City State of the Invincible Overlord

[Endur]

Patrick-- Thanks. Sounds great. I have vague recollections of the original, but can't remember ever reading it.

 

[Arnwyn]

Heh, cool Patrick. Thanks for the nifty "Designer Diary/Director's Commentary".

The CSIO (of which I am one using it in the Forgotten Realms) is a book that I find the more I skim through it, the more I like it. Each and every time I go through it, it gets better and better.

 

[loki44]

I'll second all the positive things others have said previously. CSIO is a great product and it is very faithful to the original. The original is really the first large scale city that I remember being produced and it still holds up today. Yes, the descriptions may be bare-bones, but there is plenty there to work with. The whole idea behind it was to provide a framework for the DM (or Judge as the case may be) to build on and make his own (I think someone already said that). One difference for the above and below ground encounters seeming slightly different could be because they were originally 2 different products: CSIO and Wraith Overlord, which detailed the undercity. Necromancer seems to be trying to stay as faithful to the originals as possible in their JG remakes. The new maps are faithful as well, but nothing can beat the old brown, heavy stock maps of the original.

***oops, just read P. Lawinger's post...didn't mean to be so repetitive***

 

[John Morrow]

This book is designed as a DM aid and is not really for first-time DMs or people completely new to RPGs. The details provided for the city are kept deliberately generic so that you can use the city with minor tweaks in virtually any setting.

Further, you can use the bits and pieces of the city in other cities with little trouble, too. That's how I intend to use it -- less as a city and more as a resource full of locations to use in other cities. I think you succeeded spectacularly in this regard.

 

[Estlor]

The Judges Guild stuff intrigues me. Part of me is inclined to pick it up to use alongside Blackmoor.

 

[Treebore]

Blackmoor and The Wilderlands will fit together very well. Some parts so well you might wonder if they were written by the same people.

 

[rogueattorney]

Blackmoor and The Wilderlands will fit together very well. Some parts so well you might wonder if they were written by the same people.

Trying to figure out if you're kidding or not. You know, Blackmoor was originally put out by Judges Guild as the First Fantasy Campaign. It was tacked onto part of the Wilderlands. If you were kidding and know this already, ignore me and carry on.

R.A.

 

[Treebore]

Yes, I know the history. At least as much as anyone can hearing a tidbit dropped here and there, compared to what was actually put in print. That is why I find the similarities so interesting. But I am glad both settings are out, because they are both very good and rich with their own histories. Plus I have been waiting about 20 years to see Blackmoor get this level of treatment. So a big win all the way around.

 

[kenobi65]

I'll likely pick up the new book. If, for no other reason than to once more read about the Pig and Whistle Tavern, with the exotic dancers Lollina the Fervid, Bountiful Normiena and Bushy Bunscha!

 

[DaveStebbins]

And don't forget to take a stroll through the Park of Obscene Statues!

I really enjoyed the original and, even though I have only flipped through the new version on my lunch hour, I can heartily recommend it anyone who wants to DM city adventures. Why does Karugy One-Eye hate elves and halflings? I don't know, are YOU gonna ask him?

-Dave