If you still haven't got your copy of the Fabled Lands RPG (and why not?) you may be interested in trying the PDF version that's now available on DriveThruRPG. You can get the rulebook for $14.99 (that's about half the price of the print edition) or, for just fifty-one cents more, why not pick up a bundle of the rulebook plus a full-color map of Harkuna? Better do it right now, though - I can't believe those nice folks at Greywood Publishing will leave those prices so low for long.
The illustration, one of many excellent new images of he Fabled Lands to be found in the book, is by Tony Hough, and you can see more of his work here.
Okay, a short post today as I'm madly busy, but we'll make up for it with Castle of Lost Souls part 2 in five days. See you then...
Okay, a short post today as I'm madly busy, but we'll make up for it with Castle of Lost Souls part 2 in five days. See you then...
All of the Fabled Lands gamebooks are available as PDFs here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.abandonia.com/en/node/26162#Fabled+Lands
Apparently so. Personally I think it often is a good idea to made work available for free (hence the Castle of Lost Souls) but that's the authors' prerogative. For somebody else to rip off the work and stick it up there without asking permission is illegal, obviously, but what irks me more is that it's plain rude.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree, especially that the price of the reprints goes around 6€ piece on Amazon which is practically given so to speak, and reading it on a screen takes away all the fun imo
ReplyDeleteAnyway kudos on the job done, and I really hope to see the series completed and printed asap, as it got me addicted... too bad I would'nt have any use for the FL RPG printed book, since I'm actually living in Paris and thus surrounded by french dolts, but i'm pretty sure its a great addition
Oh yeah before I forget, I hope the project of reprinting the Way of the Tiger series at the end of the year is still at hand. Its my personal favorit, so you can see why I'm a little concerned
Way of the Tiger is definitely high up on our list. Not necessarily in print, though, but in every other medium we can manage (iOS, Android, Kindle, etc) and I wouldn't even rule out a dead tree version if those do as well as we hope.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, of course, there's the long-awaited WotT Book Seven. I have to confess I haven't actually read the WotT books myself, so I suppose I ought to crack on and do that.
As for roleplaying in Paris, French editions of both Dragon Warriors and the FL RPG are coming soon. Makes me want to read a bunch of Clark Ashton Smith stories and then run a campaign set in Chaubrette.
Well I dont want to put your hopes down but generally speaking most gamebook fans such as I are collectors and wouldn't care for digital version of the aforementioned works but rather go for a dead tree edition... I dont mind reading small articles on screen but books, not... Well thats only my feeling after all and maybe you have been able to sell a lot of those e-books, but as for me and the few people I know we'd only purchase printed material, thats for sure
ReplyDeleteWe would gladly do print editions, but we found with the FL books that far more people are willing to buy the apps - and, since setting up print editions costs so much in proportion to the returns, those have got moved onto the back burner. Still, I'm not ruling them out. We might never have seen a $100 deluxe hardcover of Walt Simonson's classic run on Thor, completely recolored, if the movies hadn't built the grassroots from which aficionados grow.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am still hoping myself. I do have RPG and looking forward to first source-book coming up. It did occur to me that one can write a journal based on gamebook's adventures, with informations from the source-book. It is curious how the background information on the civil war changed the view on General Grieve Marlock.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I have no doubt that there will be Book 7 to 12, it is only matter of time. Same with printed editions as well!
Joe, I would love to publish Pace's Journal. That was a brilliant account of adventuring around the Fabled Lands from a character's point of view.
ReplyDeleteI have to add that, if I'd written Book One, Grieve Marlock would have been an obvious hero from the outset ;-)
I was wondering, if books 7-12 eventually come out will there be an ending section provided for elite level adventurers ? or are we doomed to wander the world aimlessly ?
ReplyDeleteYou don't think that descending into the underworld is enough of a finale? But maybe I'm not following what you mean. A specific ending, ie like the story in a regular gamebook? Or are you thinking of something else?
