Happy Birthday, Ian Livingstone!

Ian Livingstone was born in Prestbury, Cheshire, on 29th December, 1949, and grew up in a Coronation Street-style terraced house in Rusholme, before his family moved to Altrincham in 1960.

70 years later, he is a Bafta award-winning, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, and with Steve Jackson is co-founder of Games Workshop and co-creator of the Fighting Fantasy series of interactive adventure gamebooks.

Happy Birthday, Ian, and may your STAMINA never fail!

What have been your Fighting Fantasy highlights of 2019?

As another year draws to a close on your Earthly Plane, it is traditionally a time for reflection. So what have been the highlights of your Fighting Fantasy year?

Was it Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, or The Forester of Doom Beer-o? Perhaps it was seeing the Fighting Fantasy Legends range released at long last by Atlantis Miniatures, or seeing Fighting Fantasy on BBC Click. Was it attending a performance of House of Hell LIVE, or meeting Steve Jackson or Ian Livingstone at an event? Perhaps it was seeing more Advanced Fighting Fantasy supplements released by Arion Games, or the publication of Ian Livingstone's new gamebook, Assassins of Allansia. Or was it the Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy becoming available on Nintendo Switch? Perhaps some of the aforementioned Fighting Fantasy delights are awaiting you underneath your Christmas tree.

But if you think 2019 was a bumper year for FF releases, there's plenty to look forward to in 2020 too! The delivery of Atlantis Miniatures' Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter. Board games from companies like PSC Games. Branching Narrative's own take on Deathtrap Dungeon. More releases for Advanced Fighting Fantasy and, who knows, maybe more gamebooks...

Deathtrap Dungeon is the gift that keeps on giving, and after the success of House of Hell LIVE at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, The Storymaster's Tales are bringing Deathtrap Dungeon LIVE to the UK Games Expo in the summer.

All that there remains for me to do is to wish you a Merry Christmas and here's to a fantastic Fighting Fantasy New Year!

The Warlock

Win all 15 of Scholastic's Fighting Fantasy gamebooks!

Thanks to the children's book charity Booktrust, you (or your child) has the chance to win a set of all 15 of the Scholastic Fighting Fantasy gamebooks currently in print.

To enter the competition, simply follow this link. But don't delay - you only have until 11:00pm GMT on Tuesday 17th December to do so!

Assassins of Allansia Adventure Sheet

Many of you are doubtlessly already enjoying Ian Livingstone's Assassins of Allansia, but some of you may be hoping to received the limited hardback for Christmas. If you are fortunate enough to receive one, the last thing you are going to want to do is to write in your precious book, in which case you are going to want to download this spare Adventure Sheet instead.

Click on the Adventure Sheet to enlarge and download it.

What do you get the adventurer who has everything?

On the Earthly Plane, the festive season has arrived and the passing days are creeping ever closer to the Feast of the Nativity. Doubtless your mind has turned to the buying and receiving of gifts, but what can you give the Fighting Fantasy fan in your life this Christmas?

How about Nomad Games' Deathtrap Dungeon Trilogy on Switch?

Or how about one of the new Fighting Fantasy releases from Scholastic Books, including Ian Livingstone's new gamebook, Assassins of Allansia?

What about a late pledge to Dice Men, the history of the first ten years of Games Workshop, the company co-founded by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, ready for next Christmas?

Or maybe a copy of Jonathan Green's history of the FF phenomenon, YOU ARE THE HERO?

     

But if you really want to give your favourite FF adventurer a truly unique gift, and support a worthy charity in the process, you could bid to win The Ian Livingstone CBE experience of Deathtrap Dungeon.

You (or another FF fan) could get to play the new video game of Deathtrap Dungeon between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on 30th January 2020 with Ian Livingstone CBE.

This is the version of the game being developed by Branching Narrative, and stars British actor Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan, Fast & Furious Presents Hobbs and Shaw, Deadpool 2), who will act as the narrator in the game and guide in a high-quality interactive video production that faithfully recreates the beloved fantasy book.

Branching Narrative’s Deathtrap Dungeon will be delivered as a video stream that prompts the user to make choices and direct the flow, and should offer enhanced gameplay over other ‘interactive movie’ type games, fully utilising the mechanics from the book.

Please note, if the person playing the game is under 18, they will need to be accompanied by an adult (someone over 18) to take part in The Ian Livingstone CBE experience of Deathtrap Dungeon.

But don't delay, there isn't much time left...

Dragonmeet 2019 with Special Guest Ian Livingstone

Ian Livingstone is appearing at Dragonmeet today, signing copies of his latest Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia, as well as copies of Board Games in 100 Moves.

      

Atlantis Miniatures, the company producing the 28mm range of Fighting Fantasy figurines, is also attending the event, as are FF author and historian Jonathan Green, and FF artist Tony Hough.

In other news, Nomad Games' adaptation of the Deathtrap Dungeon trilogy is now available for Nintendo Switch.

Meet Ian Livingstone in both Leeds and London

If you are based in Leeds, or the surrounding area, get yourself over to Blackwell's at 6:00pm on Thursday 28th November, where you can enjoy an evening of gaming chat with Fighting Fantasy co-creator Ian Livingstone and get your Fighting Fantasy gamebooks - such as his newest title, Assassins of Allansia - signed. Tickets are free but places are limited, so makes sure you secure your place now over on Eventbrite.

