

You can, of course, go into more detail about your character and their appearance if you like, but unlike with other tabletop roleplaying games, it isn’t a necessary part of the game. Each book will tell you which attributes you’ll be using during the game, but more often than not, you’ll only need to roll for three attributes - skill, stamina, and luck. The character creation system, while inspired by the one used by Dungeons and Dragons, is remarkably simple and easy to set up. Appointment with F.E.A.R and Rebel Planet are two of Fighting Fantasy’s science fiction gamebooks, and there are plenty of other examples set in the future or modern-day.

If you’re not a fan of the orcs, goblins, and magic type of fantasy, then there are plenty of options for you too. So, you’re not limited by a single fantasy setting. The Fighting Fantasy gamebooks offer a wide variety of fantasy scenarios to play through, ranging from Tolkien-esque swords and sorcery stories to roleplaying as a blood-thirsty pirate. If you’re a fan of tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, or even Dungeon World, then you’ll love Fighting Fantasy. Some books may also only have one ending, while others may have multiple depending on the choices that you make.Īll of this means that there are hundreds of different ways to play Fighting Fantasy books, and if your character dies, you can immediately go back and try again. In each book, your character will face consequences for their actions, with some of those consequences resulting in your character’s death. That section will then tell you where to go depending on if you pass or fail the roll. In others, you may be asked to roll your dice for a certain skill-based action, and the section will tell you what result you need based on your character’s skills. In each section, you may be asked to choose the actions you want to take, and you’ll be asked to turn to a specific section for that choice. Some books may also give your character items to use, so having a notebook and pencil handy is also a good idea.Įach book is divided into sections, and you’ll start reading the book from section one. Unlike other choose-your-own-adventure style books, before you get started with Fighting Fantasy, you’ll have to use six-sided dice (or a D6, if you’re in the know) to roll for your character’s statistics. The latest title, Crystal of Storms, was released in 2020, and with Fighting Fantasy being adopted by a new generation of fans, there are signs that even more titles are on the horizon. Their first title, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, was an overnight success, and Jackson and Livingstone would go on to produce Fighting Fantasy books until the 1990s.

Having been approached by a publisher to write a book about fantasy tabletop gaming, the two decided to use similar mechanics to D&D and in a choose-your-own-adventure book.
#All fighting fantasy books series#
What is Fighting Fantasy?įighting Fantasy is a series of choose-your-own-adventure books first published in 1982 by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, who you might recognize as the founders of Games Workshop. With Dungeons and Dragons at its peak and the first iteration of Warhammer Fantasy hitting the shelves of Games Workshop stores, millions of gamers were brought together in shared worlds they created with their friends.īut, what if you want to play these kinds of games on a rainy weekend when no one can get together to play? What if you can’t find people to play with? And, what if a global pandemic stops you from meeting your friends to play these kinds of roleplaying games together? The 1980s were huge for the fantasy genre. Games like The Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, and The Legend of Zelda have catapulted this popular genre into mainstream pop culture, so it’s not surprising that they’re often considered a jumping-on point for anyone interested in fantasy gaming.īut, before Blizzard released its smash hit MMORPG, and even before The Legend of Zelda became a mainstay of Famicom Disk System players in 1986, fantasy roleplaying has been a massively popular gaming genre. When you think of fantasy roleplaying games, it’s a good chance that your first thought goes to video games.
