Post by Lord Huthor on Jan 20, 2015 17:23:17 GMT
For a lot of people (self included), the gateway into D&D and most RPG's was playing through solo game books like Fighting Fantasy. Was a great way to kill an afternoon, and beat the hell out of Choose Your Own Adventure books, as you actually got to kill shit, accumulate interesting items, and generally ....have an adventure.
At some point, it was decided to release Fighting Fantasy into a group-based game instead, and the 'Advanced Fighting Fantasy' line was released.
Was a great system for it's time - retained all the feel of the Fighting Fantasy solo game books, but with more in-depth rules and free-form (and classless) character creation.
I found out recently that this has been re-released as a second edition It incorporates everything from the original version, but cleaned-up, revised, and a ton of new things added. All the complexity of any conventional RPG is possible, but in a format so user friendly that anyone can pick it up in no time.
Just gotten through reading the 2E Core Rulebook (which is a combination of elements of the original core rulebook and parts of the original "Blacksand" rulebook), and I'm highly impressed. The ease of putting together almost any conceivable character type and/or adventure is really appreciated after the years of tedious rules-wading/interpreting of other systems. And again - any level of complexity is possible to build into the game due to the simplicity of the base mechanics.
The key thing? YOU ONLY NEED ONE FUCKING BOOK. And it's not thick enough to choke a hippo, poorly organized, or full of crap you need to be a computer to memorize.
There are other books, but all of them are optional. The complete list for second edition is:
Advanced Fighting Fantasy - The Roleplaying Game (Core Rulebook)
Blacksand (City Expansion)
Hero's Companion (material that in first edition was in the book 'Allansia - ie: massed army battles, wilderness construction, etc).
Titan (World Source Book)
Out of the Pit (250 monsters)
Beyond Out of the Pit (yet more monsters)
If you're tired of the usual tedious crap, time wasting, and onerous set-up periods involved in RPG's, you really need to check this out.
At some point, it was decided to release Fighting Fantasy into a group-based game instead, and the 'Advanced Fighting Fantasy' line was released.
Was a great system for it's time - retained all the feel of the Fighting Fantasy solo game books, but with more in-depth rules and free-form (and classless) character creation.
I found out recently that this has been re-released as a second edition It incorporates everything from the original version, but cleaned-up, revised, and a ton of new things added. All the complexity of any conventional RPG is possible, but in a format so user friendly that anyone can pick it up in no time.
Just gotten through reading the 2E Core Rulebook (which is a combination of elements of the original core rulebook and parts of the original "Blacksand" rulebook), and I'm highly impressed. The ease of putting together almost any conceivable character type and/or adventure is really appreciated after the years of tedious rules-wading/interpreting of other systems. And again - any level of complexity is possible to build into the game due to the simplicity of the base mechanics.
The key thing? YOU ONLY NEED ONE FUCKING BOOK. And it's not thick enough to choke a hippo, poorly organized, or full of crap you need to be a computer to memorize.
There are other books, but all of them are optional. The complete list for second edition is:
Advanced Fighting Fantasy - The Roleplaying Game (Core Rulebook)
Blacksand (City Expansion)
Hero's Companion (material that in first edition was in the book 'Allansia - ie: massed army battles, wilderness construction, etc).
Titan (World Source Book)
Out of the Pit (250 monsters)
Beyond Out of the Pit (yet more monsters)
If you're tired of the usual tedious crap, time wasting, and onerous set-up periods involved in RPG's, you really need to check this out.