Fabled Lands is a series of fantasy gamebooks written by established gamebook authors Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson and published by Pan Books, a division of Macmillan in the mid 1990s. Cover art was by Kevin Jenkins with Russ Nicholson and Arun Pottier providing maps and illustrations.
122-451: Originally planned as a twelve-book series, only six were released between 1995 and 1996 before the series was cancelled. The first two books were also printed under the name Quest in the U.S. by publishers Price Stern Sloan. A Kickstarter campaign was launched in 2015 in order to fund the production of a seventh book, which reached its base target within 45 minutes. The Fabled Lands books deviated from other mainstream gamebooks (such as
244-400: A standard , expresses a dice roll as n d s or n D s , where n is the number of dice rolled and s is the number of sides on each die; if only one die is rolled, n is normally not shown. For example, d4 denotes one four-sided die; 6d8 means the player should roll six eight-sided dice and sum the results. The notation also allows for adding or subtracting a constant amount c to
366-404: A book under the name of The Magic Quest to Puffin which Puffin agreed to publish. Having spent six more months developing the concept it was published under the name of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in 1982. Another notable UK gamebook series is Lone Wolf , developed by Joe Dever in 1984. Like Fighting Fantasy , the writer was an experienced Dungeons & Dragons player who developed
488-423: A channel to distribute solitaire adventures, with both free and commercial adventures made available as electronic documents. Adventure gamebooks incorporate elements from Choose Your Own Adventure books and role-playing solitaire adventures. The books involve a branching path format in order to move between sections of text, but the reader creates a character as in a role-playing game, and resolves actions using
610-415: A counting sequence starting at one. One variation on the standard die is known as the "average" die. These are six-sided dice with sides numbered 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5 , which have the same arithmetic mean as a standard die (3.5 for a single die, 7 for a pair of dice), but have a narrower range of possible values (2 through 5 for one, 4 through 10 for a pair). They are used in some table-top wargames , where
732-437: A different way. On some four-sided dice, each face features multiple numbers, with the same number printed near each vertex on all sides. In this case, the number around the vertex pointing up is used. Alternatively, the numbers on a tetrahedral die can be placed at the middle of the edges, in which case the numbers around the base are used. Normally, the faces on a die will be placed so opposite faces will add up to one more than
854-454: A dragon or defeating three samurai in unarmed combat (the book will tell the player when they can increase in Rank). The player can carry up to 12 possessions, which are marked in bold text (e.g. "gold compass"). Some items give ability bonuses - for example, an "amber wand (MAGIC +1)" or a set of "splint armour (DEFENCE + 4)". The player can carry unlimited amounts of cash. The series feature
976-417: A game-system. Unlike role-playing solitaire adventures, adventure gamebooks include all the rules needed for play in each book. Adventure gamebooks are usually not divided into numbered pages, but rather into numbered sections of text, so that several sections may fit in a single page, or a single section can span several pages. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982, the first of what became
1098-407: A method by which dice can be used to generate passphrases . Diceware is a method recommended for generating secure but memorable passphrases, by repeatedly rolling five dice and picking the corresponding word from a pre-generated list. In many gaming contexts, especially tabletop role-playing games, shorthand notations representing different dice rolls are used. A very common notation, considered
1220-542: A murderer on behalf of his victim's ghost, finding the key of stars to gain access to a treasure filled tomb in the Forest of the Forsaken and making a map of the northern mountains. The quests in the second book have a more whimsical, fairy tale nature to them than those in the first book. This gives Golnir a very strong Merry England atmosphere. 786 sections, ISBN 0-330-33615-0 Swashbuckling adventure on
1342-435: A narrower range of numbers is required. Other numbered variations include Sicherman dice and intransitive dice . A die can be constructed in the shape of a sphere, with the addition of an internal cavity in the shape of the dual polyhedron of the desired die shape and an internal weight. The weight will settle in one of the points of the internal cavity, causing it to settle with one of the numbers uppermost. For instance,
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#17327724968831464-644: A number of smaller quests, which can help the player increase their personal might, status and wealth. Many of these, however, are profession-specific: In the War-Torn Kingdom , for instance, only a Wayfarer will get the Chief Druid's mission on the Druid's Isle, while in The Plains of Howling Darkness only a Rogue may claim the title of 'Nightstalker'. Sokara, a nation at war with itself Set in
1586-475: A paint of the same density as the material used for the dice, such that the center of gravity of the dice is as close to the geometric center as possible. This mitigates concerns that the pips will cause a small bias. All such dice are stamped with a serial number to prevent potential cheaters from substituting a die. Precision backgammon dice are made the same way; they tend to be slightly smaller and have rounded corners and edges, to allow better movement inside
1708-515: A pair of boxcars on a freight train. Many rolls have names in the game of craps . Using Unicode characters, the faces can be shown in text using the range U+2680 to U+2685 or using decimal ⚀ to ⚅ , and the emoji using U+1F3B2 or 🎲 from the Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block. A loaded, weighted, cheat, or crooked die is one that has been tampered with so that it will land with
1830-400: A paragraph or two. These are not intended to be read in order. Instead, at the end of a text section, the reader is typically given a choice of narrative branches that they may follow. Each branch contains a reference to the number of the paragraph or page that should be read next if that branch is chosen (e.g. to go north turn to section 98). The narrative thus does not progress linearly through
1952-494: A random integer from one to six on its upper surface, with each value being equally likely. Dice may also have polyhedral or irregular shapes, may have faces marked with numerals or symbols instead of pips and may have their numbers carved out from the material of the dice instead of marked on it. Loaded dice are specifically designed or modified to favor some results over others for cheating or entertainment. Dice have been used since before recorded history, and their origin
