September roundup and upcoming October events

 Hello all! Here are some things going on in the gamebook world.

Releases

You're a Wizard!

You’re a Wizard! is aimed at children aged 6-10 and is an interactive story in which you, a schoolchild, go on an exciting adventure. It’s a 100-section gamebook filled with original illustrations, and is designed specifically for a younger audience:

• an optional, introductory approach to mechanics with no need for dice
• language and presentation aimed to be accessible for early readers while stretching vocabulary
• unsuccessful endings contain hints and shortcuts to “save points”
• a minor sense of threat appropriate for the adventure, with no violence or death

The illustrator is Lee Hesketh.

It will be available in November. You can pre-order here:

You’re a Wizard! (paperback pre-order) – IsaacsonAuthor.com

Steam Highwayman on Cubus Games

Martin Noutch's Steampunk open world gamebooks are becoming an app! They will be released by Cubus Games on September 30th 2021.

http://www.cubusgames.com/steam-highwayman

Break Out Dig the News

Break Out Dig the News is a choose your own adventure text maze game. Such games take you on a trip through a story told in a non-linear way. You’ll need to make choices and face the consequences. Let’s see how far you can get in the wicked and vicious world of creative news writing and disinformation. I hope, it'll help you boost your resistance to the nuisanse news which bombard us all the time.

Break Out Dig The News by ils 9 on Genially

Artemis Tabletop

Artemis Tabletop is making solo games for DnD 5a and Pathfinder

artemis (artemis-tabletop.com)

Lone Wolf 31 out!

This is not new, but I've only just realised. Lone Wolf 31 is out. Only one more Lone Wolf to go!

The Dusk of Eternal Night - Lone Wolf 31

Skelley Tales

Cat Wheel Table Top has released some solo gaming experience based on public domain comics.

Skelly Tales 5 - Cat Wheel Table Top | DriveThruRPG.com

Zines

The Warlock Returns is on issue 4.

The Warlock Returns Issue #04 - Arion Games | Advanced Fighting Fantasy | DriveThruRPG.com

The Gamebook Zine is currently on issue 3

The Gamebook Zine 3 by Simon Palmer (itch.io)

Podcasts

Campaign on Dice is a podcast where two guys play through gamebooks

CAMPAIGN ON DICE | wwwwb (whenwagonwheelswerebigger.com)

The Instadeath Survivor's Support Group is currently playing through the Island of Dr Moreau by K.J. Shadmand.

Welcome to Instadeath Survivors Support Group by Instadeath Survivors Support Group (anchor.fm)

Fantastic Fights and Where to Find them is a podcast where someone works through gamebooks. The current one is Appointment with F.E.A.R.

Fantastic Fights — Haunted Phonograph

Fundraising

Sam at The Warlock Returns Zine is running a charity auction and raffle for Mind. Live stream planned for the results on 24/10. Guests to confirm, and prizes may well be of interest..

The Warlock Returns auction for FF & AFF ttRPG Fans - GalaBid

Crowdfunding

Malivor: Cataclysm's Edge (MCE) 

Malivor: Cataclysm's Edge (MCE) is the highly-anticipated, third title in the Savage Realms Gamebooks library and is written in the style of the Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. YOU determine the outcome of the story by the choices that you make! Sometimes, your very fate will even depend on the roll of the dice themselves!

The two small shorts that you got in the Gamebook Zine issues 1 and 2 were only a taste of what will truly be an epic storyline and gamebook!

Malivor: Cataclysm's Edge | Indiegogo

Interactive Fiction & Gamebooks Discussion Group (Book Club) | Facebook

October's book is Dracodeep Dungeon by The Story Master's Tales.

Err, just one more thing...

Next week, I will be releasing the rules for the first Lindenbaum Prize for short gamebook fiction! This competition is inspired by the Windhammer competition which I loved doing from 2008-2015. 

Come back next week for the guidelines!

STOP PRESSES:

There is a Rebel Planet comic coming soon! FIGHTING FANTASY: REBEL PLANET the graphic novel by Mark Lain — Kickstarter

Windhammer and a question

 Hi all. Who hear has heard of the Windhammer competition? When I mentioned it at the last online Beer-o, a lot of people hadn't, to my surprise.

It ran annually from 2008-2016 and the entrants include a lot of people who went on to write published gamebooks. The Arborell gamebooks are also awesome (and free!). It's stopped now.

The gamebook entries were short (100 sections and 25000 words max), so first timers didn't feel that they had an impossible task.

I enjoyed entering it and seeing some of the innovative entries - there's a mind bending symbolic one about light and darkness, one about being an orc in a dungeon, a couple of Fabled Lands inspired ones and one where you are a dwarf leader amongst others.

I'd like to start a competition like this, maybe as a gamejam on Itch or maybe on a website or both.

