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The Gygax 75 Challenge

Abstract

The Gygax 75 Challenge is a workbook by Ray Otus (2020, CC BY-SA 4.0) that translates Gary Gygax's 1975 Europa article — "How to Set Up Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign" — into a structured five-week creative exercise. Each week targets one of Gygax's original five steps for campaign preparation, broken into concrete tasks, extra credit activities, and worked examples set in Otus's sample world of Uzrak.

Origin: The 1975 Gygax Article

The booklet reproduces in full an article Gygax wrote for the April 1975 wargaming newsletter Europa (pp 18–20), titled "How to Set Up Your Dungeons & Dragons Campaign – and Be Stuck Refereeing It Seven Days per Week until the Wee Hours of the Morning!" (Part II of a series). Gygax laid out five things a referee must prepare:

  1. The overall setting of the campaign (decided in the referee's head)
  2. The countryside of the immediate area (hex map)
  3. The dungeon where most adventures will take place (themed levels)
  4. The nearest large town (lodging, equipment, factions, flavor)
  5. The larger world (geography, other planes, ongoing expansion)

Gygax stressed that not all five need to be completed before play begins — most referees work continually on their campaign, adding and expanding. The article also includes a detailed description of Old Greyhawk Castle's 13 levels and side areas, plus advice on involving players and selecting character types.

The Five-Week Structure and Procedure

Ray Otus broke Gygax's broad advice into weekly tasks with checkboxes, designed for focused creative work.

Week 1: The Concept (Pitch, Inspiration, Aesthetic)

Core tasks:

  1. Acquire a journal/notebook.
  2. Recommended: Moleskine or equivalent (hardcover, 240+ pages).
  3. Rationale: tactile engagement, doodling space, permanent record.

  4. Digital alternative: acceptable but loses handwriting benefits; use plaintext or wiki format if digital.

  5. Write a setting pitch (3–7 bullet points).

  6. Should answer: What is this world? What makes it distinct? Why will players want to explore it?
  7. Example from Uzrak: "Iron age civilization vs. ancient magic", "Humans only, limited classes", "Mesopotamian aesthetic", "Cosmic struggle between Law and Chaos"

  8. Length: 100–200 words max; readable in 2 minutes.

  9. Assemble an annotated bibliography (5–7 sources).

  10. Can include: novels, films, tabletop supplements, history texts, music, paintings, architecture references.
  11. Annotation: 1–2 sentences explaining what this source brings to the setting (tone, mechanics, atmosphere, specific ideas).

  12. Not about completeness; about capturing inspiration vectors.

  13. Optional extra credit:

  14. Mood board or Pinterest collection
  15. Collage of visual references
  16. Playlist or soundtrack descriptor
  17. Opening narration for session one

Time-boxed completion: 1 week (7 days max, 2–3 focused hours per session).

Integration note: Revisit this at Week 5; aesthetic often clarifies after dungeon/town design.

Week 2: The Surrounding Area (Regional Hex Map)

Core tasks:

  1. Draw or acquire a hex map (1 hex = 1 mile recommended; max scale 1:6 miles/hex).
  2. Standard size: 6×6 or 7×7 hexes (36–49 hexes total, representing roughly 30–50 square miles).

  3. Map purpose: adventure zone within 1–3 days' travel; area party will know intimately.

  4. Place five key features:

  5. One major settlement (the home base, town/city, population 500–5000)
  6. Two smaller settlements (villages or outposts, population 50–500)
  7. One major terrain feature (3+ contiguous hexes; forest, mountains, swamp, river, etc.)
  8. One mysterious site (temple, ruin, cairn, tower, or dungeon entrance other than the main one)

  9. One main dungeon entrance (where players will initially descend)

  10. Define relationship and distances:

  11. Major settlement to main dungeon: 1–6 hexes away (travel time = basis for pacing).
  12. Smaller settlements spread at 3–5 hex intervals from major settlement.
  13. Terrain feature as barrier or resource (source of rumors, trade goods, danger).