2074-510: A revolution is occurring. The self-proclaimed Shogun Yoritomo has declared himself in charge of the eastern seaboard, while the young Imperial Sovereign Takakura rules the country nominally, with real power being in the hands of the chancellor, Lord Kiyomori, who remains in control of the western seaboard. The country is on the brink of a civil war (like Japan during the Genpei War to which the names "Yoritomo" and "Kiyomori" allude). Although
2196-623: A single six-sided die yields a uniform distribution, where each number from 1 to 6 has an equal chance of appearing. However, when rolling two dice and summing the results, the probability distribution shifts, as some sums (like 7) become more likely than others (like 2 or 12). These distributions can model real-world scenarios or mathematical constructs, making dice a practical tool for teaching and exploring concepts in probability theory. Common dice are small cubes , most often 1.6 cm (0.63 in) across, whose faces are numbered from one to six, usually by patterns of round dots called pips . (While
2318-454: A specific side facing upwards more often or less often than a fair die would. There are several methods for making loaded dice, including rounded faces, off-square faces, and weights. Casinos and gambling halls frequently use transparent cellulose acetate dice, as tampering is easier to detect than with opaque dice. Various shapes such as two-sided or four-sided dice are documented in archaeological findings; for example, from Ancient Egypt and
2440-405: A sphere with an octahedral cavity and a small internal weight will settle with one of the 6 points of the cavity held downwards by the weight. Many board games use dice to randomize how far pieces move or to settle conflicts. Typically, this has meant that rolling higher numbers is better. Some games, such as Axis & Allies , have inverted this system by making the lower values more potent. In
2562-540: A story with multiple paths for the reader to follow. Programmed learning materials have been recognized as an early influence on the development of branching path books. This learning method was first applied in the TutorText series of interactive textbooks, published from the late 1950s up until the early 1970s. These books present the reader with a series of problems related to a particular area of study, allowing him or her to choose among several possible answers. If
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#17327724968832684-472: A trial, is unusual in that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury and deliver a verdict, which then influences the play's ending: guilty or not guilty. Also quite early on, the possibility of having stories branching out into several different paths was suggested by Jorge Luis Borges in his short story " An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain " (1941). This story features an author whose novel
2806-403: A variety of probability distributions . For instance, 10-sided dice can be rolled in pairs to produce a uniform distribution of random percentages, and summing the values of multiple dice will produce approximations to normal distributions . Unlike other common dice, a four-sided (tetrahedral) die does not have a side that faces upward when it is at rest on a surface, so it must be read in
2928-481: A well-known writer of erotica. Solitaire adventures were a parallel development. This type of book is intended to allow a single person to use the rules of a role-playing game to experience an adventure without need of a referee. The first role-playing game solitaire adventures to be published were those using the Tunnels & Trolls system, beginning with the book Buffalo Castle in 1976, making Tunnels & Trolls
3050-475: Is craps , where two dice are thrown simultaneously and wagers are made on the total value of the two dice. Dice are frequently used to introduce randomness into board games , where they are often used to decide the distance through which a piece will move along the board (as in backgammon and Monopoly ). Thrown or simulated dice are sometimes used to generate specific probability distributions, which are fundamental to probability theory . For example, rolling
3172-428: Is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values , commonly as part of tabletop games , including dice games , board games , role-playing games , and games of chance . A traditional die is a cube with each of its six faces marked with a different number of dots ( pips ) from one to six. When thrown or rolled, the die comes to rest showing
3294-457: Is a three-part story containing two branch points, and with nine possible endings. Another story by Borges, titled " The Garden of Forking Paths " (1941), also describes a book with a maze-like narrative, which may have inspired the gamebook form. The children's book Treasure Hunt , published in 1945 in Britain under the name of "Alan George" (probably a pseudonym), is another early example of
3416-548: Is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not follow paragraphs in a linear or ordered fashion. Gamebooks are sometimes called choose your own adventure books or CYOA after the influential Choose Your Own Adventure series originally published by US company Bantam Books . Gamebooks influenced hypertext fiction . Production of new gamebooks in
3538-492: Is called "left-handed". Western dice are normally right-handed, and Chinese dice are normally left-handed. The pips on standard six-sided dice are arranged in specific patterns as shown. Asian style dice bear similar patterns to Western ones, but the pips are closer to the center of the face; in addition, the pips are differently sized on Asian style dice, and the pips are colored red on the 1 and 4 sides. Red fours may be of Indian origin. Non-precision dice are manufactured via
3660-485: Is determined by their chosen profession. There are six different professions to choose from: Warrior , Mage , Priest , Rogue , Troubadour and Wayfarer (a wandering traveller, most similar to Rangers in other fantasy systems). Each profession is proficient or weak in different abilities; for example, Priests have high SANCTITY but low COMBAT scores, and Wayfarers have high SCOUTING but low CHARISMA scores. The player has opportunities to increase these abilities throughout
3782-714: Is frequently used. Astrological dice are a specialized set of three 12-sided dice for divination; the first die represents the planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the nodes of the Moon, the second die represents the 12 zodiac signs , and the third represents the 12 houses . A specialized icosahedron die provides the answers of the Magic 8 Ball , conventionally used to provide answers to yes-or-no questions. Dice can be used to generate random numbers for use in passwords and cryptography applications. The Electronic Frontier Foundation describes
