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• They don't intend to print Gary's notes, as his wishes were they not to be published.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.

 

[darjr]

Troll Lords sent this via email to folks. I saw it on Dragons Foot. I should have checked there earlier.

Gary Gygax Returns!

We are very happy to announce that Troll Lord Games, in conjunction with the estate of E. Gary Gygax, and Luke Gygax, is at long last able to bring the works of the Father of Role Playing back to the gaming table!

This has been something we have desired for 15 years and something we are beyond ecstatic to make happen! For everyone here at Troll Lord Games, and for all of you out there, and for the legacy of E. Gary Gygax, this is a wonderful day.

A glorious day!

We need to show the Estate Managers the real value of this material and to do that we have already announced and launched the Pre-order for the Classic Yggsburgh Fantasy Campaign Setting. Written by Gary Gygax and first published in 2005, this classic work is full to the brim with gaming content.

This will be the original version of this work as written by Gary and published by TLG. It includes two maps, one by our Lady of Gaming, Darlene! We aren't changing anything but the Stock Code on the spine!

Castle Zagyg Vol I: Yggsburgh, consists of the walled Town of Yggsburgh with over 20,000 persons, and its environs, which includes many communities such as the thorp of Garham and 60 different geographic locales, each with their own peculiarities and adventures. The map charts over 1500 square miles of adventuring terrain, allowing the inclusion of Yggsburgh and Environs into almost any fantasy campaign setting. Each geographic locale has one or more adventures associated with it, offering hundreds of different plots, themes and escapades, players can take their characters on. It is a 256 page, hardback (smyth-sewn), book with one 24 x 30 inch double-sided, full color map by Darlene! It retails for $39.95. It is designed for play with the Castle & Crusades® Role Playing Game, but ports into many other RPGs, old and new, with minimal effort.

Reserve Your Copy Today!!

the original thread about the announcement of the live stream.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/luke-gygax-and-troll-lord-games-news-wednesday-aug-23rd-2023.699420/

 

[Dioltach]

I enjoyed Gord the Rogue back in the day. I reread a few of them a few months ago, and while they hadn't held up from a literary perspective, they were still good gaming reading.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'll grab that pdf for free to join my two other ones and 4 ir 5 C&C phb dead tree format.

 

[LordEntrails]

I'm glad there is some effort to get the old stuff that was never released released. But this has been released before... maybe it's a necessary step to get to the unpublished stuff?

I don't know, as a grognard, I'm kind of over the whole republishing of everything old. I would much rather see new material; new settings, new everything rather than just re-editing what we have seen for decades.

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm glad there is some effort to get the old stuff that was never released released. But this has been released before... maybe it's a necessary step to get to the unpublished stuff?

I don't know, as a grognard, I'm kind of over the whole republishing of everything old. I would much rather see new material; new settings, new everything rather than just re-editing what we have seen for decades.

The estate has incurred a lot of debt and, also, the curator needs to be convinced that publishing this material is a good idea. That's why they are starting by republishing stuff. It can get quickly to the market and generate revenue.

Keep also in mind, that some of this stuff is commanding huge prices on the secondary market, so the demand is there for a reprint.

 

[Geoff Thirlwell]

This is massive news. I don’t get how this isn’t a headline but Munchkin Paranoia is

 

[LordEntrails]

The estate has incurred a lot of debt and, also, the curator needs to be convinced that publishing this material is a good idea. That's why they are starting by republishing stuff. It can get quickly to the market and generate revenue.

Keep also in mind, that some of this stuff is commanding huge prices on the secondary market, so the demand is there for a reprint.

My point still stands. IMO the game needs new stuff. Stuff we haven't seen before (whenever it was created). Catering to the grognards like me will not grow new players. Or am I wrong and new players are flocking to old school content?

And the revenue the second hand market generates on a very limited quantity doesn't mean their is enough demand to justify re-publishing. Maybe it does, but all alone it doesn't mean there is enough demand to justify publishing numbers (though admittedly low run prints are much more affordable than they used to be).

 

[Nikosandros]

My point still stands. IMO the game needs new stuff. Stuff we haven't seen before (whenever it was created). Catering to the grognards like me will not grow new players. Or am I wrong and new players are flocking to old school content?

And the revenue the second hand market generates on a very limited quantity doesn't mean their is enough demand to justify re-publishing. Maybe it does, but all alone it doesn't mean there is enough demand to justify publishing numbers (though admittedly low run prints are much more affordable than they used to be).

