| Other Related Book | |
|---|---|
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| Outline | |
| Location | Allansia |
| Publication Details | |
| Author(s) | Ian Livingstone |
| Illustrator | Russ Nicholson |
| Publisher | Routledge & Kegan Paul |
| Other Details | |
| Cover illustrator | none |
| First published | October 28 1982 |
| Number | none |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7100-9466-3 |
| Reprint | |
Dicing with Dragons was a book written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. It was published in 1982 (ISBN 0-7100-9466-3) by Routledge & Kegan Paul and contained the short adventure Eye of the Dragon as the first entry in Livingstone's planned Fantasy Quest series.
Creation[]
Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson were initially supposed to write a technical RPG manual for Puffin Books instead of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain but didn't, yet this book is quite clearly half of that very "RPG for Dummies"-style book (the other half would be Jacksons's Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game book). Puffin subsequently published their own What is Dungeons and Dragons? by the writers of the Cretan Chronicles series.
Background[]
“ Would you like to live in a world where Dragons breath fire, and where magic really works? Or travel in a spaceship to distant planets, with aliens and robots as friends? You can, in a role-playing game!
This is the indispensable handbook for a new worldwide craze. It tells you about a type of game in which you play the role of adventurer, wizard, elf or starship pilot. Your adventure depends on your own decisions in the face of unforeseen perils. Each game is a quest : you play it with friends, but you are not competing with them – just with the monsters who may attack you! This is the most authoritative book about role-playing games, packed with information, and fun to read. Welcome to endless adventuring!
FEATURES INCLUDE
- Eye of the Dragon: an introductory game specially designed for this book. You can play it by yourself or with a friend to give you the flavour of role-playing.
- How to play current bestsellers.
- A full listing of all the games and accessories you can collect – including ready-to-play adventures, metal minatures and magazines.
- How to create your own game.
- How to play games on computers.
- An Appendix giving all the information you might need about where to get the games and accessories.
” —Dicing with Dragons - Back Cover (1982 Edition)
Contents[]
Eye of the Dragon[]
- Main article: Eye of the Dragon (mini-ff)
The first and only adventure in Livingstone's Fantasy Quest line, and the adventure he would revise for Wizard Books many years later. It has 134 paragraphs and 25 illustrations by Russ Nicholson. The pictures are intriguing for two further reasons: Martin McKenna obviously used them as reference for his own illustrations for the Wizard version of this book, and they also serve as a counterpoint for Nicholson's pictures in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain which came out at roughly the same time.
Covers and Illustrations[]
Covers[]
The cover was photographic.
| 1982 | 1983 | ???? | 1986 |
|
 |
 |
|
| Routledge & Kegan Paul |
Plume (1st US Edition) |
Plume (2nd US Edition) |
Signet (US) |
| £3.951 | US$X.xx | US$X.xx | US$X.xx |
NOTES
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Illustrations[]
The interior illustrations were by Russ Nicholson.
Further Notes[]
- Marc Gascoigne is listed as an editor of a fanzine called Dragon Lords (this fanzine is also mentioned in What is Dungeons and Dragons?).
See Also[]
Reviews[]
- Reviewed in White Dwarf 38 (February 1983), "Open Box" (pg.13)
External Links[]
- Dicing with Dragons at Gamebooks.org - Retrieved 2019-11-01