D&D General Luke Gygax Brings Back Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg

Luke Gygax is bringing back his father's creations starting with the Castle Zagyg, Yggsburgh Campaign Setting. Written by Gary Gygax and first published by Troll Lord Games in 2005 and dropped from publication in 2008. It is available now in preorder. The intent is to ship in September/October.

For the near future this is the first of three planned products, the second being The Hermit followed up by the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series, probably via Kickstarter or other crowdfunder, maybe in January. The executor of the estate seems to have granted access to just these things so far. If they do well then more will be available and Luke intends to get the entirety of the Castle printed.

If you preorder the Yggsburgh book you will get a PDF and a docx with conversion notes to D&D 5E. The book is as it was in 2008 and they currently intend to leave it that way, other than updating the PDF via new software, and change the logo on the cover and the product number on the spine.

They intend to make the PDF available as a separate product, via their store and DriveThrRPG.

This book uses Castles & Crusades as its system--you can get the 7th edition Player's Handbook in PDF for free.

Other items mentioned:

• They don't intend to print Gary's notes, as his wishes were they not to be published.
• They will see about other creations of Gary's if they can show the executor of the estate they are good stewards. Good sales will absolutely work towards that goal.
• Luke doesn't want to attach this to anything he's doing separately, like his own setting.
• Gord the Rogue books are also on the list of things they'd like to bring back.

Luke Gygax & Troll Lord Games SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Very exciting news for the gaming industry, gamers and anyone who is a fan of Gary Gygax and his works.

www.youtube.com

The transcript of the youtube video is in the spoiler block.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Curios what types of expenses, other than lawyer fees, an estate could have.

I clerk at a law firm and I can’t express enough how much “Justice” costs. And this is just from fees I’ve seen filing docs etc at the court house.

 

[JohnRTroy]

Keep in mind, there are potentially three attorney's involved -- the ones Luke hired, the ones Gail hired, and the court appointed executor who is also an attorney.

The case started in Spring of 2020. Back in 2008-2010, a case with some friends of mine with a trademark issue ended up costing their side alone 125,000+. They won but were stuck with the legal fees. I could see between the three represented parties the debt could be $300,000...maybe even $500,000.

And the executor might be temporary or long-term.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I clerk at a law firm and I can’t express enough how much “Justice” costs. And this is just from fees I’ve seen filing docs etc at the court house.

Even getting legal documents so you can get a handle on what's going on is incredibly expensive and willfully difficult. It's an insane situation, especially given that these documents are almost all electronic nowadays.

 

[Nikosandros]

Keep in mind, there are potentially three attorney's involved -- the ones Luke hired, the ones Gail hired, and the court appointed executor who is also an attorney.

The case started in Spring of 2020. Back in 2008-2010, a case with some friends of mine with a trademark issue ended up costing their side alone 125,000+. They won but were stuck with the legal fees. I could see between the three represented parties the debt could be $300,000...maybe even $500,000.

And the executor might be temporary or long-term.

Why is the estate responsible for the legal fees incurred by Luke and Gail?

 

[bulletmeat]

Why is the estate responsible for the legal fees incurred by Luke and Gail?

I'm assuming legal fees for the material were applied to the estate during probate. And I wonder if there were any costs for the materials that were had to be paid after Gary passed and items cancelled.

 

[adamantyr]

My dad was the executor for his mother's will, and there was a similar thing with that with funds being allocated for various expenses.

 

[JohnRTroy]

Why is the estate responsible for the legal fees incurred by Luke and Gail?

You're right, I am guessing -- I guess it depends on what is handled via probate and what is mediated or what is handled by separate civil action. It could be something of mutual agreement, or it could come later. The biggest direct fees will involve the PR and discovery as they need to assess all the assets and their value. I do think eventually it will all come out of assets -- more auctions to pay off the fees, etc.

Honestly, I'll bow out of legal discussion -- thing this is so complex I think it's tough for anybody to predict what will happen next.

 

[Nikosandros]

You're right, I am guessing -- I guess it depends on what is handled via probate and what is mediated or what is handled by separate civil action. It could be something of mutual agreement, or it could come later. The biggest direct fees will involve the PR and discovery as they need to assess all the assets and their value. I do think eventually it will all come out of assets -- more auctions to pay off the fees, etc.

Honestly, I'll bow out of legal discussion -- thing this is so complex I think it's tough for anybody to predict what will happen next.

My post wasn't a rebuttal of what you wrote, but an honest question. I realize that I'm too ignorant on this matters, to even formulate the questions well...

 

[MichaelSomething]

Sorry executor of the estate. And no Gail isn’t anymore. A third party was assigned the role by the court.

If memory serves, I believe Luke and Ernie wanted to continue bringing Gary Gygax's material to the RPG market but Gail Gygax disagreed. She stopped all that to become the sole controller of the Gygax IP. The theory being so that she could sell the materials/rights for a handsome sum; perhaps to a video game publisher of some type?

Sad that the three of them couldn't share the IP. It's no gold mine, especially with legal costs and executor fees to pay. But some love and care could turn make it provide some yeilds...

 

[the_redbeard]

True. And to make matters even more confusing, he did contribute to the Castle Zagyg project by publishing Dark Chateau.

Yeah, that was a good one in the C&C campaign that I ran with Yggsburgh.
OMG, I found the pdf I had of it on a google drive from my old laptop. Huzzah!