The Warlock Returns - Issue #13

Available now from Arion Games is Issue #13 of The Warlock Returns, the Advanced Fighting Fantasy fanzine.

This issue brings you new material for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG and the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, including...

* Denizens of the Pit - The Strangest Folk You Meet!

* Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 - Report by White Hare Games

* Adventure Jam - News!

* Wizardy - Spell Cards

* Director Advice - Articles with rumours and plot hooks

* Asteroid Prison Escape ­- Stellar Adventures solo game

* Wreck Age and Stonebeak Hospital ­- Lore and Locations!

* The Legend of Gareus - graphic novel and agony aunt page

* Stellar Adventures - Into the Doors of Eryx ­ Part VII (Final Part!)

and more!

Advanced Fighting Fantasy System and Modules for Foundry VTT

Now funding on Kickstarter is another crowdfunding campaign from Arion Games, this time to to provide adventurers with the opportunity to play Advanced Fighting Fantasy virtually using Foundry Virtual Tabletop, with an enhanced experience for both DM and Players!

To find out more, follow this link.

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain available now from Qatlas

Available now from Qatlas is the solution map to Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's seminal Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Will you succumb to the Giant Spider?

Risk the river or the Ferryman?

Or get lost in the infamous Maze of Zagor? Hopefully not, with this incredibly detailed map!

To see the map in full and purchase a copy, click this link.

Return to the Island of the Lizard King

Scott Mackay produces fully-licensed, hand-painted maps of your favourite Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

His latest map is of Fire Island, the notorious Island of the Lizard King. But be warned - as well as mapping the location, Scott's maps also show the route through the adventure.

To date, Scott has produced eight such maps, including ones for The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Deathtrap Dungeon, and House of Hell.

You will find them all here, on Scott's Etsy shop.

Steve Jackson Games' Kickstarter is into the final 24 hours!

The Fighting Fantasy - Solo Adventure Gamebooks - Back In Print! Kickstarter is now into its final 24 hours and is closing in on the $300,000 mark!

Don't forget, the slipcase edition is only going to be available through this Kickstarter.

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain that comes as part of this set will now feature a classic piece of Martin McKenna art. (For more about this, check out the latest Kickstarter update.)

Fighting Fantasy at AireCon 2025

If you are attending AireCon at the Harrogate Convention Centre this weekend (Friday 14th March - Sunday 16th 2025) make sure you visit the trading Hall M and stop by Booth D13, where you will find Arion Games, publishers of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy Second Edition RPG.

You will also find Fighting Fantasy author and historian Jonathan Green at Booth A11, with signed copies of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks and Magic Realms: The Art of Fighting Fantasy.

New Kickstarter reward announced!

The Fighting Fantasy - Solo Adventure Gamebooks - Back In Print! Kickstarter has passed the frankly astonishing $225,000 mark, which means that a new Pledge Level has been announced.

For an $80 pledge, you will receive the five-book collection in a beautiful, high-quality slipcase. This slipcase will be adorned with a detailed map by FF cartographer Leo Hartas showcasing northwestern Allansia, and stretches across the three visible sides.

The Fighting Fantasy - Solo Adventure Gamebooks - Back In Print! Kickstarter has just one week left to run, so don't leave it too late to secure your exclusive FF slipcase.

Starship Traveller now on Fighting Fantasy Classics

Steve Jackson's SF gamebook Starship Traveller is now available as part of the Fighting Fantasy Classics library app from Tin Man Games.

The fate of the Starship Traveller and her crew lies in YOUR hands!

Sucked through the nightmare of the Seltsian Void, the Starship Traveller emerges at the other side of the black hole into an unknown universe. YOU are the captain of the Traveller and her fate depends on YOU! Will you be able to discover the way back to Earth from the alien peoples and planets you encounter, or will the starship be doomed to roam uncharted space forever?

Relive Starship Traveller – the beloved fourth Fighting Fantasy interactive adventure gamebook from the 80s! Steve Jackson's classic science-fiction adventure adds a new crew management system, ship-to-ship combat, and phaser combat. It has been converted to a digital format using Tin Man Games' acclaimed Gamebook Adventures engine.

