YOU ARE THE HERO - The 40th Anniversary Edition!

YOU ARE THE HERO - The Ultimate Edition! An interactive history of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, 1982-2022, coming soon to Kickstarter. Sign up to be notified when it goes live here.  

Yes, you read that right - interactive! Just like your favourite Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. The book will include content from YOU ARE THE HERO Parts 1 and 2, as well as new material covering the last five yars.

So please sign up to the Kickstarter preview page and spread the word to help ensure this is the best YOU ARE THE HERO yet!

Your last chance to preorder your FFF4 T-shirts and badges!

Six weeks today, the doors will open on Fighting Fantasy Fest 4.

Many people will be collecting their Fighting Fantasy 40th anniversary T-shirts* and badges on the day. If you have yet to preorder yours, you have until 12:00pm on Friday 29 July 2022 to do just that!

Mock-up images of the 40th anniversary T-shirts and badges.

(Artwork not final.)

The front of the T-shirt features Zagor the Warlock, by Russ Nicholson, and the Fighting Fantasy logo, while on the back are listed all the solo FF adventure gamebooks that have been published over the last 40 years - 77 in total! The badge will be an enamel pin badge.

Whether you have ordered your tickets for Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 or not, you can order your T-shirts and badges by clicking on the 'Tickets' button on the Eventbrite page and scrolling down to the Add-ons section.

But remember, you only have until 12:00pm on Friday 29 July to do so - so don't delay!

* If you have already ordered a T-shirt, you will have received an email explaining how to specify the size you require.

Are YOU tough enough to survive attacks by Allansia's most dangerous and deadly assassins?

Tin Man Games have confirmed that the next Fighting Fantasy gamebook to receive the Fighting Fantasy Classics makeover will be Assassins of Allansia, written by Sir Ian Livingstone.

After accepting a challenge to survive on Snake Island, a nightmare unfolds when a bounty is placed on your head. Beware the ruthless assassins hellbent on hunting you down - but who are they? Where are they? Trust no one...

First published in 2019, this new digital version of Assassins of Allansia uses Karl Kopinski's cover that appeared on the limited edition hardbacks launched at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, and interior illustrations by Krisztián Balla, that featured in the Hungarian edition of the book, published by Chameleon Comix.

Features include:

• Make the gamebook as easy or as hard as you like and even turn on a special 'Free Read' mode to play the book like an old-school cheater!
• Map 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.
• Licensed artwork form Karl Kopinski and Krisztián Balla.
• Automated Adventure Sheet that keeps track of your stats, inventory and knowledge gained during your journey.

So don't delay, and download Assassins of Allansia today. Just remember... trust no one!

21 July 2022

Today is 21 July 2022 or, as some of you will know it, Freeway Fighter pandemic day!

Having witnessed how a pandemic has affected the human race on your Earthly Plane over the last couple of years, the Warlock could quite easily believe that Sir Ian Livingstone was having some kind of prophetic vision when he wrote Freeway Fighter, predicting how people would react when faced by a threat of an unstoppable illness.

You can enjoy his vision of a world given over to lawlessness in which petrol has become increasingly unobtainable, in one of several ways. First there is the seminal Fighting Fantasy gamebook, first published in 1985 and featuring cover art by celebrated SF artist Jim Burns*. Secondly, you can relive the adventure via Viber, and thirdly, as part of the Fighting Fantasy Classics app. And fourth, there is the graphic novel prequel to Freeway Fighter published by Titan Comics in 2017.

* Not once, but twice!

Iain McCaig 'appearing' at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4

Have you booked your ticket for Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 yet? If so, you're in for a treat. If not, you might want to hurry up and purchase yours today, as the latest guest to be confirmed for the event is none other than Iain McCaig.

Iain McCaig is a legend among Fighting Fantasy artists, having painted the original covers of such seminal gamebooks as Ian Livingstone's The Forest of Doom, City of Thieves, Deathtrap Dungeon, and Island of the Lizard King.

Iain will be 'appearing' via the magic of Zoom, broadcasting live from his home in Canada on Saturday 3 September 2022. As anyone who attended Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 back in 2017 will know, his masterclass was one of the standout sessions of the day.

Iain is a world-renowned and award-winning character designer and visual storyteller, who has worked on such blockbuster films as Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Jungle Book, and Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, as well as the recent TV series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

For this very reason, due to the potential for copyright infringement, Iain's talk will not be livestreamed or recorded to be posted online later. The only way to experience it is in person at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4. So don't delay, get your ticket today.

Encyclopedia Arcana

The latest Advanced Fighting Fantasy crowdfunding project from Arion Games, Encyclopedia Arcana, launched yesterday on Kickstarter.

Encyclopedia Arcana is the first volume in a new range of books for the 2nd Edition Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG and has been written by Andrew Wright, the author of such popular titles as Beyond the Pit, Demons of Doom, and Rough Guide to the Pit.

This new 200 page tome brings you:

• A complete treasure generation system
• New weapons and adventuring gear
• Weird food and drink drawn from the lore of Titan
• New skills and spells, including the magical school of Demi-Sorcery!
• Over 360 new magical items Artefacts of power including holy, unholy and demonic relics
• Seven new Hero Archetypes
• The Ultimate Equipment List
• The Ultimate Magical Item Index
• The Ultimate Spell Index
• And a bonus Titan-based Fantasy Name Generator

Encyclopedia Arcana is perfect for new or existing campaigns, as well as novice or experienced Directors, and will rapidly become a well-used book at your gaming table. It has also already been written, proofread, laid out and illustrated, with classic artwork from the original gamebooks by such luminaries as Russ Nicholson, John Blanche and Iain McCaig!

