Friday 28 June 2019

What's on at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3?

Still dilly-dallying about whether you're going to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 this year? Well, if you don't go, you'll miss out on all of this:

    Guests of Honour Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, giving a talk about The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, with illustrator Russ Nicholson and commissioning editor Geraldine Cooke.

    Guest artists Chris Achilleos, Les Edwards, Duncan Smith, Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, Tony Hough, Pete Knifton, and Robert Ball.

    Guest authors Jamie Thomson, Peter Darvill-Evans, and Jonathan Green.

    Scholastic books releasing new editions of Ian Livingstone's Caverns of the Snow Witch and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! 2: Kharé - Cityport of Traps, as well as Ian's brand new gamebook Assassins of Allansia.

    The collector's hardback edition of Assassins of Allansia, signed by the author.

    Atlantis Miniatures releasing the first wave of the exquisite Fighting Fantasy Legends models.

    The World of Legend cosplay photography.

    Steve Jackson's House of Hell LIVE.

    John Robertson's The Dark Room.

    Independent gamebook publishers.

    All Rolled Up exclusive FFF3 game rolls and other merchandise.

    Arion Games running Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG sessions.

    The Fighting Fantasy Collector.

    French AFF publisher Scriptarium.

    Fighting Fantasy Audio Dramas.

    Intercept Studios, who will be selling prints of Terry Oakes' cover artwork.

    A host of other traders, talks, and gaming opportunities.

    And if you buy your ticket before 1st August, you will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win 1 of 10 Fighting Fantasy Legends models, courtesy of Atlantis Miniatures.

    So delay no longer and secure your ticket today, before they sell out!


    And while you're at it, make sure you've got your ticket for the You Are The Beer-o pub quiz the night before.


    Thursday 27 June 2019

    Win 1 of 10 Fighting Fantasy Legends models courtesy of Atlantis Miniatures

    How would you like to get your hands on one of Atlantis Miniatures' Fighting Fantasy Legends models? Well you could win one simply by attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3.


    If you buy your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 before Thursday 1st August, you will be entered into a prize draw to win 1 of 10 randomly-selected FF Legends models, courtesy of Atlantis Miniatures.

    Anyone who has already purchased their ticket will be automatically included in the prize draw, but if you've been putting off buying your ticket for the gamebook event of the year, put it off no longer and secure yours today!


    Please note that the miniatures are supplied unmade and unpainted.

    Wednesday 26 June 2019

    Chris Achilleos to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3

    Following hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement that Geraldine Cooke will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 on 31st August*, we are delighted to report that fantasy art legend Chris Achilleos will also be joining us at the gamebook event of the year.


    Over the past 40 years, Chris has created some of the best loved fantasy and glamour art and is acknowledged as one of the top fantasy artists in the world.

    However, Fighting Fantasy fans will doubtless fondly remember Chris's cover art for such classic gamebooks as Ian Livingstone's Temple of Terror and Armies of Death, as well as Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars, and the sourcebooks Out of the Pit and Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World.

    More recently he painted the wraparound cover for Part 2 of Jonathan Green's YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.


    So don't miss out this opportunity to meet the man himself and collect another signature. Make sure you secure your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 today!


    * I don't know, you wait ten weeks for a new guest announcement and then two come along at once!

    Tuesday 25 June 2019

    Geraldine Cooke to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3

    For many Fighting Fantasy fans, she is a legend in her own lifetime, and without her Fighting Fantasy gamebooks would probably have never existed.

    She is Geraldine Cooke, the commissioning editor at Penguin Books who saw the potential in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and we are delighted to report that Geraldine will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 on Saturday 31st August, at the University of West London in Ealing.

    Geraldine Cooke with (from l-r) Jonathan Green, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, at the first Fighting Fantasy Fest in 2014.

    Geraldine will join Steve Jackson, Ian Livingstone, and Russ Nicholson, for a panel about how the seminal The Warlock of Firetop Mountain came to be.


    Please note - unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, Ian Miller is no longer able to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3.

    Saturday 22 June 2019

    Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 - 70 Days to Go!