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3904-646: Is given when they begin playing, and can be increased by going up in Rank (which gives them 1d6 Stamina). The player's starting Rank is equal to the number of the book they begin in (e.g. a player starting in The War-Torn Kingdom begins at 1st Rank, while a player starting in Lords of the Rising Sun begins at 6th Rank). The player can increase Rank by performing extremely difficult tasks, such as slaying
4026-511: Is seemingly no end to the adventures that you can have in this fantasy world." Steve Faragher reviewed the Fabled Lands series for Arcane magazine, rating it a 5 out of 10 overall. Faragher comments that "All in all, these books represent a pleasant but ultimately unchallenging diversion for younger players. A better option would be to get someone older to run a simple AD&D game." Byron Alexander Campbell of Entropy magazine gave
4148-459: Is similar to backgammon and dates to the Heian period (794–1185 CE), while e-sugoroku is a racing game . Dice are thrown onto a surface either from the hand or from a container designed for this (such as a cup, tray, or tower ). The face (or corner, in cases such as tetrahedral dice, or edge, for odd-numbered long dice ) of the die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of
4270-437: Is the 10-sided die, a pentagonal trapezohedron die, whose faces are ten kites , each with two different edge lengths, three different angles, and two different kinds of vertices. Such sets frequently include a second 10-sided die either of contrasting color or numbered by tens, allowing the pair of 10-sided dice to be combined to generate numbers between 1 and 100. Using these dice in various ways, games can closely approximate
4392-459: Is then polished via a tumble finishing process similar to rock polishing . The abrasive agent scrapes off all of the paint except for the indents of the numbering. A finer abrasive is then used to polish the die. This process also produces the smoother, rounded edges on the dice. Precision casino dice may have a polished or sand finish, making them transparent or translucent respectively. Casino dice have their pips drilled, then filled flush with
4514-414: Is uncertain. It is hypothesized that dice developed from the practice of fortune-telling with the talus of hoofed animals, colloquially known as knucklebones . The Ancient Egyptian game of senet (played before 3000 BCE and up to the 2nd century CE) was played with flat two-sided throwsticks which indicated the number of squares a player could move, and thus functioned as a form of dice. Perhaps
4636-576: The Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks, one of the first adventure gamebook series. With over 60 titles, including a variety of spin-offs, the series popularised the gamebook format in the UK and many other countries, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the United States, Portugal, Tanzania, Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Israel, Japan, and after
4758-706: The 1000 Gefahren series in Germany and the Tú decides la aventura series in Spain. The sixtieth and "lost" entry in the Fighting Fantasy series, Bloodbones , was finally published by Wizard in 2006. In recent years, the format may be getting a new lease of life on mobile and ebook platforms. This type of book was seen predominantly as a form of entertainment for children. Nonetheless, there were books with more didactic purposes (ranging from historical series such as
4880-529: The Czech Republic and Russia . In Azerbaijan , Narmin Kamal's novel, Open It's Me , offers the reader a choice to either read the book as a random collection of thirty-nine short stories about the same character, or as a single novel. A photo of the book's hero is published on the final page and the author asks the reader questions about the character. The branching-path book commercial boom dwindled in
5002-471: The Fabled Lands series a more positive review based upon a playthrough of Book 5, remarking "It’s not perfect, of course—there’s a bit too much ticking and erasing boxes, especially when death is always so close on your heels—but damn if it’s not satisfying. For reasons I can’t quite describe, being able to trace roads and geographic features on a map and read my way through those same locations, but full of people, weather and birdsong, just feels great... One of
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5124-446: The Fighting Fantasy or Lone Wolf series) in a number of ways. The most notable of these was the open-ended, free roaming gameplay. Other gamebooks gave the character a linear quest , with some leniency in how they went about accomplishing it; when they completed the quest, the gamebook ended. The Fabled Lands series gave the player an entire fantasy world to roam around in, doing whatever they wished with no limits or linearity; there
5246-743: The Fighting Fantasy series, was, by contrast, slightly younger. British gamebooks differ from the American tradition by having rules more strongly influenced by the game mechanics of roleplaying games. Sugarcane Island by Edward Packard was written in 1969 but did not see publication until 1976. This became a series when Journey Under the Sea by R. A. Montgomery was published in 1977. Two standalone gamebooks authored by Packard would follow, both published by Lippincott: Deadwood City (1978) and The Third Planet from Altair (1979). While these early efforts apparently achieved some popularity with readers, they (and
5368-529: The ancient Indian Rigveda , Atharvaveda , Mahabharata and Buddhist games list . There are several biblical references to "casting lots" ( Hebrew : יפילו גורל yappîlū ḡōrāl ), as in Psalm 22 , indicating that dicing (or a related activity) was commonplace when the psalm was composed. Knucklebones was a game of skill played in ancient Greece ; a derivative form had the four sides of bones receive different values like modern dice. Although gambling
5490-406: The second person with the reader assuming the role of a character to experience the world from that character's point of view (e.g. "you walk into the cold and dark forest"). Many gamebooks form series with a common theme, trade dress, and/or ruleset. While each book is typically a stand-alone narrative, there are gamebook series such as Steve Jackson's Sorcery! that continue the narrative from
5612-709: The 1980s in several other countries, including Spain, France, Italy, Mexico, Chile, Denmark and Japan. Despite the domination of works that have been translated from English in most non-English-speaking countries, a sizable number of original gamebooks—both individual books and series—have been published in various countries; this is especially the case in France and in Japan (e.g. Tokyo Sogensha 's Super Adventure Game series and Futabasha 's Bouken Gamebook series). In some other countries, publication both of translated series and of original books began in later years. For example,
