| Fighting Fantasy Gamebook | |
|---|---|
| Outline | |
| Location: | Allansia, Titan |
| References: | 400 |
| Publication Details | |
| Author(s): | Ian Livingstone |
| Illustrator(s): | Malcolm Barter (Puffin/Wizard versions) Vlado Krizan (Scholastic version) |
| Puffin | |
| |
| Cover illustrator: | Iain McCaig |
| First published: | March 31 1983 |
| Number | 3 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 0-14-031604-3 |
| Previous Book: | The Citadel of Chaos |
| Next Book: | Starship Traveller |
| Wizard (Series 1) | |
| |
| Cover illustrator: | Martin McKenna |
| First published: | June 3 2003 |
| Number | 8 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 1-84046-429-1 |
| Previous Book: | House of Hell |
| Next Book: | Sorcery! 1: The Shamutanti Hills |
| Wizard (Series 2) | |
| |
| Cover illustrator: | Martin McKenna |
| First published: | February 3 2011 |
| Number | 13 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 1-84831-221-0 |
| Previous Book: | Trial of Champions |
| Next Book: | Curse of the Mummy |
| Scholastic | |
| |
| Cover illustrator: | Robert M. Ball |
| First published: | September 7 2017 |
| Number | 4 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 1-40718-128-9 |
| Previous Book: | The Citadel of Chaos |
| Next Book: | House of Hell |
- For other uses of The Forest of Doom, see The Forest of Doom
The Forest of Doom is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Malcolm Barter and originally published in 1983 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003 and 2011 as Forest of Doom, and again in 2017 as The Forest of Doom by Scholastic Books with new illustrations by Vlado Krizan. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 3rd in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031604-3), 8th in the Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84046-429-1), 13th in "Series 2" (ISBN 1-84831-221-0), and 4th in the Scholastic series (ISBN 1-40718-128-9).
Creation[]
Background[]
“ Who knows what monstrous creatures lurk in Darkwood forest?
Only the foolhardy would risk an encounter with the unknown perils that lurk in the murky depths of Darkwood Forest. Yet there is no alternative, for your quest is a desperate race against time to find the missing pieces of the legendary Hammer of Stonebridge — fashioned by Dwarfs to protect the villagers of Stonebridge against their ancient doom.
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to make your journey. YOU decide which paths to take, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.” —The Forest of Doom - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)
This Fighting Fantasy gamebook is set in the usual fantasy world of Titan, in the Allansia region. The player must retrieve a magical warhammer for the Dwarfs of the village of Stonebridge. It has been separated into two pieces and lost in the depths of Darkwood Forest.
The player becomes involved when the Dwarf Bigleg stumbles into their camp-site, dying from wounds inflicted in the ambush that resulted in the loss of the warhammer. Bigleg's last words lead the player to look up Yaztromo and so the adventure begins.
How to Fight the Creatures of Darkwood Forest/Equipment and Potions/Hints on Play[]
- The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System).
- In the Wizard "Series 2" edition, instead of rolling the stats for a character as per tradition in Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, the player has the option of choosing a pregenerated character from three choices (see "Further Notes" below for choices).
Equipment List[1][]
- Sword
- Leather Armour
- Backpack
- Lantern
- 10 Provisions
- Choice of one of three Potions (see Game System for generic fantasy setting choices)
In the course of events in the "Background" the player obtains a map and 30 Gold Pieces.[2]
Cover and Illustrations[]
- Main article: The Forest of Doom (illustrations)
Covers[]
The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Iain McCaig. The first Puffin edition has the text "A PUFFIN ORIGINAL" in the bottom-left corner. In the first impression this is printed in black. In all subsequent impressions this text is white.
When the book was republished by Wizard in 2002 a new cover was designed and illustrated by Martin McKenna, who was asked by Ian Livingstone to recreate the Shape Changer of the original cover. The 2011 edition makes use of a section of the previous edition's cover art, although in this case the cropped art has been flipped.
The 2017 edition featured a new cover by Robert M. Ball.
| 1983 | 1984 | 1987 | 1989 | 1990 | 1993 |
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| Colour Star | Adventure Gamebooks |
Dragon ver.I | Dragon ver.II | Dragon ver.III | Dragon ver.IV |
| £1.251 | £1.502 | £2.253 | £2.254 | £2.995 | £3.996 |
| 2002 | 2002 | 2011 | 2017 | 2018 | |
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| Wizard Special |
Wizard | Wizard Shield |
Scholastic Full |
Scholastic Circle | |
| £4.99 | £4.99 | £5.99 | £6.99 | £6.99 | |
NOTES
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Illustrations[]
Puffin/Wizard Editions[]
The interior illustrations, including the black and white map as part of the "Background", were by Malcolm Barter. There were 33 full page illustrations and 3 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: Background, 1, 15, 29, 38, 49, 57, 69, 90, 99, 107, 118, 130, 142, 160, 170, 181, 195, 204, 212, 230, 253, 265, 277, 285, 294, 317, 340, 351, 360, 378, 384 and 396. Additionally, one piece of text - instructions for the use of the Eye of Amber - was presented in a drawing of a piece of parchment (91).
The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving the number of the paragraph depicted and a short extract from the text, a format which was only used in the two previous books, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and The Citadel of Chaos.
