40 years of Scorpion Swamp

Scorpion Swamp will see print again next year, as part of Steve Jackson Games' publication of the Fighting Fantasy series in the US, so today we look back on the history of the first non-Jackson and Livingstone FF gamebook, 40 years after it was first published.

In March 1983, TheWarlock of Firetop Mountain, The Citadel of Chaos and The Forest of Doom topped The Sunday Times bestseller charts. Two more titles, Starship Traveller and City of Thieves, appeared later that same year. Having seen how successful the series was, other publishers began jumping on the bandwagon, rushing out competing gamebook series of their own. But Puffin Books were keen to maintain their position at the head of the game.

“Puffin decided our best battle strategy would be to publish a new FF book every month,” says Jackson. “There was no way Ian and I could write a book a month, so we decided to commission other authors… and called it the ‘Jackson & Livingstone Present’ series.

“As it happens, our first ‘Presents’ series author was Steve Jackson – the American one, designer of GURPS – who had come over to the UK to talk business with Games Workshop. So the book was: Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Present: Scorpion Swamp… by Steve Jackson. Very confusing!”

“I was visiting London,” explains US Steve, who was already known to the UK Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone since Games Workshop was distributing his games on this side of the Pond. “They described their travails in creating FF books, and the difficulty of flow-charting. I sat down and wrote the first third of Scorpion Swamp, and they liked it.”

There are still people to this day who do not realise that the Steve Jackson who wrote Scorpion Swamp, Demons of the Deep and Robot Commando, and the Steve Jackson who wrote such classics as The Citadel of Chaos, House of Hell and Creature of Havoc are two completely different people.

“Occasionally I am presented with a copy of one of UK Steve’s books to sign,” says US Steve. “I always explain, and if they really want me to, I will sign it ‘The wrong Steve Jackson’.”

Published in 1984, with cover and internal art by Duncan Smith, Scorpion Swamp (FF8) sent the hero into the foetid fens of the title with nothing but his sword to defend himself, and a magic Brass Ring that detected evil as well as letting the hero know which way was north.

Unlike other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Scorpion Swamp allowed the player to choose one of three quests, from a selection of patrons who were Good, Evil and Neutral. The gameplay was non-linear in design, enabling the hero to revisit locations and explore the swamp as he so desired, and a direct consequence of US Steve’s background in RPGs.

Did you know...?

When the US Steve Jackson visited Games Workshop, the plan was that UK Steve and Ian Livingstone would show him the sights of London. However, having been persuaded to write a Fighting Fantasy book for them that was what he did – right then and there in their office! The planned tour of London never happened, but ever since many thousands of readers have enjoyed exploring Scorpion Swamp instead.

Scorpion Swamp is one of the FF adventures that have been mapped by Qatlas, and you can purchase a copy for your gaming room, or to aid you with completing thne gamebook, here.

To find out more about the history of your favourite FF Gamebooks, pick up a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO: An Interactive History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks today.

Pre-order your Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 All Rolled Up game roll today!

What is an All Rolled Up game roll?

An All Rolled Up holds all your dice, pens, counters, game cards and more in a sturdy, hand-crafted roll. Your All Rolled Up game roll is a one-stop answer to getting your game to the tabletop. When you have an All Rolled Up you’re ready to go in a moment because you have all you need for your game in one place. And they are ideal for holding everything you need to take your current Fighting Fantasy gamebook with you, wherever you go.

Fighting Fantasy ARUs are Fighting Fantasy Fest in 2014.

Originally conceived in early 2013, All Rolled Up game rolls featuring Fighting Fantasy artwork appeared at Fighting Fantasy Fest in 2014, and this year, for Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, some very exclusive game rolls - featuring Duncan Smith's cover art for Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game - are available to attendees.

However, there are a limited number available and half of them have already been pre-ordered. So, if you would like a Fighting Fantasy Fest 3 game roll or dice tray (or both) click on the appropriate link below - now!

Game Roll

Dice Tray

Game Roll and Dice Tray

Blast from the Past! Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game

In 1984, with other authors like Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson now writing for the main Fighting Fantasy line, the original creators found themselves with more time to expand the Fighting Fantasy world, as well as the FF brand, in new directions. Steve Jackson, set himself the challenge of turning Fighting Fantasy into a more conventional role-playing game, such as those that had inspired The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in the first place.