    In just 10 weeks' time, Fighting Fantasy fans from all over the world will be at the University of West London in Ealing to enjoy all that Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 has to offer, including a Q&A with Guests of Honour Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and special guest artist Russ Nicholson, an interactive theatrical performance of Steve Jackson's House of Hell LIVE, a host of traders, a day of gaming, and the exclusive release of the collector's hardback of Ian Livingstone's brand new Fighting Fantasy gamebook Assassins of Allansia.

    Tickets are selling fast, so make sure you don't miss out on the chance to be a part of it all, and grab your ticket today!


    Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of Ian Livingstone's Island of the Lizard King, and as well as picking up the Scholastic edition of this classic adventure, you will also be able to buy a model of the Lizard King - including his pet Black Lion and Gonchong 'crown' - from Atlantis Miniatures on the day.


    Friday 21 June 2019

    How Fighting Fantasy are YOU?

    Dare you take up the Warlock's Challenge? Are you a Jib-Jib or a Bloodbeast?

    Click on the image below to begin, read through the statements and for every one that is true for you, score 1 point. Total your points and post the result on Facebook or Twitter.


    And may your STAMINA never fail!

    Wednesday 19 June 2019

    Advanced Fighting Fantasy Bundles of Holding

    Greetings, Adventurer.

    Are you ready to undertake a new quest? The quest to find the Bundles of Holding and recover the treasures contained within?

    Launched in 2013 by longtime adventure gaming writer and game designer Allen Varney, the Bundle of Holding has presented hundreds of bargain-priced, time-limited offers of tabletop role-playing game PDF rulebooks and RPG-related ebooks. Not only that, but ten percent of the revenue from each Bundle of Holding offer (after payment gateway fees) is donated to a charity. Since its founding, the Bundle of Holding has made donations totalling over half a million dollars to more than three dozen recognised institutions, mostly chosen by the contributing publishers.

    And now Advanced Fighting Fantasy is back on Bundle of Holding. Presented here in its handsome 2011 Second Edition, as published by Arion Games, Advanced Fighting Fantasy is a complete role-playing game set in the classic Fighting Fantasy world, with a fast and adaptable system ideal for beginners and well suited to long-term campaigns.

    For just US$7.95 you get all four titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $40) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks:

    • Advanced Fighting Fantasy Second Edition: Graham Bottley's completely rewritten RPG (2011) that revises Marc Gascoigne's original 1989 rules and adds lots of new material.
    • Heroes Companion: Mass battle rules, loads of new magical styles, wilderness creation, organisations, hirelings, and more.
    • The Sorcery Spell Book: The AFF version of the grimoire from Steve Jackson's four-book Sorcery! gamebook series (1983-85).
    • Out of the Pit: The original, indispensable monster book with 250 loathsome creatures.


    And if you pay more than this revival's threshold price of $18.29, you'll level up and also get this offer's entire Bonus Collection with five more titles worth an additional $59:

    • Crown of Kings - The Sorcery Campaign: A full-length campaign based on the Sorcery! series.
    • Beyond the Pit: Another 250 dangerous and intriguing denizens of Titan.
    • Titan: A 128-page sourcebook about the Fighting Fantasy world. Discover Titan's history, kingdoms, and great powers. Includes the Titan Map.
    • Blacksand: The City of Thieves, Port Blacksand, is home to rogues and pirates, and a destination for the bravest Heroes. This sourcebook adds rules for Firepowder weapons, naval sorcery, and sailing. Includes the Blacksand Map.
    • The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: A full-length RPG scenario based on the first and most famous Fighting Fantasy gamebook.


    And that's not all! Also available now is the More Fighting Fantasy bundle, with recent supplements and adventures. Three of these supplements are debuting in this offer and have never been available until now!

    For just US$9.95 you get all six supplements in this offer's Starter Collection (retail value $38) as DRM-free PDF ebooks, including Rough Guide to the Pit, Demons of Doom, The Titan Herbal, and three short AFF adventures: Crooked King's Cup, The Floating Dungeon of Varrak Aslur, and Inn of Lost Hope.

    And if you pay more than this offer's threshold price of $20.29, you'll level up and also get this offer's entire Bonus Collection with seven more titles worth an additional $57, including the three titles premiering here: the monster manual Return to the Pit, the city guide Travels in Arion (plus the Map of Arion), and the Weapons and Armour Catalogue for Stellar Adventures. You also get the rest of the Stellar ebook line - the rulebook itself, its Starship Catalogue, and the four-part scenario The Kaladarian Response.

