Troll Lord Games

In 1999, Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, and Mac Golden founded the role-playing game (RPG) company Troll Lord Games in Little Rock (Pulaski County). As longtime players of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), they first began writing adventure modules for D&D that offered players exciting scenarios and storylines to guide their gameplay.

Troll Lord Games attended the gaming convention GenCon in 1999. The founders took three adventures to the convention, as well as a world-setting book that was picked up by ACD Distribution. They also met Gary Gygax, an industry icon who had created D&D in 1974 with Dave Arneson. Under Gygax’s watch, the game and company (valued in the multi-millions) skyrocketed, ultimately employing hundreds and attracting millions of players. Troll Lord Games went on to publish for a series of game design books written by Gygax called “Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds” from 2001 to 2008. This placed Troll Lord Games and Arkansas at the forefront of the world’s biggest RPG.

In 2004, Troll Lord Games released its own tabletop gaming concept, Castles & Crusades. This concept broke away from d20 Dungeons & Dragons gameplay (where a twenty-sided die is central to many game mechanics). For Castles & Crusades, the writers intended for the system to be simple and approachable, with the Players Handbook claiming that “you and your friends can learn it in 15 minutes.” Additional books offered ideas for monsters to combat and treasure to seek, as well as insight for the Castle Keeper, the game’s master.

Although tabletop gaming became less popular with the growth of internet gaming, Troll Lord’s perseverance and continued stream of publications brought the company before new audiences. Crowdfunding and releasing the main book for free in PDF format also helped Troll Lord remain viable when the rise of online gaming resulted in a decline in investors and distributors of tabletop games. In 2005, the company opened its own print shop, allowing it to print the majority of its softcover books in-house. By 2015, Troll Lord had branched into new media, including fantasy fiction and short films, including the short film “To the End,” which premiered at GenCon 2015.

For additional information:
Koon, David. “Dungeon Masters.” Arkansas Times, August 6, 2015, pp. 20–21. Online at https://arktimes.com/entertainment/ae-feature/2015/08/06/dungeon-masters (accessed January 23, 2026).

Parsons, Don. “Interview with Stephen Chenault on Mythos.” TechRaptor. August 15, 2015. https://techraptor.net/tabletop/interviews/interview-stephen-chenaul-mythos (accessed January 23, 2026).

Troll Lord Games. https://trolllord.com (accessed January 23, 2026).

Kylee Taylor Cole
Fayetteville, Arkansas