Green snow falling

Russ Nicholson needs no introduction to gamebook and RPG enthusiasts, I'm sure. This was an illustration he did for Dragon Warriors to accompany the following scene:

The crew scatter in all directions as the strange projectile descends. For a moment you think it is going to miss the deck, but then it veers in mid-air and falls with a slushy hiss. It looks like a huge ball of green snow, maybe, or else a very dense cloud of glowing vapour. You take a few steps forward, perplexed. The captain has ordered pails of water brought, thinking that the object was a lump of flaming pitch. But it gives off no heat or flames, just a billowing column of pale-green vapour.

The column of vapour rises higher, thickening. Dark outlines become visible inside the swirling cloud. Three cloaked figures. A sudden gust of wind stirs the cloud and disperses it. As the tattered wisps drift away, three black-armoured warriors are revealed. They are swathed in cloaks of black and vermillion and stand in a circle, their hands resting on the pommels of their unsheathed swords. The tallest has long black hair with a single streak of silver. You draw your own sword as you see how his eyes blaze with malevolence...

Russ has been a major influence and source of inspiration on all our books, but especially on Fabled Lands. He's not an artist who passively waits to be told what to draw; the ideas come thick and fast and all we have to do is jot them down. The walking cities of the Uttakin, for instance, and the way those mechanical legs fold up to become the buttresses of colossal palaces - that was all from the fertile Nicholson brain. And a good decade before Mortal Engines, I might add!

Another note of interest: this scene featured Ghulfang the warlock, who along with his ensorcelled blade Thanophon was an early character played by Steve Foster, who later created the memorable Tobias of Vantery, who will be familiar to everyone who's played the Blood Sword gamebooks.

This just in -

I just got a heads up from Jamie Wallis at Greywood Publishing to say that the Fabled Lands RPG is now on Amazon UK. If you're Stateside, it's still on Amazon US, of course - and there, as bargain hunters will probably have already noticed, at a slightly lower price than the British edition.

Jamie also told me to tell you that the Sokara sourcebook will be out in September and the Golnir book in December. So lots of background material, scenarios, creature, characters, locations, maps and items to come. Better roll your characters now.

Oh, double-taking at that cover? It was Greywood's original mock up using Kevin Jenkins's beautiful painting from The War Torn Kingdom (FL Book One). Who wouldn't want to live in that castle?

Preschool gamebooks

Here's a little gamebook fragment I dug up recently, part of a project with Leo Hartas called Tell Me A Story. You can read about how we came to work on this over on the Mirabilis blog, but Fabled Lands fans are, I'm sure, more interested in the interactive part. (The image is by Daryl Sim from his Flickr stream.)

#0
Tell Me A Story
Interactive stories for children of pre-school age, designed for “mother-and-me” use.
This demo is Jack & The Beanstalk and begins halfway through the story, with Jack already in the giant’s castle.
Continue [ link to #1 ]

#1
[Two variables; WISHES = 1 and HARP = false ]
But the giant lifted the mug and found Jack hiding there. “I’m going to have you for my tea,” he said. And he tied Jack up with string.
What do you think Jack did?
Laughed at the giant [ link to #2 ]
Bit his thumb [ link to #3 ]

#2
“Don’t you laugh at me. You’re going on my dinner plate.” The giant served himself peas and mash, and he spooned some gravy over Jack’s head.
What then?
A knock at the door [ link to #5 ]
Dinner-time [ link to #6 ]

#3
“Ouch!” said the giant. He dropped Jack to the floor and forgot all about him. “Ow, ow ow!” he said, sucking his thumb.
What do think happened next?
The giant slipped on a banana skin [ link to #4 ]
He went to get a bandage [ link to #5 ]

#4
The giant’s foot shot out from under him and he came crashing down like fifty tons of bricks. The whole castle shook – though it was only built on a cloud, remember, so maybe it shook quite a bit anyway.
Jack quickly untied himself. Then what did he do?
Helped the giant up [ link to #13 ]
Ran for it [ link to #15 ]
Hid inside the banana skin [ link to #11 ]

#5
The moment the giant left the room, the sparrow that Jack had helped earlier flew in through the window. Plucking at the string with its beak, it soon had Jack free. “Where’s that magic harp I came for?” wondered Jack.
Did he go and get the harp? [ link to #22 ]
Or did he leave right away? [ link to #15 ]