NEW FEATURES

• Beautiful, cosmic illustrations by Simon Lissaman.
• New crew management system for up to seven crew members. Beam down to planets and try and keep your team alive!
• Automated Adventure Sheet that keeps track of your stats, crew stats, and any space-time co-ordinates you discover. Starship Traveller also includes a special Adventure Sheet for ship stats during ship-to-ship combat.
• Make the gamebook as easy or hard as you like and even turn on a special 'Free Read' mode to play the book like an old-school cheater! 
• feature makes it easy to keep track of everywhere you have explored during current and previous playthroughs.
• Unlimited Bookmarks allow you to revisit difficult sections as many times as desired.

To download Starship Traveller, click here.

Le Talisman de la Mort and La Nuit du Loup-Garou sont ici!

The latest Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to be released by Gallimard Jeunesses in the new format are Talisman of Death and Howl of the Werewolf.

Talisman of Death ~ Le Talisman de la Mort

The once peaceful world of Orb is facing a terrible danger. Evil forces are at work to subject it to the terrible domination of the god of Death. Only YOU can prevent the catastrophe from happening. Your mission: to thwart the pitfalls and intrigues that await you in the city of Greyguilds and destroy the Talisman of Death before the lackeys of the Fleshless King destroy you. But be careful, because time is running out!

Howl of the Werewolf ~ La Nuit du Loup-Garou

You would have to be crazy to cross the borders of the windswept, fog-shrouded, and soul-haunted principality of Lupravia. And yet, that is what YOU must do. A monstrous wolf has cruelly bitten you and you are now struck by a terrible curse. Fail in this new adventure and the beast that now lies dormant within you will not be able to resist the call of the Werewolf. You have until the next full moon!

Bonus: The Archives of the Old World will reveal to you everything a hero worthy of the name must know!

Sir Ian Livingstone on BBC Radio 4 Extra

You can hear Fighting Fantasy co-creator and co-founder of the Games Workshop Sir Ian Livingstone chatting to Toby Hadoke on BBC Radio 4 Extra this Saturday, 22nd February 2025, at 4:00pm.

Sir Ian will be sharing how he and Steve Jackson helped bring Dungeons and Dragons to the UK. He also be talking about his work in video games, launching titles like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Hitman when he was chairman of Eidos PLC.

To find out more, click this link, and don't forget to put the date in your diary.

Fighting Fantasy - Solo Adventure Gamebooks - Back in the US!

The Steve Jackson Games' Kickstarter for the new US editions of the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks is now live!

In 1982, Games Workshop co-founders Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson co-created Fighting Fantasy, a series of solo adventure books that would revolutionize the genre.

Combining gripping narratives with dice rolls and other tabletop RPG mechanics, Fighting Fantasy captivated readers, becoming a worldwide hit. Now this multi-million-selling book series returns to print in the United States for the first time in over two decades.

Steve Jackson Games – helmed by the American game designer Steve Jackson (no relation) – is working closely with Sir Ian Livingstone to deliver an amazing Fighting Fantasy experience to the United States.

Sir Ian’s thoughts on this collaborative effort show the enthusiasm both sides of the pond have for this project:

The Fighting Fantasy books have delighted fans for decades. What makes these versions special?

• The original art! When possible, SJ Games are using the original black-and-white artwork for the interiors – most of which hasn’t been available in over a decade!
• Designed for readability! The original Fighting Fantasy books were smaller mass-market paperbacks. They were perfect to sneak into your lunch bag at school, but these new versions are designed to make leaping into a hero’s life easier than ever, with larger print and enhanced formatting that makes reading a joy.
• Available in the States! No longer do you need to order overseas or via online auction sites.
• Designed as a set! These editions will look great on your shelf, with a unified design, numbered spines, and evocative art. If you’re a longtime fan, these are the versions you wish you had when you were younger! And if you’re new to Fighting Fantasy excitement, these books will be a gateway to worlds beyond imagination.

Rewards include the five-book set (cheaper than the books will cost when they come to retail), and a special retailer pledge.

To find out more, click this link. The Kickstarter will run until ???

Fighting Fantasy returns to Kickstarter soon!

As reported last year, Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks are returning to the United States later this year, courtesy of Steve Jackson Games.

The American Steve Jackson (Scorpion Swamp, Demons of the Deep, Robot Commando) has teamed up with the British Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone, to bring the premier gamebook series back for US readers. The choices and challenges are the ones you may remember, but each book has been crafted to be friendly to readers old and new, making it as easy as possible to pick up and play.

Sign up now to be the first to begin your adventures when the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign goes live. This campaign will offer five bestselling books – The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos, The Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, and Deathtrap Dungeon - and will include exclusive options that will only be printed to meet the demands of this campaign.

