Friday, 26 September 2025

40 years of Seas of Blood

2025 marks 40 years since the publication of Seas of Blood (FF16). In a series of books in which YOU  are the Hero, in 1985 you got to play a bad guy for the first time.


The city of Tak is the greatest den of thieves, pirates and cut-throats that the civilized world has ever seen!

In this city of scum, there are two pirates infamous for their ruthless greed, their daring raids and their countless skirmishes with death. One of these villains is Abdul the Butcher. The other is YOU. Only one of you can be King of the Pirates. A wager is laid, a race is on. But which of you will win?

Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need for this rip-roaring adventure. YOU decide which course to sail, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.


The adventure was written by Andrew Chapman, who had already had two science fiction Fighting Fantasy adventures published - Space Assassin and The Rings of Kether.

Seas of Blood saw the hero take on the role of captain of the pirate ship Banshee, who undertakes a contest with rival buccaneer Abdul the Butcher. Whichever one reaches the island of Nippur within fifty days, and with the most gold, will be declared King of Pirates

The adventure is unusual because it allowed for combat between vessels, and between the Banshee and seas monsters, utilising both CREW STRIKE and CREW STRENGTH scores.

Seas of Blood was illustrated by Bob Harvey, his second of four contributions in the gamebook series...


... and bore a cover by the legendary album cover artist Rodney Matthews.

Matthews’ art medium of choice is pigmented acrylic ink: “I do it with those inks because they’re transparent, or at least translucent, and you can build up the colour gradually,” says the artist. “That’s why I use them, so you don’t overstate something, you can build it up and keep in control of things.”


But while the cover implies a Classical theme, the adventure itself (as older FF fans will know already) has a more strongly Arabian feel to it. And the reason for this mix-up? According to Matthews, it was down to a junior editor at Puffin misleading the artist when he was given the cover brief.

Despite this mix-up, Matthews is still proud of his involvement with Fighting Fantasy, however fleeting it might have been: “I enjoyed doing the cover. I think it probably enhanced the book, but a bit inaccurately.”

As with a number of locations from the other early Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, when FF editor Marc Gascoigne set about compiling Titan – The Fighting Fantasy World, the lands surrounding the Inland Sea, where Seas of Blood is set, were slotted into the newly-created continent of Khul.

However, the book’s author, Andrew Chapman, had already developed a more extensive geography and history for the lands of the Inland Sea which he would later go on to use in two more books – one of which, Ashkar the Magnificent, features the same map as appeared in Seas of Blood – as well as the unpublished FF adventure Deathlord.

Thursday, 25 September 2025

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain collector's hardback edition out now!

Today marks the publication of the hardback collector's edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

The collector's hardback features brand new cover art by Karl Kopinski, the classic, iconic interior illustrations by Russ Nicholson, an updated History of Fighting Fantasy, the Qatlas map of Firetop Mountain, and the 1989 map of Allansia by Leo Hartas on the back cover.

The book is limited to 2,000 copies only, and is available online and in selected book shops.

Earlier this week, Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone visited Blackwell's Bookshop in Oxford to sign 500 copies of the collector's hardback of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Steve Jackson and Sir Ian Livingstone - may their STAMINA never fail!

Monday, 22 September 2025

Sir Ian Livingstone to attend San Diego Comic-Con Málaga

Sir Ian Livingstone will be attending San Diego Comic-Con Málaga as a special guest, from Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th September 2025.


From the legendary gamebooks that shaped the imaginations of generations to the founding of Games Workshop and the birth of Warhammer, Sir Ian Livingstone's legacy is an essential part of fantasy and gaming culture.

A writer, designer, and pioneer, Sir Ian has been at the forefront of fantasy, role-playing, and video games for decades. His Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, that invited choice-making and exploration into worlds filled with danger and wonder, inspired millions of young people around the world.

Sir Ian will be interviewed on stage in Auditorium 3 at 3:00pm on Thursday 25th September 2025. To find out more about his appearance at San Diego Comic-Con Málaga, click this link.

Friday, 19 September 2025

Join the Hunt for the Black Whale with Arion Games!

Available now is a new adventure for Advanced Fighting Fantasy - The Hunt for the Black Whale.

Boarding a ship and hunting down a gigantic and dangerous Black Whale off the coast of the Old World is a tricky enough task, but the Heroes are about to find their task becomes even more difficult...

Written by Andrew Wright, and illustrated by Andrew Wright and Mike Tenebrae, The Hunt for the Black Whale takes 2-3 sessions to run, and is great as both a one-off or modified slightly to fit into any AFF campaign.