5734-550: The 1980s, this series was only available in Catalan and Spanish. Heather McElhatton published a bestselling gamebook for adults in 2007, called Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel . It was followed by a sequel titled Million Little Mistakes published in 2010. Some contemporary literary novels have used the gamebook format, including Kim Newman 's Life's Lottery (1999) and Nicholas Bourbaki's If (2014). In 2011, McGraw-Hill Education began releasing adaptations of
5856-444: The 1990s, Dave Morris has indicated in the past that he is interested in reviving the series, saying in an interview: I'd love to complete the series. It would take some time to get back into the flow of it, but I still have our (very extensive) notes. I would think the first step might be to set up books 1–6 as Web pages and see what kind of interest they generated. This, I think, is a better format for gamebooks now—we are no longer in
5978-524: The 2nd century BCE. Dominoes and playing cards originated in China as developments from dice. The transition from dice to playing cards occurred in China around the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), and coincides with the technological transition from rolls of manuscripts to block printed books. In Japan, dice were used to play a popular game called sugoroku . There are two types of sugoroku. Ban-sugoroku
6100-752: The Bulgarian market, the works of numerous Bulgarian gamebook authors were most popular with readers. During the popularity peak of gamebooks in Bulgaria, Bulgarian publishing houses believed that only Western authors would sell and, as a consequence, virtually all Bulgarian gamebook authors adopted English pseudonyms. This tradition persisted after their nationality was publicly disclosed. A smaller number of Hungarian authors also adopted Western pseudonyms, in addition to "official titles" that were also in English. Several adventure gamebooks have been released in
6222-828: The Citadel of Veris Corin for the King of Sokara (closely linked with quests in The War-Torn Kingdom ), releasing the King of Harkuna from his prison underneath the Rimewater (closely linked with quests in The Court of Hidden Faces ) and killing the immortal tyrant Kaschuf (based on the legend of Koschei the Deathless) who rules over the village of Vodhya (which requires the player to find and release his soul, hidden on an island in Over The Blood-Dark Sea ). This
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#17327724968836344-649: The FF formula and push the limits of what could be achieved with printed text narratives (leading to, for example, twenty-book arcs in which the same created character could be taken sequentially from one to the next, or four or more books that contain interlocking references to each other in order to create one huge world map). In all gamebooks, the story is presented as a series of sections of printed text. These are often but not always numbered. Branching-plot novel sections often run to several pages in length, whereas solitaire and adventure gamebook sections are usually no longer than
6466-533: The Fabled Lands is an extension of ability rolls; the enemy's DEFENSE is the Difficulty, and the player uses their COMBAT skill to try to defeat their opponent. The amount the player rolls above the enemy's DEFENSE is how many Stamina points the enemy loses. The player's own DEFENSE score is equal to their Rank + their COMBAT score + the bonus for any armor they are wearing (if any). Their own Stamina score
6588-649: The French-language novel L'ironie du sort (1961) by Paul Guimard , the Spanish-language novels Hopscotch (1963) by Julio Cortázar and Juego de cartas (Card Game, 1964) by Max Aub , and the works of the French literary group known as the Oulipo (1967). Other early experiments include the short stories "Alien Territory" and "The Lost Nose: a Programmed Adventure" (both 1969) by John Sladek ,
6710-571: The Middle East. While the cubical six-sided die became the most common type in many parts of the world, other shapes were always known, like 20-sided dice in Ptolemaic and Roman times. The modern tradition of using sets of polyhedral dice started around the end of the 1960s when non-cubical dice became popular among players of wargames , and since have been employed extensively in role-playing games and trading card games . Dice using both
6832-430: The Sea by R. A. Montgomery . Tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons were another early influence that would contribute in major ways to the development of the gamebook form. The first module which combined a branching-path narrative with a set of role-playing game rules was Buffalo Castle for the Tunnels & Trolls system (1975). Buffalo Castle was innovative for its time, as it allowed
6954-579: The Swedish-language book Den mystiska påsen (The Mysterious Bag, 1970) by Betty Orr-Nilsson, and the French-language book Histoires comme tu voudras (Stories as You Want Them, 1978) by Marie-Christine Helgerson, among others. In the US, The Adventures of You series appeared in 1976–77, with two titles that would later become part of the groundbreaking Choose Your Own Adventure series: Sugarcane Island by Edward Packard and Journey Under
7076-498: The Uttakin government (the titular Court). The book takes its title from Uttaku's court of ruling nobles, who wear elaborate masks as a status symbol and to hide their faces. The king himself is born without a face at all. 723 sections, ISBN 0-330-34431-5 Imperial Akatsurai, land of samurai and ninja Set in a land which is an obvious parallel of classical Japan of the Heian period . Much like The War Torn Kingdom ,
7198-457: The West decreased dramatically during the 1990s as choice-based stories have moved away from print-based media, although the format may be experiencing a resurgence on mobile and ebook platforms. Such digital gamebooks are considered interactive fiction or visual novels . Gamebooks range widely in terms of the complexity of the game aspect. At one end are the branching-plot novels, which require
7320-483: The ability; to succeed in the task, they must score higher than the difficulty. For example, a player wishes to calm down an angry innkeeper. This might have a CHARISMA score of 9, and the player's CHARISMA ability is 3. The player would have to roll 7 or higher to succeed. It is possible to obtain "blessings" in various abilities from different shrines and temples, which allow the player to reroll failed ability rolls. These work once only, however, and cost money. Combat in
7442-518: The aforementioned Time Machine to books with religious themes such as the Making Choices series). Also, a few branching-path books were aimed at adults, ranging from business simulations to works of erotica. Barring the aforementioned works of Dennis Guerrier in the 1960s, one of the earliest examples of the form is the five-volume Barcelona, Maxima Discrecion series, which adapted the noir fiction genre to an interactive form. Published in
