The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is on Kickstarter!

Exciting news, Fighting Fantasy fans... It's here at last!

That's right, Tin Man Games' Kickstarter to complete work on The Warlock of Firetop Mountain* is now live, and in under 24 hours has already raised almost half its funding target of $15,000AUD.

I'm sure you'll agree that that's an amazing achievement and if you are a fan of Fighting Fantasy, RPGs, or Tin Man Games' previous gamebook apps, then you will want to be a part of this! 

Rewards on offer include having your name appear in the credits, unique digital miniatures to use in the game (which also unlock additional content and story), and even having your name appear on the wall in Zagor's crypt!

So click this link and be a part of this project! And may your STAMINA never fail!

* I might have had my own small part to play in this project.

Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need

Look what arrived today...

Hope you like the colour. ;-)

News for Ghouls, and Ian Livingstone takes a look

Those good people who backed the original YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter at the Ghoul level, or above, have just received a link to a survey whereby they can select the art prints that are part of their reward. If that's you - check your email inbox now!

In other news, here's a picture of Ian Livingstone taking a look at the latest draft of the YOU ARE THE HERO layout. A few tweaks are still to be made, but then hopefully we'll be good to go for publication...

An important message for the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter backers

It's almost the end of another month and it's time for another YOU ARE THE HERO update.

First and foremost, if you were one of the wonderful people who backed the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter (even if you were a little late to the party) please check the attached image carefully. (You will also find it uploaded to the YOU ARE THE HERO Facebook page.)

This is the list of people who backed the project at the CYCLOPS level or above, thereby earning the right to have their names appear in the back of the book as a thank you for their support. I would appreciate it if you could check that the dedication you requested appears on the list and, secondly, that everything is spelt correctly*. (Remember, if you pledged at the TROLL level or below, your name will not be on this list.)

If everything is fine, you do not need to do anything. If you think you have found an error, please let me know a.s.a.p. by emailing me at info@jonathangreenauthor.com. Do not reply to this post or post on the Facebook page; I will need a direct email, or your notification may get missed.

You have until 6.00pm GMT on Friday 7 March 2014 to inform me of any corrections that need to be made. After that, the text will be passed on to the publisher and it will be too late to make any changes.

Thank you for your assistance with this.

In other news, what I'm hoping will prove to be the final draft of the manuscript is being sent off to proof-readers today, as well as Messrs Jackson and Livingstone. Images are being collated for the book and I hope that the laying out of this magnum opus will begin very soon.

It's getting there, slowly, but it's getting there, and I thank you once again for your patience.

* I spotted one mistake this morning, caused by someone mistyping their name in the Rewards survey, so please do check extra carefully as this could have happened to you too.

In other news...

... these came in the post today. :-)

Rewards of the Spider God

Good news! If you pledged to receive the SPIDER level reward for YOU ARE THE HERO you should now have received your desktop Gamebook Adventures!

They've been a while coming, but you're going to love how these games look on your desktop, not to mention the fun you'll have playing them. In fact the experience will probably take many of you back about 30 years!

(As is always the way, if any of you have not received Gamebook Adventures 1-7 for your Mac or PC and think you should have done, drop me a line and I'll get it sorted for you. It won't have been Tin Man Games' fault - it will have been a clerical error on my part.)

It just remains for me to say a huge THANK YOU to Neil Rennison and Ben Britten Smith of Tin Man Games who so generously offered this reward in the first place and sent out the codes. And once you've played through GA 1-7 you should really check out their new app versions of a certain gamebook series from the '80s too. ;-)

May you always roll sixes!

Work continues apace on YOU ARE THE HERO...

YOU ARE THE HERO custom dice

The Adventurer’s Gaming Sets (that come with the WEREWOLF reward level and above) will include a pair of custom-made YOU ARE THE HERO dice. I am ready to commission these dice, but I have a question for you all...

The dice will have five normal faces and one featuring the YOU ARE THE HERO shield logo.

The question is, should the logo replace the 1 spot (as it is one shape itself) or the 6 spot (as, generally, YOU ARE THE HERO if you roll a 6)?