#6
So, Jack was about to end up in the giant’s tummy if he didn’t think of something quickly. He still had his sword and he still had his last wish. Which do you think he used?
The sword [ link to #8 ]
The wish [ link to #7 ]

#7
[Set WISHES = 0]
“I wish that the giant’s potatoes would turn to plaster, his peas to cannon balls, his gravy to mud, and his beer to vinegar,” said Jack.
The giant tasted his mashed potato. “Horrible!” he said. He tried his peas. “Yuck!” he said. He drank some beer. “Urgh! I can’t eat this!” And he stomped out of the room, shaking the castle with every angry footstep.
What next...? [ link to #5 ]

#8
“What’s that, a little toothpick?” laughed the giant. He took the sword, which was smaller than a cotton thread between his fingers. But although the sword was small, it was sharp too, and the giant pricked himself. “Ouch!” he said, leaping to his feet.
What happened then?
He went to get a bandage [ link to #5 ]
His wife came in [ link to #9 ]

#9
“What a fuss over nothing!” scolded the giant’s wife. “It’s only a pinprick.”
“But it hurts!” said the giant.
They had forgotten all about Jack. What was he doing while they argued?
Whistling a tune [ link to #30 ]
Untying himself [ link to #27 ]

#10
Jack’s mother was astonished to see a giant banana fall down off a cloud into her back garden, and she was even more astonished when she saw Jack get out of it. “Hello, mum,” he said. “You’ll never believe this, but...” And he told her the whole story.
Next [ link to #12 ]

#11
Jack crawled inside the banana skin and zipped it up like a sleeping bag. “Oh my head...” said the giant as he sat up on the floor. Then he saw the banana skin that Jack was hiding inside. “Another banana!” he roared. “I don’t want bananas in the house. They’re too dangerous!”
He threw the banana out of the window. Where do you think it landed?
In the dustbin [ link to #31 ]
In Jack’s back garden [ link to #10 ]

#12
[ if WISHES = 1 and HARP = false, go to #33
else if WISHES = 0 and HARP = false, go to #34
else if WISHES = 1 and HARP = true, go to #35
else go to #36 ]

#13
Imagine you’d fallen over and an ant was trying to help you up. That’s how much use Jack was. In fact, the moment he got under the giant’s back to give him a push, the giant began to wail like a baby. “Oh! Oo! It’s got inside my shirt! Help, mother! It tickles!” And he jumped up on a chair.
What then?
Jack ran off [ link to #15 ]
The giant’s wife came in [ link to #37 ]

#14
He had enough, all right. “Stop chopping!” he cried. “I’m going back up to my cloud. Look!”
“And you can stay up there,” said Jack. As soon as he was at the bottom of the bean-stalk, he lopped it off so that there was no way to ever reach the cloud again. And then he went home whistling a tune.
Continue [link to #12]

#15
Yes, Jack ran out of the castle, across the cloud, and started down the beanstalk. But he hadn’t gone more than half a mile when the beanstalk started swaying. Jack looked up. The giant was coming down after him!
What did he do?
Jump [ link to #16 ]
Draw his sword [ link to #17 ]

#16
Jack looked down. He could see a haystack. It was so far below that it looked no bigger than a bread roll. He jumped off the beanstalk and tumbled down to land safely in the haystack. So what do you think the giant did?
Jumped after him [ link to #18 ]
Kept climbing down [ link to #19 ]

#17
Jack sliced through the beanstalk. “Yikes!” said the giant as he went tumbling past. He landed in the sea with a splash that sent water flying fifty metres into the air and upset every boat in the harbour.
Jack climbed the rest of the way down.
Next [ link to #20 ]

#18
He did, he jumped as well. And he fell down and down like a big fool. And he landed in the harbour. The water splashed fifty metres into the air, and every boat tipped over and the fishermen had to swim for shore. On the docks, people were picking up fishes that had been flung right out of the sea. “We’ll feast for a week,” they said happily.
Next [ link to #20 ]