ReplyDeleteWell yeah like in a regular gamebook, but with multiple endings depending on your greatest achievments... Unless you planed the series to be like an endless loop where you keep switching from book to book without end ?
ReplyDeleteWhat's this about WotT book 7? Are we likely to see this one day soon?
ReplyDeleteI still have the paperback versions and always felt the series ended very suddenly. I'd definitely be interested in a final book tying up all the loose ends.
Anon, well, we always planned FL to be like life. You travel around and you determine your own goals. At the time I said, "Like in an RPG" but it was only later that we realized that Jamie's and my RPG group are atypical, in that the player-characters define their own goals rather than being given an adventure by the "GameMaster". So, yes, I suppose there could be a bunch of endings like that, maybe one for each profession. Hmm. Good idea.
ReplyDeleteDavid, one of the companies that has expressed interest in doing a digital version of WotT said that they might look into getting a proper end written for the series. More news, as ever, when I get it...
Well, to be fair, there was an ending of sort in Book 4 where you met Nagil second time and basically died but as Chosen One of Nagil, you sit at his right hand.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder if that title will be of any use in later books, it seems that it came to end with Book 6, I was disappointed at the time that restoring vampire does not have a codeword.
Personally I see nothing wrong in wandering aimlessly forever. It's not like life has a definite ending. Well I mean...yes it does, it's called death, but what I mean is you don't get to a point in your life and say "that's it. Just finished life. Been everywhere, done all that" Well, maybe you do but then you'd either be really old or just not have enough ambitions. Although I guess it IS possible in Fabled Lands do have done all the things you could possibly do in your particular profession. All I'm saying is, if the goal was to make it like life, then a definite ending is not necessary.I can very well imagine my character's last days. I don't need someone to write it for me. When I had done all the things anyone could ever think to do in Elder Scrolls IV, I just arranged everything in my tower, sat down and exited the game. It's not the ending the game wrote. It was mine. "And the evil necromancer lived evilly ever after."
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say, since you guys are STILL publishing Fabled Lands, and since abandonia has the pdfs of the books for free without your permission, I definitely believe something of the legal order should be done about it. I understand they put them up there back when there was no reason to believe they would ever get re-released (still should have asked you though) but now... Obviously it's your own business and surely you have alredy thought about it, I just find that rather unfair right now considering all the investment you put in having these out again.
ReplyDeleteI have to say this is something that people in France (I'm not french only french-speaking, but I do hang out on french messageboards a lot) seem to be a lot more respectful of generally. Copyrights and such. It's hard to find any pdf of gamebooks because barely anyone is willing to put them online unless they get the publisher's permission, no matter how long ago and obviously destined to be forever out of print the book is. I do believe however that it's partly because the french police cracks down on such sites more often and probably also, maybe it's the the french business mentality? To protect one's interests more.(that or they juat pay more people to roam the internet in search of potential copyright infrigements :p) Either way I have found that you can barely use the word "download" without being hushed into silence over on french forums.
Hi Milk, Jamie and I definitely never sanctioned our books being ripped off, and I don't suppose any of the other authors involved did either, but the people behind the Abandonia PDFs are careful to remain anonymous, making it quite time-consuming and laborious to get these illegal downloads shut down.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't surprise me that it wouldn't happen in France - the French are a law-abiding people, and they originated authors' moral rights too, of course. Some corners of the world are harder for US/European law to reach, however. But don't think we'll just lie back and let it happen. If and when we conclude an app publishing deal for these books, the full weight (and resources) of the publisher will doubtless come to bear. They'll track those pirates down and have 'em walking the plank, I'm pretty sure of that.
Btw I meant to say re your comment, "It's not the ending the game wrote. It was mine." Yes, exactly! There you have put your finger on the very essence of the Fabled Lands Experience as we intended it. You own your own destiny in these books, that's why there's no pat on the head from the author for jumping through story hoops!
