C'mon, you guys know me.  

I got a gift certificate from work, because I rock so hard Mick Jagger is gonna sue me.  He's SOL, but I have a litte extra in the pocket.

I'm eyeing up this "Wilderlands of High Fantasy" thing you kids talk about.  I saw the "Why I Love/Hate it" thread, which is the one telling me I MIGHT like it, but I want more info.

MORE.

MORE!

Infuse me with thine knowledge, suckas!

...please.

Pee-ess I'm reading reviews elsewhere, too.  But YOU guys know ME.

You are a traveller guy.
You can make it work.

You can cope with the gonzo.
You can make it work.

Your sessions will be good.
The books will not speak in fluent awesomal to you.
You must play them like an instrument.

The box is a tool.
It´s not working on it´s own.

I´m sure you can rock away with it.

Will you like it?
No.

Will the gaming be good.
Yes.

It´s not there to be liked.
It exists so it can be used.

I'm thinking of using it as a setting for True20, and am keen on hearing other peoples experiences before plonking down the cash.

I pretty much posted my opinions in the thread I started.

I'd say go for it.  It's not a bad price on Amazon, last I checked, and it has an impressive amount of stuff in it.

You'll need to add your own stuff, too, of course - like seeding adventure hooks and whatnot - but if you are looking to run the kind of game it's designed for (exploration, player-driven, and site-based), it'll be a godsend.

edit: Drew, I can't speak to whether or not it will work for True20.  I own True20, but it didn't end up catching my fancy.  I don't see it being all too much more work for you, though, than it would be for a standard 3.5 game...   Just replace stats for creatures with stats from the True20 Bestiary.  Even the prominent NPCs aren't statted in detail, so it should be a comparable level of work for you.

-O

Quote from: obrynI pretty much posted my opinions in the thread I started.

I'd say go for it.  It's not a bad price on Amazon, last I checked, and it has an impressive amount of stuff in it.

You'll need to add your own stuff, too, of course - like seeding adventure hooks and whatnot - but if you are looking to run the kind of game it's designed for (exploration, player-driven, and site-based), it'll be a godsend.

edit: Drew, I can't speak to whether or not it will work for True20.  I own True20, but it didn't end up catching my fancy.  I don't see it being all too much more work for you, though, than it would be for a standard 3.5 game...   Just replace stats for creatures with stats from the True20 Bestiary.  Even the prominent NPCs aren't statted in detail, so it should be a comparable level of work for you.

Cool. I suppose my biggest concern was shelling out for a setting that was hopelessly intergrated into the D&D ruleset. I'm looking for something that captures the feel of an old school open-setting romp without being beholden to the mechanical conceits of 3.5.

Let's see....

Neanderthals - Check

Discarded gonzo stuff like ray guns and power armour - Check

A divine catoblepas - Check

Evil, intelligent, snakes, rats, monkeys and frogs - Check

NPC names like The Last Word, Oily Ogham, Bleofrus the Smelly and Busty Lucy - Check

Lawful Good orc Paladins and Evil elves - Check

Tika Nahu, God of Campfires and Mosinylo, God of the North Wind - Check

Dire Hippos - Check

Hidden enclaves and wierd islands - Check

Thousands of detailed entries detailing communities, ruins, citadels and random encounters - Check

Smirge the Eerie eel (loves people, but that 4000 volt jolt has gotta hurt!) - Check

18 poster sized hex maps - Check

First download this

http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/rorystone.pdf

This is a slice out of the heartland, so to speak, of the Wilderlands. This the area between the City-State of the Invincible Overlord and their Dwarven Allies in Thunderhold.

Note that map is a scan from the original. This is because boxed set maps were commissioned after much of the text was done.

Then look at this for a complete map and a sample of a boxed set map.

http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/lenap/lenap.pdf
http://www.judgesguild.com/pdf/lenap/lenap_map.jpg

My Summary

You have a High level overview split between the Boxed Set and the Player's Guild. The Boxed Set has more high level detail on the land itself, history, place, and politics. The Player's Guide has race info, gods, and summaries. You don't really need the player's guild but new GMs of the Wilderlands seem to like having it as it fits the tone of the Wilderlands nicely.

This High Level detail is just that high level. There are city-state, there names, some history, and who rules them. There is little to no intermediate detail.

The Wilderlands, start out of the box, is a world of swords and sorcery with some sci-fi elements. It is a few outposts of civilization amid a sea of monsters and barbarism.

