The Gygax ’75 Challenge: Introduction

Last night I was doing some research for a project I’m working on when I rediscovered an article Gary Gygax wrote for the fanzine EUROPA: HOW TO SET UP YOUR DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CAMPAIGN – AND BE STUCK REFEREEING IT SEVEN DAYS PER WEEK UNTIL THE WEE HOURS OF THE MORNING! The article illustrates a different style of world building then we tend to see today as it places a greater emphasis on the dungeon; and I thought it might be fun to build a campaign the way that Gary built one back in 1975.

If you would like to join along in this project then you’ll need the following items: paper (blank, lined, gridded, or dot doesn’t matter as long as you’re able to draw a map on it and keep your scale accurate for your own needs), a copy of the original article (the download is from the Internet Archive), and some pencils/pens/crayons – whatever you choose to use is cool so long as you’re able to build the world you’ve been dreaming of building.

Oh!

And if you do decide to play along be sure to let me know so that I can put a mass link page up for anyone who joins in! I’ll put a link with a brief (one paragraph) description so that people who find this project can see all the excellent stuff you guys come up with (and if you come to this project late don’t worry about it! Just send me a link and I’ll add you along too)!

The Gygax ’75 Quick Links

Introduction
The Setting of the Campaign
The Map Around the Dungeon
How to Build the Gygax 75 Dungeon
The Dungeon Level 1
The Dungeon Level 2
The Dungeon Level 3
The Local Town and All the Trouble
The World Plan
Conclusion & Links to Other Challengers!