The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

The warlock from the flaming mountain ( original English Title: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain) was an early system developed by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson game book. It first appeared in 1982 and was very successful commercially. The success led to numerous followers and to the creation of the genre of the game books. In the English -speaking world it appears in a collection series with the collective name of Fighting Fantasy.

Action

The player goes to a fantasy world in the mountain, in the lives of the titular sorcerer. He can make decisions that each short text sections (the book consisted of 400) then refer to other sections of text. The player or reader through proceeds according to the alternatives, he chooses the Flaming Mountain, until he meets the Warlock and dueled with this.

Development

Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson had started in 1975 to distribute play materials for pen & paper role-playing games, in particular to the game system Dungeons & Dragons. Meanwhile, game system as well as other game systems of the time appeared to them too complicated. There was even before the Warlock from Flaming Mountain, the concept of the solo adventure role-play - as Ken St. Andre had developed a solo adventure for Tunnels & Trolls game system and published in 1975. But that play through such adventure game systems presupposes the possession of the very comprehensive and complicated regulations.

Livingston and Jackson simplified their system to the extent that with the help of two dice and very few character traits the book for a single player or reader could be playable by. They offered the concept of the book, first in 1980 to the Penguin publishing house, at that time saw the concept, numerous illustrations. For cost reasons, but the publisher pushed for a stronger text orientation. In 1982 appeared the warlock.

Commercial success

The book sold very well for a radio report on BBC One in the UK. Rights to the book have been sold internationally. For the German-speaking area of Thienemann publisher acquired the rights and called the book a fantasy adventure game book and brought it in Germany in 1983 on the market. There, 80,000 copies were sold alone in six months. Even more successful was the book in Japan, where it was sold in the first year 250,000 times by the publisher Shakai Shiso Sha and a total of two million copies were sold.

The figure of the sorcerer, Zagor later called, became one of the most famous characters in the Fighting Fantasy world. He also appeared as the main antagonist in the anniversary band Return to Firetop Mountain (Vol. 50 ) and Legend of Zagor (Vol. 54) and the derived four-part novel series The Zagor Chronicles, written by Ian Livingstone and Carl Sargent (first published 1993). In addition titanium band, which describes detailed information about the history, geography, peoples and customs of the world of Fighting Fantasy, titanium, a short biography is given, is described in the Zagor as a human being; in the Zagor Chronicles, however, he is retroactively described as a descendant of a demon.

Adaptation

In 1987, the publishing Schmidt Spiel Freizeit a board game for 2 to 6 players, ages 12 and out. Devised by author Steve Jackson appeared under the same name " The Warlock of flaming mountain". The Schedules and the actions ( meetings, artifacts, treasures, keys) build closely at this deduction game to the book.