[simon]

When Fighting Fantasy was big this game came out in paperback form. It covers much the same territory as Dungeon and Dragons, or Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, but is a bit more dark ages/medieval, with a creepy sort of old world Europe feel to it, the people protected by local lords and the church.

There were only a few classes, and humans were the main race, all other creatures being spooks and bogeymen to bother the populous (again, like Warhammer), but in many ways it's a more brutal world - the rules are pretty basic and focus on combat, much like the old solo gamebooks. In keeping with the creepy feel you were more likely to stumble across skeletons and other undead than orcs, goblins and trolls.

Initially there were just four classes, Knights (warriors in armour, much like the knights of camelot), Barbarians (armour-lite raging warriors more like Conan and Slaine), Wizards (learned old scholars like Merlin) and Mystics (more spiritual magicians, like... ah... Obi Wan Kenobi)...

Later books introduced three more classes - Assassins (combining elements of thief with ninja), Elementalists (wizards that concentrate on the various elements) and Warlocks (those that hone martial fighting ability with combat magic).

Characters level up and gain special abilities tied to their classes as they progress, much like the other fantasy role-playing game with Dragon in the title.

The main reason I'd like to run some adventures using this old game is that there's talk of it being re-released, perhaps by Mongoose - and I'd quite like to introduce some people to it. The setting has a lot of atmosphere, it takes maybe 5/10 minutes to create a character (you roll your stats, pick a class, maybe a few spells, and you're ready to roll - no big list of Skills, Advantages or Disadvantages needed to round off your character).

Anyone interested in playing sometime?

[Lannister Man]

This was a cool game. I maybe up for this.

[simon]

Cool! What do you remember, off the top of your head? Do you think you could play a scenario you'd played before without ruining your enjoyment of the game? Anything in particular you'd like to see, or to play?

Any advice for other potential players who've never played before?

[simon]

Just remembered that, along with the DW books salvaged from my parent's place I've got, from 1986, a Fighting Fantasy roleplay book called The Riddling Rever, featuring a villian that's a cross between Nyarlathotep and, well, the Riddler...

It's got a pretty cool, if surreal, series of adventures. I could tailor it towards Dragon Warriors (simply because it's a lot harder to lay your hands on than the DW books), but at the same time I'd work really well for a Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands adventure...

Decisions, decisions...

[Lannister Man]

The Riddling Reaver can not be played by myself. I would be crying with laughter all the way through from my memories of our original game.

As for the DW game, i dont remember much at all except the magic system was really quite good so yeah, I'll play in any adventure.

Oh..I remember a village called Axbridge or something like that...and lots of pictures of a guard CENSORED his pants cause there is a flying skull over his shoulder.

[simon]

I don't think it would really stand up as a Dragon Warriors scenario - the reaver himself plays more like a cosmic supervillian than suits DW.

If you're happy playing any of the adventures that's fine - the original ones from the book were stylistically just what the game was about - a bit on the dungeon crawly side, but leaning towards the haunting side of fantasy.

Will probably not be running this for a while - not immediately after playing in a dragonlance game. Will wait until I've had a little fantasy roleplay cold turkey first.