According to the Trolls, the pre-orders have gone extremely well, far exceeding their forecast. In any event, the curator of the estate has final say and this is what Luke and the Trolls have been able to get so far. If the sales are good, we'll likely see new products. Gary left a ton of material that the Trolls were going to publish (sooner or later, they have never been really fast) before the license was revoked.

 

[the Jester]

My point still stands. IMO the game needs new stuff. Stuff we haven't seen before (whenever it was created).

You can have both.

 

[J.Quondam]

My point still stands. IMO the game needs new stuff. Stuff we haven't seen before (whenever it was created). Catering to the grognards like me will not grow new players. Or am I wrong and new players are flocking to old school content?

You're right, but I don't really think this particular publishing effort is terribly relevant on the hobby-wide scale that, say, WotC operates at. This thing is just a "by grogs, for grogs" sort of project, and I suspect it will have zero impact on any new content released by major publishers aimed at younger and/or newer gamers.

 

[LordEntrails]

You're right, but I don't really think this particular publishing effort is terribly relevant on the hobby-wide scale that, say, WotC operates at. This thing is just a "by grogs, for grogs" sort of project, and I suspect it will have zero impact on any new content released by major publishers aimed at younger and/or newer gamers.

I would love to see all the old stuff that has never been published. And I really should take this in context, there is a great deal of new stuff being created; just look at MCDM, CR, etc. Even WotC has gotten in with Theors etc. I just have been hoping for something new and big you know? None of them has inspired me, yet.

 

[Ravenheart87]

I'm glad there is some effort to get the old stuff that was never released released. But this has been released before... maybe it's a necessary step to get to the unpublished stuff?

I don't know, as a grognard, I'm kind of over the whole republishing of everything old. I would much rather see new material; new settings, new everything rather than just re-editing what we have seen for decades.

It has been out of print and unavailable for many years - unless you were willing to pay collector's price on eBay. I'm glad it's back, because back when it was available I was a dirt poor university student and couldn't afford it. Keeping out of print products available is just as important as releasing new material.

 

[Froderik]

In true Troll Lord Games fashion, the email they sent out was not proofread closely enough and it lists the 2005 price of $39.95. The actual cost for the book + PDF in 2023 is $65.

Another note: TLG’s current plan is to print the book as it was, errors, typos, and all. So be sure to hunt down all the errata for the 2005 printing of the book.

 

[jerryrice4949]

I enjoyed Gord the Rogue back in the day. I reread a few of them a few months ago, and while they hadn't held up from a literary perspective, they were still good gaming reading.

I read the whole series back in the day and they were a slog. Gygax was very talented but fiction was not his forte.

 

[jerryrice4949]

I would love to see all the old stuff that has never been published. And I really should take this in context, there is a great deal of new stuff being created; just look at MCDM, CR, etc. Even WotC has gotten in with Theors etc. I just have been hoping for something new and big you know? None of them has inspired me, yet.

This is probably an unpopular opinion but a lot of Gygax’ later stuff was not great. Sure there is the nostalgia but from a writing perspective it was just fair.

 

[Dire Bare]

In true Troll Lord Games fashion, the email they sent out was not proofread closely enough and it lists the 2005 price of $39.95. The actual cost for the book + PDF in 2023 is $65.

Another note: TLG’s current plan Is to print the book as it was, errors, typos, and all. So be sure to hunt down all the errata for the 2005 printing of the book.

Typos and all? Well, that's disappointing.

 

[Retreater]

Typos and all? Well, that's disappointing.

As much as I like their products, TLG can't even clean up typos through 9 printings of their Core Rulebooks.

 

[sevenbastard]

Another note: TLG’s current plan Is to print the book as it was, errors, typos, and all. So be sure to hunt down all the errata for the 2005 printing of the book.

As much as I like their products, TLG can't even clean up typos through 9 printings of their Core Rulebooks.

That just seems lazy and disappointing.

 

[Von Ether]

Typos and all? Well, that's disappointing.

True that should be done but from a gaming perspective for C&C, they don't need to change the stats. I enjoyed C&C as how I remember playing AD&D, not how it actually went, if that makes sense.

I wonder how the news of pre-orders will impact the secondary market because my copy is pretty near mint and had no idea they were going for so much.