AFF discussion over at Known World, Old World

If you are a fan of Advanced Fighting Fantasy, I'd suggest heading over here:
https://drbargle.blogspot.com/2019/05/aff-your-adventure-starts-here-part-one.html

I've written a lot on the subject as well.

http://3toadstools.blogspot.com/search?q=advanced+fighting+fantasy

It's a wonderful game, one that I'll eventually run again.

You can get a copy of the quickstart rules here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/108092/Advanced-Fighting-Fantasy-Quickstart?term=advanced+fighting+

The Advanced Fighting Fantasy system was re-released as a second edition in 2011 to great acclaim and received great reviews.

Although we are unable to offer a pdf version of the full rulebook, we are now able to offer the quickstart adventure to enable everyone to try this great game.

Even inexperienced ropleplayers can be up and running in 10 minutes with the pregenerated Heroes included, and a classic dungeon awaits.

Veteran gamers will get a taste of a very fast and adaptible system, well suited to long-term campaigns.

My heart is happy

I have fond memories of those old green spine books from the magical island across the sea from me.

(this post was started awhile ago, and I'm finally getting back to it).  

These books were my first introduction into this role playing world.  I remember having a shelf full of them when I was a kid.  Listening to Nirvana Nevermind on a cassette and rolling dice on my lap, instead of doing homework.

When I first jumped onto google plus, I think my first search term was Fighting Fantasy.  Shortly after I found the OSR.   Shortly after that I created a community for Advanced Fighting Fantasy.  I then grabbed the NEW version of AFF by +Graham Bottley .  I dubbed it AFF 2.0, I think it stuck.  I love that there was a vibrant community around all things fighting fantasy.  All this is possible because of the internet.  I remember being a nerdy kid thinking "I wonder if other people know how cool this is?".   I didn't know that it was HUGE in the UK (yonder magical island across the sea from me, where there are pubs on every corner, note I must go there).

My interest in AFF & FF has been reignited latetly, as I've been reading a few of the solo books in my spare time.  Crown of kings & armies of death.  Which has got me thinking about either writing my own rules hack, re-buying the original dungeoneer or just running AFF 2.0.  The other night I found a PILE of resources out there for AFF.  

The original advanced rules were broken, there was a lot of things like leveling up that just made heroes gods eventually.  That being said, the simplicity of the system is JUST AWESOME.  And honestly I think it would be perfect for 1 shots or even a 3-4 session type game.  Part of the reason I don't know if I would run Aff2.0 as a one shot is that not everybody has the rules handy.  (especially if playing online).  So what I might do, is just go ahead and create a house rules document with the basics.  Possibly use a few tweaks from Troika, AFF 2.0 etc.  Basically something that allows a quick start type of game.  (speaking of quickstarts there's one for aff 2.0). 

If you haven't heard about TROIKA! you should go and check it out.  It's a throwback to the original set of advanced rules, however there's lots of fun little tweaks.  From a brief little read, there is a world behind the rules, classes, backgrounds that all tie in.  (A full review is upcoming).  Here's the blurb.

Troika! is a complete role playing game, giving you everything you need to create characters and lead them through the hump-backed sky towards adventure.

The game is a response to decrepit UK RPGs. A "retro" RPG rebuilt without sentimentality, corpses of darlings litter the streets.

The game is 56 pages and includes:

Unified art direction by Jeremy Duncan.

A fully automated character creation system to represent the vagaries of fate.

36 backgrounds. You have no influence on who you were, only on who you will become.

A setting baked into the rules and resistant to untangling.

Plainly expressed rules, easily accessible and highly modifiable.

Art Version

Pay What You Want Version (No art) 

Just a few thoughts on Troika while I'm rambling here.  I really like it!  However the baked in setting and background isn't really my cup of tea currently.  To a degree the backgrounds sort of remind me of Barbarians of Lemuria (another wonderful system that's easy to run). 