ReplyDeleteJoe, it's true that you can reach an ending of sorts as the Chosen One of Nagil - not an ending that all Chosen Ones might seek, though. You can be sure that if we ever write Book 12, that title would make quite a big difference.
ReplyDeletethe french are not "law-abiding people" per se, they're just a bunch of lazy cowards, and i know what i'm talking about as i've been living in paris for over 35 years.... thats why you dont see french translated gamebooks for download very often
ReplyDeleteand about the legal issue, i believe JH Brennan, the author of Grailquest and Demonspawn threatened the site of the Underdogs (when the site was still up sharing scanned gamebooks) of law sute if they didn't remove his books from downloading, and so they did..... so you should threaten abandonia as well, they'll understand
last, about the endings, i think its a good idea that when you've completed most of the crucial high-end quests, there be some kind of reward, but thats me
Anon, I am not au fait with the character of Parisians, but I will just say that I wouldn't want anybody to use Londoners as a benchmark of the national character of the English.
ReplyDeleteIf a publisher's legal department goes after Abandonia, they will not only be aiming to get the downloads removed, they'll be seeking compensation for lost sales. That could amount to a very heavy fine which will, I think, deter them from putting up pirated content in the future.
The tricky part with endings is to provide rewards to cover all tastes. One guy who played Heart of Ice said to me, "I won, I got ultimate power!" and I had to tell him that's not really the ideal outcome - or not, at any rate, in my view. But in FL I'm sure there will be a number of endings that players are free to choose or disregard.
I just got meself a copy of the Fabled Lands core rule book at my local RPG store and was wondering if it were possible for you to upload a pdf of the player's sheet please, as I don't want to ruin the book by crunching it into my scanner
ReplyDeleteNevermind the above post, i found a copy of the player's sheet on Lloyd's blog
ReplyDeleteI was just about to say I don't have such a PDF, but luckily you found it anyway :-) Most of the things like character sheets ought to be on the Greywood Publishing site (I haven't checked, mind) and you can also read about the upcoming FL card game. You heard it here first:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greywoodpublishing.com/totfl.html
Sorry if this sounds asinine but how do you play a spellcaster (mage or priest) in the FL gamebooks ? I mean, where are the spells and the options during battle to use such spells ? I'm pretty sure I missed something but I can't put my finger on it. I'm actually playing as a warrior so I'm not having any trouble, but I'd like to know how spellcasting works for when I start a journey anew as a mage.
ReplyDeleteThere are no specific spells. When there is the opportunity to use magic, you're given the option of making a MAGIC roll. There are all kinds of uses of magic, therefore, but not usually in combat. Think more of the wizards in fantasy novels, whose powers are versatile yet not the artillery-users of typical RPGs.
ReplyDeleteI found that a bit unusual myself at first! Playing a wizard I mean. But it makes more sense. As you mentionned with wizards in fantasy novels, I think of Gandalf for example. He doesn't go around throwing fireballs every five minures or casting healing spells on everyone. A more "realistic" (a silly word to use for fantasy I suppose) depiction of a mage.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of FL, I have come across this site today
http://www.apolitical.info/webgame/
Obviously someone inspired by Fabled Lands (just the name tells me so..). Nowhere near as sprawling, and perhaps not quite up to a published book's standard in terms of writing (sometimes the sections can be a little short on descriptions too). But nonetheless entertaining for a little while.
I quickly got to this bit: "Nothing much happens for the rest of the day, except that you're attacked by a herd of living houses..." Love that! Another fun FL-inspired game that's free to play is Echo Bazaar, whose writing is a thing of beauty.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a novel approach, but you could simply ask Abandonia to remove the books. Most abandonware sites will do this without a threat (heck, some will not respond to threats and react spitefully). Typically they just note the files were removed at the request of the publisher. As implied elsewhere, the existence of such things kept the FL name alive when there wasn't a viable commercial avenue. Maybe you guys didn't sanction FLapp either, but I would have never known about FL without it, and wouldn't have purchased the amazon re-releases and the iOS app based on the limited publicity.
