Beyond the Pit: Old School Art and Hideous Monsters!

 Great and terrible flesh-eating beasts have always shared the landscape with humans... (Quammen, 2003)

Well, it took a bit over two years to get done, but Beyond the Pit is finally finished. When I originally agreed to write it for Graham Bottley's Arion Games and their second edition of Advanced Fighting Fantasy I knew it would be a big undertaking, but I probably underestimated just how big it would be! I should have considered the fact that if Marc Gascoigne never wrote a follow up to his own Out of the Pit then there must have been a good reason.

And there was. Basically, the simple fact is that trying to compile a bestiary of at least 250 monsters drawn from random paragraphs scattered throughout well over 60 gamebook canonical sources, while trying to keep each creature entry informative and interesting, is a big task! Not to mention all of the extras: treasure tables, encounter charts, Advanced Fighting Fantasy rules, and Fighting Fantasy canon consistency. Still, it's done, and I thought I'd share a few snippets about the product and the process.

• The original brief was to use 250 creatures that already had prior artwork published in Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, to avoid commissioning new art and limiting the Kickstarter target to cover the licensing fees for the old artwork.
• This did allow me some creativity in using different artwork for creatures that originally had none (e.g. see the entries for the Carnivorous Plant, the Killer Bee, and the Man-Octopus).
• I started at the very first book (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain) and basically tried to cram in many old favorites that didn't make the original Out of the Pit. (e.g. the Iron Cyclops, the Night Horror, the Sand Snapper, and, of course, the She-Satyr).
• Where possible I tried to clump creatures as opposed to split them (e.g. see the Death-Knight, the Kraken, and the Serpent).
• Half way through writing, Stephen Hand requested via Steve Jackson that his monsters not be used, so out went any creatures from Dead of Night, Legend of Shadow Warriors and Moonrunner. This was disappointing...
• Marc Gascoigne was too busy to write a brief foreword. More disappointment...
• Ian Miller and Dave Carson had issues with their artwork being used, so Graham commissioned the talented Jason Lenox to provide illustrations for these creatures, and, especially given the short time frame, I think Jason's pictures are excellent!

Having said all that, I am very very happy with the final product. I think it stands up well as a companion to Out of the Pit, and provides definitive information on a horde of Fighting Fantasy beasties that were screaming out for their own official Advanced Fighting Fantasy treatment. I hope I've walked the fine line between a useable monster manual and a canonical sourcebook, while providing plenty of ideas for how the various creatures could make an appearance in a game or campaign. Despite the lengthy timeframe, and the workload (on top of family commitments, studies and my day job!), I thoroughly enjoyed myself writing this folio of fiends, and, well, who knows, there may certainly be a third volume to write yet! After all, there are plenty more monsters where these horrible creatures all came from...

The monster, of course, is a product of and a regular inhabitant of the imagination, but the imagination is a driving force behind our entire perception of the world. If we find monsters in our world, it is sometimes because they are really there and sometimes because we have brought them with us... (Asma, 2009)

References

Asma, S. T. (2009). On monsters. New York: Oxford University Press.

Quammen, D. (2003). Monster of God. New York: Norton. 

Beastmen of Bangkok

Minotaurs in red and blue suits


I've said before that this blog is supposedly apolitical. However, we're about to have an election over here in Thailand, site of Fantasy Gamebook HQ, and over the past month or more the residents of Bangkok have been treated to an onslaught of campaign posters, some dull and some, as you can see, completely freaky.

The Yellow Shirts, or Peoples' Alliance for Democracy, realising that they cannot capture the popular mandate, have elected for a 'Vote No' campaign, reasoning that all politicians, presumably themselves excluded, are corrupt carpet-baggers who should be kept away from parliament at all costs.

As a result they've come up with a brilliant series of posters unflatteringly comparing politicians to a range of hideous beasts. (Personally, I'm feeling a bit sorry for the beasts!) Anyway, on a completely unrelated tangent, these posters offer us an unparalleled glimpse of what real fantasy Beastmen, say from the Fighting Fantasy world of Titan, might actually look like. And so, I give you:

The Beastmen of Bangkok

BLOG

[SKILL 5 STAMINA 5; 1 Attack; Blowgun (as per Dagger plus Poison) or Club]

A primitive tribe of dog-headed humanoids, BLOGS live only in the depths of the Forest of Fiends in central Allansia. Here they are greatly feared for their practice of head-hunting and preying on human travellers, whose flesh they cook in large cauldrons. Blogs are skilled trackers, moving silently though the trees before using poison darts fired from blowguns to bring down their victims with a minimum of fuss (Livingstone, 1988).

CROCODILE MAN

[SKILL 10 STAMINA 10; 2 Attacks; Club and Large Bite]

Rare, if not unknown from Titan, CROCODILE MEN have been recorded haphazardly from other locations (Morris, Gallagher & Bambra, 1986; Bennie, 1990). Primitive carnivorous fiends with a tendency to bite first and digest later, these scaly brutes are usually found living in small clan-groups in the deepest parts of the Swamplands of Silur Cha. Some are known to join the legions of the Lizard Men Empire, but they tend to form their own units of shock troops, often in the company of Mutant Lizard Men, owing to their unpredictable nature. 

LIZARD MAN

[SKILL 8 STAMINA 8; 1 Attack; Spear, Sword or Crossbow]

Unlike more primitive examples from other worlds (e.g. Moldvay, 1981; Morris & Johnson, 2008), the LIZARD MEN of Titan are a terrifying race who rule a sprawling empire centred on the Swamplands of Silur Cha. Their military ingenuity is legendary, as is their slavish devotion to a host of foul deities such as the Demon Prince Ishtra and the Lizard God Suthis Cha. When they finally sack the city of Vymorna following a long siege, then the rest of the southern lands will likely fall to their savage legions and living reptilian war machines (Gascoigne, 1988).

