City State of the Invincible Overlord

The City-State of the Invincible Overlord was the first published fantasy role-playing game city 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 was first released at Gen Con IX in 1976.

City-State of the Invincible Overlord was designed by Bob Bledsaw with the assistance of Owen, and was based on Bledsaw's own Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

The City-State launched Judges Guild as a company, and was the centerpiece of its 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 City-State to Thunderhold.

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.