Troll Lord Games

Troll Lord Games is an American publisher of role-playing games (based on fantasy and swords & sorcery themes), The Crusader magazine and other board/dice/card games.

They are best known for the Castles & Crusades role-playing game consisting of a Player's Handbook, Monsters & Treasures book as well as scores of other C&C adventure modules and accessories. They served as Gary Gygax's primary publisher from 2001–2008, publishing Lejendary Adventure, Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds and other book lines.

History
TLG's first published products were a series of adventures designed for the Swords and Sorcery RPG. This RPG was developed by Davis Chenault and Mac Golden. TLG debuted these three adventures, the game system and Stephen Chenault's The After Winter's Dark campaign world at Gencon in 2000. These releases coincided with the release of d20 Dungeons and Dragons. Within a very short while TLG republished the books under the d20 license. At about this time they signed Gary Gygax and committed to the Gygaxian Fantasy World series. The series was launched with The Canting Crew, by Gary Gygax, in 2001.

Shortly thereafter TLG published the Codex of Erde (later Aihrde), a fantasy world campaign setting and sourcebook for RPGs. It saw release in 2001 and was written by Stephen Chenault and Mac Golden with contributions by Davis Chenault and Gary Gygax.

Stephen Chenault recounts the origins of the Codex of Erde and how they were enmeshed with the founding of TLG as a company, in The Crusader Magazine.

In this book, Gary Gygax wrote an introductory adventure, Search for a Lost City. It was a prelude to another TLG RPG book also released in 2001, called The Lost City of Gaxmoor, written by Ernie Gygax and Luke Gygax.

TLG also produced and published a string of RPG adventure modules taking place in the fantasy campaign world of Erde. These include:

Another module written for the world of Erde was called Dark Druids written by Robert J. Kuntz, RPG author and ex-employee of TSR, Inc. It was released in 2002.

Also, in 2002 Gary Gygax and TLG continued to work together to produce the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series of RPG “world builder” books.

In 2005 TLG took over the publishing of Gary Gygax’s Lejendary Adventure products and produced a boxed set with a scaled down version of the rules and monsters called Essentials. Following this, came the release of Living the Legend, a LA module written by Gygax.

2008 saw a new hard cover release and reprinting of the Greyhawk Adventures book - "Saga of Old City" ~ a Gord the Rogue novel by Gary Gygax.

Castles & Crusades
The Castles & Crusades RPG Collector’s Box Set was produced in 2004. It contained a Players Handbook, a Monsters & Treasure booklet and an introductory adventure booklet; all were digest size like the original Dungeons and Dragons boxed set.

The year 2005 proved to be a busy and productive year for TLG:


 * They released Gary Gygax’s 256 page, RPG campaign setting/adventures book called Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh for the Castles & Crusades game. A large double-sided fold out color map of the city and environs was rendered by Darlene, the former TSR, Inc artist who drew the World of Greyhawk hex map that was included with the WoG boxed set.


 * The first module written for Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh was another one from Robert J. Kuntz, called Dark Chateau.


 * Davis Chenault wrote and TLG published the first full RPG module in the A series of adventures, for Castles & Crusades set in the fantasy world of Erde. It is titled Assault on Blacktooth Ridge (A1). (A2 through A5 have been released of the total 13 planned).

Gary Gygax continued to work on the next Castle Zagyg volume (at that time Volume II) into 2006 and 2007.

At Gen Con 40 in 2007, Gary Gygax was the Guest of Honor at the TLG booth. It would be his last Gen Con. The long awaited Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works made its debut at the TLG booth the following year, 2008.

In 2007 TLG published an update of the fantasy campaign World of Erde, changing the name to Aihrde and releasing a 48 page gazetteer called After Winter’s Dark which established Aihrde as the official Castles & Crusades adventure setting.

A collection of alternate rules and guidelines for modifying the system, the Castle Keepers Guide, was released in February, 2011

Castles & Crusades

 * Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (6th Printing)
 * Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure (4th Printing)
 * Castles & Crusades Castle Keepers Guide
 * Of Gods & Monsters
 * Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde
 * Classic Monsters: The Manual

