Judges Guild Universal System

[Q Man]

Judges Guild Universal System

The Judges Guild Universal Role Playing Adventures are designed for use with all game systems. They require a separate rules system for use. The categories of statistics listed here are carefully selected to be directly applicable to the majority of the published rule systems but should not be considered the only statistics open for use. Should the particular game mechanics employed require the use of an additional term or statistic not found in this format, the Judge is encouraged to add it to the list. All unused categories may be ignored. The values of the statistics given assume that the natural span of human characteristics ranges between one and twenty with the normal person averaging out at ten. Since adventurous characters are above average, their beginning characteristics are generated with 3D6 to give a range of three to eighteen. A comparison chart is provided below to permit the Judge to quickly convert values on the 1D6, 2D6, 3D6, 1D20, and %D ranges from one to the other. Interpolation may be necessary with some figures, but the Judge should keep in mind that these are suggested values only and may be modified to best suit the tone of the campaign he or she is moderating.

The basic assumptions on the rationale for Magic vary so widely from one game system to another that one set of statistics cannot cover the field adequately. Therefore, each spell or magical effect is given a general name such as Stop Person or Invisibility. Unusual effects or articles are described in the text where first encountered or in a special section at the end. The Judge can then assign an equivalent spell or effect from the specific game system being used.

During the initial reading of a Universal product, the Judge should note the quantities and distribution of the treasure and artifacts. Each game system and even each campaign within a game system tends to run at a level of reward unique unto itself. The Judge is reminded to adjust the amount of treasure available by adding or deleting to correspond with the campaign he or she moderates.

[Q Man]

This page has tons of information and abbreviations.

Example:

ARMOR COMPOSITION:
A Adamantite
B Bronze
C Copper
D Damascus Steel
E Electrum
F Felt or Fur
G Gold
H Hardened Wood
I Iron
J Jasper Or Jade
K Cloth
L Leather
M Mithril
N Netting
O Orichacum or Onyx
P Platinum
Q Quartz
R Rock
S Silver
T Tin
U Earth or Clay
V Marble
W Wood
X Unidentified
Y Paper
Z Zircon

[Q Man]

Have any of you ever used this?

[Q Man]

As a side note, back when Bob Bledsaw the First was alive Judges Guild had a forum Judges Guild Forum.

It did not survive for very long which is rather sad. Of course now with the original Bob Bledsaw passed away and the open disgrace that Bob Bledsaw II and III have become (banned from most of the game community internet wide), none of it will ever return unless the entire company is sold to someone with the money and drive to resurrect the company. What is really bad about his is that by all accounts the rest of his family are not at all like his disgraced namesakes.

[Q Man]

Judges Guild Journal
The Judges Guild Journal was the very first RPG magazine. The early issues, whose circulation numbered in the hundreds, are among the rarest of the rare. As time is available, those rare early issues are being put online for the benefit of Guildmembers. Take a trip back in time, visit the early days of the Guild, and read the Journal here!

Read
Journal I - The very first issue of the Judges Guild Journal
Read
Journal J - The second issue of the Judges Guild Journal(wrong image at top of page, but the right content

[Q Man]

Pegasus Magazine
Pegasus Magazine was the last and largest of the magazines published by Judges Guild, building on the success of the Judges Guild Journal, Dungeoneer, and Dungeoneer's Journal -- and Pegasus is back!. Selected back issues are now available online, along with the writer's guidelines and submission information you need to contribute to the upcoming issue.

No links to any Dungeoneer, and Dungeoneer's Journal issues.

Pegasus #1An Interview with Dave Arneson (1st) and other goodies
Pegasus #2An Interview with Bob Bledsaw & other goodies
Pegasus #14 - Summer 1999includes a second Interview with Dave Arneson & other goodies
Pegasus #15 download link

From the An Interview with Bob Bledsaw (the First)

First introduced to Dungeons & Dragons® in August of 1974, Bob Bledsaw has gone on to create and maintain the Judges Guild, one of the most prolific companies in the area of fantasy gaming aids. Although the Judges Guild did not officially begin until the summer of 1976, Bob had already sown the seeds of this venture way back in the 1950's when he first became interested in game-playing, His start in gaming came about as a result of his avid love of reading, in particular the ‘Pulp Fictions'. Much of his spare time was spent in developing games based on that genre and then later playing them with his friends and brother. By the time that wargames became commercially available, Bob and his fellow players were already pretty well involved with the science fiction games and World War II miniatures battles he ran, and so naturally gravitated to the boardgames as well. For a while, the group vacillated between the three areas of gaming on almost a regular basis, but once exposed to Dungeons & Dragons® it pretty much settled down into many hours of play in this area. Shortly after his first Dungeons & Dragons® session, Bob started to judge a campaign of his own, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's well known Middle Earth. These gaming sessions led to the development of reams of paper covered with rules additions and clarifications, maps, castles, dungeons, and so forth, the majority of which went on to become the basis that the Judges Guild began to work from, Later on, when the sessions became longer and as a rule ran from 6 p.m. to dawn, Bob suggested that Bill Owen take over a section of the world. At this time, other campaigns began to be developed and showed a need for the type of play aids now produced by the Judges Guild. After the General Electric Plant at which Bob was employed as a Designer closed its doors in December of 1975, he began to spend more time developing the material that he and the others had at hand, and made the suggestion to his compatriots that they form a game aid company. For various reasons, things did not get started until the early part of 1976 when Bob and Bill Owen made a visit to TSR. The positive response they received plus the opportunity presented by the upcoming GenCon prompted them to start the Judges Guild, a company which has since then grown to provide help and inspiration for Judges in the United States and Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