So in my quest last night to find some interesting resources I found the following cool shit: 

*This site is an amazing resource of all the advanced books (detailing the world, the mechanics etc): https://projects.inklesspen.com/fatal-and-friends/kayumi/fighting-fantasy/  (detailed in here is also explanations as to why the original advanced game was broken).  This explains a lot of the issues

*Note that's basically where I'm going to get my home brew version.

*Fan written adventures for AFF (and version 2.0): https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Fan_Written_Advanced_Fighting_Fantasy

*A Fifth Edition conversion of "The warlock of firetop mountain":  https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/HyE1NYoSf

*Dyson Logos redrew the map for "warlock of firetop mountain".  https://dysonlogos.blog/2019/01/26/the-warlock-of-firetop-mountain-combined/

*A bunch of fan rules: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1788&Itemid=37

*A pile of monsters: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445&Itemid=65

*adventure sheets: http://fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1407&Itemid=68

*Dysons review on AFF2.0: https://dysonlogos.blog/2014/08/07/advanced-fighting-fantasys-reboot/

What I've always loved about the system is the simplicity.  That and the idea of just being an adventurer (in the books).  You start off with a backpack, a sword and a torch and your wits.  Love it. 

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Adventures!

Last night I cracked open my copy of Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2.0, which I hadn't read in awhile.  Just flipping thru the pages, my mind filled with a pile of adventure ideas.  I think I may write an adventure (and post it here) for AFF.  I just sent a message to the publisher in regards to what the legality's are of posting things.  Below are a few adventures & resources. 

Here are a few resources/adventures for AFF.

Arion Games on Drivethru. 
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/667/Arion-Games/subcategory/1684_25223/Advanced-Fighting-Fantasy

Advanced Figthing Fantasy Quickstart
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/108092/Advanced-Fighting-Fantasy-Quickstart

MEWE Community
https://mewe.com/join-front/advanced_fighting_fantasy_and_stellar_adventures

The Crooked Cup (adventure)
Welcome, brave adventurers!  You are no doubt walking your way across Titan in search of fame, fortune and more than a little glory, so lend me your ears and I will tell you of a place so foul with the corruption of evil and chaos, and yet so full of the gold and renown you seek, you'll wonder if the risk is worth the rewards.

Do you dare seek out the Cup of the Crooked King, and risk eternal damnation for the chance of more riches than the King of Salamonis himself has ever seen?

Of course, I know what your answer will be.

This is The Crooked King's Cup, an Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Edition adventure for an experienced adventuring party, although it will be easy enough to adjust the statistics of the foes and dangers to suit any level of skill.

Inn Of Lost Hope (adventure) 

The old Inn stands derelict and rotting.  But within is rumoured to lie a great treasure, stolen from dying adventurers by an unscrupulous landlord.  Dare you enter to try and find it?

This new self-contained adventure for Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Ed describes the Inn and it's terrible denizens and can be dropped into almost any AFF Campaign with ease.

Requires the Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Ed RPG

The Floating Dungeon of Varrak Aslur (adventure) 

The town of Chalice is in danger from a very unexpected source: A Floating Dungeon!

This new self-contained adventure for Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Ed sends the Heroes into this unusual dungeon to stop the rain of undead overwhelming the Allansian town.  What could be up there and can the Heroes stop it?

Titan Wiki - Handy resource for AFF & FF fans. 

Blacksand without Lord Azzur

What would happen to Port Blacksand without the venerable Lord Azzur?  

Everyone knows that he leaves the port once in awhile to go off pirating.  But what if he died? From doing a bit of brief reading on Lord Azzur it seems he may have made a pact with a devil to stay alive.  That in itself could be a interesting adventure.  How do you take out Azzur?  It seems that he swore allegiance to the Night Prince Zanbar Bone , who is not a villain that you can just fight straight up.   Fighting him is a matter of choices and decisions.  (as per the lore). 

