The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is 39!

[Tantavalist]

Maelstrom! And the old Robin of Sherwood gamebook- two of the most 80s UK geek things ever rolled into one.

It's actually frightening how much of that matches my own shelves back then. I lacked that Ninja series and your Lone Wolf series is more complete, but I don't see Grail Quest or the Cretan Chronicles there...

 

[dbm]

I don't see Grail Quest or the Cretan Chronicles there...

A friend had Grail Quest, and I played a couple of those. Never even heard of Cretan Chronicles!

 

[Undrave]

Damn. The memories.

The book's status as a bestseller and a generally dismissive attitude to these books meant it appeared on a young children's school book club catalogue when I was seven. The picture on the front caught my eye and that's the one I asked my parents to get me.

I recall having nightmares from it- and laying awake shivering in silence because I was even more afraid (probably correctly) that if my mother found out she'd take away the book that gave me those nightmares. I stuck with it, and with Citadel of Chaos and Forest of Doom when they came out.

Years later, at the ripe old age of ten, I would buy Dragon Warriors in the mistaken belief they were more solo gamebooks and thus graduated to real RPGs.

Oooh! I also encounter Dragon Warriors in the same pocket size! I would borrow it at the library (I lived next door to it back then) and eventually made photocopies of the important stuff.

A friend had Grail Quest, and I played a couple of those. Never even heard of Cretan Chronicles!

There was a boatload of series. I remember one where the books came in pair so you and a friend could play two sides of the same story! I also played one book of a series called 'Metamorphosis' I think? The main characters gets transported to another world by a mystical artefact that also grants them the power to turn into different creatures but you don't actually control it... it was odd, but also kind cool. I don't remember how it worked or if there was more than one volume

 

[Catolias]

Wow! I have a handful of my FF books left and the Titan book (which I have thought about converting to D&D/PF2e).

Warlock was a favourite, but so too was Creature of Havoc (#24), caverns of the snow witch (#9), Deathtrap Dungeon (#6) and its sequel Trial of Champions (#21)

I read a few years ago that there mysterious #60 is out there somewhere…

 

[Tantavalist]

Never even heard of Cretan Chronicles!

It was a trilogy of gamebooks set in the age of Greek Myth. The idea was that in this version of legend Theseus died before slaying the Minotaur and his fictional younger brother Altheus (the reader) has to take up the quest.

They were very well written by people who'd really done their homework on the myths and the period.

 

[dbm]

I remember one where the books came in pair so you and a friend could play two sides of the same story!

I have a couple of different examples of that:

The Princes game was pretty good; the Duel Masters was a bit weaker.

 

[Tantavalist]

Duel Masters wasn't as good, but it had the exact same Colour Magic split that Magic the Gathering uses. In a book that came out years before Magic was a thing. Clearly someone thought there was at least one idea worth stealing from the books.

 

[Undrave]

I have a couple of different examples of that:

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The Princes game was pretty good; the Duel Masters was a bit weaker.

I looked into it and it was the 'Double Game' series, where the French editor also added the Clash of the Princes book to make six of them. Releasing the Clash of the Princes duology as 'Lothar the Sorcerer' and 'Clovis the Warrior'

The French covers were very evocative and I was always curious about them but never played them.

the French edition at the time all had this uniformed look with the full page art, the little spiel at the top and the collection icon at the bottom. Each of the collection had its own unique icon to made them easy to differentiate at a glance.

The classc series of stand-alone stories, of which Warlock of Firetop Mountain is part of, is represented by the sword and shield icon (even when it's a sci-fi story). Also, turns out Metamorphosis was a French language original, alongside 'Defis et Sortilèges'.

Duel Masters wasn't as good, but it had the exact same Colour Magic split that Magic the Gathering uses. In a book that came out years before Magic was a thing. Clearly someone thought there was at least one idea worth stealing from the books.

Then years later WOTC created the TCG 'Duel Masters' as a sort of 'Simplified Magic for Kids'... It's all circular!

 

[darjr]

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Combined

“You have in your possession a sword and a shield together with a rucksack containing provisions (food and drink) for the trip. You have been preparing for your quest by training yourself in swordp…

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[Yaztromo]

I can't find my copy of Titan.

It is still currently published by Arion Games.