Modern Yet Nostalgic - Classic Fighting Fantasy Covers Redesigned

Guilherme Gontijo is a Brazilian, designer, writer, and RPG enthusiast. He is the author of Into the Bronze, an old school role-playing game set in the Bronze Age of a magical Mesopotamia.

His day job as a graphic designer, and his love of RPGs, inspired him to give the covers of some classic Fighting Fantasy gamebooks a drastic makeover, and he posted the finished pieces on Twitter.

The Warlock used his scrying sphere to track Guilherme down and drag him back to Firetop Mountain to interrogate him about his reimagined book covers.

The Warlock: When did you first get into Fighting Fantasy? Which was the first book you read? Do you have a favourite adventure?

Guilherme Gontijo: My first contact with Fighting Fantasy books was back in the '90s. I had a friend who was very much into gamebooks and he lent me The Warlock of the Firetop Mountain for a weekend. It was totally different for me because I was not used to a solo RPG experience. Until this day it remains my favorite one, mostly because of all the memories of my childhood it brings.

TW: What inspired you to redesign the covers of some of the classic Fighting Fantasy gamebooks?

GG: I lost a friend to COVID-19 some time ago and this process of redesigning something so precious to me helped me to deal with my grief in hard times. Beside, redesigning covers you love is always a very fun exercise!

TW: Do you have a background in graphic design?

GG: Yes, I have been a graphic designer for a few years, and work mostly in art direction and layout design. Back in design school days we used to redesign a lot and that sharpened our skills and imagination.

TW: Can you tell me a bit about the thinking behind your redesigns?

GG: The whole idea behind the redesigns was to make it modern and yet nostalgic. The modernism aesthetic has this strange power to look highly retro-futuristic and because of that it was a logical choice for the redesigns. The colour palettes were all based on the original covers and most of the illustrations paid homage to them in some way or another. It was quite a challenge because when you redesign a much-loved series like Fighting Fantasy, you deal with the expectations of diehard fans. From what I saw on social medias, the fans liked them a lot, thank God!

TW: Are there anymore FF covers you would like to reimagine?

GG: I would love to design another run with the sci-fi adventures this time! Especially Space Assassin, Starship Traveller, Freeway Fighter, and Appointment with F.E.A.R.

The Cartography of Kakhabad

Last week, we introduced you to the marvellous maps of FF fan Alnaro.

Well, it is not only the standard Fighting Fantasy series that he has mapped - he has also used his artistic talents to create a quartet of cartographic wonders for Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series. And here they are...

The Shamutanti Hills

Kharé - Cityport of Traps

The Seven Serpents

The Crown of Kings

Marvellous Maps

The maps that used to appear in the Fighting Fantasy books have always been celebrated, quite rightly, as wonderful works of art.  

Well French Fighting Fantasy fan Alnaro has produced his own maps of some of the most iconic FF adventures, and they too are works of art.

But be warned - spoilers lie ahead!

Alnaro's maps are characterised by the inclusion of creatures, characters and settings that appear in the gamebooks, or on their covers. His map solution for Steve Jackson's The Citadel of Chaos is a perfect example of this.

One of the things that makes Alnaro's map of Ian Livingstone's seminal Deathtrap Dungeon stand out is his portrait of Baron Sukumvit. Another is the fact that it has been presented horizontally, rather than vertically.

The different regions of Fire Island can be clearly seen on this map of Ian Livingstone's Island of the Lizard King, which includes two mini-maps of the gold mine and the prison colony.

Alnaro's map of Scorpion Swamp is less illustrative, but nonetheless striking and effective.

His map of Ian Livingstone's Caverns of the Snow Witch makes it clear what a wide-ranging adventure it is, with the hero travelling from the Icefinger Mountains, across the Pagan Plains to Stonebridge and the Moonstone Hills, and from there to the peak of Firetop Mountain!

Alnaro's map for Vault of the Vampire includes the overland route to Castle Heydrich, as well as detailed plans of the vampire's lair itself.

