A Racine County man who worked with the late co-creator of fantasy tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons to create a new board game is suing his former colleague’s son for defamation.
The lawsuit was filed this week by Racine County resident
Christopher Clark, founder of the independent publishing company
Inner City Games Designs. Clark has published more than 100 game titles throughout his 43-year career, according to the lawsuit.
Early on in his career, Clark established a close professional relationship with Dungeons & Dragons co-creator
Gary Gygax.
In 1998, Clark approached Gygax about contributing to a new tabletop game called Castle Wolfmoon, which would be released as a three-part series.
Gygax allegedly signed contracts to contribute as a writer for the game’s first and second installments that same year.
After successfully launching the first two installments of Castle Wolfmoon, Clark and Gygax formed a Wisconsin entity called
Hekaforge Productions. The two men continued their working relationship.
In 2021, Gygax allegedly signed another contract to be a writer and consultant for the third installment of Castle Wolfmoon. The agreement did not require Inner City Games Designs to receive written approval to use Gygax’s name.
“Gary’s enthusiasm to contribute to the third installment was much greater than the first two installments and he sent Chris substantially more content,” according to the lawsuit. “Eventually, the installment had grown to a size that was not economically feasible to publish, and the project was put on hold.”
Clark and Gygax continued discussions regarding a third installment of Castle Wolfmoon up until Gygax’s death in 2008.
Clark eventually became close with Gary Gygax’s son,
Lucian Gygax. The pair worked together on multiple games between 2011 and 2016, often discussing the late Gary Gygax and his work.
By 2018, Clark claims Lucian Gygax “fully understood” that his father greatly contributed to the third and final installment of Castle Wolfmoon.
In January 2024, Clark began plans to kickstart and officially launch the third installment. He reached out to Lucian Gygax, who allegedly signed on to be a contributor in March 2024.
Just two months later, the Castle Wolfmoon fundraising campaign was ready to launch. However, Lucian Gygax told Clark he was no longer able to contribute to the game.
Clark alleges that on the same day the campaign was set to launch, Lucian Gygax made a “lengthy” Facebook post deriding the game and stating Clark was lying to the public regarding Gary Gygax’s involvement.
“Luke’s reason for making such knowingly false and salacious claims is clear from the post itself: he did not want the Castle Wolfmoon project to compete with a different project that he was involved in that was also based on work done by Gary Gygax,” reads the complaint.
Although the Facebook post was eventually deleted, it had already been seen by hundreds of enthusiasts within the tabletop gaming community. The fundraising campaign to launch the final Castle Wolfmoon game was postponed.
“Prior to Luke’s knowingly false claims being published, the Castle Wolfmoon Kickstarter was expected to attract at least $100,000 in initial financial backing,” according to the complaint.
Clark says he’s also suffered “significant personal damage” to his reputation as a writer and game designer because of Lucian Gygax’s allegations.
He’s seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial, including at least $150,000 to cover lost advertising costs.
When contacted by BizTimes, Lucian Gygax declined to comment on the lawsuit at this time.
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