Happy 125th Birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Tawmis]

Happy 125th Birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien... Who opened my eyes to a brand new world... and began my own journey of exploration, that I still walk, to this very day.

[Qbix]

Happy Birthday.
He made a very interesting world.

[Tawmis]

Happy Birthday.
He made a very interesting world.

Indeed. My 4th grade teacher read The Hobbit to the class over the course of several weeks; and when it was all done, it blew my mind.

I ended up checking out The Hobbit for two years straight; reading back and forward, side ways, copying some of his writing (to try and channel it; hey! I was a kid!), and even rewriting some of my favorite parts in my own words (again, to try and channel his writing!) Then, my 6th grade teacher asked me how long it was going to take me to read the book, because he had seen me with the book for a long time; and I explained I had already read it like 10 times; and he asked, "Have you read Lord of the Rings?" And then, down the rabbit hole I went.

Tolkien awakened the writer in me that still hungers.

[Rath Darkblade]

Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!

Tawm, it was that way with me and the "Choose Your Own Adventure" and "Fighting Fantasy" books of the 80s and early 90s. I wouldn't say that my writing in those days was any good (all right, you backed me into a corner - it stunk! ), but it led me onto bigger and better things.

It sounds like you had amazing teachers. My teachers never did anything like that for us kids - they just hammered us with boring stuff like grammar and maths, history and geography. Bleh.

[Mostly]

May the Force be with him. :p

Happy birthday to such a visionary world creator.

[Tawmis]

Tawm, it was that way with me and the "Choose Your Own Adventure" and "Fighting Fantasy" books of the 80s and early 90s. I wouldn't say that my writing in those days was any good (all right, you backed me into a corner - it stunk! ), but it led me onto bigger and better things.
It sounds like you had amazing teachers. My teachers never did anything like that for us kids - they just hammered us with boring stuff like grammar and maths, history and geography. Bleh.

Choose Your Own Adventure was amazing... I used to power through so many of those... then came across Endless Quest, which was basically the fantasy version of Choose Your Own Adventure... I don't remember Fighting Fantasy?

And yes, my 4th grade teacher read to the class during "home time" (or whatever it was called), where we'd sit around the teacher.

[Rath Darkblade]

Tawm? You've never heard of Fighting Fantasy? *blink*

Originally published by Puffin in 1982. Like Choose Your Own Adventure, but with dice and paper and pencil. Like D&D, but only one player. Here is an article on the original gamebooks.

In 2002, the rights to the series were bought out by Wizard Books, and they've been reprinted. Here is the new website.

I wish I still had my old gamebooks. *sigh* They were in mint condition... probably worth something to a collector. I have three or four of the new ones, though... still in mint condition, too.

[Tawmis]

Tawm? You've never heard of Fighting Fantasy? *blink*
Originally published by Puffin in 1982. Like Choose Your Own Adventure, but with dice and paper and pencil. Like D&D, but only one player. Here is an article on the original gamebooks.
In 2002, the rights to the series were bought out by Wizard Books, and they've been reprinted. Here is the new website.
I wish I still had my old gamebooks. *sigh* They were in mint condition... probably worth something to a collector. I have three or four of the new ones, though... still in mint condition, too.

I recall there was a book, like Choose Your Own Adventure, that I had - and it had "character stats" - but I think that was a D&D book trying to cash in on the "Choose Your Own Adventure" / "Endless Quest" market... I can't recall. Maybe it was a fighting fantasy book?

[Rath Darkblade]

It might well have been. *shrug* Then again, the 80s were full of that sort of thing; I recall a series of 80s gamebooks where you roleplayed a werewolf, of all things. (This was years and years before Werewolf: The Apocalypse, mind you).

Fighting Fantasy was, in many ways, a very much simplified version of D&D - in the sense that you have just two stats (Strength and Stamina), you could only play a human, and your class was often pre-decided for you (most of the time, it was simply 'Fighter'). Then again, sometimes you would play a demon-hunter or a wizard etc., and sometimes you had a choice what you wanted to play. Some of the gamebooks went off the fantasy altogether, and you could roleplay with futuristic robots or pirates or samurai, or what have you. Some of them went the horror route, and gave you an extra stat for "sanity" etc., and quite a few had rather horrific (but fun!) death sequences if you chose the wrong way.

In conclusion, I would say that Fighting Fantasy is like D&D for kids or teenagers; it is not as complex as D&D, but it's definitely worth a try.

[Tawmis]

Fighting Fantasy was, in many ways, a very much simplified version of D&D - in the sense that you have just two stats (Strength and Stamina), you could only play a human, and your class was often pre-decided for you (most of the time, it was simply 'Fighter'). Then again, sometimes you would play a demon-hunter or a wizard etc., and sometimes you had a choice what you wanted to play. Some of the gamebooks went off the fantasy altogether, and you could roleplay with futuristic robots or pirates or samurai, or what have you. Some of them went the horror route, and gave you an extra stat for "sanity" etc., and quite a few had rather horrific (but fun!) death sequences if you chose the wrong way.

In conclusion, I would say that Fighting Fantasy is like D&D for kids or teenagers; it is not as complex as D&D, but it's definitely worth a try.

May have to see if I can locate one of those Fighting Fantasy books and check it out.

[Rath Darkblade]

Here is some more info (plus pictures!): http://www.fightingfantasy.com/

The books themselves are available on Amazon. There's a link from the website too.

DISCLAIMER: I do not now, nor have I ever, done anything to create any of the books or illustrations, nor did I publish them. I just enjoyed them when I was a teenager.