C&C on everything. Fine. Not my cup of tea, but if that's what people really want, fine. I'm a narrowly focused old-schooler when it comes to gaming: Just D&D. You can call it D&D, AD&D, D&D II, 3.0, 3.5 , or D20. But that's all I'm really interested in. Anything else is like putting some sprinkles on your vanilla ice cream cone and calling it a new flavor of ice cream ("Sprinkilla!!"). To me, that's the game. C&C seems an awful lot like D&D with 'sprinkles'. Whatever. As long as it's a fantasy adventure role-playing game, JG content can fit right in. To me, the key is the writing and the characters. The stats are an important nuisance which must be cared for with an eye on the details, but the setting and plot and characters in the adventure are what make it. I doubt that anybody remembers that Konah the Dissenter (famous bad-guy from Dark Tower) had 70 hp and an AC of -1. What they remember is getting fried by that dude and his skeletons when they busted in on his creepy 'black-light' hall.

JG stuff has always been great for plot/settings/characters, and we'll try hard to update it so that it's relevant and still great in regards to plot/settings/characters. Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor is in stores now, as is the WoHF Boxed set. Check 'em out, and I am very confident you will have no regrets.

Thanks,

SS

They are already on my shelves.