MINOTAUR

[SKILL 9 STAMINA 9; 2 Attacks; Large Fist, Battle-axe or Club]

The large hairy bull-headed humanoids known as MINOTAURS are found on all three continents of Titan, usually at the heart of an underground labyrinth or a maze-like series of tunnels (Gascoigne & Tamlyn, 1989). Recent studies have indicated the presence of a cow-headed variant from Femphrey, known as the Mooncalf (see Green, 2009), and it may be that buffalo-headed versions of Minotaurs might be found in more tropical climes, such as Arantis and the lands of the Glimmering Sea (as seen above).

MONKEY MAN

[SKILL 7 STAMINA 7; 1 Attack; Club or Dagger]

A recent discovery resembling a man-sized monkey (Green, 2006), MONKEY MEN are believed to originate from the palm-fringed islands that dot the Black Ocean of southern Titan. Little is known of their society and beliefs, but it is thought that they may be related to the Scurrellors of the Cloudhigh Forest of western Khul, and the Wood Reavers of Far Analand (Wright, unpublished).

TIGER MAN

[SKILL 9 STAMINA 5; 1 Attack, Large Teeth]

Not to be confused with their more powerful Weretiger brethren (Gascoigne, 1985), TIGER MEN have a fairly patchy record from Titan. We do know that Shanzikuul, the Master of Chaos, kept a harem of Tiger Women in his lair beneath the ruined city of Kabesh (Martin, 1990). Also, from the far future of Titan City, the entourage of Marcus Buletta (also known as Dr Macabre the mad surgeon and pharmacist robber), numbers a Tiger Man among its members (Jackson, 1985), from which the above stats have been extrapolated.

This wraps up our pre-election coverage from Bangkok, Thailand. We hope you enjoyed the show and remember:

"VOTE NO = VOTE BEASTMAN!"

References

Bennie, S. (1990). Old Empires. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, Inc.

Gascoigne, M. (1985). Out of the Pit. London: Puffin Books.

Gascoigne, M. (1988). Battleblade Warrior. London: Puffin Books.

Gascoigne, M., & Tamlyn, P. (1989). Dungeoneer: Advanced Fighting Fantasy. London: Puffin Books.

Green, J. (2006). Bloodbones. Cambridge: Wizard Books.

Green, J. (2009). Stormslayer. Cambridge: Wizard Books.

Jackson, S. (1985). Appointment with F.E.A.R. London: Puffin Books.

Livingstone, I. (1988). Armies of Death. London: Puffin Books.

Martin, K. (1990). Master of Chaos. London: Puffin Books.

Moldvay, T. (1981). Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Game: Basic Rulebook. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR Hobbies, Inc.

Morris, D., & Johnson, O. (2008). Dragon Warriors Bestiary. London: Magnum Opus Press. 

Morris, G., Gallagher, P., & Bambra, J. (1986). Creature Catalogue. Cambridge: TSR UK Ltd.

Wright, A. (2010). The Ascent of Man. Unpublished Fighting Fantazine article.

Gone fishin'...



Astral Shark


I apologize for the complete lack of recent updates - I've been alternating between bouts of study, watching late night Champions League games, and a holiday down at the beach [not to mention an absolutely useless broadband connection for the past four weeks]. It hasn't been completely wasted though, as I did take Family Fantasy Game Book to the local Rayong Aquarium where we got to see all kinds of cool stuff! What follows is a brief look at some of the denizens of the deep we encountered, along with a batch of Advanced Fighting Fantasy stats for the gaming purists among you. After this, more maps by Steve Luxton and discussion on Titan geography to follow...

First up, my favourite, the Crocodile Needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus)!  

CROCODILE NEEDLEFISH [SKILL 6 STAMINA 6, Large bite]

Nearly two meteres long and capable of launching themselves through the air to impale unlucky fishermen (Test for Luck to avoid), CROCODILE NEEDLEFISH appear superficially similar to Barracudas but are actually more closely related to the edible Garfish. A menace to all who trawl the equatorial waters of Titan!

The Pharaoh Cuttlefish (Sepia pharonis) is perhaps not as big as some of its relatives, but for Titan purposes we can always extrapolate!

 GIANT CUTTLEFISH [SKILL 9 STAMINA 10, Small claw or Large bite, 4 Attacks]

As well as their more mundane capabilities, the blinding colour changes of the GIANT CUTTLEFISH function as a Sleep spell for those unfortunate enough to view it underwater! These enormous cephalopods grow to three metres in length and are among the most intelligent of their kind.

Moray Eels are snake-like reef-dwelling fish that grow up to four metres long!

MORAY EEL [SKILL 7 STAMINA 12, Large bite, (from Jackson, 1986, ref#98)]

MORAY EELS live among rocks and coral in tropical marine waters and will defend their territory aggressively with a mouth full of large needle-like teeth. Their flesh is poisonous to eat. Giant Moral Eels have been reported from the vicinity of Solani Island off the southern coast of Allansia.

Biggest of the reef fish are the enormous Groupers - huge predators that grow to three metres long and weigh over 600 kilograms!

GROUPER [SKILL 8 STAMINA 12, Large Bite, (from Jackson, 1986, ref#119)]

Despite their size, GROUPERS prefer easy prey and if they are hit twice in succession in two Attack Rounds they will usually try and Escape. However, if they roll a double 6 when calculating their Attack Strength then they have swallowed their victim, who will then take 2 STAMINA points damage per Attack Round until they are dead or they have cut themselves free.

All photos by me!

References

Jackson, S. (1986). Demons of the Deep. London: Puffin Books