Castle Zagyg Yggsburgh defies expectations and returns

A 2012 thread on Troll Lord Games’ site predicts we’ll never see Castle Zagyg in PDF.

These knowledgeable fans pointed to one of the Gygax family who had the license to these old Gary Gygax titles and wasn’t prepared to re-release them.

Spoiler: you can now grab the 256-page Castles & Crusades Castle Zagyg Yggsburgh as a PDF.

Back on the 2012 forum, one writer, who refers to the D&D co-creator as EGG and Troll Lord Games as TLG, added;

Castle Zagyg, Yggsburgh, and the East Mark were great products. Obviously, EGG “got it.” EGG and his co-writer, the esteemed Jeffrey Talanian, were pushing through with a terriffic setting, tons of Gygaxian elements, and really a classic place to adventure. E. Gary Gygax had decided that the home of Yggsburgh, the East Mark and all of that setting was at Troll Lord Games. Then, Mr. Gygax passed away. The heart of this project was ripped from TLG the day that EGG’s wife reclaimed the IP. No one really, REALLY knows why this was done. Most suspect that Gary Gygax’s wife was given some bad advice. After the problematic period of EGG’s passing, and the whole IP mess being taken away from TLG, the co-author J. Talanian moved on. I think he said somewhere once that he would never return to the East Mark. And that was the end. Perhaps the owner of the East Mark IP have shopped it around. Perhaps there was once momentum on bringing it back to the fans, but nothing has been heard in years.

At this point, I would just like to remember the greatness of the setting that was released by TLG, EGG, JT and the author’s who worked on the few town supplements that were released. It was awesome. It was a great time to be a fan, but now those particular days are over. They will never be back.

So, how did we get here? In August, it was revealed that many of Gary Gygax’s old products would be returning.

An old Amazon listing for the 2006 Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh says;

Beneath the shadows of that ancient and dread place men call Castle Zagyg stands the fortified town of Yggsburgh. Its stout walls and cobbled ways give ample refuge to those bold and worthy adventurers who come to the Four Tors to plunder the dungeon deeps of the Mad Mage or die valiantly in the effort. Binding the walls, are the Urt and Nemo Rivers, whose tumbling waters stretch the length of the lands beyond the Four Tors, Castle Zagyg and Yggsburgh. In these hinterlands are marks of the Mage in such places as the Oldoaks Grove, Glittering Knobs, Uplands and the Lonely Valley. Enter the environs of that most dread of magi, test your metal and make ready for the heroes forge that is Castle Zagyg! Yggsburgh is an introductory setting for Castle Zagyg proper. Yggsburg is designed for 4-8 players of mid to low level. Beyond the town proper are detailed over 30 encounter areas. Yggsburgh comprises 1500 square miles of adventuring terrain, complete with all the information players and DMs need.

The new Troll Lord PDF includes this in the blurb;

This book consists of the town of Yggsburgh and its Environs, which include the town 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.

A bullet point list promises over 1,000 adventures and adventure ideas.

• There are also two maps; one for the Town and another for the other of Environs of Yggsburgh
• Nine smaller maps for Points of Interest
• 600+ NPCs
• Two dozen+ random encounter and event tables
• 50+ written random encounters
• Order of Battle for everything from Goblins to Knights
• New monsters, magic items and spells (for Castles & Crusades)
• Crime and punishment rules for Yggsburgh

Quick Links

• Download Castles & Crusades Castle Zagyg Yggsburgh
• Download Castles & Crusades