And then two days after the Blackwell's Leeds event, you can meet Ian Livingstone at Dragonmeet 2019, down in London, on Saturday 30th November, where he is appearing as a special guest.

Also attending Dragonmeet are FF author and historian Jonathan Green, and FF artist Tony Hough. You can buy tickets for Dragonmeet on the door or in advance here.

Deathtrap Dungeon is coming to Nintendo Switch

Nomad Games' Deathtrap Dungeon trilogy is coming to Nintendo Switch on Wednesday 20th November! This news will no doubt for of interest to owner of Tin Man Games' The Warlock of Firetop Mountain on Switch, as well as fans of Ian Livingstone's classic gamebooks.

Fighting Fantasy Legends: 28mm Resin Miniatures has funded on Kickstarter!

Congratulations to Dan and the team at Atlantis Miniatures, and thank you to everyone who backed their recent Kickstarter. The good news is, the new range of Fighting Fantasy Legends resin miniatures has funded at almost three times its original funding goal, and will be released next autumn.

Atlantis Miniatures have also confirmed that there will be a free PDF painting guide that will advise you how best to paint figures such as the Bloodbeast, the Shapechanger and the Lizard King. This will be available for download, for free, from their online store during the shipping stage of the project. And for those people who pledged to receive the Titan Box, there will be a printed version of the painting guide.

If you missed out have no fear, for plans are afoot to offer late pledgers the chance to get on board too.

Fighting Fantasy Legends - 24 hours to go!

The Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter by Atlantis Miniatures has just 24 hours left to run, so make sure you don't miss out and pledge your support today!

The best news is that all the Stretch Goals have now been unlocked, including Urzle Ironface from Ian Livingstone's new Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia!

And work has even begun on a new Lizard King miniature.

Gods and Monsters

A brief reminder that Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, the co-creators of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series, will be at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London tomorrow, Saturday 2nd November 2019, signing the latest Fighting Fantasy releases from Scholastic Books from 2:00-3:00pm.

And don't forget, the Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter by Atlantis Miniatures has only 5 days left to run, and is already 263% funded! Don't miss out on your chance to receive some Kickstarter exclusive offers and pledge your support today!

Lastly, if you would like your own Fighting Fantasy Fest T-shirt, simply click the image below.

Happy Halloween!

If you're looking for a creepy read to get you into the mood, this 31st October, you could do a lot worse than play through one of these classic Fighting Fantasy titles.

Fighting Fantasy at Spiel Essen 2019

If you are visiting Spiel 2019 in Essen this weekend, make sure you stop by Stand 6K121 in Hall 6. Atlantis Miniatures are there, promoting their Fighting Fantasy Legends miniatures range, and Ian Livingstone is joining them at the event. He even has a few copies of the limited edition hardback of Assassins of Allansia to sell, as well as some copies of Board Games in 100 Moves.

Fighting Fantasy Legends - 48 hours in!

It's hard to believe that the Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter by Atlantis Miniatures has only been live for 48 hours, and yet in that time it has raised almost £30,000, having achieved 243% of its original funding goal!

This means that a host of new miniatures have been unlocked, including a pair of Skeleton Warriors, Klash the Chaos Warrior (from The Port of Peril), and new sculpt of the Quag-Shugguth (from the same book), Baron Sukumvit, Lord Carnuss and Lord Azzur, and two of the assassins from Assassins of Allanisa.

Don't forget, on Sunday 20th October at 2:00pm BST, GeekGirlBookWorm will be hosting a paint-a-long of the new Lord Azzur miniature on Twitch. Not only will she be giving the miniature away, once it's painted, but she will also be giving away a signed copy of Ian Livingstone's newest Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia!

The Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter campaign still has the best part of three weeks left to run, but don't delay - pledge today*!

* If you haven't already done so!

The Fighting Fantasy Legends Kickstarter is now live!

It's the moment you've been waiting for, especially if you weren't able to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 at the end of August.

Fighting Fantasy Legends, by Atlantis Miniatures, is now funding on Kickstarter. The campaign is running for three weeks and has a funding target of £12,000.

A host of familiar Fighting Fantasy faces are being turned into three dimensional figures, including the sadistic dungeon-designer Baron Sukumvit, the witch-born sorcerer Zharradan Marr, and the Night Prince himself - Zanbar Bone!

Baron Sukumvit

Zharradan Marr

Zanbar Bone

Not only that, but on Sunday 20th October, at 2:00pm BST, GeekGirlBookWorm will be hosting a paint-a-long of the new Lord Azzur miniature on Twitch. Not only will she be giving the miniature away, once it's painted, but she will also be giving away a signed copy of Ian Livingstone's newest Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Assassins of Allansia!

Atlantis Miniatures are planning on producing a total of 41 models and there are all sorts of rewards on offer to backers of the Kickstarter, including some that will only be available through the crowdfunding campaign, and some that will only be available to those people who pledge their support early on.

So don't delay - pledge today!