So to take out Lord Azzur, one must destroy Zanbar Bone first.  Of course Azzur would probably be aware of the death of the demon and make some precautions.

This alone could be a very interesting adventure. 

But what if all of that already happened?  What would happen to the "city of thieves"?

I think it would be an all out turf war.  Not akin to a excellent mafia movie.  Intrigue and death.  It seems that most of the thieves guild is organized into one main version, which is probably ruled indirectly by Lord Azzur in some form.  Obviously like in any criminal enterprise there are people who want to move up the ladder.  The death of Azzur would probably cause the entire guild to fold, and create mass chaos in Blacksand (not that there isn't already). 

The "heroes" could be out in the trenches fighting with rebel faction of the broken thieves guild.  Assassinations would be even more common place than they already are. 

At some point, there would be a break in to the palace.  Maybe the heroes would be met with Zanbar, or the lich version of Azzur?  I'm sure there would be more than one group of thieves wanting to get into the palace.

Who would be the important figures left over in the ashes of the thieves guild to rise up and start their own versions? 

Would the pirates just skip town? Would they join in.

The whole idea would be super interesting.  A already chaotic city thrown completely into the void. 

I hate to quote star wars but blacksand is Mos Eisley!  

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." "You don't need to see his identification."

The fall of thieves guild quest ideas: 

1.  Meet with a former higher up in the original guild to discuss plans for a take over of the city. 

2.  Return the body of Lord Azzur to Fire Island, meet with the shade of Zanbar to bring him back from the dead.  Then take the city back! 

3.  Assassinate all rival leaders and factions. 

4.  Spend time in the streets recruiting thieves to your own guild. 

5.  Infiltrate the palace

6.  Steal Lord Azzur's boat. 

I'm sure I will come up with a few more twists and tables. 

In the original adventure for AFF, there are plans to try and take back the city.  Source

Port Blacksand is at the centre of the plot of the role-playing game Advanced Fighting Fantasy set on the world of Titan. There, the evil wizard Xortan Throg, a descendant of the rulers of Carsepolis, strives to regain the domain of his ancestors by overthrowing Lord Azzur and taking over Port Blacksand (which "replaced" Carsepolis). He stroke and alliance with the corrupt prince of the city-state of Chalice to gain enough military strength to invade the City of Thieves, but was thwarted by a group of adventurers.

However, this defeat was just a setback for Xortan Throg, who was in fact based in the ruins of Carsepolis (the sewers of Port Blacksand) and preparing his attack from within. Throg was building an army of the local Fish Men and the dead city guards, which he raised from the grave, and stroke deals with pirates under Lord Azzur's nose.


But the adventurers did not give up on defeating the wizard. They ventured in Port Blacksand and, with help from Arakor Nicodemus, pursued him into the ruins of Carsepolis. They then stroke a deal with the ghost of the evil priest Sargon and following his advices, they obtained on a Crystal of Power in the sunken temple of the Ocean God Hydana. Xortan Throg confronted the adventurers and cast a Death Spell at them, only for the Crystal of Power to reflect it back at him and put an end to his ambitions.

I found a few links on Azzur, some of them cover the same material, but its worth a read if you are interested. 

http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Lord_Varek_Azzur

http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Varek_Azzur

http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Zanbar_Bone

http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lord_Azzur%27s_Palace

http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=211&Itemid=37

My first time

Had a good discussion with Ivan last night about fighting fantasy.  I started thinking about the first time I ever ran a game.  I remember playing 1st ed D&D with my cousin, and around the same time his brother was getting into AFF.  At the same time all of my friends where buying the green spined Fighting fantasy books.  I'm guessing at some point (birthday maybe?) I got a copy of dungeoneer and digested the whole thing over the course of a few days.  Obviously I had my 2 cousins as my first Dungeon Masters at this point.