Adventures

 * A0: Rising Knight
 * A1: Assault on Black Tooth
 * A2: The Slag Heap
 * A3: The Wicked Cauldron
 * A4: Usurpers of the Fell Axe
 * A5: Shattered Horn
 * A6: Banishment & Blight
 * A7: Beneath the Despairing Stone
 * Umbrage Saga Box Set
 * C1: The Mortality of Green
 * C2: Shades of Mist
 * DA1: Dark Journey
 * I1: Vakhund
 * I2: Dzeebagd
 * I3: Felsentheim
 * U1: Shadows of the Halfling Hall
 * U2: Verdant Rage
 * U3: Fingers of the Forsaken
 * DB1: Haunted Highlands
 * DB2: Crater of Umeshti
 * DB3: The Deeper Darkness
 * DB4: Dro Mandras
 * DB5: Conquered East
 * DB6: Dwellers in the Darkness
 * D1 Chimera Roost
 * Towers of Adventure
 * Heart of Glass
 * S1 Lure of Delusion
 * S2 Dwarven Glory

The Crusader Journal

 * The Crusader No. 1
 * The Crusader No. 2
 * The Crusader No. 3
 * The Crusader No. 4
 * The Crusader No. 5
 * The Crusader No. 6
 * The Crusader No. 7
 * The Crusader No. 8
 * The Crusader No. 9
 * The Crusader No. 10
 * The Crusader No. 11
 * The Crusader No. 12
 * The Crusader No. 13
 * The Crusader No. 14
 * The Crusader No. 15
 * The Crusader No. 16
 * The Crusader No. 17
 * The Crusader No. 18
 * The Crusader No. 19
 * The Crusader No. 20
 * The Crusader No. 21
 * The Crusader No. 22
 * The Crusader No. 23

Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds

 * Gary Gygax's The Canting Crew (GFW Vol. I) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's World Builder (GFW Vol. II) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy (GFW Vol. III) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names (GFW Vol. IV) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's Insidiae (GFW V) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's Nation Builder (GFW VI) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Gary Gygax's Cosmos Builder (GFW Vol. VII) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)

Lejendary Adventure

 * Lejendary Adventure Essentials
 * Hall of Many Panes
 * More Beasts of Legend
 * Living the Legend
 * They Who Watch
 * Fish for Breakfast
 * Problem of Manors
 * The Hermit
 * The Rock

d20

 * Vakhund: Into the Unknown
 * Dzeebagd: Under Dark)
 * Felsentheim: Dogs of War
 * By Shadow of Night
 * A Lion in the Ropes
 * Galal’s Grave)
 * The Malady of Kings
 * Winter Runes, BR I
 * The Mortality of Green
 * The Fantastic Adventure
 * Heart of Glass
 * St. Anton’s Fire
 * Blood Royal
 * City Sourcebook Vol I: NPC
 * Temple of Kubla Khan
 * Tomb of Kubla Khan
 * The Dungeon of Kubla Khan
 * Brystle Vale
 * The Lost City of Gaxmoor
 * Dark Druids

Publications By Year
2000
 * After Winters Dark Fantasy Campaign Setting (Swords & Sorcery)
 * The Mortality of Green (Swords & Sorcery)
 * The Fantastic Adventure (Swords & Sorcery)
 * Vakhund Into the Unknown (Swords & Sorcery)
 * Galal's Grave (A Fiend Games Production) (d20)

2001
 * Lion in the Ropes (d20)
 * Malady of Kings (d20)
 * Vakhund Into the Unknown (d20)
 * Dzeebagd Under Dark & Misty Ground (d20)
 * Felsentheim Dogs of war (d20)
 * The Fantastic Adventure (d20)
 * The Mortality of Green (d20)
 * The Codex of Erde (d20)

2002
 * Gary Gygax's The Canting Crew (GFW Vol. I) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * The Lost City of Gaxmoor (d20)
 * Winter Runes (d20)
 * Bergholt (d20)
 * Gary Gygax's World Builder (GFW Vol. II) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)

2003
 * Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy (GFW Vol. III) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)

2004
 * Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names (GFW Vol. IV) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * The Book of Familiars (d20)
 * Gary Gygax's World Builder (2nd Printing) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (1st Printing) (Castles & Crusades)

2005
 * Monsters & Treasure (Castles & Crusades)

2006
 * Gary Gygax's Cosmos Builder (GFW Vol. VII) (d20/Lejendary Adventure)
 * Fish for Breakfest (Lejendary Adventure)

2007
 * Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (3rd Printing) (Castles & Crusades)

2008
 * Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg Upper Works (Castles & Crusades)
 * Star Siege (Siege Engine)

2009
 * Of Gods & Monsters (Castles & Crusades)
 * Tainted Lands (Siege Engine, Castles & Crusades)
 * Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (4th Printing) (Castles & Crusades)
 * Heart of Glass (Castles & Crusades)

2010
 * Harvesters (Castles & Crusades)
 * Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde
 * Fields of Battle (Castles & Crusades)

2011
 * Castles & Crusades Castle Keepers Guide (Castles & Crusades)