  14. Mysterious site as gossip/rumor generator (potential campaign thread).

  15. Optional extra credit:

  16. Age or stain the physical map (tea, coffee, torn edges, coffee ring marks).
  17. Create a 2d6 regional encounter table (by terrain type; major, minor, hazard categories).
  18. Add sea/river detail (shipping routes, piracy opportunity, lighthouse).
  19. Draw roads connecting settlements (trade routes).

Time-boxed completion: 1 week (drawing 1–2 hours; placement/naming 1–2 hours).

Procedure note: Referees often over-design this phase; resist temptation to detail every hex. Leave white space for improvisation and player discovery.

Week 3: The Dungeon (Multi-Level Themed Delve)

Core tasks:

  1. Entrance description (7–10 words max).
  2. Examples: "A cave mouth, sealed partly with fallen stone and vines." / "Crumbling tower, spiraling stairs downward." / "Well in ruined plaza, stairs within."

  3. Purpose: evocative but minimalist; doesn't over-constrain the dungeon.

  4. Create a point-to-point map (1–2 levels initially).

  5. Technique: circles represent rooms; lines represent passages; no graph paper required.
  6. Room count per level: d6+6 (7–12 rooms per level).
  7. Exits per level: d3+1 (1–4 up/down connections).

  8. Principle: keep it simple; interconnections prevent linear hallway tedium.

  9. Assign themes to each level (pick 3 broad ideas; allocate budget).

  10. Example themes: "Eyes / Observation / Blindness", "Fungal Infection", "Ancient Machines"
  11. Budget per theme: d3+2 (3–5 mechanical/encounter slots per theme).
  12. Spend budget on details: one room "fully eyes themed", one room "partially", one has cursed eye item, etc.

  13. Rationale: theme acts as glue; prevents random mishmash; guides encounter placement.

  14. Populate each level.

  15. Place 11 monsters minimum (mix easy/medium/deadly).
  16. Place d6 interactive features (doors, machines, artifacts that can be interacted with meaningfully).

  17. Place 3 wondrous items (not necessarily powerful; magic swords/rings, potions, weird artifacts).

  18. Optional extra credit:

  19. Full graph-paper map with detail (trap locations, secret doors marked).
  20. Wandering monster table (2d6 per level; includes roll-5 "wandering NPC" slot).
  21. Cross-section drawing of multiple levels (shows depth, underground lake, cavern ceiling).
  22. Custom trap/treasure distribution.

Time-boxed completion: 1 week (mapping 2 hours; populating 2–3 hours; testing 1 hour).

Design principle: The dungeon should be explorable in 3–6 sessions; resist the temptation to go deeper than 3–4 levels initially.

Week 4: The Town (Factions, NPCs, Services)

Core tasks:

  1. Acquire or sketch a town map.
  2. Can use random town generator, published module town, or simple sketch.

  3. Key: identify zones (marketplace, temple, garrison, docks if applicable).

  4. Name shops for generic equipment (tailor to aesthetic).

  5. Examples: "The Weaponsmith", "The Leatherworker", "The Curious Apothecary"

  6. Purpose: verisimilitude; lets players feel they're navigating a real economy.

  7. Locate and define seven features:

  8. Political faction (rulers, merchant consortium, military order): 1–2 sentence description of power structure and current conflict.
  9. Gambling venue (tavern back room, illegal fighting pit, gladiatorial arena): where risk-takers congregate; rumor hub.
  10. News-gathering spot (temple, market square, town hall): where information flows; priest, announcer, or rumor-monger present.
  11. Secretive guild (thieves, assassins, cult, resistance): hidden meeting place; entrance is plot device.
  12. Inn or tavern (the adventurers' lodging and social hub): keeper's name, house drink, rumors on the wall, local rumors.
  13. Religious center (temple, shrine, cathedral, or mosque): priest/holy person NPC, doctrines, prayer house availability.

  14. Unique town feature (something only this town has): market specialization, architectural oddity, standing tradition, annual festival, geographic quirk.

