City State of the Invincible Overlord
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The City State of the Invincible Overlord was the first published fantasy role-playing game campaign setting, designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons, and officially approved for use with Dungeons & Dragons from 1978 through 1983. Published by Judges Guild and later under license by Necromancer Games, the City State of the Invincible Overlord (a.k.a. CSIO) was first released at Gen Con IX in 1976.
The CSIO was designed by Bob Bledsaw with the assistance of Owen, and was based on Bledsaw's own Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
The CSIO launched Judges Guild as a company, and was the centerpiece of the Judges Guild's Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign setting, the first licensed and published Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting.
The City-State itself was a single city designed to be both as a base for campaigning, as well as a seed for city-based adventures. A second product Wraith Overlord explored the city's subterranean cellars, sewers and catacombs.
The City State was used as a home-base for characters created by Judges Guild in other products. Attention was also paid to synchronising the City State with broader adventure possibilities: A northern Dwarven fortress city Thunderhold with an associated "dungeon" area; and a series of four modules written to explore areas adjacent to the route from the CSIO to Thunderhold.
[edit] Editions
The City State has gone through several editions:
- Campaign Installment I (1976), 16-page booklet.
- Guide to the City State (1977), 56-page booklet.
- Revised City State of the Invincible Overlord (1978-1980, three printings), 80-page book.
- Revised City State of the Invincible Overlord (1981-1983, three printings), 96-page book.
- Revised City State of the Invincible Overlord (1999), 96-page book.
- City State of the Invincible Overlord (2004), 288-page hardcover book, published by Necromancer Games.
