Good day Pals and Guild Household,
Because the Guild’s fiftieth Anniversary approaches, I needed to allow you to all find out about plans now we have set for the approaching few years. Some are through licensees and a few by way of our personal inside processes. We have now good issues within the works for 2026, and past.
Let me remind you all that I’m no liar. Preserve that in thoughts. I’ve all the time been sincere with others on this business, and my file will present my candor, generosity, and good-will towards all. Like my father, I encourage different sport publishers, welcome joint ventures, and go away politics out of my enterprise life. I think about that part of being an American. I don’t anticipate others to evolve to my mind-set, however the weaponization of politics to hurt folks, or the competitors in our business, is changing into an increasing number of widespread. I discover it hypocritical that individuals who would cancel, or impact a boycott, in opposition to a person would themselves assist legal guidelines that might criminalize the boycott of sure nations. However there you will have it; legal guidelines for thee, none for me. It’ll spoil our business, because it has others.
Dave Arneson foresaw all this, and we spoke in 2008 of what would occur as extra liberal johnny-come-latelies pushed into our business. No matter what the woke may need, it was an business created largely by White, Christian, stragegists; most very energetic of their respective church buildings. Sadly, the present traits would assault or change the achievements of others; burn an business down, relatively than create their very own. It’s all the time simpler to destroy one thing than to create it. I created the corporate brand at age 13, however solely with my father’s instigation, however I problem you to discover a extra bad-ass firm brand wherever on this planet.
Dave believed that when the sport business made extra money than the film business, they might are available in a wave prefer it was the California Gold Rush… producing small non-public sport corporations, doubtless producing numerous unhealthy video games, and shifting them through their very own small sport shops, whereas touting them through media shops. He mentioned it might be no completely different than the best way they pushed poor movies through their very own small theaters for many years. They’d flood the market with so many distractions that sincere publishers wouldn’t stand an opportunity in opposition to their revenue margins. And, as for the massive gamers, “they don’t care about what we created, they’re fantastic with destroying it.”
Dave knew that what Gygax had finished was all offered, and he suggested me to by no means enable the Wilderlands, or the Guild IP as a complete, to be offered away to “the heartless beast,” as he referred to as it. He understood that the Guild represented what was left on the coronary heart of all of it. It created the game-module, it created the stand-up, it proved the market to TSR. However 50 years later, TSR isn’t any extra, and the business pioneers are dying away from us, and D&D suffered a dismal fiftieth; due largely to leftist posturing, and everybody wishing for extra of this or much less of that.
The founders had been all good males, household males, and individuals who understood humor with out pearl-clutching, but we work to incorporate everybody at our game-table, even right now. We aren’t out to advertise a mind-set, or an agenda. We attempt exhausting to make good merchandise at a good value, however the Guild should compete in opposition to publishers who use low-cost Chinese language labor homes. As soon as, Joseph Goodman got here to me, having discovered paper like our unique maps had been printed on, however I mentioned no to it, as a result of the paper got here from China. He is aware of what folks need, so I belief he’ll all the time make top-notch merchandise. We simply couldn’t discover it in America.
That’s not all the time straightforward right here. Our coverage from the start was to provide ALL AMERICAN merchandise, and we all the time have. We had been actually based on July 4th 1976, on the nation’s bicentennial. I keep in mind the day properly, and watched the fireworks over the lake from Invoice Owen’s hilltop residence. Joseph Goodman just lately commented on how a lot he cherished my father’s work, and I don’t doubt that sincerity, however it set flawed with me, perhaps it’s my age speaking, however I used to be there! It was my work additionally; from the corporate brand, to the primary map, and Tac Playing cards on… It was MY work additionally. Lots of the covers, a lot of the structure; I used to be part of the Guild Household, and that included everybody working with us. There have been Whites, Blacks, Muslims, Jews, Gays, Catholics, Native People, South Africans, Metropolis Intellectuals, and Nation Farmers, all working beneath the Guild banner, in-house, and in all these years, by no means an argument over politics or faith. THAT IS AMERICA, a mutual respect for variety! Under no circumstances what overshadows our business right now, and I see all that for what it’s; a self-righteous power-grab.