  15. Create 5 NPCs using the DNA method.

DNA method (applies to NPCs, hirelings, faction leaders): - D (Distinguishing trait): Something immediately memorable. Appearance, manner, quirk, passion. (1 phrase) - N (Need): What does this NPC want or lack? Practical need (money, respect, revenge) or personal need (love, acceptance, understanding). (1 sentence) - A (Agenda): What is this NPC actively doing to meet their need? Action, plan, or scheme. (1 sentence)

Example NPC: - Name: Corvus (the tavern keeper) - D: Scarred face, blind left eye, speaks in tavern-keeper clichés but genuinely knows everyone's business. - N: Needs to protect his daughter who's gotten mixed up with the thieves' guild. - A: Collects rumors and occasionally pays adventurers to "solve problems discretely" that keep his bar's worst customers distracted.

Create 5 of these; pick roles: tavern keeper, guard captain, town elder, guild master, mysterious stranger, merchant prince, or cleric.

  1. Optional extra credit:
  2. Create 4–5 hirelings (each with DNA profile).
  3. Assemble 7–9 rumors on index cards (separable from town description; players can discover them via play).
  4. Create a faction turn procedure (what each faction does when party takes a week-long break).
  5. Design a town event table (d6/d8 of things that happen between sessions if time passes).

Time-boxed completion: 1 week (map 30 min; shop names 30 min; features 2 hours; NPCs 1 hour; playtesting talk-throughs 1 hour).

Week 5: The Larger World (Expansion Canvas)

Core tasks: Complete at least three of the following (choose based on interest):

  1. Continental geography (map the broader setting; how does this region fit?).
  2. Other planes or parallel realms (if magic/cosmology is part of the system).
  3. Pantheon or religious cosmology (gods, demons, celestial hierarchies).
  4. High-level NPCs or villains (major power players beyond the town; long-term antagonists).
  5. Calendar or time system (seasons, celestial cycles, significant dates).
  6. Distant rumors (news from beyond the map; potential future campaign arcs).
  7. Major relics or artifacts (legendary items; goals for long-term play).
  8. Terrain encounter tables (2d6 or 3d6 encounters by biome; for hex crawling).
  9. Rival adventuring company (another party; allies or competitors).
  10. Unusual map features (teleportation circles, supernatural zones, planar tears).
  11. House rules summary (clarify any system modifications in use).

Design approach: Don't try to detail all 11. Pick the 3 that seem most generative for your campaign type: - Combat-focused: Villains, rival adventurers, continental geography (more battle ground). - Exploration-focused: Terrain tables, relics, distant rumors (treasure hooks). - Faction-focused: Pantheon, high-level NPCs, house rules (clearer agency). - Mystery-focused: Distant rumors, other planes, unusual features (unknown territory).

Integration note: Week 5 is partly aspirational; allow it to remain incomplete and fill in during play. Resist completionist urge.

Time-boxed completion: 1 week (pick 3 items; 1–2 hours per item = 3–6 hours total).

Design Methodology and Philosophy

"Work in Layers" Principle

Gygax stressed that the campaign is not a finished product on Week 5. Instead, view the five weeks as laying a foundation, not a roof:

  1. First pass (Weeks 1–5): Get the essential structure down. Rough, incomplete, plenty of white space.
  2. Second pass (Sessions 1–6): Zoom in as players explore. Detail encounters you're about to run; leave unknown areas unwritten.
  3. Third pass (Sessions 7+): Expand the map, deepend NPC backstories, introduce campaign threads.

The Hemingway Analogy: Ray Otus includes a quote from Hemingway on writing — finish something and move on; don't perfect one chapter. Same applies to campaign design. "Done" beats "perfect."

Loose Ends as Opportunities

Incomplete details are features, not bugs:

  • Unnamed NPCs? Name them when the players ask. Mechanical class? Decide based on how they interact with the party.
  • Unexplained ruin? Let rumors contradict each other; truth emerges in play.
  • Unclear dungeon connection? The party's curious exploration reveals it.

This philosophy prevents analysis paralysis and keeps the campaign adaptive to player interest.

Time-Scale Flexibility

The "five weeks" is a guideline, not law. Adjust based on prep intensity:

  • Accelerated (5 days): One day per phase; core tasks only; no extra credit. Good for one-shots or tournament play.
  • Standard (5 weeks): As described; balances detail and spontaneity.
  • Extended (5 months, 1 month per phase): Add substantial extra credit; elaborate each phase; great for public campaigns or supplemental material.
  • Interrupted (spread over campaign play): Do Week 1–2, start play, do Week 3 after Session 2, etc. Works if you're open to adapting based on player interest.