#19
“That big fellow just won’t give up,” said Jack. Drawing his sword, he hacked through the beanstalk like a lumberjack chopping down a tree. “Oh-err... You stop that...” called the giant from high above. He didn’t like being on the stalk with it swaying like that. What do you think he did?
Kept on coming down [ link to #21 ]
Went back up to the cloud [ link to #14 ]

#20
Jack waited by the sea but no bubbles came up. “Either the giant has drowned or he’s turned into a whale and swum off,” said an old sailor who had seen it all before.
Jack made his way home.
Next [ link to #25 ]

#21
Jack sliced through the beanstalk. “Yikes!” said the giant as the beanstalk fell. Down and down he fell until his shadow covered half the county. Finally he landed in the sea with a splash that sent water flying fifty metres into the air and upset every boat in the harbour.
Next [ link to #20 ]

#22
[set HARP = true ]
The harp was made of gold with silver strings, and it was said to make the loveliest sound of any musical instrument ever made. “I wonder what it sounds like,” said Jack to himself.
Did he play a tune? [ link to #23 ]
Or did he leave right away [ link to #15 ]

#23
It was a more beautiful sound than fresh water flowing, bees buzzing in a field of clover, or birdsong on a spring morning. “Oi! Who’s messing with my harp?” shouted the giant, and he came running. Each footstep was like an earthquake!
What do you think happened next?
The giant slipped on a banana skin [ link to #24 ]
Jack ran out of the door [ link to #15 ]

#24
Yes he did. There was a banana skin lying in the hall, and the giant skidded across the stone floor, tripped over in the doorway, and went flying. Imagine an elephant on a roller-skate and you’ll get the idea. He crashed to the floor with such an impact that the bricks fell off the chimney, fell all the way to earth, and those are the Mendip Hills that you can see to this day.
What about Jack? Did he:
Hide inside the banana skin? [ link to #11 ]
Or run back to the beanstalk? [ link to #15 ]

#25
[If HARP = true, go to #28
Else go to #29 ]

#26
Jack wriggled into the mash. He could hear the giant saying: “He’s gone!”
“Well, eat the rest of your dinner,” said his wife.
“No point,” grumbled the giant. “I don’t want vegetables and no meat.” And he scraped the plate off into the dustbin. What a waste of good food – but that’s giants for you!
Next [ link to #31 ]

#27
That’s right, he was. He had just got the string off when the giant suddenly said, “Where’s that lad I was going to eat?”
Jack had to think fast. What did he do?
Hide in the mashed potato? [ link to #26 ]
Run out of the door? [ link to #15 ]

#28
Jack got home in time for tea and told his mother the whole story. “I found the golden egg, the magic purse, and the loveliest-sounding harp you ever did hear,” he said.
The egg made Jack rich, the purse helped him save his money wisely, and he played the harp at parties and everybody liked him. And he became so rich and famous that people still talk about him today.
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#29
Jack got home in time for tea and told his mother the whole story. “I found a golden egg and a magic purse,” he said. “I’m going to sell the egg and save money in my purse so that we never want for anything again.”
So Jack became very successful and happy. And he never went climbing bean-stalks ever again!
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#30
The sparrow that Jack had helped earlier was just outside and it heard him whistling. It flew in the window and untied him with its beak. The giant and his wife were still quarreling. His voice was deep like thunder, hers was sharp like lightning. They had forgotten all about Jack. So what do you think he did next?
Hid in the mashed potatoes [ link to #26 ]
Went to find the harp [ link to #22 ]
Made his escape [ link to #15 ]

#31
So Jack was in the giant’s dustbin. He stank of old potato peelings, dirty tissues and last week’s fish, but at least he was safe. Or was he? “I’d still like that harp,” he said to himself, wondering if it was a good idea to go back for it. Do you think he should?
Yes [ link to #22 ]
No [ link to #32 ]

#32
Better safe than sorry. Jack started climbing back down the beanstalk. But he hadn’t gone more than half a mile when the beanstalk started swaying. Jack looked up. The giant was coming down after him!
What did he do?
Jump [ link to #16]
Draw his sword [ link to #17 ]