Who would be up for that?

Why I chose rerolls over bonuses

 Hello all! I'm sorry I'm late again. I keep forgetting how much work I get at the end of the school year and the beginning of the school year are way busier than I remember.

I wanted to write about one aspect of SCRAWL. SCRAWL changed a lot over the years, but there was one aspect of it that never changed and that was when the characters did ability tests, if they were good at them, they get an extra die to roll rather than a bonus to the roll. Then they use the best roll.

An ability test in SCRAWL has a number between 3 and 6. To succeed at an ability test, you need to roll equal to or more than that number on 1d6. 

There are certain abilities, items or codewords that help with each ability test. For each ability, item or codeword you have that helps, you may roll an additional 1d6. You only need 1 die to roll equal to or over the difficulty to succeed at the test.

I could have changed it. I could have said that each ability, item or codeword gives a +1 bonus, but I never did want to. I wanted to go into why.

The main reason stems from a problem that may occur in Fabled Lands or Tunnels and Trolls solos, which uses a level system. That is that if I gave bonuses out that add to the die roll, it will prevent anyone who didn't have those bonuses from succeeding. Fabled Lands and Tunnels and Trolls are great, but the books are suitable for characters of a certain level. If you attempt Lords of the Rising Sun as a lowly level 1, you will be splatted. And if you attempt the War Torn Kingdom as a level 6, it might be such a cake walk that you might find it boring. The same is with Tunnels and Trolls solos. Get the wrong level and it will either be too easy or too hard.

I just went out for some milk

Part of the reason is that the tests in those books, where you roll dice and add a stat, will be impossible to reach because your character's stat will not be high enough.

The answer is rerolls. If you give someone a reroll, they will have a higher chance at success, but the range of numbers they roll will still be the same as the range that someone without the reroll could have. For that reason, it will be harder, but not impossible, for a beginner character.

SCRAWL is intended to be a gamebook where anyone can do any quest in any order, adding to the openness of the system, which is why nothing gives bonuses. They only give rerolls. If I wanted to give a minor bonus, I gave it the bonus of rerolling all 1s that are rolled.

I'll be going into SCRAWL design more as the weeks go on (though not every week, that could get a little boring).

International Gamebook Day

 Hello all! International Gamebook day weekend is over for 2021, but the fun can still continue.

If you want to see any of the interviews, they are at the Storymaster's Tales Youtube channel: The StoryMaster's Tales Interactive RPG Theatre - YouTube

As a bonus, here is an interview with Joe Dever from a few years back: The Fantasy Podcast: Joe Dever Lone Wolf Interview. - YouTube

Also also, My Gamebook Adventures is doing a meetup in Leeds on the 10th October at Geek Retreat: 4th Gamebook Adventures Meetup in Leeds! | Facebook

International Gamebook Day is already being planned for August 27th 2022. The Facebook page for it is here: International Gamebook Day 2022 | Facebook

So, as you can see there is gamebook goodness for all!

Happy gamebooking!

International Gamebook Day Weekend

 Hello everyone! If you read this blog, you probably know that International Gamebook Day is going on. until today (29/08/2021). If you are reading on the 29th August 2021, here is the lineup...

You can see these videos at the Storymaster's Tales Youtube channel: The StoryMaster's Tales Interactive RPG Theatre - YouTube - you can also see past videos there in case you have arrived late for the live stuff.

You can also get the videos on Twitch: The_Storymasters_Tales - Twitch

You can also get the videos on Facebook: International Gamebook Day 2021 | Facebook

The link for the 8pm meetup is here: International Gamebook Day Fan Video Meetup | Facebook

In other news, I have found a new podcast where the host plays through Fighting Fantasy books. The link is here Fantastic Fights (podcast) - Haunted Phonograph | Listen Notes.

As of posting, they are on book 16, Seas of Blood.

Also, Ian Livingstone is on the Grognard files: The GROGNARD Files / Episode 50 (Part 1) Fighting Fantasy (with Ian Livingstone) (audioboom.com)

Happy gamebooking!

August round up and September news

 Hi all! I'm sorry I'm late this week, I was waiting on a few things and was also working on RL stuff. I'm doing the news today for reasons which will soon become apparent. There's a lot!

So here is some stuff:

International Gamebook Day

International Gamebook Day starts on the 27th August and carries on through the weekend. It will be broadcast on Youtube and Twitch. Below are the links and the lineup:

https://www.youtube.com/c/TheStoryMastersTales

https://www.twitch.tv/the_storymasters_tales

https://m.twitch.tv/gtg_vicki

https://fb.me/e/3ZKaY2l7u

Gamebook Secret Santa!

The My Gamebook Adventures Facebook group is running a gamebook Secret Santa! Details are below. To join in, message My Gamebook Adventures.

