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.

Pegasus: As Judges Guild celebrates its fifth anniversary would you tell us what inspired you to found Judges Guild?

Mr Bledsaw: The vast amount of effort required to run an active role-playing campaign.

Pegasus: How did you go about getting Judges Guild started?

Mr Bledsaw: Long hours, cramped fingers, and gallons of coffee.

Pegasus: When did you determine that other Judges would be interested in using your City State Campaign in their own FRP worlds?

Mr Bledsaw: It was in February of 1976. That's when I realized that many people wouldn't have the time to completely develop a campaign.

Pegasus: How much time is necessary in developing a campaign?

Mr Bledsaw: You can spend your whole life at it, but as a rule, it takes about one hour of preparation for every two to three hours of play.

Pegasus: When did you become actively involved in gaming?

Mr Bledsaw: I got started at the age of thirteen in 1955 and, during the course of several years, developed a reputation for the interpretation of complex games and designing war-games which required the use of a Judge.

Pegasus: Did you have any idea your campaign would grow to its present size?

Mr Bledsaw: Yes, I started my campaign with the idea of developing a complete Fantasy world for the players to adventure in.

Pegasus: With the City State Campaign covering eighteen maps and over four hundred pages of text, are you planning to expand it beyond its present size?

Mr Bledsaw: Oh yes! There are still many parts of the City State Campaign that haven't been released yet.

Pegasus: How many players were involved in the early days of the City State Campaign?

Mr Bledsaw: My Middle Earth Campaign originally involved five gamers and mushroomed to around twenty within the first year.

Pegasus: What was the first game aid Judges Guild released for FRP?

Mr Bledsaw: Judges Guild published The City State of the Invincible Over-lord in an installment to the Guild-members and then released the entire product to distributors in January of 1977.

Pegasus: How did you go about finding a market for your game aids?

Mr Bledsaw: We didn't, it found us.

Pegasus: How long was it before you released your next product?

Mr Bledsaw: One month later we released Tegel Manor.

Pegasus: Would you give us a brief history of your company's growth over the last five years.

Mr Bledsaw: When we started, Norma and I worked out of our home on a rented typewriter in the dining room. Now, we are located in a former grade school building with many typewriters, light tables, desks, processing equipment, and offices. The first year was really tough. By the end of 1977, sales were around $60,000. In 1978, we hired four people and sales grew to $200,000. In 1979, ten more people had joined our staff and sales grew to $400,000. 1980 saw our move to the present location and along with the hiring of twenty more people, our sales grew to $750,000.

Pegasus: Where is Judges Guild moving to in the future?

Mr Bledsaw: If you had helped us with our last move into larger quarters, you would join me in hoping "NO WHERE!" for a long, long time.

Pegasus: How has the company changed from the beginning?

Mr Bledsaw: In a thousand ways. The most significant is the size of the organization and facilities.

Pegasus: Are you satisfied with the company so far?

Mr Bledsaw: No! While we have made some significant contributions to the hobby, we are still in the infant stage in as much as we are all "in training" and developing the skills to become "professional".

Pegasus: If you could "Portal" back in time, is there anything you would change with Judges Guild?

Mr Bledsaw: I was too generous with some royalty arrangements, and this hurt our ability to promote products properly. Also, I made some bad personnel decisions.

Pegasus: As you look to the future, where do you see FRP going?

Mr Bledsaw: I see gaming closely linked to the "cablevision" computer industry in the next decade.

Pegasus: How do you see Judges Guilds role in gaming in the next five years?

Mr Bledsaw: In the forefront of the field - after all, we took the first risks which justified doing game aids and, as long as we remain flexible and responsive to gamer's needs, we should stay on top of the new developments.

Pegasus: As the time necessary to prepare for a gaming session is still the biggest problem for most Judges, do you ever use other companies game aids in your own campaign and why?

Mr Bledsaw: Yes, although I modify them. Every active Judge needs all the help he can get.

Pegasus: Have you seen a larger number of female garners taking up FRP?

Mr Bledsaw: Not many. Roughly about the same percentage as three or four years ago.

Pegasus: Do you think female players play differently than their male counterparts and why.?

Mr Bledsaw: They are usually more sensitive and emotional than the guys. They are great at role-playing and more cautious in dangerous situations.

Pegasus: What do you feel is the best way to handle characters of differing alignment within the same party?

Mr Bledsaw: A complex question that deserves more space, but basically the Judge must respect the freedom of action taken by characters, yet penalize the failure of some to "role-play" properly.

Pegasus: As one of the first Role Playing Campaign designers, what can you tell us about the development of the City State Campaign? Remember, we have on(y so much room for this interview, so try to keep it in two hundred words or less!

Mr Bledsaw: The City State was reached via a "gate" located in the Misty Mountains in my Middle Earth Campaign. This area was a favorite place to visit for many of the gamers and also was the source of more than one NPC protagonist in our hundreds of sessions. Of course, the real Tolkien buffs didn't wish to move there permanently. It offered the most realistic alternative to publish since there was less danger of copyright infringement.

Pegasus: As many FRP garners have traveled the halls of Tegel Manor, to what do you attribute its popularity?

Mr Bledsaw: The free form design of Tegel Manor was a plus in its' favor, but some basic themes seem to work just right and a huge haunted manor house has just the right feel for interesting side action in an otherwise serious campaign.

Pegasus: Does that popularity carry over to other Judges Guild products?

Mr Bledsaw: To a large degree. Many of our best selling items are simple campaign aids such as Campaign Hex System and Ready Ref Book.

Pegasus: Would you say the style of FRP games has changed much over the last five years?

Mr Bledsaw: Not too much. The gamers still expect a lot of fun and that's what is delivered in countless sessions around the country every day.

Pegasus: If a new FRP designer were thinking of starting his or her own company, what advice would you have for them?

Mr Bledsaw: Be prepared to work hard, be honest and fair, and don't expect too much of others.

Pegasus: I think I've about used up all my space for this issue's interview, so I'd like to thank you for the interview and good gaming one and all!