Each map is given its own chapter. Each maps as an overview and a listing of geographic regions. Then followings the listing of hexes. Each maps has 52 columns with 34 to 33 rows of hexes. Not all hexes are detailed. Ocean heavy maps have less hexes detailed than land heavy hexes. The core maps have more detail, Map 5, 4, and 8 as this where Bledsaw's original Wilderlands game started.

The individual hex entries are one to three paragraphs with one-line stats. Entries can be categorized as Villages, Citadels, Islands, Lairs, or Ruins. In the original they were separate list, in this they are all one list for each map.

Any Village is listed with the D&D town/village statblock with a few new entries. (Tech Level/Civ Level, etc) Racial makeup is included. This includes the different human cultures that make up the Wilderlands.

Citadel are stated like village. The main difference a citadel is usually center around a "building" usually castles. But they could be conclaves of wizards, coven of evil mages, lonely temples, and so on.

Nearly every hex with an island has a description.

Lairs are encounter locations, sometimes they are like a village, most of them they are just an outright lair of fearsome beasts.

Ruins are encounter locations with an object, or buildings. There are exceptions like a encounter with a traveller with a broken down wagon. Some of these make for a good seed for a dungeon.

The advantage of the Wilderlands is that it allows for a style of play that is not commonly see. Where the player feel free to explore about the campaign world not really steered by the GM. The Wilderlands is a framework to help a GM be consistent so when a party revisits an area. It is a book of adventure seeds that often interact with each other in a way so that the sum is greater the individual parts.

The disadvantage is its price and its size. Taking a map and looking up stuff is easy but saying what around Hex 1324 on Map 5 is not so easy. The PDF version is somewhat more useful in that regard.

Finally the following products plug directly into the Wilderlands of High Fantasy

Player's Guilde to the Wilderlands by Necromancer
City-State of the Invincible Overlord by Necromancer
Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor (by yours truly) by Goodman Games (Map
Citadel of Fire by Goodman Games (Map 1)
Dark Tower by Goodman Games (upcoming) (Map 7)
Tegel Manor by Necromancer (upcoming) (Map 5)
Tell Qa by Adventure Games Publishing (Map 6) (for C&C)

In addition the following has free downloads

http://www.judgesguild.com/downloads.html
http://www.judgesguild.com/fans.html



For those familiar with Traveller it is very much the fantasy version of the Spinward Marches and has all of it strengths and weaknesses.

Quote from: DrewCool. I suppose my biggest concern was shelling out for a setting that was hopelessly intergrated into the D&D ruleset. I'm looking for something that captures the feel of an old school open-setting romp without being beholden to the mechanical conceits of 3.5.

One line stats at best. The only full statblock is the use of the town/village statblock for descriptions of settlement and even that been modified to include some stats found in the original 70s product.

The more I hear the more I like the sound of it. I'm picturing semi-mutated neanderthals worshipping power weapons in a Beneath the Planet of the Apes-style subterreanean adventure...

Quote from: One Horse TownLawful Good orc Paladins and Evil elves - Check

I am going to say that having LG Orc Villages is all well and good. But having to come up with reasons for three of these on one maps was hard. Especially they were geographically separated so I just couldn't come up with one related reason. Noooo I had to come up with three separate reasons.

Rob Conley

Note this occurs on Map 11.

Quote from: estarI am going to say that having LG Orc Villages is all well and good. But having to come up with reasons for three of these on one maps was hard. Especially they were geographically separated so I just couldn't come up with one related reason. Noooo I had to come up with three separate reasons.

Rob Conley

Note this occurs on Map 11.

I can't recall all the details, but weren't they seperate expeditions to find some kind of artifact that just sort of set down roots when they failed? I might be confusing this with another area though. There's so much, that it's easily done!

Edit: I might be thinking of something on the ebony coast.

Quote from: estarFirst download this...

Excellent. I'll give the downloads a thorough readthrough this evening.

Cheers.

Quote from: One Horse TownI can't recall all the details, but weren't they seperate expeditions to find some kind of artifact that just sort of set down roots when they failed? I might be confusing this with another area though. There's so much, that it's easily done!

Edit: I might be thinking of something on the ebony coast.

Oops looks I did get them to be related. I cheated and used Vikings. (Always a good excuse in my book to use Vikings)

0607 Red Bull - was the result of a conversion to odinism when some shipwrecked vikings defeated the local orc tribe.

1714 Heir Helm - found by a chief from Red Bull in search of the Heir's Helm a artifact lost from the original fleet that was shipwrecked

2815 Stasiswells - founded by a chief from Heir Helm looking for the Heir's Helm befriended a local tribe of sea elves.

And that is how I make three separated LG orc villages work as sensible plot.

Rob Conley

Oh dear, my wilderlands geekdom is thus confirmed...