Issue #12 - Published!

Issue #12 is now available for download from the site: www.fightingfantazine.co.uk
104 pages of gamebook goodness. As usual, feedback is appreciated!

The Geography of Kharé - Sneak Peek

One of the most iconic Fighting Fantasy locations of all, Port Blacksand in northwest Allansia, was featured in numerous Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and novels, and was described and mapped in detail in Titan – The Fighting Fantasy World and also in the original Advanced Fighting Fantasy series. This is in stark contrast to another emblematic Fighting Fantasy city, which was described in only one book and which was never mapped in the original Puffin publications of the franchise – Kharé, Cityport of Traps in Kakhabad in the Old World.

     First visited in the second volume of the Sorcery! series, Fighting Fantasy never returned to this vermin-infested settlement (other than in new role-playing versions of the same adventure), and a map of it never appeared in any gamebook or in Titan. However, there is a mass of information regarding the layout of the city in the Sorcery! series and there are some interesting hints on one particular area in the full-colour illustration of the city in Titan. Furthermore, two very different maps of the city have appeared more recently, in the Myriador d20 module Kharé – Cityport of Traps and in the new Advanced Fighting Fantasy campaign Crown of Kings by Arion Games. What can we learn about the geography of Kharé from these sources and are there any problems with reconciling all the various pieces of evidence in trying to come up with a definitive picture of the layout of the city? That’s what this article aims to find out, so join us as we return to explore Fighting Fantasy’s enigmatic heart of darkness – travellers beware!

Choose Your Own Documentary™ - Sneak Peek

Issue #12 also features an interview with Nathan Penlington about his Choose Your Own Adventure-based interactive performance:

You’ve created a live, interactive performance using the format of the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Can you bring me up to date with how far you’ve got with your show? 

So we’ve made this very awkward documentary, which has become something greater than perhaps we first expected it to be. It started off as an experiment and now it’s taken on a life of its own. There are currently over 1500 possible paths, but it could well expand. There are certain narratives that we’ve opened up that we could go on to explore in the future. I could be making the show for the rest of my life.