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#17327724968837564-446: The answer to a problem is correct, the reader moves on to the next problem. If the answer is incorrect, the reader is given feedback and is asked to pick a different answer. This educational technique would form a basis for many later narrative gamebook series. During the 1960s, authors from several different countries started experimenting with fiction that contained multiple paths and/or endings. Some literary works in this vein include
7686-590: The book or follow the paragraphs in numerical order. The story continues this way until a paragraph or page which ends that branch of the story. Many solitaire or adventure gamebooks feature a single "successful" ending, and the remainder are "failures". Thus, a gamebook becomes a "puzzle" since only a few or even one branching paths lead to victory. Branching plot novels, on the other hand, tend to be more concerned with narrative resolution rather than winning or losing, thus often have several endings which may be deemed equally "successful". Gamebooks are typically written in
7808-423: The books by completing quests. For example, after successfully tracking down a wild boar in a forest, the player can roll two dice , and if they score higher than their SCOUTING ability they can increase it by 1. No ability can be raised higher than 12, or drop below 1. When the player is given the opportunity to use an ability, the task is given a Difficulty rating. The player rolls two dice and adds their score in
7930-403: The core book and the first source book (titled Sokara - The War-Torn Kingdom ) were released. The RPG rules were based on the original rules of the game books but expanded to accommodate an adventuring party in a pen-and-paper roleplaying context, rather than as a gamebook experience for a solo player. The RPG and first of the source books were released in mid-2011. Gamebook A gamebook
8052-507: The cover of Book 7. A playable demo of Book 7 was made available to the public for free download via the Kickstarter campaign page. In 2016, Morris revealed the map of Ankon-Konu, the setting for Book 7, on the Fabled Lands blog. Book 7 is currently available for purchase. The Fabled Lands system was fairly simple, as with most other gamebooks. The player has six basic attributes: The player's initial score in each of these six attributes
8174-400: The dice cup and stop forceful rolls from damaging the playing surface. The word die comes from Old French dé ; from Latin datum "something which is given or played". While the terms ace , deuce , trey , cater , cinque and sice are generally obsolete, with the names of the numbers preferred, they are still used by some professional gamblers to designate different sides of
8296-526: The dice. Ace is from the Latin as , meaning "a unit"; the others are 2 to 6 in Old French . When rolling two dice, certain combinations have slang names. The term snake eyes is a roll of one pip on each die. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces use of the term as far back as 1919. The US term boxcars , also known as midnight , is a roll of six pips on each die. The pair of six pips resembles
8418-482: The earliest adventures in this vein were The Solo Dungeon (1978) by British author Richard Bartle, and Survival of the Fittest (1979), published by Judges' Guild in the United States. Both of these adventures were meant to be used with Dungeons & Dragons rules. Solitaire role-playing adventures also experienced a boom in the 1980s. Many role-playing rulesets included solo adventures which were intended to teach
8540-537: The early 1990s, and the number of new series diminished. However, new branching-path books continue to be published to this day in several countries and languages. Choose Your Own Adventure went on to become the longest running gamebook series with 184 titles. The first run of the series ended in 1998. R. A. Montgomery started rereleasing some Choose Your Own Adventure titles in 2005. His company has also released some new titles. New books and series continue to be published in other countries to this day. Examples are
8662-487: The era of the printed word. If that worked out, and the net publisher could set up a subscription system, I think Fabled Lands and many other gamebook series could enjoy quite a renaissance. On September 13, 2010, Dave Morris indicated that the series had a possible chance of a revival on his blog, saying, in response to a fan query about the future of the fabled lands and particularly the book The Serpent King's Domain , "My lips are sealed, though I will say that Frank Johnson,
8784-522: The excessive heat of Ankon-Konu, many types of armor (such as plate armor) handicap the player's COMBAT value if worn, and other types of armor (such as cotton armor) provide lower defense bonuses without handicaps to a player's COMBAT value. Quests include activating the titan at Borotek, restoring order at Ruined Tarshesh over who was to blame for its fall, defeating the Serpent King, Namagal (which requires some mini-quests on its own), and merging with
8906-643: The fall of communism, Eastern Europe. Several authors in different countries continue to publish adventure gamebooks in the late 2010s. Notable examples are German fantasy authors Wolfgang Hohlbein , Markus Heitz , and Lemonbits. Given the similar structure to html links between the pages of a website, numerous efforts have been made to create a digital equivalent to the gamebook format, with varying degrees of success. These include visual novels , story websites, and various experiments with audio CDs (such as TSR, Inc 's short-lived "Terror TRAX" line). Dice A die ( sg. : die or dice ; pl. : dice )
9028-603: The first original books in Brazil and Italy seem to have appeared in the 1990s. Translated editions of Choose your Own Adventure , Fighting Fantasy and other English-language series only appeared in Eastern European countries after the fall of Communism . Since the mid-1980s, about 90 gamebooks have been published in Poland , not only as printed books, but also as comics, e-books or mobile applications. The author of
9150-428: The first role-playing game to support solitaire play. Flying Buffalo released 24 solo adventure books (plus several pocket size adventures) in the period 1976–1993. A number of the adventures are still in print today. They were very successful among players of role-playing games and inspired many imitators. Another early role-playing game with solitaire modules made for it was The Fantasy Trip . The first such module
9272-542: The gamebook format in general) still did not have a publisher with the marketing strength required to make them available to mass audiences. Packard and Montgomery took the idea of publishing interactive books to Bantam , and thus the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) series was born in 1979, beginning with The Cave of Time . The series became immensely popular worldwide and several titles were translated into more than 25 languages. The series reached