Nonetheless we work on, and the Overlord is Invincible. As it’s presently deliberate with Goodman Video games, Metropolis State of the Invincible Overlord, our flagship, will see revisions in fifth Version, and Dungeon Crawl Classics. Now, the Goodman people jumped forward of us; we had been to have a deliberate rollout in July of this yr. The Guild model, in Bob Bledsaw’s JG Common format will embody supplies Bob wrote however has by no means been used. The web page depend has doubled, and can doubtless are available in 2 Volumes. We all know this can make for an excellent product, as a result of the identical strategy of making use of Bob’s draft content material to The Thieves of Badabaskor resulted in lots of nice opinions and comfortable letters.
It’s true that Joseph Goodman has lengthy wished to do CSIO, and requested about it way back to 2010, however I used to be all the time against that as D&D was changing into extra magic-heavy with every new rule-set, and my father’s unique Wilderlands was magic-light. I didn’t suppose it was a great match. However by 2022, after having seen the successes of his DCC system, and all the time assuming that our personal model would come, I agreed, as a result of it might enable a complete new era to see the Metropolis State with the lenses of their selecting. He advised me it was certain to be grand, shipped internationally, and for the primary time, printed in 5 languages! That’s nice weapons! Joseph has an excellent staff and he’ll all the time be thought of a pricey good friend.
Now again in 2020, I had no drawback with giving the Guild’s royalties to the ADL, because it appeared the best factor to do after my irrational posts, however we agreed it was time for the Guild to make some money, and so it was set down in 2022, however I allowed Joseph to select his personal timing, as a result of he had extra vital initiatives, after having acquired Darkish Tower and Caverns of Thracia. I assumed Jennell Jaquays can be working with Goodman over the following a number of years; so I offered her with copies of her many Guild letters from our recordsdata to assist stir some creativity. I additionally hoped to realize her assistance on one other mission I’ll point out later, after having given her the liberty to provide a revision of Evening of the Strolling Moist. Sadly, Jennell handed away, and it made me all of the extra glad for that hug at our final parting. I all the time revered the gifted artist she was.
Additionally, talking of unpublished materials, our Imperial Pegasus journal will see revival, as a periodical, however with a possible format change. It’ll actually not be a 94 web page monster, however will enable us to provide all method of content material, crawls, Wilderlands expansions, sci-fi materials, business remark, and opinions. As deliberate, Goodman Video games will produce 5 years of Dungeoneer, whereupon JG will take over manufacturing of the basic fanzine, and this can enable us to make use of all of the Jennell Jaquays materials and artwork that was unpublished. It’s possible you’ll wait a bit longer than that, however the Jaquays affect will stay on within the coming Dungeoneers; her unique dream. As a fellow artist, I feel it’s becoming that these works see use on this means. I nonetheless have a few of her unique work that might make pretty prints or future covers.
Different merchandise are right here being readied for launch earlier than our Anniversary: Village Books I & II, E-book of Rumors I, Amulets & Talismans, Island E-book II, Washbears of the Wilderlands, Citadel of the Lion, and a primary ever fantasy novel set within the Wilderlands. The E-book of Rumors shall be a collection, offering detailed lore for every of the Wilderlands Maps areas. Island E-book II, will host islands, much less Mediterranean, however with a Coral Sea taste. My fiance of three years, her father a provincial healer of Bukidnon, has offered a lot uncommon folklore from the Islands of the Philippines, translated from Bisayan and Mountainyard languages. And though the 2014 Maps can’t be accomplished, a good friend from my school years has simply this month discovered us very comparable paper, made in America, that shall be take a look at printed within the coming days. Over the approaching months of 2025, we hope to utilize our YouTube Channel, and supply extra assist for our product line, within the type of free downloads. I hope information brings many smiles. We’re comfortable to be working with good-hearted companions, and we do thanks for supporting us all.
Sincerely, Bob Bledsaw II