[Q Man]

Judges Guild Library of Sharebooks

Magnificent Magic
A curious compendium of magnificent magical items contributed by your fellow Guildmembers.

Malevolent Monsters
A weighty work on malevolent monsters contributed by your fellow Guildmembers

Treacherous Traps
A terrible text on treacherous traps contributed by your fellow Guildmembers.

[Q Man]

Portal Color Effects

[Q Man]

The infamous
"Rat on a Stick" Recipe

[Q Man]

Judges Guild FAQ

[Q Man]

The People of Judges Guild (bitd)

[Q Man]

The Incompleat Judges Guild Product List

[Q Man]

This was never updated as you can see above Pegasus #15 was published and this list says #13 never published.
Judges Guild Collector's Checklist

[Q Man]

Necromancer Games forums Also had a Judges Guild area bitd.

The company was on hiatus by 2010, the two founders having started two separate new game companies, Frog God Games and Legendary Games. In June 2012, Necromancer Games was acquired by Frog God Games.

Frog God Games does not have a forum.

The latest (old version of)
Necromancer Games forums

[Q Man]

Fan Websites (all now defunct)
Tegel Village - Tegel Village Adventurer's Guild for Neverwinter Nights
Product Info - Mark Boone's most excellent Judges Guild product listing
Campaign 3 - Marc Kuhl's Wilderlands campaign

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Feb 19, 2024 17:07:51 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Have any of you ever used this?

I actually emailed them and asked them if they would mind if someone used that in their personal hobby blog.  I thought it would be a great way to stat out NPCs and monsters.  I don't remember the exact wording, but it was a negative.

[Q Man]

Feb 19, 2024 18:09:06 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

Feb 19, 2024 17:07:51 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Have any of you ever used this?

I actually emailed them and asked them if they would mind if someone used that in their personal hobby blog.  I thought it would be a great way to stat out NPCs and monsters.  I don't remember the exact wording, but it was a negative.

File off the serial numbers and create your own version. Also things that are just pure lists are not copyrightable, or so I have read. Tired Old Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Feb 19, 2024 18:25:02 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Feb 19, 2024 18:09:06 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

I actually emailed them and asked them if they would mind if someone used that in their personal hobby blog.  I thought it would be a great way to stat out NPCs and monsters.  I don't remember the exact wording, but it was a negative.

File off the serial numbers and create your own version. Also things that are just pure lists are not copyrightable, or so I have read. Tired Old Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Funny you should mention that because I have actually started work on my own version called Classic Era Format.  There's a small blurb about it in my signature below but I'm close to the final version.  I will try to get it uploaded in a pdf this weekend, if possible.  Disclaimer noted! 

[Q Man]

Feb 19, 2024 18:29:52 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

Feb 19, 2024 18:25:02 GMT -5 Q Man said:

File off the serial numbers and create your own version. Also things that are just pure lists are not copyrightable, or so I have read. Tired Old Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Funny you should mention that because I have actually started work on my own version called Classic Era Format.  There's a small blurb about it in my signature below but I'm close to the final version.  I will try to get it uploaded in a pdf this weekend, if possible.  Disclaimer noted! 

I guess I should read signatures more closely. (little tiny print   )

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Feb 19, 2024 18:39:15 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Feb 19, 2024 18:29:52 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

Funny you should mention that because I have actually started work on my own version called Classic Era Format.  There's a small blurb about it in my signature below but I'm close to the final version.  I will try to get it uploaded in a pdf this weekend, if possible.  Disclaimer noted! 

I guess I should read signatures more closely. (little tiny print   )

In all fairness, you can't tell what it is anyway so it wouldn't have done any good. 

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Feb 19, 2024 17:04:49 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Judges Guild Universal System

The Judges Guild Universal Role Playing Adventures are designed for use with all game systems. They require a separate rules system for use. The categories of statistics listed here are carefully selected to be directly applicable to the majority of the published rule systems but should not be considered the only statistics open for use. Should the particular game mechanics employed require the use of an additional term or statistic not found in this format, the Judge is encouraged to add it to the list. All unused categories may be ignored. The values of the statistics given assume that the natural span of human characteristics ranges between one and twenty with the normal person averaging out at ten. Since adventurous characters are above average, their beginning characteristics are generated with 3D6 to give a range of three to eighteen. A comparison chart is provided below to permit the Judge to quickly convert values on the 1D6, 2D6, 3D6, 1D20, and %D ranges from one to the other. Interpolation may be necessary with some figures, but the Judge should keep in mind that these are suggested values only and may be modified to best suit the tone of the campaign he or she is moderating.