9394-433: The head of Fabled Lands LLP, was throwing those same words around last week. He might even have thrown in a labyrinth and some legions :)". In a later announcement, Morris indicated that the publisher was willing to greenlight the production of books 7–12 of the series, provided that the reprintings of books 1–6 each sold approximately ten thousand copies. In 2015, Book 7 of the series, titled "The Serpent-King's Domain,"
9516-627: The high seas Set in the Violet Ocean, which separates the northern continent of Harkuna from the southern continent of Ankon-Konu. Travel is severely restricted without a ship, making it a difficult book to start off in, particularly for less experienced gamebook readers. Over the Blood-Dark Sea is also one of the first in the series to feature regular danger—the player is almost always at risk of pirates , storms and even sea monsters . Key quests include assassinating Amcha, king of
9638-801: The infinite set of prisms . All the rectangular faces are mutually face-transitive, so they are equally probable. The two ends of the prism may be rounded or capped with a pyramid, designed so that the die cannot rest on those faces. 4-sided long dice are easier to roll than tetrahedra and are used in the traditional board games dayakattai and daldøs . The faces of most dice are labelled using sequences of whole numbers, usually starting at one, expressed with either pips or digits. However, there are some applications that require results other than numbers. Examples include letters for Boggle , directions for Warhammer Fantasy Battle , Fudge dice , playing card symbols for poker dice , and instructions for sexual acts using sex dice . Dice may have numbers that do not form
9760-401: The jungles of the southern continent of Ankon-Konu, a land similar to South America . This book was not published in the 1990s, but in 2018 after a successful Kickstarter campaign. It was written by Paul Gresty. The spirit realm, Elaz Carnquen, hangs closely over this world, which allows you travel into the spirit realm and engage in spiritual combat using a new value called "Nahual." Due to
9882-405: The land of Sokara, shortly after a civil war in which the king was overthrown in a military coup . This background provides the book's two major quests; the player can choose to either help the heir to the throne and his band of partisans regain power, or assist the new leader General Grieve Marlock in crushing the last few pockets of resistance. Other quests involve assassinating the king of
10004-537: The largest number of titles (20) is Beniamin Muszyński. Polish gamebooks are regularly written by their fans and published online by " Masz Wybór " (publishing house which has been operating since 2010). In the 1990s, the gamebook genre became highly popular in Bulgaria for approximately ten years. Whilst internationally well-known series such as Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy were translated for
10126-475: The modern age, a few games and game designers have approached dice in a different way by making each side of the die similarly valuable. In Castles of Burgundy , players spend their dice to take actions based on the die's value. In this game, a six is not better than a one, or vice versa. In Quarriors (and its descendant, Dice Masters ), different sides of the dice can offer completely different abilities. Several sides often give resources while others grant
10248-477: The more advanced format that many later gamebooks would follow (the geographic dichotomy led to this type of gamebook sometimes being analogously referred to as "British style"). CYOA and FF are the two most popular, successful, and enduring gamebook franchises of all time, rendering them the archetypes of their respective, clashing styles and positions on the complexity spectrum. Later series like Lone Wolf and Fabled Lands , typically from Britain, would take
10370-496: The most enticing things about Fabled Lands is the way that every book provides a way in. Each book is a microcosm of the same world, and while they get progressively more challenging with each successive release, there is nothing narratively that compels you to read them in order." Two iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch applications were developed by Megara Entertainment. The first app, based on The War-Torn Kingdom , included new colour art and original coloured in art from Russ Nicholson, and
10492-468: The most influential and popular gamebook series was the Fighting Fantasy series, which started in 1980 when a Puffin Books representative saw a hall full of 5,000 people playing Dungeons & Dragons and asked Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson to make a book about role-playing games. They instead offered the idea of a book which simulated the experience of roleplaying games. Within a year they presented
10614-654: The nation of Uttaku (similar to the Byzantine Empire ), which is occupying the kingdom of Old Harkuna (similar to the lands of Arthurian legend ). If the player frees the king of Old Harkuna from his prison in The Plains of Howling Darkness , the king can reclaim his land, end the Uttaku occupation and restore prosperity. There is also an abandoned castle in Harkuna which the player can rebuild and claim for himself. Most other major quests involve undertaking tasks for
10736-458: The novel The French Lieutenant's Woman (1969) by John Fowles , and the collection of short stories titled Tante storie per giocare (Many Tales to Play With, 1971) by Italian author Gianni Rodari . Taken together, these influences may have contributed to the development of several pioneering gamebooks in the 1960s and 1970s. These include Lucky Les by E.W. Hildick (1967), State of Emergency by Dennis Guerrier and Joan Richards (1969),
10858-516: The number of faces. (This is not possible with 4-sided dice and dice with an odd number of faces.) Some dice, such as those with 10 sides, are usually numbered sequentially beginning with 0, in which case the opposite faces will add to one less than the number of faces. Some twenty-sided dice have a different arrangement used for the purpose of keeping track of an integer that counts down, such as health points. These spindown dice are arranged such that adjacent integers appear on adjacent faces, allowing
10980-515: The numerals 6 and 9, which are reciprocally symmetric through rotation, typically distinguish them with a dot or underline. Dice are often sold in sets, matching in color, of six different shapes. Five of the dice are shaped like the Platonic solids , whose faces are regular polygons . Aside from the cube, the other four Platonic solids have 4, 8, 12, and 20 faces, allowing for those number ranges to be generated. The only other common non-cubical die
