It’s bonus episode time again and this time we’re taking a look at Raid on Nightmare Castle, part of the Endless Quest series released by TSR in the 1980s as a kind of introduction to the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Will we survive our trip into a world of talking animals and portly elves? Listen in to find out.
Episode 8 - Scorpion Swamp
It’s episode 8 of Fantastic Fights and we’re taking a turn round the insalubrious environs of Scorpion Swamp by the American Steve Jackson, creator of GURPS, Munchkin, OGRE, Illuminati, and many more. Will a fresh voice bring a fresh approach? Will my utter refusal to make any kind of map be a detriment to a quest entirely about making maps? Listen along to find out.
If you’d like to support the show you can do so at patreon.com/hjdoom. Anything you can spare will be appreciated and help keep the podcast well stocked with adventure gamebooks.
Bonus Episode - Doctor Who: The Horror of Howling Hill
We’re approaching Halloween and I’m celebrating a second patron backer by doing a playthrough of the Doctor Who Decide Your Own Destiny book The Horror of Howling Hill. Does this capture the unique feel of Britain’s most successful cultural export? How many times will we hear the exact same howling scream before the horror begins to wear off? Listen along to find out.
Episode 7 - Island of the Lizard King
After our disastrous tour round Deathtrap Dungeon we get a nice change of scenery, several changes of scenery in fact as we take a mini-break to Fire Island home of the insane Lizard King and an awful lot of very big animals. Golden beaches, dense jungle, a pictureque swamp and a deep ravine are just some of the environments the await us on our quest to undo an idiot prince’s bright idea of hiring insane lizardmen to run his version of Guantanamo Bay. This is a real epic and I hope very much you enjoy it.
Island of the Lizard King was written by Ian Livingstone with internal illustrations by Alan Langford and cover art by Ian McCaig.
Episode 6 - Bonus Deathtrap Dungeon Run
It’s bonus episode time as I reveal my first, far less successful playthrough of Deathtrap Dungeon. I feel like there might be other very difficult gamebooks later where I end up doing the same thing. Regardless I hope you enjoy this little look into a world of abject failure.
Episode 6 - Deathtrap Dungeon
Deathtrap Dungeon, the very name conjures horrors and a sense of abject failure. Can our hero buck the trend by emerging triumphant from one of the cruelest dungeons ever created? Find out by listening in to my playthrough of this stone cold Fighting Fantasy classic by Ian Livingstone. Watch out for a bonus episode coming soon to a podcast provider near you.
Bonus Episode: Knightmare - The Labyrinths of Fear
It’s time for a bonus episde! These are episodes where I step outside of my usual run of Fighting Fantasy books for no better reason than I feel like it. This time we’re looking at an adventure gamebook written by Dave Morris and based on the classic 80s TV show Knightmare, a series I absolutely loved as a child and was partially responsible for me turning out the way I did, not that I hold that against it. The book Labyrinths of Fear has an unusual structure in that there’s a novelette about Treguard of Dunhelm’s adventures which is then followed by a short gamebook. Does short also mean sweet? You’ll have to listen to find out.
City of Thieves
We’re taking an urban turn this episode as we embark on the quest to defeat an evil creature with a very silly name. Along the way we’ll get our pockets picked, nick a selection of broaches, tangle with pirates, and have one of the all time classic fantasy roleplaying encounters as we battle giant rats in the sewers beneath Port Blacksand. Is this the greatest setting in all of Fighting Fantasy? Possibly. Will I record the first ever legitimate win? It’s very unlikely but never say never.
If you’d like to support me as I continue my doomed quest to remember what it was like to have hope and things to look forward to you can do so by going to https://www.patreon.com/Hjdoom and pledging as little as £1 per month.
Starship Traveller
In this, the fourth episode of Fantastic Fights we once again enter uncharted territory as Steve Jackson takes us to the stars as the crew of Starship Traveller. Space battles, poorly described aliens, and mediocre artwork abound as we search a parallel universe for a black hole that will take us home. Does the crew survive this jaunt into another reality? You’ll have to listen to find out.
This episode also sees the launch of my patreon page at patreon.com/hjdoom. No obligation but if you could spare me a copper or two towards the cost of buying Fighting Fantasy books for this podcast I would be eternally grateful. The podcast will alway be free to air regardless. If you’re enjoying this soujorn into the past why not tell a friend or two?
Forest of Doom
As lockdown eases here in the UK I’ve been making sure I get plenty of vitamin D by taking a lengthy stroll through the Forest of Doom, the very first Fighting Fantasy book I ever played as a child. Along the way we’ll behave impolitely towards an APE-MAN, rescue an ungrateful BARBARIAN and make the usual number of stupid or very stupid decisions as we try and find a magical dwarven warhammer in the mysterious and spooky forest. Will we make it through the trials and tribulations of the first Fighting Fantasy book set in the great outdoors? There’s only one way to find out.
Citadel of Chaos
Fantastic Fights and Where to Find Them returns with Citadel of Chaos, the second book in the Fighting Fantasy series and the first to be written solo by Steve Jackson. With an exciting new magic system to play with our dauntless yet dim hero be able to conquer the citadel and vanquish the villainous Balthus Dire? Will we find out what a demi-sorcerer actually is? The only way to find out is by listening.
Episode One - The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
When I was a child I absolutely loved Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. They were for me, as with many, a gateway into the wonderful worlds of Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons. Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone created and curated a wonderful list of game books that burn in my memory with the incandescent glow of unexamined nostalgia. What with one thing and another I have a lot of time on my hands these days so it occured to me that it might be fun to create a podcast where I play through all of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in order. In my head this was a quick and easy project, in practice it turned out to be a lot of work. Does The Warlock of Firetop Mountain hold up more than thirty years after I first played it? There’s only one way to find out. Join me on my journey into the wonderful world of Fighting Fantasy.
