kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Aug 24, 2018 12:53:25 GMT
Welcome Rex
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Sept 16, 2018 2:32:43 GMT
Welcome aboard!
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Post by linflas on Sept 17, 2018 8:07:29 GMT
Hi folks, i'm Guillaume, french amateur illustrator of gamebooks, mostly for editor Megara Entertainment and self-published ones, inked some monsters for FR Titan Bestiary "Créatures de Titan". I came here because I'm interested in reading amateur stuff and i'm too impatient to wait for F. Fantazine releases You can have a look at my artworks here : www.deviantart.com/linflas-artCheers
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Sept 17, 2018 21:08:38 GMT
Hi folks, i'm Guillaume, french amateur illustrator of gamebooks, mostly for editor Megara Entertainment and self-published ones, inked some monsters for FR Titan Bestiary "Créatures de Titan". I came here because I'm interested in reading amateur stuff and i'm too impatient to wait for F. Fantazine releases You can have a look at my artworks here : www.deviantart.com/linflas-artCheers Welcome Guillaume - nice art! Did you also make your avatar? Looks like Rei from Breath of Fire 3
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Post by linflas on Sept 18, 2018 11:45:15 GMT
I did make it, but never figured out i was so close to that anime character ! Originally, Linflas is one of the champions of Dungeon Master videogame.
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Post by dragonwarrior8 on Dec 15, 2018 16:21:15 GMT
Hello everyone,
Im John and rediscovered my love of gamebooks about a year ago. Played the heck out of Fighting Fantasy back in the 80s right from the release of Warlock of Firetop but lost interest around book 20 or so. I forgot how great some of these books were so am looking forward to reading other people's opinions on the various books.
Like Im sure others on here have attempted, Im trying to complete each of the books (fairly) in order. I just finished Caverns of the Snow Witch and due to its length am taking a break before House of Hell. Would love to hear from others which books tripped them up the most. Im getting the feeling that Crypt of the Sorcercer and Chasms of Malice are real bears.
Cheers everyone! And thanks for having such a great forum!
John
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Post by daredevil123 on Dec 15, 2018 19:26:31 GMT
Hi John, glad you've regained your interest in FF. Chasms of Malice took me 57 attempts and Crypt of the Sorcerer is far, far worse.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Dec 15, 2018 21:20:08 GMT
Hi John and welcome
Yeah you could probably try the optimal route through Crypt a thousand times with max stats and never beat it.
From what I hear there is a relatively safe path through Chasms of Malice but damned if I've ever found it!
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Post by daredevil123 on Dec 15, 2018 21:52:09 GMT
Hi John and welcome Yeah you could probably try the optimal route through Crypt a thousand times with max stats and never beat it. From what I hear there is a relatively safe path through Chasms of Malice but damned if I've ever found it! The safest path through Chasms of Malice involves two One-Strike Combats, meaning you have less than a 25% chance even with max stats. So it's still pretty lethal.
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Post by a moderator on Dec 16, 2018 2:05:12 GMT
Less than 25% is still better than 1 in 6, which is the chance of getting a crucial item in Masks of Mayhem or (on aggregate) Spellbreaker.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Dec 16, 2018 6:03:34 GMT
Welcome John You've probably seen that Steven is trying a playthrough of all the books though he's limited himself to six goes per book. It depends what you mean by tripped up. I mean I needed help to complete The Crimson Tide (47). The difficulty there isn't really the stats though.
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Post by dragonwarrior8 on Dec 17, 2018 0:17:35 GMT
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Great to have somewhere to talk Fighting Fantasy (and gamebooks in general).
I guess by tripped up I mean which ones took the most attempts or which one may have caused someone to throw in the towel. So far the toughest for me through the first 9 books are Deathtrap Dungeon which took me 28 attempts and Caverns of the Snow Witch took me 27. And from what you guys are saying those aren't even close to the worst. lol. Sounds like Crypt of the Sorcerer may be where "my adventure ends here".
Ive also heard that Revenge of the Vampire is technically impossible to beat fairly?
And did you ever consider throwing in the towel on any of those 57 attempts at Chasms daredevil? I have to think at some point frustration takes over. I mean, if a gamebook is taking over 50 attempts to complete that seems to be a serious indictment on its design.
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Post by a moderator on Dec 17, 2018 2:08:37 GMT
Ive also heard that Revenge of the Vampire is technically impossible to beat fairly?
There's a sub-quest in Revenge which is impossible to achieve in the book as written, but as far as I know, that makes the book trickier rather than unbeatable. Depending on which edition you have, Creature of Havoc may be technically impossible to win.
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Post by daredevil123 on Dec 17, 2018 11:04:04 GMT
Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Great to have somewhere to talk Fighting Fantasy (and gamebooks in general).
