Karl Kopinski to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 6!

The Warlock is delighted to announce that ace artist Karl Kopinski will attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 6, alongside Sir Ian Livingstone, as one of our Guests of Honour.

Karl is known for his incredible work for Magic: The Gathering, as well as working for Games Workshop, illustrating the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.

In recent years, he has joined the ranks of the Fighting Fantasy artists, contributing cover art to the collector's hardbacks of Assassins of Allansia and The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

And now he has illustrated Sir Ian's brand new Fighting Fantasy gamebook Tomb of the Golden Skull.

This is a rare appearance by Karl, so make sure you don't miss your chance to meet him and book your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 today!

Fighting Fantasy Book News

New Fighting Fantasy hardback titles are like London buses - none come for ages then two come at once! In exciting news, Sir Ian Livingstone has announced the upcoming release of two titles:

TOMB OF THE GOLDEN SKULL - Hardback Collector's Edition – signed and numbered 1-400 limited edition with a new map of Allansia by Leo Hartas printed on the reverse of the dust jacket will be released on 5^th September at Fighting Fantasy Fest 6 being held at the University of West London.

CITY OF THIEVES - Hardback Edition – will be released on 10^th September. Signed un-numbered copies can be pre-ordered from Blackwell’s. A limited number of advance copies will be available at Fighting Fantasy Fest 6.

TOMB OF THE GOLDEN SKULL - Paperback Edition – will be released on 27^th August and can be pre-ordered from all good bookshops. Copies will be available at Fighting Fantasy Fest 6.

🗡️ Return to Allansia: The Monsters Step Off the Page! 🗡️

For over 40 years, you have faced down the terrors of Firetop Mountain and the City of Thieves in the pages of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Now, it’s time to see them on your tabletop.

We are thrilled to partner with Blue Giant Studios and MyMiniFactory to bring over 40 iconic heroes and villains to life as premium digital STLs and physical miniatures! From the terrifying Bloodbeast to the bizarre Wheelies, your favourite gamebook encounters are being masterfully sculpted.

📦 For Collectors & RPG Players: We are preparing an exclusive, limited-run physical Box Set featuring Fighting Fantasy RPG stat-block cards, a brand-new adventure booklet written especially for this campaign, custom dice, and a physical model that will never be available as an STL. Sir Ian Livingstone will hand-sign a limited number of these boxes!

🎁 Claim Your Free Miniature: Sign up on our pre-launch page today to secure a FREE Zanbar Bone STL and ensure you don’t miss out on the signed tiers.

What monster are you most excited to see brought to life? Let us know in the comments! 👇

🔗 https://mmf.io/backerkitff

40 years of Trial of Champions

When Deathtrap Dungeon became a publishing phenomenon, it cannot be over-exaggerated how high anticipation was for a sequel when Sir Ian Livingstone's Trial of Champions was published just two years later in 1986.

Number 21 in the original Puffin series, Trial of Champions wasn’t a direct sequel, but is set a year after the hero of Deathtrap Dungeon has beaten Baron Sukumvit’s deadly labyrinth for the first time.

All the familiar Deathtrap Dungeon tropes are there to be enjoyed, including a host of deadly monster encounters and lethal traps, as well as the other competitors who are encountered as the hero takes ‘The Walk’ through the dungeon - not to mention the massive cash prize for anyone who actually makes it through to the other end alive.

However, the story adds an element of sibling rivalry to the tale, with the hero having been taken captive by the Baron’s jealous brother Lord Carnuss and sent to Fang specifically to beat the dungeon and shame Sukumvit.

Author and creator of the Illmoor Chronicles, David Lee Stone, cites Trial of Champions as being one of his favourite gamebooks:

“House of Hell or Trial of Champions: both are absolutely brilliant fun, and classic examples of two authors completely focused on creating an atmosphere for the games they’re constructing. I couldn’t choose between them.”

Trial of Champions was the only time Brian Williams illustrated an FF gamebook, providing the striking cover art as well as the internal black and white illustrations (although he also illustrated The Riddling Reaver, published the same year). His clean line art and representations of the human form were exquisite.

Sadly, Williams passed away unexpectedly at his home in October 2010.

While not currently in print, adventurers can still tackle Baron Sukumvit's updated dungeon via Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classsics app.

Of course, Trial of Champions received its own sequel, of sorts, when The Dungeon on Blood Island was published in 2024, to coincide with Fighting Fantasy Fest 5.

Sir Ian Livingstone has written another new gamebook, this time to coincide with Fighting Fantasy Fest 6.

Tomb of the Golden Skull will launch at the event, on Saturday 5th September 2026, so make sure you've reserved your place at FFF6.