    The charity designated by Arion Games owner Graham Bottley that these bundles will support is CoppaFeel. "My wife has been selected to be part of a team of 100 inspirational people trekking through the Himalayas in October to raise money for the breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel," says Graham.

    Don't delay - in 20 days these offers will have expired!

         

    Friday 14 June 2019

    Assassins of Allansia - The Limited Edition Hardback

    It's what fans and collectors have been asking about ever since Ian Livingstone's new Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia, was announced last week. And today we can confirm that there will indeed be a limited edition hardback of the book, which will be on sale for the first time at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3.

    The hardback features specially commissioned cover art by the phenomenally talented Karl Kopinski. While this may be Karl's first Fighting Fantasy cover, long-term fans of Games Workshop or Osprey Books, will doubtless be aware of his astounding work already, which is very much of the Iain McCaig school of painting. And here it is...


    The hardback of Assassins of Allansia will be limited to only 300 copies, and will cost £40. Restrictions will be placed on how many copies any one person can buy, so the best way to ensure you get hold of a copy of this soon-to-be highly collectible item is to make sure you are at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 on Saturday 31st August. That way you will be able to get it signed by the author as well!

    (Please note that any hardbacks that remain unsold after the event will only be sold at other shows, at a later date; they will not be available to buy in traditional retail outlets or online.)

    Saturday 8 June 2019

    Game of Books - Robert Ball, Illustrator

    The new tranche of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks from Scholastic Books have a new interior artist. As well as producing the covers, Robert Ball is now the series illustrator.

    And to give you a taste of what you have to look forward here are two of Rob's illustrations.

    No prizes for guessing which classic title this picture comes from...

    The Yeti from Ian Livingstone's Caverns of the Snow Witch.

    And here is one of his illustrations from the new edition of Steve Jackson's Kharé - Cityport of Traps...

    The Sulphur Ghost guardian of Kharé's Northern Gate.

    Robert Ball will one of the guests attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, on Saturday 31st August at the University of West London in Ealing, and signing copies of the new books, alongside Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.


    Friday 7 June 2019

    Assassins of Allansia


    Struggling to survive on an uninhabited island which is home to Decayers, Flesh-Heads and Worm Dogs, things go from bad to worse when YOU are attacked in the middle of the night. But who attacked you? And why? The mystery deepens when you discover a small boat on the beach with an old friend shackled to the mast. There is a bounty is on your head and you must find your hunters before they find you. Can YOU defeat the assassins on their deadly mission?

    Two years since The Port of Peril was published, Ian Livingstone is back, with another brand new Fighting Fantasy adventure.

    Having read the blurb for Assassins of Allansia, you probably have all sorts of questions that can only be answered by undertaking the quest contained within the pages of this thrilling new gamebook - the 72nd in fact, if you include Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series. But first and foremost has to be, who is that blue-swathed figure wielding a sword on the cover?

    Have no fear, all will be revealed in a week's time...

    Assassins of Allansia will be available to buy at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, along with the new editions of  Caverns of the Snow Witch and KharĂ© - Cityport of Traps.

         

    Thursday 6 June 2019

    Caverns and Kharé cover reveal!

    This summer sees the release of the next tranche of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks from Scholastic Books - two classic titles and one brand new adventure by Ian Livingstone. All three feature new cover art by Game of Thrones illustrator Robert Ball, and will be on sale at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3.

    Those classic titles are Ian Livingstone's frozen fantasy adventure Caverns of the Snow Witch...


    Deep within the Crystal Caves of the Icefinger Mountains, the dreaded Snow Witch is plotting to bring on a new ice age and take over the world. Will YOU be able to stop her?

    ... and the second part of Steve Jackson's four-part Sorcery! epic, Kharé - Cityport of Traps.


    YOU, the hero, must brave the city of Kharé, where every doorway or alley conceals sudden danger. You will need all your wits about you to avoid the traps and survive the unimaginable horrors ahead...

    "But what of the third title, the new book by gaming legend Ian Livingstone?" the Warlock hears you cry.

    Come back again tomorrow, and all will be revealed...