Vulcanverse

The awesome open world gamebook series from Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson has its first two books available for preorder!

The Hammer of the Sun: Amazon.co.uk: Morris, Dave: 9781909905382: Books

The Houses of the Dead: Amazon.co.uk: Thomson, Jamie: 9781909905375: Books

Dragon Warriors solo adventure

Red Ruin publishing has created a Dragon Warriors solo adventure for free!

Desolation of the God-King – A Dragon Warriors Solo Adventure - Red Ruin Publishing | DriveThruRPG.com

Gruescript

Robin Johnson has developed a script for writing interactive fiction text adventures called Gruescript. This is what Robin says on Gruescript:

'It's a scripting language/online development tool for creating point-n-click text adventures. It's designed to make games that look and feel as much like classic puzzly parser games as possible while sacrificing the parser itself for the sake of mobile playability and accessibility to modern players.'

Gruescript by Robin Johnson (itch.io)

The Cornucopia of Infinite Adventures

James Hutchings, who made Age of Fable has created a program that randomly generates pen and paper gamebooks! You can check it out here: The Cornucopia of Infinite Adventure- Demo by gamebookgenerator (itch.io)

Gamebook Zine

Gamebook Zine 3 is out! Gamebook Zine (3 book series) Kindle Edition (amazon.com)

Warlock Returns 4

Warlock Returns, the Advanced Fighting Fantasy zine is out! The Warlock Returns Issue #04 - Arion Games | Advanced Fighting Fantasy | DriveThruRPG.com

Destiny Quest RPG

There is an RPG based on Michael J. Ward's awesome gamebooks in development!

A Branching Narrative

Simon Birks and Matt Spall are creating a gamebook a month for a subscription fee. You can get it here: A Branching Narrative (substack.com)

Kickstarters

Story spark cards

A wonderful deck of mythical creatures!

Story Spark Cards: Mythical Creatures Deck by Story Spark Cards — Kickstarter

Creatives' themes

 Hello, gamebookers!

So today, I wanted to write about how some people who create things and how a lot of themes seem to come through in a lot of their work.

For example, let's look at two of artist, Iain McCaig's creations.

A you can see, there are some resemblances.

What about writers?

Here's the synopsis of Stormin' Sonic:

Storm clouds over Mobius.

Sonic and his pals have never seen anything like it. All the Zones are being affected by a mysterious Weather Egg creating climate chaos wherever it goes. Only you and Sonic can save Mobius from a weather wipeout.

Use your skill, luck and stamina to help Sonic in this amazing gamebook adventure.

And here's the synopsis of Stormslayer:

After years of peace, the kingdom of Femphrey is at war again - only this time it is with the elements! Devastating storms sweep across the country, destroying all in their path. Blizzards and floods threaten some areas while others suffer the worst droughts seen in centuries. But is this climate chaos all it appears to be? Or is there some dark design to this meteorological meltdown? You are a seasoned adventurer, known throughout the land. You have battled giants and slain dragons, but how can even a veteran warrior like yourself fight the weather? Are you ready to take up the challenge and face the perils that await you within the eye of the storm?

Both books involve having to go to different areas that represent the four classical elements in order to collect items to defeat the villain who has a weather controlling flying vehicle.

It seems that ideas and themes start to recur with a lot of people. I've found this myself. 

It took a while for me to "find my voice". My first gamebooks used the Fighting Fantasy system and were mainly dungeon crawls. I experimented a bit with Lovecraftian horror, but I also found that my twisted sense of humour sometimes shone through.

After 13 years(?!!!) since my first gamebook, I think these are my themes:

Conspiracies

Black humour

Smaller, personal stakes rather than huge world ending ones

Noncombat solutions

Systems with numbers

Some of these are pretty easy to explain if you know my background. I have a science degree (numbers) and I was into conspiracy theories a lot. I did have a sense of black humour. The noncombat solutions and the personal stakes are my own push back against combat being too good solution in a lot of gamebooks and my belief that people are more invested in stories where they know and can relate to the characters and that increasing the number of nameless fictional people who might die if the villains win, does not necessarily do that. The final straw came in the Dr Who episode where the Tardis explodes and starts to cause the entire Universe to have never existed. 

Having themes is not necessarily a bad thing. These theme could show an evolution of an idea (such as the Knightmare gamebook The Forbidden Gate containing a precursor to the Virtual Reality skill system) or people who like the theme will come back for more (such as Jon Green's gamebooks based on public domain fiction). Also, your own themes are just easier to do. They require a lot less effort and they will look better on paper because they are about things you really know to your bones and feel rather than something that you know intellectually.

I've realised that it might take some time to find your own themes, but it is good to do so.

Do you know your themes?