Sadly, as I feared, geek-themed finds in our town's charity shops are mostly limited to donations I have previously made and the only vaguely role-playing related treasures I could unearth were a pair of Fighting Fantasy books - Deathtrap Dungeon (number six) and Phantoms of Fear (number 28) - for a mere 50p each.
However what made this meagre haul so special for me was that the previous owner of Deathtrap Dungeon had left sheets of paper inside the book with his maps of the dungeons sketched on.
I like to think that this was the early work of a future prolific gamer. If nothing else it stirred up fond memories of my own dabbling in the Fighting Fantasy series back in the early '80s when they served as a fix between my regular role-playing adventures.As a "gateway drug" into the wonderful world of role-playing games, the Fighting Fantasy series of "choose your own adventure" books were a great missed opportunity, in my opinion. Over the years I've encountered many people, both male and female, you read/played the Fighting Fantasy series in their youth but have never touched, or even considered, a "real" roleplaying game.
With the inclusion of a "random number" element (e.g. dice), these books were only a Gamesmaster short of being a full role-playing game and its a shame a more proactive approach wasn't taken to steer Fighting Fantasy fans into the world of RPGs.
I realise these books are still around, but I think that particular door has probably closed now. Fighting Fantasy, when it was new, was the closest role-playing games have ever come to being acceptable in the mainstream -particularly in the UK.
A bit more effort, and cross-promotion, by the games designers of the day might have led to a more thriving hobby today, at least over here, with more seasoned players, more friendly local games stores etc.
Fighting Fantasy books were my gateway into the world of RPGs. Actually, I probably would've played RPGs even if I hadn't read/played a Fighting Fantasy book.
ReplyDeleteBut FF books were my first foray into fantasy gaming - closely followed by board games such as Dark Tower and Talisman. I used to love the FF books and had *a lot* of them. They were probably the first books I read and actually enjoyed (or maybe that was the Hobbit? Hmm, not sure).
I don't think it was the fault of the FF books that RPGs aren't as well accepted by the general public as we feel they should be. I don't think anything could've been done regarding the FF books to make RPGs more popular. I think it's just an unfortunate fact that only a minority of people are interested in RPGs.
You could argue that the Harry Potter books should've helped the fantasy RPG market - especially if an official Harry Potter RPG had been produced (maybe one has?). Or the Lord of the Rings films. Both of which were far more successful in attracting the general public and those not already interested in RPGs.
BTW, following on from the success of the FF books, there was a series of books that had a gamesmaster and player aspect to them and therefore aped the RPG format more closely. I forget what these books were called now (Advanced Fighting Fantasy maybe?). Unfortunately, they weren't very successful.
Thanks for your comments, as always.
ReplyDeleteI just feel that at the time they came out more could have been done to introduce readers, who wouldn't normally have been so inclined, to RPGs through these great little books.
A sort of "If you like this, why not try..." section at the back with a list of games/publishers. Of course, that would never have happened because the publishers of FF were, understandably, just interested in pushing FF books. But we can dream :)
JK Rowling put her foot down quite quickly on the idea of a Harry Potter RPG stating that "no one else could make up adventures in her world" (my words, not hers - but that was the sentiment I read at the time... which is fair enough, it's her 'universe', she can do what she likes with it).
By the time of the Lord Of The Rings films came out, I believe the golden age of tabletop gaming was over for the general public, usurped by computer/video games and World Of Warcraft etc.
the publishers of FF were, understandably, just interested in pushing FF books.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but the creators of the FF books were the guys that owned/ran/whatever Games Workshop. I'm sure they would've done as much as possible to lead people towards Games Workshop products.
The thing is, I think the majority of people who were interested in the FF books were also interested in, and introduced to, RPGs (and probably vice-versa). I think the RPG market pretty much got most of the FF readers who wanted to game further.
Of course, the great advantage of the FF books is that you play them alone. You don't need a group of 4 or 5 people, all available at the same time, to play them.
But I would still say they could have done more - my original point was that I have met several people over the years who were well aware of, and had read in their youth, the FF books but knew nothing of RPGs.
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight, these books - and those that followed - would have been the perfect way to "sneak" RPGs into the mainstream, but I don't think enoughwas done at the time.
Well, Fighting Fantasy books are a little hard to find over here across the pond. I've only found two in the years I've been searching used book stores for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd that map is simply priceless!
The map was the deciding factor for me :)
ReplyDeleteFighting Fantasy books pop up in the oddest places over here; before my two recent recent purchases I found a couple on a bric-a-brac stall Rachel and I were running at a funding-raising fete for my mum's residental home.
We were given boxes of books, toys etc, that had been donated over the year, to sell - so naturally I had to buy some stuff myself to help the cause!