Whether you've been a fan for years or have never faced the fearsome Bloodbeast before, there's never been a better time to embark on a quest that is part story and part game, in which YOU are the Hero!

Fighting Fantasy Adventures Update

There is exciting news from Wallace Designs in Australia. Fighting Fantasy Adventures, the solo and co-op adventure game based on the iconic Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, has gone to press.

All the necessary files have been sent to the printer and they will now create a sample for the designers to carry out their final checks. Once that has been done, the game will move to production. 

This means that hopefully everything will be ready before the end of April. Taking into account the time required to ship the product from the factory and then for fulfilment to take place, it looks like the game will be ready roughly six months later than originally planned. However, given how much the scope of the project changed in terms of art, this delay is both understandable and will be worth it.

The boxed game of Fighting Fantasy Adventures will also include the Journal - a 32 page booklet containing lots of game art and room for your notes. It will also contain a brief history of Fighting Fantasy, as well as the history of how Fighting Fantasy Adventures came to be, and all of the character stories that have been published during the Gamefound campaign. 

To find out more, click this link.

The Year of the Snake

On your Earthly plane, today marks the beginning of the Year of Snake*. As a result, we thought we would revisit some classic ophidian encounters from your favourite Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.

Hydra

(illustration by Russ Nicholson)

The Citadel of Chaos, by Steve Jackson

The Serpent Queen

(illustration by Iain McCaig)

City of Thieves, by Ian Livingstone

Medusa

(illustration by Nik Williams)

Armies of Death, by Ian Livingstone

Myurr the Snake Demon

(illustration by Martin McKenna)

Dead of Night, by Jim Bambra and Stephen Hand

Ophidian

(illustration by Tony Hough)

Spectral Stalkers, by Peter Darvill-Evans

Caarth Sorcerer

(illustration by Martin McKenna)

Curse of the Mummy, by Jonathan Green

Giant Serpent

(illustration by Martin McKenna)

Curse of the Mummy, by Jonathan Green

Serpensa the Snakewoman

(illustration by Martin McKenna)

Howl of the Werewolf, by Jonathan Green

The Seven Serpents

(illustration by Tony Hough)

The Seven Serpents, by Steve Jackson

And an honourable mention goes to Snake Island, where Sir Ian Livingstone's Assassins of Allansia kicks off.

What is your favourite snake-related encounter in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook? Let us know in the comments below.

* Of course, the Year of the Snake is the third in the twenty year cycle of Titan.

Marc Gascoigne Announced as new Fighting Fantasy Brand Manager

LONDON, UK  |  23 JANUARY 2025

Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone, the co-creators of Fighting Fantasy, have recruited Marc Gascoigne as Brand Manager of the bestselling gamebook series. The classic series of adventure gamebooks, which began in 1982 with The Warlockof Firetop Mountain, continues to thrive with new titles being published by Scholastic UK, together with digital and audio editions, role-playing and board games, miniatures, and a growing range of licensed merchandise.

With more than 20 million books sold in over 30 languages, Fighting Fantasy remains a truly global phenomenon. The series will be returning to US bookstores in mid-2025 with 10 titles being published by Steve Jackson Games Inc (run by the other Steve Jackson in the USA).

Marc will be supporting existing Fighting Fantasy licensees, as well as seeking out appropriate partners for new ventures. Long-time Fighting Fantasy fans will already be familiar with Marc’s work from the legendary sourcebooks Titan—the Fighting Fantasy World and the Fighting Fantasy monster collection Out of the Pit, the gamebook Battleblade Warrior, and two Fighting Fantasy novels. He was also the series’ consultant editor in the 1990s for Puffin Books, before building a career in fantasy fiction as publisher of Games Workshop’s Black Library range of Warhammer novels, and later with his own award winning imprint Angry Robot.

Sir Ian Livingstone said: “We are delighted to have Marc join us to further promote and build Fighting Fantasy worldwide. A respected expert of the genre, he will be an invaluable member of the Fighting Fantasy team. May his STAMINA never fail!” 

Sir Ian Livingstone and Marc Gascoigne at Dragonmeet 2024.

You can read the full press release here.

Conquer the Citadel of Chaos with Qatlas

Another new map is now available from Qatlas and it's based on a certifiable classic - Steve Jackson's The Citadel of Chaos!

Follow this link to order your own physical copy and to peruse other licensed Fighting Fantasy maps by Qatlas.