Did you get my order? I have not heard back, or that it had been shipped. I get anxious when I do not hear anything...

jamesmishler wrote:
I can't recall if he ever contacted Bob about publishing it as an official JG product or not...

I spoke with Bob Bledsaw years ago about this project.  If memory serves me correctly in 1987 Judges Guild wasn't even in business, or at least they weren't publishing.  Around 2002-2003 when Necromancer Games began to publish revised Judges Guild products I sent Bob a complementary copy of Tarracina Port.

So yes he was aware of this work, and the topic of making this an official Judges Guild product was never seriously discussed.

Kent

FormCritic wrote:
That is why I like it, Kent.  

It is a reminder of a simpler time and a whole different era in gaming and in life.

I especially like the idea of the Onyx Temple.  It has stood there so long with no one attending that people have forgotten what it was for.

It's like the old church tower in The Haunter of  the Dark, where Lovecraft posited an abandoned church that was not exactly a Christian temple.

It reminds me of a lot of the things I wrote in high school and early college.

Yes this was written when I just started college.  So you are spot on.  In regards to the Onyx Temple in 15 years none of my players ever decided to investigate it.  I am not sure why?   Remember to JG "Elder Gods"  book....

FormCritic wrote:I have a number of questions:

I especially like the city map, which I think is the first thing you designed.  There are echoes of City State of the Invincible Overlord, especially in the round open areas (can't call them "squares," right?) where the streets come together.

The layout makes me speculate that you had seen City State of the Invincible Overlord before you drew the map.  If you owned a copy of CSIO, then why not use that city?  Either you did not actually own a copy or you wanted to have a city of your own design for creative purposes. How close am I?

Well I call them squares, as they fall in the definition of a citystate square, "an open place or area formed at the meeting of two or more streets"  .  

Yes at one time I owned ALL of the Judges Guild wilderlands products.  I had an active campaign with 5-6 people for 15 years.  Well to be truthful a few times I DM games (Loki's Wine) with up to 32 players simultaneosly, but not as a rule.  The same people started in high school and played during and after college, 3 of them drove over 2 hours every week to play.  Go figure.  So yes I used the CSIO and CSWE.  Loved them both and so did my players, they will NEVER forget some encounters with Lanwellen the Blue!.  My problem was that I found all CS products were difficult to use, and unless you spent time to convert things they were not AD&D.   The difficulty I had was quickly trying to find things/people in the CS without destroying the flow of the game.  So with demands from my players the 2nd, biggest city in Map #6 Targnol Port got detailed out.  Remember for me Tarracina Port is Targnol Port.

My players were a very eclectic group and had eclectic tastes.  I found that for a base of operations the 2 JG products were a little constraining, so they convinced me to make my own.   As far as the map, one of my player's Len Wein did the first draft.  I then redrew it using pen and ink on vellum, modified it and added to it over the years.

FormCritic wrote:Also, did you access old Palladium books to help design Tarracina Port?  The monastary, for instance, might have been drawn from Weapons and Castles of the Orient.
?

I didn't own any palladium products but I have always loved history and the orient.  One of my player's always played a monk, so I had to have a monestary.  Hmm, not exactly related but my wife is Japanese and I will be going to Japan in a few weeks.  I went to school at University of Colorado in Boulder, I would frequently spend many hours in the Norlan Library in the Art and Archetecture section.  So there is a chance I saw an illustration in the book you mention.

FormCritic wrote:Another question I have is about the Temple of Odin.  Your basement layout varies radically in style from the Cathedral of Notre Dame that you used as a model.  Did you originally have another map of your own design, then later decide to use the illustration of Notre Dame?

My thoughts were as follows:  originally it was a classic Norse temple, boring archetecture.  A different religion burned it to the ground and took it over, rebuilt in stone.  Norse faction eventually recaptured it, and used it without damaging it for mysterous reason (High power source).  Personally I love the archetecture of Notre Dame, those flying buttresses are just great.  One of my players was from Europe so I wanted to give him something familiar and also add some strange twists.  Also in my personal campaign, the characters could and did travel to historic earth on occasion.

FormCritic wrote:What kind of story hooks did you build out of places like...for instance, the library?

Like I said I DM for over 15 years and Tarracina Port was our base of operations.  The library was frequently used to gather intelligence and history before setting out on an adventure.  The bard used it and the Bard's university frequently.  Anthing in the city that sounds interesting was probably a result of a character interaction or adventure.  The CS continually evolved as we played.

FormCritic wrote:What is ORS?

