Friday, May 30, 2014

He's back....





 Well, it's been a long time in the making, but my AFF adaption of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, that classic gamebook we all know and love, is about to be released. I started writing it about a year ago and intended for it to appear in an issue of Fighting Fantazine, but somehow we ended up here! The book features the classic illustrations of Russ Nicholson (including one or two little seen ones), the awesome Martin McKenna cover as well as some maps and other minor illustrations by yours truly. I will feature some closeup looks at some of these in a future post.

The book is a fairly faithful adaption of the original gamebook. I avoided adding any new pieces of lore to the FF world and instead tried to collate all of the various versions of The Warlock of Firetop that have been published over the years (the original gamebook, the Warlock magazine version, the boardgame, the Myriador d20 adaption - heck, even details from the Salamonis Gazette!) into one ultimate version of that iconic dungeon. Really the only version that I haven't included (I think) are the Nintendo DS game and the Commando Kiwi iphone game, and only because they vary so drastically from the original source material (and in my mind should be considered as alternate realities or perhaps future reinarcations of the infamous warlock - Son of Zagor anyone?).

Those lucky enough to attend the UKGamesExpo this weekend will have first dibs at the initial (very) limited print run. After that I believe it will be made available for purchase on the Arion Games website. I hope that you will all consider purchasing a copy and I look forward to your thoughts. Who knows, if it sells well enough you might be seeing The Citadel of Chaos before too long? If you have any questions, reviews, opinions, etc. on this I'd love to hear from you!

May your STAMINA never fail!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Parlez-vous français?

Scriptarium is doing an amazing job of publishing French language versions of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy range. Amazing because they are going above and beyond a simple direct translation. These guys have released gorgeous books with all new artwork (in colour and black & white, and with all new work by Russ Nicholson himself!), maps and text. Défis Fantastiques, the core rulebook, features an enormous all-new adventure that takes you from Salamonis, through Balthus Dire's Black Tower and beyond to Darkwood Forest. I'm afraid to say their work really puts the english language versions to shame!

For those that are interested, Scriptarium is currently running a funding drive for the publication of a French language version of Titan. As per usual, there will be a stack of new material, including another exclusive adventure and a map of the Old World (which features all new locations named by Steve Jackson and Jonathan Green). The project has already reached its goal, but every extra cent will go towards more artwork (featuring FF stalwarts Russ Nicholson, Malcom Barter, Bill Houston, John Sibbick and Steve Luxton) and better quality. Move quickly, however, for there isn't much time left before the funding drive comes to an end.

I have spent a little time going through Défis Fantastiques and trying to translate it as best I can. Results have been mixed, however, since I don't speak a lick of French and have been relying on Google Translate to do the hard work for me. The adventure I mentioned earlier features heaps of new information on the people and places of Titan, but some of the names have me stumped as to the correct translation. I am hoping someone reading this will know their way around the French language (or know someone who does) and can confirm what the correct translations are:

la Toison du Mouton-OursThe Bearsheep’s Fleece Inn?
 
Musiques ensorcelantesMagical Music?
 
d’OcrepierreRedstone?
 
Gargarpies - ???
 
Eaux DormantesDormant Waters, Still Waters?
 
Place de la MonnaiePlace of Money?
 
Trouée de BasseterreLowland Gap?
 
La MéandrineThe Meandering?
 
Crocheroc - ???
 
L’aubgerge de la plaineThe Plains Inn?
 
Foret de la DagueDagger Forest?
 
Collines du Loup Sinistre – Grimwolf Hills?
 
Plaines du PurgatoirePlains of Purgatory?
 
Riviere de l’Eau-de-FeuFirewater River?
 
Montagnes des Eternels PerdusMountains of the Eternally Lost?
 
Cotes du HurleventWindhowl Coast?
 
Collines du Cap-LointainHills of Cape Faraway?
 
Monts Du Dixieme JourMountains of the Tenth Step?
 
Plaine de la CicatricePlain of Scars?
 
Collines de l’Espoir PerduHills of Lost Hope?
 
Collines GenereusesGenerous Hills?
 
Steppes SinistresSinister Steppes?
 
Plaines de QuymmPlain of Quymm?
 
Dunes Sans FineEndless Dunes?
 
Les Terres Ameres - The Bitter Land
 
Le Des Engelures - Frostbite Isle
 
Le Doigt Blanc - The White Finger
 
Le Desolee - The Desolate Isle
 
Marais de Grogmyre - Grogmyre Swamp
 
Hauts de Bei-Han - Bei-Han Heights
 
Massif de l Effois - Mountains of Terror
 
Cote des Glaives - Sword Coast
 
Amphis - ??
 
Brindalphis - ??
 
Gunnarphis - ??

+6 LUCK points to anyone who can help me out!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Welcome, Adventurer...

My name is Brett Schofield and I am a self-confessed Fighting Fantasy Fanatic. I've been a fan of the enduring gamebook series since my dad loaned me his first edition copy of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. The evocative setting, the incredible Russ Nicholson illustrations, the many ways you could die - I was instantly hooked. My Dad never got his book back and I have since added almost every Fighting Fantasy publication to my collection that I could get my hands on.

When we finally got the Internet once of the first things I did was search for Fighting Fantasy. There wasn't a great deal out there at the time, but the handful of fans that did exist quickly banded together and began re-exploring the world of Titan together. For my part I started JEDIboyy's Encylopaedia of Titan in late 2000, a couple of crappy HTML pages detailing the people, places and monsters from some of the later series' gamebooks. Together we formed the Rebuilding Titan group, and set about trying to bring some coherency to all the wildly different corners of the Fighting Fantasy world.

Fast-forward 14 years later (!) and I am still working at it. I have contributed an adventure to the awesome Fighting Fantazine webzine and have illustrated a couple of others. With a bit of luck another piece of my work will find its way to publication soon. Although I post very infrequently on the mailing list and forums, I have nevertheless been diligently scouring every Fighting Fantasy book that has been released and adding every minute detail to my ever-increasing database. And it is high time I started sharing some of my endeavours!

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a long time, but it is the recent appearance of Paltogue's excellent blog: The World of Fighting Fantasy that has finally spurred me to start one. I will post news and personal thoughts on the series, but I will try to focus on lore and Advanced Fighting Fantasy related material that I have pulled from my database. If there's a particular corner of Titan that you'd like me to focus on, let me know!

More soon; may your STAMINA never fail!