How did you come up with your idea for the blog?
I
speculatively bought Blood
Of The Zombies and,
as I was playing it, it got me thinking how it fits with the classic
Puffin range and how the series had advanced over the years. I wrote
up my thoughts, posted them on the Facebook FF group and got a
surprisingly positive reaction from other gamebook enthusiasts. From
there, I wrote up a few more, then a friend suggested I set up a
proper blogger page. The rest just sort of carried on from there.
You
have written some of your own gamebooks (such as Honour and Glory).
Are there any gamebooks planned?
Yes,
I’m working on several ideas at the moment: a sequel to my first
gamebook (Nightshade)
provisionally called Blind
Nemesis
which will continue the story of the demon Pesmagroth that you play
in the first adventure; a gamebook for Stuart Lloyd’s Wayfarer
series called Brotherhood
Of The Regulator
which should hopefully be ready in the next couple of months; my
first Sci-Fi effort (Days
Without)
– I don’t like many Sci-Fi gamebooks so this one could take a
while to get finished; I’ve just completed a FF set in a Convent in
the Moonstone Hills called Sister
Angela’s Veil
which will hopefully appear in a forthcoming issue of Fighting
Fantazine; I’ve been reading a lot of Jon Sutherland’s Real Life
Gamebooks series lately so I might write something based on that
system – I have an idea for a Civil War effort called The
Protector’s Man
but it’s only at the initial stage right now – you can’t change
history as such in Real Life books (only your own fate is affected)
but in mine you will be able to completely change the outcome of the
English Civil War if you take a certain route; I also have an idea
for another FF called Kaleidoscope
Frenzy
where you have berserker rage skills but, again, the idea is only in
the early planning stages; finally, I’ve started writing a gamebook
which will be my first ever Windhammer Prize entry, but I’m keeping
my cards close to my chest on that one (wink). All in all, I have a
lot of ideas on the go at the moment, but the Wayfarer one is likely
to be completed next! I also have an idea for a FF RPG scenario where
you can fold time called The
Arrifluvient Essence
but that one’s on the back burner whilst I try to get all these
other ideas out of my brain first!
Where
do you get your inspiration for Honour and Glory?
I
was reading about jousting and thought a small cameo based around a
tournament would be a nice idea for an adventure, plus I wanted to
try to write something short and quick, rather than a “campaign”
that takes lots of planning and design. It’s a simple idea but the
mechanics for jousting went through lots of drafts before I had a
system with no gaping holes in it! It’s my least satisfying
adventure in my eyes due to its brevity, but I’m proud of it all
the same as I was challenging myself to try to write something that
did not just grow and grow as I designed it. It was fun to write it
after writing the fairly ambitious Legacy
Of The Vampire as
I was less conscious of having to try to do justice to source
material ie Vault
Of The Vampire
which everyone loves and also trying to carry over ideas from the
trainwreck that was Revenge
Of The Vampire
which, if you ignore its disastrous structural errors, is still a
good gamebook in terms of concept and scale. With Honour
And Glory
I only had to try to turn the joust scenario into something that made
sense!
Your
reviews are very thorough and detailed. What is your review process?
I
play each book through in every possible direction, which takes about
3 or 4 hours. As I’m playing I note down things I particularly like
or dislike, unique features, throwbacks/steals/references to or from
other FFs, any cultural or historical references (eg: Hammer tropes,
witchcraft, etc) and any particularly easy or harsh moments or design
elements. Then I sit down with a blank Word document and get it all
typed up. It usually takes two sittings of about an hour each to get
it to a state that I’m happy with. Then I post it and wait for
responses. I’ve been surprised at the positive reaction to my
reviews and even more surprised at which ones have had the most hits
(Mask
Of Mayhem
and the ZX Spectrum games seem unusually popular, in particular.)
You
have done most Fighting Fantasy books. What gamebooks/RPGs do you
plan on doing next?
There’s
still about a third of the series left to write-up – it’s
Creature Of Havoc next, incidentally – then
I’ll do Sorcery, plus I’m half way through
the Starlight write-ups and there’s still the
FF boardgames, several computer games, more novels, Cretan
Chronicles, etc to add as well. Since I started writing my
own FFs I’ve got very interested in the fan-written amateur
material that’s out there and have been collecting all of those
that I could find, with a view to doing short reviews of these too at
some point. As for material beyond the world of FF, I enjoy playing
other gamebook series too but whether I’ll add them to the blog,
who knows, but I’d prefer to keep it FF-focussed to avoid it
becoming a clone of Demian Katz’s gamebook page. I’ve never been
a big fan of pure RPGs – I used to play D&D and Judge Dredd RPG
but I prefer gamebooks for their all-encompassing qualities.
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