Inspired by Moby Dick, the story of Jonah, and even Jaws, the adventure sees the Heroes board the Questral, a ship hunting a monstrous Black Whale off the coast of the Old World.

There are various nautical issues and encounters, before eventually the Heroes are swallowed whole, at which point the interior of the whale becomes an organic dungeon. Can the Heroes survive, and how can they escape the horror of the Black Whale?


Saturday, 13 September 2025

Fighting Fantasy Heroes coming to MyMiniFactory this autumn

Coming to MyMiniFactory this autumn is a new range of STLs* from the Blue Giant Studios' range of Fighting Fantasy Heroes miniatures.


The MyMiniFactory ranges offers 40 of the most loved (and feared) Heroes and Villains from the entire book series, including the Bloodbeast, the Shape Changer, the legendary Wheelies… and many more! And in a MyMiniFactory first, they come as a physical tier, which includes a deluxe limited-run box set designed for collectors and fans.

This special signed box includes:
  • QR codes for all the STLs on statblock cards to use when playing the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG.
  • A unique RPG adventure booklet and map written especially for this campaign.
  • Logo'd dice.
  • A limited physical model that will not be available as an STL.
The box will come numbered and signed by Sir Ian Livingstone. And when you sign up for launch notifications, you'll also get a FREE STL of Zanbar Bone delivered straight to your MyMiniFactory library!

You can then print and paint it to enter the upcoming competition to win signed books and a new 3D printer. You are the Hero – may your STAMINA never fail! Get notified when the campaign launches!

* Digital miniatures.

Wednesday, 10 September 2025

Fighting Fantasy Quest Live Preview - Friday 12th September!

This Friday, 12th September 2025, YouTuber Paul Grogan will be doing the first live play preview of Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain online at 8:00pm UK time.

Paul Toderas of Ulisses Spiele previewed the game at the UK Games Expo earlier this year, but now everyone, all over the world, can see what it's all about.

Paul Toderas and Sir Ian Livingstone at the UK Games Expo with
Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

So, make sure you put 8:00pm Friday 12th September in your diary and join the livestream here.

Friday, 5 September 2025

40 years of Freeway Fighter

2025 marks 40 years since the publication of Freeway Fighter - the only Fighting Fantasy gamebook, to date, to be set in a dystopian world.

For his sixth solo contribution to the FF range, Ian Livingstone ventured into the realm of near-future (for 1985) post-apocalyptic science fiction. Clearly inspired by the Mad Max movies - and set in 2022 - Freeway Fighter (FF13) had the hero crossing the American wilderness in their heavily armoured Dodge Interceptor, to reach the distant oil-refinery of San Anglo so that they might return with vital supplies for the inhabitants of the peaceful town of New Hope. But success is far from certain since the wilds that lie between the scattered, fortified towns are the territory of lawless bandits and brigands.

Vehicular combat was a feature of this adventure with the Dodge Interceptor having both a FIREPOWER and an ARMOUR score to represent its offensive and defensive capabilities.

The Adventure Sheet for Freeway Fighter.

Like Starship Traveller (Steve Jackson’s one and only foray into hard sci-fi Fighting Fantasy), Freeway Fighter has fewer than the standard 400 references, coming in at only 380 paragraphs. How come? “Because 400 references was a guide,” explains Livingstone, “not an absolute requirement.”

The original US edition of Freeway Fighter.

The cover was by the renowned SF artist Jim Burns. When the book was republished by Wizard Books, the cover was reworked by Burns. However, this was not an original piece of artwork for the range - the illustration had already been used back in 1984 on the cover Games Workshop's Battlecars.

The interior art was by Kevin Bulmer. It was completed in only nine days, as a favour for Ian Livingstone after the original illustrations that had been commissioned were rejected at the last moment.

Kevin Bulmer’s illustrations for Freeway Fighter.

One of the early contenders for internal artist on Freeway Fighter was actually FF legend Iain McCaig, but other commitments meant that it simply wasn’t to be. However, we have an idea of how the book might have looked since McCaig did start work on an image for the book.

In 2017 Titan Comics published Ian Livingstone’s Freeway Fighter, a limited four-part comicbook series that was then collected as a trade paperback. It was written by Andi Ewington, with art by Simon Coleby, colours by Len O’Grady, and lettering by Jim Campbell.

Concept and cover art for the Freeway Fighter comic by Simon Coleby, with colours by Len O'Grady.

While Freeway Fighter is not currently in print as a physical gamebook, it is available as part of Tin Man Games' Fighting Fantasy Classics app.

Will Sir Ian ever return to the lawless hinterlands of America to write a pedal-to-the-metal heart-stopping sequel? We'll just have to wait and see...