Here is the newest episode of Fear of a Black Dragon, just in time for your weekend listening pleasure. In this one, Tom McGrenery and I go through The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, originally part of the Fighting Fantasy game books, and later adapted as a module for the roleplaying game derived from that series, Advanced Fighting Fantasy. We take a hard look at the idea of loving things for nostalgic reasons, and how you might take those things and use them in a more modern context.
Thanks to Paul Edson for this week’s edit.
Enjoy!
http://www.gauntlet-rpg.com/fear-of-a-black-dragon/the-warlock-of-firetop-mountain
I want to see a collection of cover art for all the various titles yall come up with. I think of them like record covers.
I want to see a collection of cover art for all the various titles yall come up with. I think of them like record covers.
^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^
Love the podcast, also love the title.
Love the podcast, also love the title.
Don’t let The Warlock of Firetop Mountain put you off, BTW, it’s one of weakest ones. Portal of Evil and Trial of Champions are a lot of fun. The latter has competitive, American Gladiator style dungeon crawling.
Don’t let The Warlock of Firetop Mountain put you off, BTW, it’s one of weakest ones. Portal of Evil and Trial of Champions are a lot of fun. The latter has competitive, American Gladiator style dungeon crawling.
I plan on downloading it once I get back to work from being sick. Work has a faster Internet connection.
Jason Cordova in the last Gauntlet Podcast, you mentioned that you thought the indie/story/narrative gaming designers had kind of dropped the ball a little by not supporting their games with adventures and that they were missing out on some of the creativity and helpfulness of the kinds of things that you talk about on FoaBD. I tend to agree, but don’t you see some of that slack being picked up by the community that makes things like dungeon starters and zines like SwordBreaker and Plundergrounds?
I plan on downloading it once I get back to work from being sick. Work has a faster Internet connection.
Jason Cordova in the last Gauntlet Podcast, you mentioned that you thought the indie/story/narrative gaming designers had kind of dropped the ball a little by not supporting their games with adventures and that they were missing out on some of the creativity and helpfulness of the kinds of things that you talk about on FoaBD. I tend to agree, but don’t you see some of that slack being picked up by the community that makes things like dungeon starters and zines like SwordBreaker and Plundergrounds?
Jim Jones I absolutely agree, and I think it’s great. I also think indie game creators are leaving a fair amount of money on the table.
Jim Jones I absolutely agree, and I think it’s great. I also think indie game creators are leaving a fair amount of money on the table.
I’m surprised you didn’t know about the FF gamebooks, Jason Cordova. I am from rural Texas and even I had City of Thieves, Trial of Champions, Island of the Lizard King, and Deathtrap Dungeon. You missed out, man. I’m currently writing a homage gamebook to these. If you and Tom McGrenery are interested, I’ll send you a little sneak peak.
I’m surprised you didn’t know about the FF gamebooks, Jason Cordova. I am from rural Texas and even I had City of Thieves, Trial of Champions, Island of the Lizard King, and Deathtrap Dungeon. You missed out, man. I’m currently writing a homage gamebook to these. If you and Tom McGrenery are interested, I’ll send you a little sneak peak.
Fighting Fantasy was also widely available in Australia, probably more so than Dungeons and Dragons
Fighting Fantasy was also widely available in Australia, probably more so than Dungeons and Dragons
I love the setting for the FF RPG (which it shares with many of the game books). It’s a somewhat generic fantasy world, but it always felt much more dangerous and mysterious than any of the default D&D worlds. I loved the game books too, although many of them were way too arbitrary and hard.
I love the setting for the FF RPG (which it shares with many of the game books). It’s a somewhat generic fantasy world, but it always felt much more dangerous and mysterious than any of the default D&D worlds. I loved the game books too, although many of them were way too arbitrary and hard.
One of the best ways to experience the setting now is to play the Sorcery! adaptations on your phone. They’re really well done.
One of the best ways to experience the setting now is to play the Sorcery! adaptations on your phone. They’re really well done.