To have your say, regarding which face should be replaced by the YOU ARE THE HEROshield, head over to the YOU ARE THE HERO Facebook page by clicking this link and vote on the poll that's been posted there.

You only have until midnight (BST) on Sunday 16/Monday 17 June to have your say! Vote now!

Brand New Artwork!

This week, Russ Nicholson sent me a brand new image of Zagor the Warlock, and I thought you might like to see it.

This is the piece I commissioned for YOU ARE THE HERO. It will appear in the book and is also one of the images Ghoul level backers can choose as their reward.

The Warlocks gather...

Today, the Warlock level backers gathered in Wimbledon, to have lunch with Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.

Steve Jackson, Andy, Liren, Ian Livingstone, Steven, Thomas, and Jonathan Green.

The Warlocks (also known as Andy, Liren, Steven and Thomas) met at the offices of Eidos/Square Enix where they were able to get books signed by Steve and Ian. They also received a few extra gifts from their idols (including signed FF gamebooks).

Steven with just a few items from his extensive Fighting Fantasy collection.

Steve Jackson and Thomas, the Warlock of Denmark.

Andy, Steven and Steve Jackson consider the intricacies of the solution to The Tasks of Tantalon.

 

Steve and Ian were very impressed with the distances people had travelled for today's lunch. Andy had come from Hampshire and Steven from Hastings, but Thomas had flown in from Denmark especially, while Liren had come over from Taiwan!

Liren, the furthest travelled Warlock, with Ian and Steve, and the book that started it all.

The party then headed to a local restaurant for lunch, where many questions were asked, stories were told, and toasts were made (one to Fighting Fantasy, of course). Topics under discussion included the solution to The Tasks of Tantalon, the design of the Maze of Zagor, one backer's desire not to drink wine in case he ended up on a slave galley on the seas of Titan, using the Res spell from Sorcery! to ensure that we would all be around to celebrate FF's 60th anniversary in another 30 years, hanging out in Port Blacksand, favourite FF artists (all of whom have work appearing in YOU ARE THE HERO), favourite gamebooks, F.I.S.T. (a telephone RPG), and Steve Jackson's favourite games. Steve even wowed us with his own sorcerous trick involving a knife.

The Warlocks, along with Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, celebrate 30 years of Fighting Fantasy over lunch (not at the Black Lobster in Port Blacksand, unfortunately).

All that remains for me to say is thank you to Steve and Ian for giving up their time so that the lunch could happen, and to the Warlocks themselves for their support and their company this afternoon. I had a great time and it certainly inspired me to keep plugging away at the book...

Mark Stoneham's Gamebook Companion App

When I was running the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter at the end of last year, Mark Stoneham got in touch and very generously offered codes for his Gamebook Companion iOS App for the COMPANION reward level.

This was very well-received and all the COMPANION rewards got snapped up very quickly. But if you missed out on one of these, you can still download the app (for a frankly embarrassingly cheap 69p) from here.

Happy gaming!

YOU ARE THE HERO Art Prints

If you pledged your support to the YOU ARE THE HERO Kickstarter at the GHOUL reward level or above, then you will be receiving one print - or maybe more, depending on how much you pledged - of a piece of artwork by one of these fabulous Fighting Fantasy artists.

Russ Nicholson

 

Iain McCaig

 

Martin McKenna

 

Tony Hough

Iain's print is of the Dwarf Trialmaster from Ian Livingstone's Deathtrap Dungeon.

Tony's print is of the still undead pirate captain Cinnabar from Bloobones.

However, Martin's and Russ's prints are going to of brand new artwork that is being commissioned for YOU ARE THE HERO, the definitive history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks. Martin's artwork will form the cover of the book, while Russ's illustration will be in his classic Fighting Fantasy style and will appear inside.

I realise that it's hard ordering a print you've never seen - even if you are a massive fan of Martin's or Russ's artwork - so the survey will give you the option of not deciding yet and once the artwork's done, you can make your choice then, at a later date.

So, backers, keep an eye on your email inboxes...