Scholastic Edition[]
The interior illustrations were by Vlado Krizan. The map in the "Background" is replaced by a section from the larger map of Allansia by Leo Hartas (printed in full on pages 4-5) and the Eye of Amber instructions have no surrounding drawing. There were 21 full page illustrations and 7 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 15, 29, 49, 57, 90, 107, 142, 160, 170, 181, 212, 230, 253, 265, 277, 285, 303† and 360. The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving a short extract from the text.
NOTES
† This reference is newly illustrated, the Puffin/Wizard versions not having an equivalent piece of artwork.
Intertextual References[]
The book introduced several characters and locations that would recur later in the series, including the wizard Gereth Yaztromo, the Dwarven village of Stonebridge and the Evil Darkwood Forest.
Prequels and Sequels[]
Chronologically, the book can be considered the sequel to Caverns of the Snow Witch and - depending on the reader's interpretation - the prequel to Temple of Terror.
Other Media[]
Computer Games[]
- Main article: The Forest of Doom (computer game)
Videogame versions of the book were released in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
- Main article: The Forest of Doom (mobile game)
An iOS/Android conversion of the book was produced by Tin Man Games and released in 2013.
Tourist Venture[]
- Main article: Forest of Doom Holidays
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This venture was run by Dolphin and Colony Holidays in 1985, offering real life adventures in the forests of Oxford and Edinburgh.[3]
Ornament[]
- Main article: The Shape Changer (figurine)
Clarecraft made a figurine called The Shape Changer, based on the cover from The Forest of Doom, and another called Gillibran Lord Of The Dwarfs. Both were released in 1986 (re-released in 2004), as part of an officially licensed series of Fighting Fantasy Ornaments.
d20 System Conversion[]
- Main article: Forest of Doom (d20)
There is a D20 System conversion by Myriador called Forest of Doom.
Fighting Fantasy Audio Dramas[]
- Main article: The Forest of Doom: Lost in Darkwood
An audio drama inspired by the book and released in 2018.
Main Characters[]
YOU: Hero of The Forest of Doom
- Arragon
- Bigleg - Dwarf
- Gereth Yaztromo - Wizard
- Gnome - Gnome
- King Gillibran - Dwarf
- Trumble - Dwarf
- Quin - Human arm wrestler
Locations[]
Encounters[]
- Ape Man
- Barbarian
- Bear
- Blood Eel
- Boulder Beast
- Catwoman
- Cave Troll
- Clone Warriors
- Death Hawks
- Dwarf
- Fire Demon
- Fish Man
- Forest Giant
- Ghoul
- Giant Spider
- Goblins
- Gremlins
- Hobgoblins
- Humans - Bandits/Masked Man
- Hunting Dogs
- Killer Bees
- Ogre
- Orcs
- Pterodactyl
- Pygmies
- Shape Changer
- Sting Worm
- Treeman
- Vampire Bats
- Werewolf
- Wild Boar
- Wild Hill Men
- Wolves
- Wyvern
Other Creatures of Note[]
Further Notes[]
- 3 instant failures, 1 victory, plus death by stamina loss or bad luck.
- Ian Livingstone sources both his favourite character from the Fighting Fantasy books (Gereth Yaztromo)[4] and his favourite monster (the Shape Changer)[5] from this book.
- This was Ian's first full-length gamebook as sole author.
Series 2 Additions[]
- Pre-generated player characters: Helios Wardalus, Gorrin Silverblade, and Ophelia Lapwing
- 11 paragraphs from Curse of the Mummy
Errors[]
- If the player has not retrieved the hammer by the end of the book it is possible to retrace their steps and try again an indefinite number of times, which can introduce absurdities as set-pieces are reset.
- The pre-generated character Helios Wardalus starts with Luck 6, while the minimal possible starting value is 7.
- Some of the rules are incorrectly printed in the Wizard Books version of the book due to text being copied from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain:
- The rules state that Provisions can only be eaten when instructed by the text, which is not the case.
- The book also incorrectly states that the player has two doses of their chosen Potion at the beginning of the book, when in fact they have only one. (This seems to have been fixed in the Wizard Shield edition)
- The rules also omit the paragraph on fighting more than one enemy. This can cause confusion since, unlike most Fighting Fantasy books, you aren't always told what to do when you face more than one enemy in the text and are reliant on the rules.
- The map in the Scholastic edition mis-spells Salamonis as "Salamons".
Dedication[]
Puffin Edition[]
For Liz and Carol[6]
Wizard Edition[]
For Daniel[7]
Scholastic Edition[]
none
See Also[]
Reviews[]
- Reviewed in White Dwarf 42 (June 1983), "Open Box" (pg.16-17)
External Links[]
- Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26
- Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org - Retrieved 2019-10-26
- Fighting Fantasy (Wizard Series 1) at Gamebooks.org - Retrieved 2019-10-26
- Fighting Fantasy (Wizard Series 2) at Gamebooks.org - Retrieved 2019-10-26
- The Forest of Doom at Gamebooks.org - Retrieved 2019-10-26
- The Forest of Doom at the Internet Archive record of the old Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26
References[]
- ↑ The Forest of Doom - pg.16
- ↑ The Forest of Doom - pg.23
- ↑ 25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - pg.???
- ↑ 25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - pg.224
- ↑ 25th Anniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - pg.221
- ↑ The Forest of Doom - pg.5
- ↑ The Forest of Doom - pg.5