Welcome to the Land of the Poison Wind

 

By Will Brosch

I may be a bit late to the game but I recently learned of the "Gygax 75 Challenge". In short, this is a challenge (not really) that invites DMs to create a campaign setting using a set of tools laid out by Gary Gygax in a 1975 article in Europa magazine. How could I resist?

The challenge is arranged in a sort of workbook style with each of the fives weeks across which it spans being dedicated to one aspect of designing the world with the ultimate goal being a solid, playable starting point for any sort of D&D campaign. Not being new to worldbuilding or setting designs, I was attracted to the challenge for the simplicity of it. For me it is a sort of back to basics approach to setting design and a chance to design a setting following the wisdom originally set out by one of the games co-creators.

This blog will follow my progress through the various steps. I will attempt to break each week's progress into as many blog posts as seems reasonable with a focus on sharing my ideas and the setting it creates. After the challenge is finished and the setting is framed out, I'll likely run a campaign in it and share the adventures there here. For those who want to check out the challenge for yourself, you can find the document here - https://rayotus.itch.io/gygax75.

The basics are simple (taken from the above linked workbook) - 

• Establish a setting concept

• Develop the surrounding area

• Create 1-3 levels of a dungeon

• Detail a sizable, nearby town

• Invent some campaign secrets

You are allowed one week, (no more, no less!) for each step. That may

sound a bit overwhelming, but don’t overthink it!

Following the rules, I will be starting this next Sunday though, as the title and image may have hinted, I do have something in mind already. Much of the work will be done on paper, as I am after the old school experience and would love to create something I can leaf through later and maybe, just maybe, leave to a future generation. That said, I'll then be posting my developments here in the digital realm using tools that I have available to me.

So, here we go. I hope you'll check back and follow me on this journey through the Gygax 75 Challenge. 

Enjoy,

-Eli