#33
So, Jack had found himself a golden egg and a magic purse. The egg made him rich, and the purse helped him to save wisely. And he still had one wish, which he used to get his mother the most beautiful dress anywhere in England.
And as for that beanstalk? Well, Jack got an axe out of the shed and...
Bet you can guess the rest!
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#34
So, Jack had got away with a golden egg and a magic purse. The egg made him rich, and the purse helped him to save wisely. So he did quite well for himself. And as for that beanstalk? Well, Jack got an axe out of the shed and you can guess the rest!
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#35
So, Jack had got away with a golden egg, a magic purse, a marvellous harp, and he still had one wish left. He used the wish to get his mother a fine new dress, and the egg and the purse made them rich, and every evening Jack would play the harp and people came from all around to hear him.
And do you know what he did with that beanstalk? Well, he got an axe out of the shed and you can guess the rest!
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#36
So, Jack had got away with a golden egg, a magic purse, and a marvellous harp. The egg made them lots of money, and the purse meant they always had a little bit saved, and every evening Jack would play the harp and people came from all around to hear him.
And do you know what Jack did with that beanstalk? Well, he got an axe out of the shed and...
Bet you can guess the rest!
New story [ link to #42 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#37
She did. She pulled Jack out from under the giant and put a glass over him. “There, that’s got you trapped,” she said. Jack hammered on the glass, but he couldn’t break it. It was too thick.
But Jack still had his last wish. What did he wish for?
A thunderstorm? [ link to #38 ]
A sack of diamonds? [ link to #39 ]
The glass to break? [ link to #40 ]

#38
The thunderstorm made the whole cloud shake. “Quick,” yelled the giant’s wife, “let’s get outside before the roof falls in!”
The glass fell over, freeing Jack, and you can be sure that he made straight for the beanstalk at once. But he hadn’t climbed more than half a mile down when the beanstalk started swaying. Jack looked up. The giant was coming after him!
What did he do?
Jump [ link to #16 ]
Draw his sword [ link to #17 ]

#39
“Let me out and you can have these diamonds,” said Jack. The giant was so greedy that he picked up the glass at once, and Jack ran straight out of the door.
Next [ link to #15 ]

#40
The giant and his wife started talking and forgot about Jack. He made his wish. From another room in the castle came the sound of a harp-string being plucked, and the note made the glass shatter.
Jack headed for the door. The giant and his wife hadn’t noticed he was free. Then he thought about the harp. Should he go back for it, he wondered. What do you think?
Yes [ link to #41 ]
No [ link to #32 ]

#41
[set HARP = true ]
The harp was made of gold with silver strings. Perched on top of it was the sparrow that Jack had helped earlier. It had returned the favour by playing the note that shattered the glass. “This is a beautiful harp,” said Jack to the sparrow. “Would you like me to play you a tune?”
Do you think he did? [ link to #23 ]
Or did he climb back down the beanstalk first? [ link to #15 ]

#42
Tell Me A Story
Jack & The Beanstalk [ link to #1 ]
The Goat & the Troll [ link to #0 ]
Snow White [ link to #0 ]
Options [ link to #43 ]
Quit [ exits ]

#43
Follow link
Back

Kings of legend sleep under the forest

Another trailer from Serpent King Games to get you in the mood for the new wave of Dragon Warriors material coming soon.

For anyone not familiar with DW, this description by gaming éminence grise James Wallis says it better than I ever could:

Dragon Warriors is set in the Lands of Legend, a world that resembles parts of our world as they were around the thirteenth century, specifically Europe at the end of the Crusades. The world works the way that people in medieval Europe believed it did: there’s a feudal order, might makes right, and barons squabble and vie for power to stymie or oust the king, who is a weak fool.

But on top of that magic is real; the power of the Church is real; the devil is real and may meet you on the road at midnight; superstition and folklore are real; fairies and goblins are real and may sour your milk, lame your horse or steal your child if you don’t keep them happy; there are giants and dragons deep in the mountains; and the great kings of legend sleep under the forests and will return if their domains are threatened.