“I wanted to see how simple I could make a role-playing game based on FF,” says Jackson. “So instead of the GamesMaster describing the room you’d just walked into, the illustration was in the book. You’d just say: “The door opens and you see… THIS!” and show the players the room. I had no intention of creating a new Dungeons & Dragons or anything like that. It was just supposed to tie FF in as a multi-player game as well as a solo RPG.”

As well as the usual FF rules, modified for the multi-player experience, Fighting Fantasy came complete with two ready-made adventures, the introductory The Wishing Well and the significantly longer and more challenging Shaggradd's Hives of Peril.

Jackson: “FF the RPG was supposed to be the simplest possible format for a RPG; minimum work involved for the GM. So instead of the GM having to keep referring to a GM’s map, there was a map offered at every location... Having been used to full-blown RPGs which got more and more complex, this was, as it said, an introductory rulebook. Excellent art by Duncan Smith, don’t you think?”

Duncan Smith produced all of the book’s internal art, including maps, as well as the dramatic cover which showed an angry Weretiger bursting out of a huge dice.

“I think the deadlines were very tight,” Smith says, recalling the time he spent working on the cover, “and I remember they wanted everything in it including the kitchen sink. Dwarfs, dragons, dice, monsters , etc. I just had to come up with an idea to have all the elements on the cover, and make it look good. I wanted to do a more traditional painting but they liked this, so...”

Duncan Smith and Steve Jackson are both going to be guests at Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, on Saturday 31st August 2019, tickets for which go on sale soon.

In the meantime, you can find out more about the history by picking up a copy of Jonathan Green's YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks and YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2, which is currently on sale at a knock-down price, direct from the author.

     

Scorpion Swamp artist Duncan Smith to attend Fighting Fantasy Fest 3

What do the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Scorpion Swamp (written by the US Steve Jackson) and Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game (written by the UK Steve Jackson) have in common? Well, apart from sharing their 35th anniversary in 2019, they were also both illustrated by artist Duncan Smith.

What some Fighting Fantasy fans may not realise is that Duncan also provided the pictures for the first iteration of Ian Livingstone's legendary Caverns of the Snow Witch that appeared in Warlock Magazine.

Mammoth and Snow Witch, by Duncan Smith (c) 1984 and 2018.

Duncan is now based in London, having moved there after graduating from the Glasgow School Of Art.

Duncan Smith: Luckily I had some good friends who'd moved down the year before, Iain McCaig and Joe Graham. (You've probably heard of Iain, does a bit of drawing for films, writes, directs, film maker and educator, all round renaissance man! Joe Graham is a designer, writer, singer and used to make a great man-mountain pizza!) Anyway, after dragging my portfolio around all the Publishers I started to get lots of work. Iain was working on the FF books and they were looking for new artists and I ended up doing a whole bunch of fantasy work for Puffin Books and White Dwarf. They were really enjoyable books to do, and Iain and I would have great fun, taking turns posing, for each others drawings for some of the more outlandish characters in our respective books, from Lizard men, centaurs, wizards and the occasional giant! The rest as they say, is history, as that was over thirty years ago.

The Warlock: So what have you been working on since illustrating Fighting Fantasy gamebooks?

DS: My work is quite varied now, I work for a variety of publishing houses producing illustrations and some concept work for film, I write and illustrate children's books and how to draw books. I'm also an avid photographer and educator.

TW: Many of your original FF illustrations are now for sale. What prompted you to give fans the opportunity to own a piece of classic '80s fantasy art?

DS: One of the reasons that I'm selling this artwork is a chat I had recently with my old friend Tim Olsen. (Tim stayed in the flat below us and was then the manager of Games Workshop. Tim is another multi-talented guy - writer, artist and humanitarian - and has the biggest heart!). When I mentioned I still had all the artwork for the books tucked away in my plan chest, he said that I should put them up for sale as there was a lot of interest from fans and collectors for FF art. So, Tim put out the word that I was selling some work and remarkably there was a lot of interest! So, here for the first time, all in one place, the artwork finally sees the light of day!

Pool Beast and Fenmarge Tavern, by Duncan Smith (c) 1984 and 2018.

Some of Duncan's original pieces for Scorpion Swamp and Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game are still available to buy, direct from the artist himself here.

The exciting news is that Duncan is going to be one of the guests attending Fighting Fantasy Fest 3, on Saturday 31st August 2019. To find out more about the event, click this link. Tickets go on sale in the New Year.