Omnificent Role-playing System (ORSâ„¢) is Dreamborn's complete role-playing system.  ORSâ„¢ is targeted towards gamers seeking the ultimate gaming experience.  ORSâ„¢ may be played by groups of two or more people.

As the name implies, the underlying philosophy of ORSâ„¢ is a role-playing system that is unlimited in creative power.  To accomplish this ORSâ„¢ was designed with realism and playability as the two main guiding principles.  ORSâ„¢ has eliminated predefined classes/professions and artificial level definitions.  It introduces a unique level-less system in which character advancement is based on skill usage, abilities and traits.  Furthermore, ORSâ„¢ has no racial limitations whatsoever.  Character generation is balanced, fair and contains no random elements.  Magic and spells have been seamlessly integrated within ORSâ„¢ and is based solely on the character's abilities, traits and skills.

In ORSâ„¢ all player characters, non-player characters and monsters are created using the same procedure.  This ensures that all starting player characters are balanced with respect to each other and every other entity in the world.

To fully experience ORSâ„¢ requires the GM and players to use computer aids to facilitate the gaming experience.  The implementation of ORSâ„¢ is tightly coupled with statistics and probability theory.  These computer aids are available for personal computers and Pocket PCs/PDAs.  The aids have been carefully designed to speed up game play, increase realism and playing experience.  ORSâ„¢ can be played face-to-face or remotely over the internet.  The ORSâ„¢ engine can easily be adapted to all the major genres, e.g., fantasy, medieval, gothic, espionage, science fiction, historical simulation, mystery, etc.

ORSâ„¢ engine was designed to handle situations at a Tactical level (individual).  A pleasant surprise was how gracefully the CARPâ„¢ engine scaled to the Operational and even the Strategic level.  For those inclined, ORSâ„¢ can be used to simulate battles or even wars, while simultaneously integrating the player characters actions.

Glad you got it.  Hope you enjoy it and USE it.  My goal was NOT to make money but to share my little bit of the Wilderlands with fellow AD&D GMs and players.

Beware Room #13 of the Adventurers Inn.  That is my Room!   Actually it was the room my character stayed in when I got to play, which was seldom, especially since my character has a price on his head.  No one wanted him around cause things were allways getting blown up.

It wasn't my fault.


Kent

Aneoth wrote:
Sounds like something a halfling thief would say.
Or a Kender ....

Actually my character was a magic user.  He was a wanted man who was always dodging bounty hunters.  Realizing that should I be captured I would face a traitor's death I did everything I could to survive.  Buildings, people and animals tended to get caught in the crossfire.    Too many stories to tell..  Too many friends gone.....

Kent

killjoy32 wrote:so kent....away from ebay

how much plus shipping, for the 3 items?

Al

OK, only because you asked.  I am not trying to violate any forum policy    



, SPECIAL (limited time) offer for all Acaeum members!   .  If you buy the entire trilogy from me, just sending paypal payment to <[email protected]>, avoiding ebay.  I would sell it for $44, that is a savings of $5.00.  This is for media mail in the continental US.  If you are international or want priority it would be extra.  This offer expires July 25th, 2008, or while supplies last!

Badmike wrote:
Hey Kent you might want to put the offer in the Classifieds....not that the JG forum doesn't get traffic, but I bet you would get a lot more lookers if you placed it there!

Mike B.

My goal wasn't to try to sell this stuff, just answer questions.  Thanks for the advice, the offer is now in Classifieds as well.

serleran wrote:Why did you include the cross-number graph on the big map? I'm divided on whether I like that -- on one hand, it makes finding a particular location easy A4, for example, but it also makes me not think of it as a RPG and more like something I had to do in school.

You made cross-number maps of fantasy cities in school?  Cool!  

serleran wrote:Why did you include the cross-number graph on the big map? I'm divided on whether I like that -- on one hand, it makes finding a particular location easy A4, for example, but it also makes me not think of it as a RPG and more like something I had to do in school.

Exactly it was for quick reference.  Remember when I originally did this I didn't plan on selling it, only after 4+ years did I think about it.  The cross-numbers are integrated into the index.  As a DM I found my biggest complaint with CSIO and CSWE was that it took me awhile to find something I read about.  IMHO this slowed down the game and destroyed the emersion (Willing suspension of disbelief).  Especially, when I was doing a time dependant adventure.

My campaign was a fully detailed out WORLD.  It had over 10 major city states that the characters frequented, I had every citystate that was available for purchase.  We only played 1/week for about 6 hours, I didn't have the time to memorize everything.  Tarracina Port was their main base of operations.

Hope that answered your questions.

Kent