The world of Dragon Warriors is familiar. You have been there many times in the stories of King Arthur, the tales of Robin Hood and Richard the Lionheart, the classic works of fantasy fiction, and the histories of the medieval world. But at the same time it is a place filled with threats and the unknown. And the further you stray from home the stranger the places you will encounter: the desolate wastelands of Krarth, home to the Rathurbosk, a city built entirely on a bridge over the Gouge; the ruins of the city of Spyte, once ruled by (and perhaps destroyed by) the magi-lords, whose descendents still control Krarth today; the dangerous jungles of Mungoda filled with the remains of dead civilisations and populated by the bizarre Volucreth bird-men; the New Selentine Empire, trying to recapture the glories and power of the previous millennium; the Nomad Khanates; the Ta’ashim lands; the great city of Ferromaine where money is king and anything can be bought if the price is right; the Principalities of the Crusade; and much more.

The quietest beat of an enormous drum

It's kind of an open secret - as secret as anything can be in a world that contains Twitter - that Jamie, Oliver, Mark and I have been looking at doing something app-related with our various gamebook series. Can I use the word classic there? I'm sure you're all eager for ninja action in the inimitable Way of the Tiger style, but another series we hope to convert into digital form at some point is Blood Sword. (Hopefully with a better title, though; I would have preferred The Sword of Life & the Sword of Death if only it fitted on a book cover.)

In this excerpt from the third book in the series, The Demon's Claw, you have finally tracked down the man who may be able to help you in your quest. I'm sure I don't need to add that the illustration is by the peerless Russ Nicholson, undisputed master of fantasy gamebook art, and you can see a lot more of his work over on his blog.

You have been told that Susurrien lives in a room above a butcher's shop. You enter and look towards a stone slab where a bearded giant of a man is dismembering a carcass. His cleaver strikes the raw flesh with remorseless thwacks. As he sees you, his eyes betray no emotion - but the cleaver slips, striking the stone of the slab and giving a metallic shriek.

The bearded man glowers at his chipped cleaver, then nods towards the stairs.

Still no word has been spoken. You pass him and begin to ascend. After a few moments you hear him start to hack at the meat on the slab once more.

The room you enter is plain. A man sits in a wooden chair by the window, drawing occasionally at a tall hooka that stands beside him. The odour of incense masks the charnel stench from the butcher's shop below.

Prince Susurrien turns. His robes rustle - a crisp, silken sound. His chair creaks as he shifts his body to half face you. A limpid red gem glowers like a third eye from the centre of his gold turban. His jewellery and gilt-decorated tunic glitter as they
catch a shaft of morning sunlight.

His stare is intense and unnerving. With his swarthily handsome face he looks like a man capable of great passion and cruelty. Then he gestures to the cushions piled against the wall and bids you sit. Sharp white teeth flash as he smiles. You crouch down on the cushions but your muscles remain tense. The sunlight, passing through the wooden lattice across one window and through the dusty air, casts a host of narrow bright beams across your face. They all appear to radiate from the exiled prince. The spider's web? You hide a wry smile.

'I knew you would come.' His voice is soft and deep, suggesting the quietest beat of an enormous drum. 'You seek the Sword of Life; I, the Sword of Death. By uniting we shall achieve what we desire.'

You don't pretend to like the idea, but there is no alternative. You nod.

'I have here the Hatuli - literally, the Bring-hither.' He holds up a mannikin that looks as if it has been carved from diseased wood. 'It was constructed by the great wizard Sa'aknathur, and my agents found it for me in the ruins of his fortress. If it were operative, it could find the magical swords for us. But it is not.' He sets the mannikin on the floor by his chair, where it waits, lifeless.

'Its eyes are missing,' continues Susurrien. 'They were two tiny emeralds of flawless beauty, and I believe they were prised from the Hatuli's head by Hunguk the Pirate-King when he sacked the fortress. So, your quest will involve stealing them back from Hunguk.'

You can see a difficulty here. Hunguk the Pirate-King, if he ever lived, must have been dead for more than five hundred years.

Click on the image for more information about The Demon's Claw and the rest of the Blood Sword series.

Fabled Lands role-playing is here

This is a difficult post to write because my fingers don't really want to be on the keyboard. They keep twitching towards the beautiful object at the side of my desk - to wit, the core rulebook and first volume in Greywood Publishing's epic Fabled Lands Role-Playing Game series.

I remember getting starting in role-playing. Dungeons & Dragons came as three little booklets in a white box. You didn't need any more than that. It was a Narnia wardrobe, a Tardis, a Cavorite sphere to convey you into endless worlds of the imagination.