ReplyDelete-Chris
We certainly will ask them, Chris, and I'm hopeful that they will remove them. Quite possibly Abandonia are unaware the books are up there, as their policy states that they don't violate copyright, and all those books are obviously in copyright.
ReplyDeleteActually we did sanction the FLapp, but that's the point. They asked. It's not actually difficult to get in touch with us, either through this blog or via our publishers, and 90% of the time we happily give permission for projects like that. It's just nice to be given the option.
PS: More free gamebook content coming up tomorrow. This is part 2 of Castle of Lost Souls - not the book version that you might have seen as a pirated PDF, this is the original version serialized in White Dwarf. So definitely worth a look even if you thought you'd already got it.
ReplyDeleteAny chance we can see the apps migrated to the PC? I know you have said that Flapp os the PC version of choice, but (and I mean this with no disrespect to the FLAPP creator who made an amazing job with limited resources but with a lot of dedication!) having bought and played the app version on my iphone, I prefer the ruleset (and art etc.) it uses i.e. no inventory limits and no class specific quests! Having said that, I would happily shell out for a 4th time for the game, see those final 6 gamebooks/apps!
ReplyDeleteAlberto, the company that will be doing the Android and Kindle adaptation of the books are also planning a browser version for PC and Mac. Across multiple platforms like that, the development will be more cost-effective, so we are hoping that will lead to completing the series. As soon as I have more info there'll be a post.
ReplyDeleteAre Nook versions planned as well? I've never seen a gamebook on the format, but as my wife has one, I'd love to utilize it that way.
ReplyDeletep.s. I'm glad to hear that FLapp was sanctioned. As much as I enjoy the iOS app, FLapp feels more authentic (and will have to tide me over if books 5 & 6 are never released in the States.)
-Chris
Nook... Well, I guess a lot depends on how easy it is to port over the code. I'll tell 'em your wife is waiting for a copy, Chris :-)
ReplyDeleteBooks 5 and 6 will definitely be out on all these platforms pretty quickly, if the deal goes ahead without a hitch. I realize that's scant consolation to those who are set on a print version, but bear with us here. Publishing is entering a new, digital-driven era, but that doesn't rule out print too.
Hey Dave
ReplyDeleteThanks for the answer, though when you say browser format, I hope you don't mean anything like that Echo Bazaar game where you have limited turns/actions a day and have to pay for extra actions/items or anything like that!
Personally, Alberto, I like Echo Bazaar a lot and I find you can play it perfectly well without paying a penny - which is surely the very definition of value for money. I don't yet know how the app company plan to monetize the browser version, but I'm pretty sure it will have to be some combination of free and paid content. They can't afford to do all that development work and then not charge for it.
ReplyDeleteShort question (that might have been asked before, by someone else): With some modification, do you think FL will work as an introductory RPG for 7 year old kids?
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice, simple system with multiple skills, meaning different ways to handle problems, so I would say yes, Joakim. Combat is described in grid-based form, which I think is an unnecessary complication and fuss (we don't use figurines anyway in our games) but actually you can safely ignore the grid system and just wing it.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Then I look forward exploring the world of FL with my son and his friends! Will just have to get myself through the game books first - Time, time, never enough time! :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent news! unfortunately the Map + game is not available. Thanks for the PDF version!
ReplyDeleteIkaros
Thanks for the link! I'm glad you liked my artwork as I hope to do more!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJamie and I hope so too, Tony :-)
ReplyDeletePS: Just to close off the thread above re uncertified downloads of gamebooks - we still don't know who scanned and uploaded those PDFs (they never contacted us, and we're not hard to find) but we got in touch with the folks at Abovo Media who actually host the site and they removed the links right away. So thanks to Andreas and his team for that.
ReplyDelete