I guess by tripped up I mean which ones took the most attempts or which one may have caused someone to throw in the towel. So far the toughest for me through the first 9 books are Deathtrap Dungeon which took me 28 attempts and Caverns of the Snow Witch took me 27. And from what you guys are saying those aren't even close to the worst. lol. Sounds like Crypt of the Sorcerer may be where "my adventure ends here".
Ive also heard that Revenge of the Vampire is technically impossible to beat fairly?
And did you ever consider throwing in the towel on any of those 57 attempts at Chasms daredevil? I have to think at some point frustration takes over. I mean, if a gamebook is taking over 50 attempts to complete that seems to be a serious indictment on its design.
I nearly gave up but I didn't want to let the book "beat" me. It is indeed extremely poorly designed. The real kicker was that on my 57th attempt I had to bend the rules quite a lot to win - for example, there's a character whose identity you're supposed to discover but I just correctly guessed who it was.
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Post by jnicol on Jun 16, 2019 1:04:34 GMT
Hey everyone. My brothers and I played Fighting Fantasy a fair amount as kids in the 1980s. Phantoms of Fear is the most recent gamebook that I remember playing, but I continued playing the FF RPG into my teens. My mid-life crisis involves rediscovering the geeky pursuits of my youth, including Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. It is great to discover that there are still new books being written! My original books are long gone, but I've started to build a small collection cobbled together from Puffin, Wizard and Scholastic editions found on ebay or Abe Books. I have forgotten most of the gameplay specifics, so revisting the books is like playing them for the first time. Fighting Fantazine is fantastic, and this forum is a wonderful resource. Here's hoping that issue #17 is released eventually
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Jun 16, 2019 4:27:56 GMT
Fighting Fantazine is fantastic, and this forum is a wonderful resource. Here's hoping that issue #17 is released eventually Still working on it!
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Post by jnicol on Jun 16, 2019 6:20:39 GMT
Good to hear. The first 16 issues will keep me busy for quite some time, I imagine!
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jun 16, 2019 12:03:56 GMT
Hey everyone. My brothers and I played Fighting Fantasy a fair amount as kids in the 1980s. Phantoms of Fear is the most recent gamebook that I remember playing, but I continued playing the FF RPG into my teens. My mid-life crisis involves rediscovering the geeky pursuits of my youth, including Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. It is great to discover that there are still new books being written! My original books are long gone, but I've started to build a small collection cobbled together from Puffin, Wizard and Scholastic editions found on ebay or Abe Books. I have forgotten most of the gameplay specifics, so revisting the books is like playing them for the first time. Fighting Fantazine is fantastic, and this forum is a wonderful resource. Here's hoping that issue #17 is released eventually Welcome 🙂
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Post by zoove on Jul 3, 2019 22:21:54 GMT
Hey all, Mike here...Like most I played the hell out of these books as a kid and now re-discovering the fun in my "grown-up" years. Currently playing Caverns of the Snow Witch, one of my very favourites from back in the day. But about to re-play Sorcery! and very excited to re-live them 30+ years later.
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Post by lordomnibok on Jul 3, 2019 22:43:42 GMT
Hey all, Mike here...Like most I played the hell out of these books as a kid and now re-discovering the fun in my "grown-up" years. Currently playing Caverns of the Snow Witch, one of my very favourites from back in the day. But about to re-play Sorcery! and very excited to re-live them 30+ years later. Welcome to the forum Mike.
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Post by Peter on Oct 24, 2019 6:33:28 GMT
Hi, I'm Pete. I have been hovering around for long enough, making comments, so I thought it was time I joined properly.
What you already know about me: I started buying the books at the start, I have the first editions of the early ones, which I read many times over as a youngster. I used to share them out at school during our silent reading sessions. I have started playing through them again, I am up to number 41.
I have the Sorcery apps, and I have found them to be a real pleasure, beautifully created.
Outside of books, I love the card game Fluxx. It is brilliant! Play it!
What you don't know: I have really enjoyed following The Wishing Well adventure. I would have joined in, but two things stopped me:
1. I am too familiar with the book (being one of the ones I read many times over – see above). Although I guess I could have joined as a red-shirted crew member, not contributing to major decisions;
2. I thought it would be difficult as I don't live in London – not anywhere near – in fact in a completely different time zone.
But otherwise it would have been sweet as, bro.
Enough about me, let me tell you about you:
Champskees, you are an excellent GM. You have brought this adventure to life with marvellous descriptions, and managed to maintain an engaging pace in spite of the forced time-lag in player responses.
Greenspine, good balance of taking it seriously and having a good laugh, great entertainment.
Kieran, your posts are clever and knowledgeable, you are a great source of information.
Vagsancho, you have never been as entertaining as when you are playing a role, rather than giving your own opinions.
Alex, great admin-ing, great site.