So, you know what to do...

Sample page layouts.

40th Anniversary Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks' covers revealed!

Today, the Warlock is delighted to reveal the covers of the two new Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Scholastic are publishing this September to celebrate 40 years of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain!

Secrets of Salamonis, by Steve Jackson

Do YOU have what it takes to become a hero? Travelling to the ancient city of Salamonis to make your fortune, YOU must decide whether to join the Strongarms guarding the merchant caravans that criss-cross Allansia, or study at the famous Halls of Learning. Will you enter Bu Fon Fen in search of Cauldronweed, or rid King Salamon's Mine of the pests that plague it? Will you bring Cardinal Zyn to justice, or set off in search of the horn of the Black Unicorn? And just who is the Shivering Man, and what does he have to do with the mystery of the screaming sky? It is down to YOU to uncover the secrets of Salamonis!

The colour cover art and black and white internal illustrations for Secrets of Salamonis are by Italian artist Tazio Bettin, who has recently produced covers for Black Library books, including the reissues of the Bloodquest graphic novels, and is the current artist on the 2000AD strip Sinister Dexter.

Goblin Wolf Riders, by Tazio Bettin.

Shadow of the Giants, by Sir Ian Livingstone

When an ancient artifact is discovered inside Firetop Mountain, its evil magic unleashes terrifying Iron Giants upon the world. In a race against time, YOU must find the only person who knows how to defeat them. Where does he live? Will he help? Will YOU survive?

The colour cover art and black and white internal illustrations for Shadow of the Giants are by UK artist Mike McCarthy, whose design work for the Fable series of games for Lionhead Studios brought him to the attention of Sir Ian Livingstone.

Humluk the Ogre, by Mike McCarthy

Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone will be signing copies of their new 40th anniversary Fighting Fantasy titles at Fighting Fantasy Fest 4, on Saturday 3 September 2022 at the University of West London in Ealing.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! now available on all major consoles

Steve Jackson's Sorcery! The Complete Collection is now available for Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, and is already taking the gaming community by storm.

Indeed, Finger Guns recently called it, "a real page turner," while The Xbox Hub has rated it 4.5/5.

Sorcery! was a Game of the Year finalist for TouchArcade and Mashable, while Rock Paper Shotgun called it, "one of the finest RPGs ever made."

The Sixth Axis has rated the game 9/10, as has the Use A Potion video game review site.

If you've not played inkle studios' adaptation of Steve Jackson's seminal gamebook quartet, the release of the quadrilogy on Switch will provide you with the perfect opportunity.

Journey through hills, forests, cities, dungeons, and even time in the magical world of Sorcery! where every choice matters. Fight, explore, solve puzzles, and most importantly, survive and craft your own unique story! Each part can be played on its own, or you can load your character from one part to the next, carrying over equipment, stats, and narrative choices.

Features: 

 - Freedom to explore

 - pick your own path and make your own choices, thousands of them

 - Progression that counts - load your progress from the previous part and continue your journey

 - Spellbook full of wonders - a plethora of weird and wonderful spells that can affect the narrative in wild and unpredictable ways

 - Swindle with the best of them

 - Play Swindlestones, a game of cunning and deceit, for profit or for information

 - God(s) be with you - multiple deities, each with their own quirks and powers

 - Life of the city - hundreds of characters to interact with

 - Slay the night - fight hundreds of unique monsters

 - Storytime - adapted from the best-selling gamebook series by legendary game designer Steve Jackson

 - Music to my ears - listen to a beautiful soundtrack by the "80 Days" composer, Laurence Chapman

Jon Ingold, inkle's Narrative Director, will be attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 4 two months today, on Saturday 3 September at the University of West London in Ealing.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 4: The Countdown has begun!

Nine weeks today, teams of adventurers will be gathering at The Foresters in West Ealing to take part in the third official Fighting Fantasy Pub Quiz, to raise money for the British Heart Foundation in memory of artist Chris Achilleos.

This means that nine weeks tomorrow, the doors will open on Fighting Fantasy Fest 4, at the University of West London in Ealing. You can expect the following, and more...

● Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone signing their new books, Secrets of Salamonis and Shadow of the Giants...

● Guest artists John Sibbick, Gary Mayes, Malcolm Barter, Alan Langford, Tony Hough, Rob Ball, Duncan Smith, and more...

● Guest authors Rhianna Pratchett, Peter Darvill-Evans, Jamie Thomson, Keith P. Phillips, and more...

● Souvenir programme and autograph book, uniquely numbered ticket, Fighting Fantasy dice, 40th anniversary T-shirts*, 40th anniversary badges*, and more...

● Traders, including Arion Games (Advanced Fighting Fantasy), Scriptarium (French AFF), Blue Giant Studios (FF miniatures), The Fighting Fantasy Collector, and more...

● Talks, a painting demonstration, the now legendary Fighting Fantasy auction, and an exclusive screening of Argh! And The Quest For The Golden Dragon Skull film screening, featuring Sir Ian Livingstone...

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, don't delay, for they are selling out fast.

* Please note, all FF 40th Anniversary T-shirts and badges must be pre-ordered in advance via Eventbrite.