[RPG]: Wilderlands of High Fantasy, reviewed by Rob Doupe (4/5)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11699.phtml

Rob Doupe's Summary:

In style and tone, the Wilderlands is a throwback to the early days of D&D. This product is so rich in content, you could spend a lifetime running a Wilderlands campaign without exhausting its possibilities.

Go to the full review for more information.

[Melan]

Very nice review, Rob. Thanks - you summed up very well what I love about this setting.

[Gary Thomas]

Any ideas why they went with B&W for the maps? Given the deluxe nature of the product, that comes as a surprise.

[Rob Doupe]

Originally Posted by Gary Thomas

Any ideas why they went with B&W for the maps? Given the deluxe nature of the product, that comes as a surprise.

To keep costs down, apparently. Disappointing, I know. I would have paid a few bucks more for colour maps. The map included in the Player's Guide to the Wilderlands is full colour and quite attractive.

[Rob Doupe]

Originally Posted by Melan

Very nice review, Rob. Thanks - you summed up very well what I love about this setting.

Thanks, Melan. You might recognize me from the Necromancer forums, where I post under the name 'Merth'. (Bonus points if you can identify the reference).

I should point that there are a lot of free downloads for Wilderlands campaigns on the Necromancer/Judges Guild web sites. Some of it is culled from original Judges Guild products like the city of Modron, some is new material from people like Melan. A lot of it (like Melan's Zothay) is of professional quality. I'm using Modron and the Rorystone Road material. With the free downloads, you could be ready to run a Wilderlands campaign with a minimum of preparation.

[Melan]

Originally Posted by Gary Thomas

Any ideas why they went with B&W for the maps? Given the deluxe nature of the product, that comes as a surprise.

The maps were already a huge cost; the boxed set format was a huge cost -- it is a small miracle Necromancer could "do" the product as they did. Adding colour maps would have pushed the price beyond $100.

[duncan]

Are the maps just copies of the ones that were in the original Judges Guild products or have they been redrawn?

Duncan

[Rob Doupe]

Are the maps just copies of the ones that were in the original Judges Guild products or have they been redrawn?

The geography is pretty much the same, but the maps have been redrawn with what I assume is a mapping program. It's sometimes difficult to tell lakes and forest apart. The forests, in fact, look like coffee stains. Grey coffee stains.

Personally, I'll take hand-drawn pen and ink over computer generated maps any day. But either I'm in the minority or it's too expensive to produce maps the old-fashioned way.

Also, the players maps from the original products are not included in the boxed set, but some fans (like Melan) have been drawing up their own and posting them on the Judges Guild site.

[Ante]

The original JG maps were not in colour. Why change such an old school product, and add garish maps in colour?

BTW, the amount of adventure ideas in the writeups of forests, villages, ruins and other mapped locations is nothing short of fantastic! A great buy which I'm very satisfied with! It gives you just the same amount of glorious ideas of adventure as my first reading of Unknown Armies did.