Mudworm: hornswoggle?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 24, 2019 8:35:08 GMT
Welcome aboard Pete!
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Post by champskees on Oct 24, 2019 8:53:26 GMT
Hi, I'm Pete. I have been hovering around for long enough, making comments, so I thought it was time I joined properly. What you already know about me: I started buying the books at the start, I have the first editions of the early ones, which I read many times over as a youngster. I used to share them out at school during our silent reading sessions. I have started playing through them again, I am up to number 41. I have the Sorcery apps, and I have found them to be a real pleasure, beautifully created. Outside of books, I love the card game Fluxx. It is brilliant! Play it! What you don't know: I have really enjoyed following The Wishing Well adventure. I would have joined in, but two things stopped me: 1. I am too familiar with the book (being one of the ones I read many times over – see above). Although I guess I could have joined as a red-shirted crew member, not contributing to major decisions; 2. I thought it would be difficult as I don't live in London – not anywhere near – in fact in a completely different time zone. But otherwise it would have been sweet as, bro. Enough about me, let me tell you about you: Champskees, you are an excellent GM. You have brought this adventure to life with marvellous descriptions, and managed to maintain an engaging pace in spite of the forced time-lag in player responses. Greenspine, good balance of taking it seriously and having a good laugh, great entertainment. Kieran, your posts are clever and knowledgeable, you are a great source of information. Vagsancho, you have never been as entertaining as when you are playing a role, rather than giving your own opinions. Alex, great admin-ing, great site. Mudworm: hornswoggle? Welcome. Kiwi? I live in Australia, Alex I believe is located in NZ. Not as much of a problem as you might think.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Oct 25, 2019 3:07:37 GMT
Alex I believe is located in NZ. That's where I'm hiding. Welcome, Pete!
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Klea
Wanderer
Writing Lyssia Ulmer's marriage for Camp NaNoWriMo (based on King's Heir: Rise to the Throne)
Posts: 57
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy (Sorcery!)
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Post by Klea on Oct 25, 2019 6:22:44 GMT
Hey all, Mike here...Like most I played the hell out of these books as a kid and now re-discovering the fun in my "grown-up" years. Currently playing Caverns of the Snow Witch, one of my very favourites from back in the day. But about to re-play Sorcery! and very excited to re-live them 30+ years later. Just dropping in to say hi to the new folks here! I see some others are into Caverns of the Snow Witch. I write fanfiction, and participate in NaNoWriMo three times/year... and in 2016 my project was adapting this gamebook to novel form. It was quite a challenge, and I ended up changing a few things and adding a bit of new material... in the interest of artistic license, of course. My other similar projects are adapting Scorpion Swamp, Forest of Doom, and the Sorcery! series of books. As they are all fanfiction, of course I make no claim to the original source material; this is just a great big fun project for me that will take a loooong time. I've posted this request elsewhere and got no response, so might as well ask it here: does anyone know of any maps of Stonebridge that might have been created? It would be of tremendous help in my Forest of Doom project, since I want to add more material about some of the goings-on in that place.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 25, 2019 9:25:43 GMT
I've posted this request elsewhere and got no response, so might as well ask it here: does anyone know of any maps of Stonebridge that might have been created? It would be of tremendous help in my Forest of Doom project, since I want to add more material about some of the goings-on in that place. I don't know the answer to this, but maybe the Forest of Doom D20 module might have had something? Probably not worth seeking out unless someone confirms it does though as I think it's pretty rare/expensive these days. I think though for a novelisation it's fair enough to just make stuff up. Not sure if the Myriador D20 modules are canon anyway and even if they are, nothing wrong with a bit of artistic licence.
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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Oct 26, 2019 0:40:29 GMT
I don't know the answer to this, but maybe the Forest of Doom D20 module might have had something? No map of Stonebridge in the d20 module. i don't think there has even been a published map of Stonebridge.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Oct 28, 2019 3:02:21 GMT
Hi, I'm Pete. I have been hovering around for long enough, making comments, so I thought it was time I joined properly. [...] Mudworm: hornswoggle? Hi Pete, welcome to the site. Hornswoggle – to cheat or swindle One of my many attempts to keep Jack sounding like a seadog from the (equivalent on Titan of) the golden age of piracy. It's also the name of a WWE midget wrestler, and a term Grandpa Simpson uses from time to time. I read somewhere that it's good pirate talk, but somewhere else said it's from the C19th which would be a bit disappointing if true.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 28, 2019 10:03:12 GMT
Ross from Friends once went out with an Elizabeth Hornswoggle, much to Chandler's amusement.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Oct 28, 2019 18:56:20 GMT
Ross from Friends once went out with an Elizabeth Hornswoggle, much to Chandler's amusement. Thank you for reminding me of that episode. Poor Chandler.
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