Fast forward a month or so and it was my friend Ken's birthday.  We were all enthused about FF books, and were playing herosquest regularly.  So for Ken's birthday we decided to try out Dungeoneer.  I remember it being a good 6 hours of play, maybe more.  I was bagged by the end, but gawd it was fun!  We were at that age, where we would stay up all weekend playing Sega and Nintendo trying to beat games.  Drinking copious amounts of pop at the time.

The adventure in dungeoneer was a bit railroadey (but great for a novice DM... or referee).  Afterwards we got the group together and ran the adventure in blacksand, and then a bunch of extra adventures I wrote.  (after I got out of the pit).

If I remember correctly I think I had like 8 - 10 players that first game.  Which was way more than enough!  The only character I can remember specifically was my friend Ryan's thief, who had scares on his face, a pile of tattoos (blacksand had its fair share of tattoo parlours, and the boys had far too much gold I gave them).  As well his character walked around with a large sack with the ears of monsters he had defeated.

So as far as roots go, I think I'm squarely in the fighting fantasy area.  I still drool over some of the fantastic artwork that was in those books.

Stellar Adventures released on pdf

I'm stoked about this!  After a successful kickstarter Stellar Adventures has been released on pdf.   Stellar Adventures is based Advanced Fighting Fantasy, a role playing game set in space.  Written by +Graham Bottley and Johnathan Hicks. 

Here's the blurb. 

This standalone game will allow just about any type of SciFi adventures from soldiers in powered armour vs vicious alien monsters to the command crew of an imperial frontier explorer ship.  Small time traders moving between starports to space bounty hunters.  Dystopian robot hunters to rebels fighting against a corrupt government.

The core rules have all been planned out, and the first draft of several chapters have been written, but we would like interested KS backers to join the playtest of the game as soon as the campaign has finished.

The game has the same core rules as the fantasy version of AFF, but has new skills, talents, weapons, armour and rules.

The provisional Chapter list is:

     Chapter 1 - Hero Creation

     Chapter 2 - Game Rules

     Chapter 3 - Combat

     Chapter 4 - Equipment

     Chapter 5 - Robots

     Chapter 6 - Starships and Vehicles

     Chapter 7 - Psionics

     Chapter 8 - Aliens

     Chapter 9 - Trade and Organisations

     Chapter 10 - Setting Ideas

     Chapter 11 - Campaign Ideas

The book includes artwork from the original fighting fantasy game books: Rebel Planet, Star Strider and Robot Commando. 

You can grab the pdf on drivethru here: 

It appears that the print copies are in the works as per the kickstarter 

"I am uploading the print versions today and so hopefully should be in a position to order test copies in a week or so"

Also I just noticed that the "Starship Catalog" has also been released on pdf: go here. 

This supplement for the Stellar Adventures RPG provides statistics and descriptions of a wide range of starships, component modules and weapons.  Presented as a Dealer’s Catalogue, every item here for sale is fully illustrated and includes a sales pitch from one of our highly experienced and knowledgeable salespeople (or salesrobot). 

Included within you will find:

53 Starships

26 Modules

10 Weapon Classes

Considering how well the updated version of AFF2.0 was written, I'm sure this will once again be a great rpg system to run.  Graham stuck with the original concepts and rules and tweaked them to fix the leveling problems in the original version of the advanced game.  I remember fondly playing Star Strider & Robot Commando when I was kid, and enjoyed them thoroughly.  It never dawned on me to use the aff rules to play a sci fi game, partially because for whatever reason when it came to RPGs for me it was all about the "dragons, dungoeons, elves, etc".  

I'm curious to see how this book is in relation to the AFF rules, I'm sure having both in hand you could do some interesting stuff.  Just like gamma world, you could run a game with characters starting off in a medieval society, and then getting better technology.  Or the mashup I've been working towards, a Thundarr the barbarian game!  

I like the starship catalog, it's cool having some extra mini's for games.  If you haven't checked out some of Graham's mini's please do, they pretty awesome.  Here's the link http://www.arion-games.com/paperminis.php

Damn it I'm excited.