Lords of Valetia

Lords of Valetia is a 1977 fantasy, role-playing play-by-mail (PBM) game published by RB&B Design Operations, Inc.

History

In a 1984 issue of Gaming Universal, Steve Jackson said that Lords of Valetia was "the most spectacular PBM fiasco in history" related to the issue of short-lived PBM companies of the period.^[1] Rick Loomis echoed this idea, noting that this was "the most notorious of the disappearing companies".^[2] According to Loomis, the first moderator "was running the whole thing in between college classes".^[2] He stated that the game reportedly had more than 1,000 paid players at the outset.^[3] After some delays, game ownership changed and the game ran briefly before additional delays and another ownership change.^[2] Financial challenges then caused the game's collapse.^[2]

Gameplay

Lords of Valetia was a fantasy role-playing PBM game run by subscription.^[4] The hand-moderated game was based on Dungeons & Dragons.^[3]

Reception

Brian Esterson reviewed Lords of Valetia in The Space Gamer No. 15.^[4] Esterson commented that "In all, the game shows thought and imagination. [...] Very little information, aside from the rules, is given to you at first. You learn about the land and the creatures in it as you explore."^[4]

See also

• List of play-by-mail games