Recommendation: Try standard (5 weeks) first. Accelerated if you want to start play immediately. Extended only if prep itself is the enjoyment.

Materials and Journal-Keeping

Recommendation: Use a physical notebook (Moleskine or equivalent).

  • Advantages:
  • Handwriting engages different cognitive paths; ideas flow differently.
  • Doodling space for dungeon maps, NPC sketches, margin notes.
  • Permanent record; survives system changes, software obsolescence.

  • Table reference: page numbers stay the same; wiki can shift.

  • Digital alternative (plaintext wiki or markdown):

  • Use this archive after the campaign ends for historical record.
  • Link from session notes during play (search functionality).
  • Share with co-referees or players more easily.

Best practice: Hybrid. Handwrite the five weeks in a journal (pre-session brainstorming, doodling, character sketches). Transcribe or scan into wiki (indexed, searchable, archivable).

Publication vs. Play

Gygax's article distinguishes two referee modes:

  • Play referee: Private notes, shorthand, idiosyncratic organization. Enough for you to run the table.
  • Publication referee: Polished, formatted, system-ready. Designed for others to run your campaign.

The Gygax 75 workbook supports play referee mode primarily. If you want to publish your campaign later:

  1. Use a secondary editing pass to clarify prose, fill background details, add flavor text.
  2. Format tables consistently.
  3. Add cross-references and index.
  4. Expand brevity where others will need it.

Campaign consideration: Begin in play mode (Gygax 75 as structured prep). Transition to publication mode only if the campaign is compelling enough to share. Don't let publication pressure slow pre-session design.

Worked Example: Uzrak

Otus demonstrates every week with his own setting, Uzrak, built for Delving Deeper (OD&D retro-clone):

  • Concept: Humans-only PCs; iron vs. magic tension; two classes (fighters and mages); Chaos vs. Law cosmic struggle; Mesopotamian/ancient Near East aesthetic
  • Area: Timuria region hex map with cities, wilderness, and a 2d6 encounter table
  • Dungeon: The Lost Temple of the Ancients — three levels themed around Eyes, Fungus, and the Forgotten; features giant ant colonies, memory gems, and the Theater of Minds
  • Town: Addak, a frontier town of ~600 people with a fort, merchants, a temple, and richly detailed NPCs (7 hirelings with DNA profiles)
  • World: Left as an exercise for the reader

Adaptation Notes

  • For minimal systems: keep the five-week cadence, but compress Week 3 into a smaller dungeon and use Week 5 only for the few house rules that actually matter.
  • For science-fantasy campaigns: translate the map into a sector, district, or frontier region; translate the dungeon into a facility, ship, or ruin; translate the town into a port, station, or settlement.

See Also

Key Design Principles

Several principles recur throughout the booklet:

  • Start small, expand through play: Build only a few paces ahead of the players; let their interests direct further development
  • Imperfection is a feature: Loose ends from earlier weeks are opportunities, not failures; work in layers with multiple passes
  • One week per step, no exceptions: Strict time-boxing prevents over-planning and procrastination
  • System-agnostic (mostly): Any RPG system works, though the structure assumes dungeon/town/wilderness adventure; genre can be freely adapted (e.g. cyberpunk)
  • The DNA method: A simple NPC framework — Distinguishing trait, Need, Agenda — used for characters, hirelings, and even map features

Worked Example: Uzrak

Otus demonstrates every week with his own setting, Uzrak, built for Delving Deeper (OD&D retro-clone):

  • Concept: Humans-only PCs; iron vs. magic tension; two classes (fighters and mages); Chaos vs. Law cosmic struggle; Mesopotamian/ancient Near East aesthetic
  • Area: Timuria region hex map with cities, wilderness, and a 2d6 encounter table
  • Dungeon: The Lost Temple of the Ancients — three levels themed around Eyes, Fungus, and the Forgotten; features giant ant colonies, memory gems, and the Theater of Minds
  • Town: Addak, a frontier town of ~600 people with a fort, merchants, a temple, and richly detailed NPCs (7 hirelings with DNA profiles)
  • World: Left as an exercise for the reader

See Also