11102-609: The oldest known dice were excavated as part of a backgammon -like game set at the Burnt City , an archeological site in south-eastern Iran , estimated to be from between 2800 and 2500 BCE. Bone dice from Skara Brae , Scotland have been dated to 3100–2400 BCE. Excavations from graves at Mohenjo-daro , an Indus Valley civilization settlement, unearthed terracotta dice dating to 2500–1900 BCE, including at least one die whose opposite sides all add up to seven, as in modern dice. Games involving dice are mentioned in
11224-534: The original Choose Your Own Adventure titles as graded readers . The stories were retold in simplified language and re-organized plotlines, in order to make them easier for English as a second or foreign language readers to play. The choice format of gamebooks has proved to be popular with ESL teachers as a way to motivate reluctant students, target critical thinking skills, and organize classroom activities. Various erotic gamebooks have been published by major publishers. In 1994 Derrière la porte by Alina Reyes
11346-411: The outcome of events. Games typically determine results either as a total on one or more dice above or below a fixed number, or a certain number of rolls above a certain number on one or more dice. Due to circumstances or character skill, the initial roll may have a number added to or subtracted from the final result, or have the player roll extra or fewer dice. To keep track of rolls easily, dice notation
11468-554: The peak of its popularity with children in the 1980s. It was during this period that Bantam released several other interactive series to capitalize on the popularity of the medium (a few examples are: Choose your Own Adventure for Younger Readers , Time Machine and Be An Interplanetary Spy ). Many other American publishers released their own series to compete with CYOA. One of the most popular competitors seems to have been TSR , who released several branching-path novels based on their own role-playing games. The most famous TSR series
11590-566: The pirates, enrolling at a wizard's college in the city of Dweomer to learn magic , searching for buried treasure on hidden islands and climbing the enormous mountain on Starspike Island. 718 sections, ISBN 0-330-34172-3 The desolate wastes of the Great Steppes Set in the Great Steppes, an environment of grasslands , plains and tundra similar to Siberia and Mongolia . Key quests include liberating
11712-411: The plastic injection molding process, often made of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) . The pips or numbers on the die are a part of the mold. Different pigments can be added to the dice to make them opaque or transparent, or multiple pigments may be added to make the dice speckled or marbled. The coloring for numbering is achieved by submerging the die entirely in paint, which is allowed to dry. The die
11834-546: The player can undertake quests for both sides of the revolution, the two forces never actually begin war as they do in the first book. Other major quests involving retrieving a tatsu pearl from a great dragon, exploring Kwaidan Forest to learn the secrets of the tengu , and venturing into the Black Pagoda . 750 sections, ISBN 0-330-34430-7 The lost tribes of the Feathered Lands Set in
11956-412: The player could easily travel between regions by switching to another book. The books became increasingly difficult as they progressed, with tougher enemies and harder quests; this was to account for the player becoming more powerful as they went through each book. Other differences between previous gamebook series included: Although the final six books in the series were neither published nor written in
12078-482: The player useful actions. Dice can be used for divination and using dice for such a purpose is called cleromancy . A pair of common dice is usual, though other forms of polyhedra can be used. Tibetan Buddhists sometimes use this method of divination . It is highly likely that the Pythagoreans used the Platonic solids as dice. They referred to such dice as "the dice of the gods" and they sought to understand
12200-466: The previous books in the series. There are several examples of early works of art with branching narratives. The romantic novel Consider the Consequences! by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins was published in the United States in 1930, and boasts "a dozen or more" different endings depending on the "taste of the individual reader". The 1936 play Night of January 16th by Ayn Rand , about
12322-467: The prosperous kingdom of Golnir, wealthy from its rich agriculture . A common complaint readers had about the second book was that it was far more difficult to find quests than in the first book. There are still several major quests, however, including slaying a dragon for the Baroness Ravayne (the ruler of Golnir), searching for magical artefacts for the wizard Estragon, bringing to justice
12444-611: The rat-men infesting the sewers in the city of Yellowport, looting treasure from the lair of Vayss the Sea Dragon, delivering packages between the druids of the City of Trees and the Forest of Larun, defeating the Black Dragon Knight in combat to the death and rescuing a trapped god from the summit of Devil's Peak. 679 sections, ISBN 0-330-33614-2 Golnir, a wealthy land steeped in curious folklore Set in
12566-531: The reader to experience a role-playing session without need for a referee. It has been followed by many other solitaire adventures for the T&;T system, as well as solos for other tabletop role-playing games. The first commercially successful series of gamebooks was the Choose Your Own Adventure series establishing the "American" gamebook tradition. The "British" tradition, as exemplified by
12688-496: The reader to make choices but are otherwise like regular novels (this style is exemplified by the originator of the gamebook format, Choose Your Own Adventure , and is sometimes referred to as "American style"). At the other end of the spectrum are what amounts to "solitaire RPG adventures" or "adventure gamebooks", which emulate a tabletop RPG in novel form and feature sophisticated rules for battling monsters and overcoming obstacles. The story can be decided by factors other than
12810-513: The reader's choices, such as dice rolls (or other randomization mechanics, such as leafing through the book to arrive at a random paragraph number), the lack (or presence) of equipment or other items, or by various statistics, such as running out of health points. The latter style is most commonly associated with the British Fighting Fantasy (FF) franchise (started in 1982), which originated, codified, and popularised much of
12932-414: The roll. When an amount is added, the notation is n d s + c or n D s + c ; for example, 3d6+4 instructs the player to roll three six-sided dice, calculate the total, and add four to it. When an amount is to be subtracted, the notation is n d s - c or n D s - c; so 3d6-4 instructs the player to subtract four from the result of rolling 3d6 . If the result of a modified dice roll is negative, it