The beast-haunted land of Lupravia is rendered in exquisite detail in Alarno's solution to Howl of the Werewolf, as is the kingdom of Femphrey that is the location for Stormslayer.

And finally we have the Invisible City, from Charlie Higson's FF adventure The Gates of Death. The Temple of Throff is a nightmare to navigate, but with this map to aid you, you actually have a chance of doing so successfully!

If you have your own maps of your favourite Fighting Fantasy adventures, we want to see them. Find out more here.

The 12 Fighting Fantasy Days of Christmas - Day 5

Many gamebook fans also enjoy other aspects of roleplaying and board games, such as the Advanced Fighting Fantgasy RPG. And sometimes those people are also talented sculptors and painters, who bring elements of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to life in 3D.

Of course, coming next year from Atlantis Miniatures is the Fighting Fantasy Legends range, which many hobbyists cannot wait to get their teeth into. But if you visit the Master Modellers section of the Fighting Fantasy Fan Zone you can enjoy the sculpting and painting efforts of Fighting Fantasy fans.

If you have your own miniatures or dioramas, and would like to share them with likeminded FF aficionados, send some photos of your pieces to mail@fightingfantasy.com, tell us something about them, and your models could be appering on www.fightingfantasy.com very soon.

Collector's Corner

Do have a Fighting Fantasy collection that you have built up over the years, or some unusual items that you're particularly proud of? If so, why not share them with other like-minded fans on www.fightingfantasy.com in the Fan Zone.

Simply email some photographs of your collection, along with a brief paragraph about it, highlighting any elements of it you would like to, to mail@fightingfantasy.com, and you could end up appearing in Collector's Corner too.

Welcome to Allansia

 A new fan-drawn map of Allansia appeared online this week...

It is the work of Rian Aesoterik, a very talented cartographer.

If you have any maps that you have drawn yourself, inspired by the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and the world of Titan, let us know via mail@fightingfantasy.com, and they could end up being featured here too.

FightingFantasy.com Updates

As well as preparing for your imminent Return to Firetop Mountain, the Warlock has been busy of late giving fightingfantasy.com a bit of an overhaul. This is still very much a work in progress, but if you haven't seen them yet, you might want to check out the latest updates.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy

Ian Livingstone's Deathtrap Dungeon

Steve Jackson's Sorcery!

Fighting Fantasy Video Games

Fighting Fantasy Fan Fiction

If there is anything you would particularly like to see on the official Fighting Fantasy website, why not leave your suggestions in the comments below?

Fighting Fantasy Fan Fiction

The Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have inspired countless writers, ever since The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was first published in 1982. Some well-known and popular authors have contributed to the series over the years, including Jamie Thomson, the author of the Dirk Lloyd books, and Charlie Higson.

In the Fan Fiction chamber of the Fighting Fantasy Fan Zone dungeon you will find stories written by fans inspired by their favourite gamebooks, including Christopher Griffith's retelling of the three books in the Zagor saga.

But please be warned, if you have yet to read the gamebooks yourself, these stories contain all sorts of spoilers.

If you have a story you would like to share, you can contact the Warlock here, or via mail@fightingfantasy.com.

The Arcane Archive

If you have visited www.FightingFantasy.com recently, you may have stopped by the Fan Zone and noticed there is a section there called the Arcane Archive. Well, over the next few weeks you will find that clicking on the image of the sorcerer's library will transport you to a new part of the website, but one created by you.

In it you will find links to fellow fans' Fighting Fantasy collections, as well as maps to help you negotiate your way safely through your favourite dark dungeons and dingy castles, and maybe even a gamebook solution or two.

So if you have a collection that you think is something a bit special, and that others would enjoy, or if you've successfully mapped Deathtrap Dungeon or The Citadel of Chaos, or if you have a carefully worked-out solution to a Fighting Fantasy gamebook, then contact the Warlock using the link on the website, or via mail@fightingfantasy.com, and you could see your work became part of the Arcane Archive.