For many, though, rules quickly got in the way, spreading like traffic signs and one-way streets through the landscape of fantasy. I remember one Sunday afternoon at Jesus. (Yes, that was our church.) I was playing D&D or EPT with Mark Smith and Oliver Johnson. We went into the next room, where another group were playing Chivalry & Sorcery, to borrow the kettle. "As you enter the tomb, the sarcophagus lid starts to slide back," their umpire was telling them. Fifteen minutes later, tea brewed, I took the kettle back. "So, two of you are now adjacent to the sarcophagus, you others have readied arrows, and the wight is now standing up in the sarcophagus..."

The Fabled Lands RPG cuts away all the unncessary stuff. You want adventure. You want to create a character without having to use Excel, and you want to get stuck into a fun story without the need for calculus to resolve every situation. Shane Garvey and Jamie Wallis have delivered exactly the balance of ease-of-use and detail that the freewheeling, fast-paced, limitless vista of the Fabled Lands demands.

Of course, nobody in their right minds wants to turn the role-playing clock back to 1975. These days players rightly demand more than hack and slay. You might be creeping through the shadows of your enemy's castle, walking in disguise under the noses of temple guards, struggling to keep your ship afloat in a storm, trying to charm your way out of a fight, desperately weaving spells, or gambling with faerie folk for your very soul. And the Fabled Lands RPG has nicely streamlined rules to cover all of that and combat too.

You start by creating a character with all the familiar FL characteristics and a bit extra in the background. The best characters are "this but that", so you get to choose both positive and negative personality traits. You could be brave but selfish, for instance, or supportive yet an inveterate liar. It's up to you how to play those, and how to use the detailed background rules too. They're there to give players something to get to grips with right away.

The core system is based off the FL abilities (Charisma, Sanctity, etc) and you need to roll two dice, add your ability score, and beat the difficulty of the task. But with a few deft additions, Shane and Jay give a lot more scope to that basic mechanic. Skills modify your abilities for specific tasks. So if you have Navigate 2, for example, you can add +2 to Scouting rolls when plotting a course.

On top of that are the powers. These are unique to each profession: Primal Rage for barbarians, Cure and Bless for priests, and so on. Each profession has four special powers and as you rise in rank they can be taken multiple times for extra benefit.

The rest of this beautifully produced and laid-out book has sections on the gods, equipment, magic, monsters, world background (Yellowport is covered in detail, including maps and personalties with stats) and a very useful long section to guide the umpire (or GM if you must) in running adventures. And Greywood has marshalled a first rate art team, led by the undisputed master of fantasy Martin McKenna, to help evoke the Fabled Lands visually.

Further books are planned - in fact twelve sourcebooks, each zooming in on one part of the Fabled Lands and providing quests, treasures, characters, cities, lore and everything else you need for a long-running FL campaign. And yes, that does mean you will get to visit Chrysoprais and Atticala and the Forbidden Realm.

I am sure some of you will be saying, "That's all very well, but I like gamebooks. I'm not a roleplayer." But actually, you are. Just as most gamebooks were multiple-choice forms of a novel, the original six Fabled Lands books are a multiple-choice form of role-playing campaign. What Greywood have done is take all that material and rework it so that the world can be opened up for groups of friends to adventure together. And you don't need weeks to prepare a game nor a law degree to understand the rules. If you have read any of the Fabled Lands gamebooks, you'll be able to pick up the RPG, gather some friends together and get started.

Now, if you'll pardon me, my fingers are reaching for the rule book and they will not be denied. I'm going to be running an FL game in the near future, and I hope you will too! Oh – you want to know where you can get it? From Cubicle 7 right here and shortly (we hope) from Amazon.

Roll up, roll up

A teaser today from Serpent King Games, who have inherited the Dragon Warriors license from Magnum Opus Press to allow MOP supremo James Wallis to focus on his upcoming Facebook game. I don't think I'm allowed to tell you anything about the latter, but everyone in the gaming world knows that a new project by James is sure to make a big splash.

Serpent King have all the old DW books and are hard at work on new titles, and as they are James's own hand-picked DW team you can count on those being top-quality stuff. So fullscreen the trailer and get yourself in the mood for some gritty Brit fantasy action.