The basic assumptions on the rationale for Magic vary so widely from one game system to another that one set of statistics cannot cover the field adequately. Therefore, each spell or magical effect is given a general name such as Stop Person or Invisibility. Unusual effects or articles are described in the text where first encountered or in a special section at the end. The Judge can then assign an equivalent spell or effect from the specific game system being used.

During the initial reading of a Universal product, the Judge should note the quantities and distribution of the treasure and artifacts. Each game system and even each campaign within a game system tends to run at a level of reward unique unto itself. The Judge is reminded to adjust the amount of treasure available by adding or deleting to correspond with the campaign he or she moderates.

No, I never have, but I should go through it and make my own version of it.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Feb 19, 2024 19:45:16 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Feb 19, 2024 17:04:49 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Judges Guild Universal System

No, I never have, but I should go through it and make my own version of it.

The concept is solid, and it would be one of the easiest to make your own.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Q Man and The Perilous Dreamer I have attached a pdf of a mockup of what I have so far.  If anybody wants to suggest changes or even collaborate on this, I would be happy for the help.  There probably needs to be some more lists of stuff included.  For example, under the money section at the end it would probably include a note about using the generic "gold coins" or using more evocative choices such as Gold Crowns, Imperial Eagles, etc.

Classic Era Format v1_6.pdf (117.91 KB)

[The Perilous Dreamer]

Mar 10, 2024 11:16:35 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

Q Man and The Perilous Dreamer I have attached a pdf of a mockup of what I have so far.  If anybody wants to suggest changes or even collaborate on this, I would be happy for the help.  There probably needs to be some more lists of stuff included.  For example, under the money section at the end it would probably include a note about using the generic "gold coins" or using more evocative choices such as Gold Crowns, Imperial Eagles, etc.

View Attachment

I skimmed through it, so I will have to look at it in detail. IMO you should just us AC for Armor Class instead of AR for Armor Rating. There are so many non-D&D games, both for and after D&D, that use AC it is a generic term, that I would not worry about. In fact, unless you plan on selling it, I would just use standard names, but if you sell it, then it makes sense to change some of them. I might use alternate names for the stats and then use three letters instead of two as the abbreviations.

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Mar 10, 2024 12:06:01 GMT -5 The Perilous Dreamer said:

Mar 10, 2024 11:16:35 GMT -5 The Semi-Retired Gamer said:

Q Man and The Perilous Dreamer I have attached a pdf of a mockup of what I have so far.  If anybody wants to suggest changes or even collaborate on this, I would be happy for the help.  There probably needs to be some more lists of stuff included.  For example, under the money section at the end it would probably include a note about using the generic "gold coins" or using more evocative choices such as Gold Crowns, Imperial Eagles, etc.

View Attachment

I skimmed through it, so I will have to look at it in detail. IMO you should just us AC for Armor Class instead of AR for Armor Rating. There are so many non-D&D games, both for and after D&D, that use AC it is a generic term, that I would not worry about. In fact, unless you plan on selling it, I would just use standard names, but if you sell it, then it makes sense to change some of them. I might use alternate names for the stats and then use three letters instead of two as the abbreviations.

I wasn't interestsed in selling it.  I was just using some generic terms, that's all.  I was going for "close, but not quite".  I might just make those changes anyway because of what you mentioned.

[Q Man]

Page 1 - misspelling in bold below
1st paragraph
iguidelines are

3rd paragraph
the name of iany characters

5th paragraph
Ethos is where your charcacter falls on the morality scale between Law, Neutrality, or Choas.

7th paragraph
increasse as your character

Inteligence (IQ) represents understanding and

Last paragraph page 1
assumes that unarmormed

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Mar 10, 2024 18:09:07 GMT -5 Q Man said:

Page 1 - misspelling in bold below
1st paragraph
iguidelines are

3rd paragraph
the name of iany characters

5th paragraph
Ethos is where your charcacter falls on the morality scale between Law, Neutrality, or Choas.

7th paragraph
increasse as your character

Inteligence (IQ) represents understanding and

Last paragraph page 1
assumes that unarmormed

Noted. 

[Morose]

Looking good, keep going!

Also note
page 2

1st paragraph below the stat block.
This infomration can

next paragraph
The name of the monstere can

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Mar 11, 2024 14:31:09 GMT -5 Morose said:

Looking good, keep going!

Also note
page 2

1st paragraph below the stat block.
This infomration can

next paragraph
The name of the monstere can

Will do!

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

Is everybody in agreement on just using AC/Armor Class rather than AR?