13054-703: The rules systems to the players. Some companies released lines of solitaire adventures for their own games. Examples of games with prolific solitaire lines were Dungeons & Dragons , GURPS , Das Schwarze Auge , DC Heroes , and Call of Cthulhu . Some third-party publishers continued to release solo adventures for established RPG systems (including Judges' Guild, who released solos for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ). Solitaire adventures were also featured quite frequently in professional RPG magazines and fanzines. Several solo adventures (such as those for Tunnels & Trolls , Dungeons & Dragons , and Das Schwarze Auge ) were translated into other languages. As
13176-540: The setting of Lone Wolf for his campaigns. However the books were also inspired by medieval texts such as Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte d'Arthur . Grailquest is a series of gamebooks written by J.H. Brennan (also beginning in 1984) that were also inspired by the Arthurian legends. Set mainly on Avalon they make use of a dice based system. Branching-path books also started to appear during
13298-398: The throw. The result of a die roll is determined by the way it is thrown, according to the laws of classical mechanics (although luck is often credited for the results of a roll). A die roll is made random by uncertainty in minor factors such as tiny movements in the thrower's hand; they are thus a crude form of hardware random number generator . One typical contemporary dice game
13420-481: The universe through an understanding of geometry in polyhedra. Polyhedral dice are commonly used in role-playing games. The fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is largely credited with popularizing dice in such games. Some games use only one type, like Exalted which uses only ten-sided dice. Others use numerous types for different game purposes, such as D&D, which makes use of all common polyhedral dice. Dice are usually used to determine
13542-399: The use of Arabic numerals is occasionally seen, such dice are less common.) Opposite sides of a modern die traditionally add up to seven, requiring the 1, 2, and 3 faces to share a vertex . The faces of a die may be placed clockwise or counterclockwise about this vertex. If the 1, 2, and 3 faces run counterclockwise, the die is called "right-handed". If those faces run clockwise, the die
13664-603: The user to easily find the next lower number. They are commonly used with collectible card games . "Uniform fair dice" are dice where all faces have an equal probability of outcome due to the symmetry of the die as it is face-transitive . In addition to the Platonic solids, these theoretically include: Two other types of polyhedra are technically not face-transitive but are still fair dice due to symmetry: Long dice and teetotums can, in principle, be made with any number of faces, including odd numbers. Long dice are based on
13786-422: The verdant spire, which allows dominance over the land itself. 1200 sections, ISBN 1-909-90530-5 Scott Malthouse of The Trollish Delver gave the Fabled Lands series a positive review based upon a playthrough of Book 1, remarking that "Fabled Lands is nothing short of astonishing. It presents a living world that you can do pretty much what you want in. With other books added to your repertoire there
13908-411: Was Death Test , published in 1978. Eight adventures were released in total. One thing that set them apart was the need for miniatures and a hexmap, in order to take advantage of the combat and movement systems. These adventures were also very popular and influential. Meanwhile, several third-party publishers started to publish solitaire adventures meant for use with popular roleplaying systems. Some of
14030-543: Was Endless Quest (1982–). Another strong competitor was Ballantine with their Find Your Fate series, which featured adventures in the Indiana Jones , James Bond and Doctor Who universes. Famous author R. L. Stine wrote several books for this line, including The Badlands of Hark , as well as for other series such as Wizards, Warriors and You. Several Choose your Own Adventure spin-offs and many competing series were translated into other languages. One of
14152-521: Was funded successfully via a Kickstarter campaign, about 20 years after the last book was written. While series creators Morris and Thomson did not write Book 7, they were involved with the Kickstarter campaign, and Thomson appeared in-person in a promotional video for the Kickstarter campaign. Paul Gresty wrote Book 7, and Mikaël Louys and Richard S. Hetley co-produced. Russ Nicholson returned to provide illustrations and Kevin Jenkins returned to create
14274-403: Was illegal, many Romans were passionate gamblers who enjoyed dicing, which was known as aleam ludere ("to play at dice"). There were two sizes of Roman dice. Tali were large dice inscribed with one, three, four, and six on four sides. Tesserae were smaller dice with sides numbered from one to six. Twenty-sided dice date back to the 2nd century CE and from Ptolemaic Egypt as early as
14396-416: Was no set quest and there is no way to "finish" the series (unless the player dies). There are hundreds of quests in the seven books that were published, of varying lengths. The player is free to pursue these at their leisure, or spend their time doing entirely different things—wandering, trading, exploring or building up their abilities. Each book contained a different geographic area of the Fabled Lands, and
14518-422: Was published by Pocket Books France and Éditions Robert Laffont , and later translated into English for Grove Press and Weidenfeld & Nicolson (as Behind Closed Doors ) and into Italian for Ugo Guanda Editore (as Dietro le porte ). Melcher Media in 2003 packaged two "Choose-Your-Own-Erotic-Adventure" books for Penguin Books ' Gotham Books imprint, including Kathryn in the City by Mary Anne Mohanraj ,
14640-460: Was released on January 20, 2011. The second app was released in June, 2011. Following Megara's decision to withdraw from app development in 2012, digital rights reverted to the authors and the apps were withdrawn from sale. A Fabled Lands Role Playing Game and 12 source books based on the original game books were planned to be written by Shane Garvey and Jamie Wallis of Greywood Publishing, however only
14762-502: Was the case with other types of gamebooks, the production of solitaire RPG adventures decreased dramatically during the 1990s. However, new solos continue to be published to this day. Some companies continue to produce solo adventures for Tunnels & Trolls . There are also new solo adventures for a variety of systems, and even some influenced by the Fantasy Trip solos (such as the ones by Dark City Games). The Internet has provided
14884-462: Was the first book in the series to introduce the concept of a harsh environment—out on the Steppes, the player must make constant SCOUTING rolls in order to find enough food, and on the northern steppes the player loses one point of stamina a day from the cold, unless they have a wolf pelt to keep warm. 710 sections, ISBN 0-330-34173-1 Exotic intrigue in Uttaku and Old Harkuna Set in
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