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Advanced Fighting Fantasy Book
Outline
Function: Guide book
Location: Titan
Publication Details
Author(s): Marc Gascoigne,
Steve Jackson &
Ian Livingstone

Illustrator(s): Various
Puffin
TitanBookLarge
Cover illustrator: Christos Achilleos
First published: October 30 1986
ISBN: ISBN 0-14-032127-6 (Oversized)
ISBN 0-14-034132-3 (Paperback)
Arion Games
TitanAFF
Cover illustrator: Christos Achilleos
First published: May 9 2011
ISBN: ISBN 978-0-85744-069-3


For other uses of Titan, see Titan (disambiguation)

Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World, subtitled The Ultimate Guide to the Fighting Fantasy World - No adventurer should be without it! The Ultimate Fighting Fantasy Handbook!, is one of the two Fighting Fantasy Manuals and was also, after 1989, deemed to form part of the "Advanced Fighting Fantasy System". An oversized A4 version was first published by Puffin Books in 1986 (ISBN 0-14-032127-6), and later in 1989 (ISBN 0-14-034132-3), a smaller B Format[1] edition to be the same size as Dungeoneer. The latter was published to become integrated with the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system, of which it retrospectively became a part. The oversized A4 version includes two colour illustrations by John Blanche on the inside front and inside back cover. It was reprinted as Titan - The Advanced Fighting Fantasy World in 2011 by Arion Games (ISBN 978-0-85744-068-6), returning to the original A4 Format. It was compiled with Advanced Fighting Fantasy – The Roleplaying Game and Out of the Pit to make a volume called Advanced Fighting Fantasy Deluxe in 2016 (ISBN TBC).

Creation[]

Advanced Fighting Fantasy System[]

This book was originally published in 1986 before the term Advanced Fighting Fantasy was coined in 1989. It was partially created to add depth to the world of Titan to enable role-playing games to be created by readers and so when Advanced Fighting Fantasy was crystallised as a role-playing system with the publishing of Dungeoneer, it was a logical fit to have this book as an accompaniment, along with the other Manual, Out of the Pit. The two books were reprinted, this time in a smaller B Format[1] editions to be the same size as Dungeoneer. From 1989 onwards the books were both listed as being part of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system in the book listing at the front of all Fighting Fantasy books where "The Advanced Fighting Fantasy System" was shown as a sub-title.[2] Interestingly, however, neither book was ever published with the distinctive Advanced Fighting Fantasy banner or logo, or with the blue spine associated with the range. Hence, they remained separate in that sense. Also, in the 25th Aniversary Edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the books are grouped with Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game and The Riddling Reaver as well as the pure Advanced Fighting Fantasy books, under the singular heading "Fighting Fantasy: The Role-Playing Game and Advanced Fighting Fantasy", which suggests that the compilers of the the "Fighting Fantasy Collection" section did not want to distinguish them as belonging to Advanced Fighting Fantasy alone.

Background[]

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING FANTASY HANDBOOK!

You met the monsters in
OUT OF THE PIT - now meet the rest of the Fighting Fantasy world! No adventurer should be without this essential guide. TITAN contains everything you need to know, covering the turbulent history of the planet, from its creation and early civilizations, through the devastating War of the Wizards, to the present-day wilderness and anarchy where the delicate balance between Good and Chaos could at any moment be overturned ...

*Detailed descriptions and maps of Titan's three main continents, Allansia, Kakhabad and Khul
*All the gods and deities ... and demons!
*The forces - and races - of Good and Evil
*Special expanded HIERARCHY OF THE PIT section
*The Underwater Kingdoms
*The Titan calendar
*Fascinating background information on everyday life: taverns and hostelries, food, clothes ... even jokes!

A mine of invaluable information is contained in this book. Make sure YOU are armed with a copy before you set off on your next
Fighting Fantasy adventure!

Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World - Back Cover (A4 Edition)


Context[]

The book reads in the style of a narrator and describes the people and places of Titan. In this sense it's not like any of the novels or spin-offs, its more of a collection of all the knowledge, traps, and people featured in all the Fighting Fantasy books written up to the point it was published in 1986.

Contents[]

Acknowledgements/Foreword[]

Welcome, Brave Adventurer![]

The World of Titan[]

History and Legend[]

The Forces of Good[]

The Neutral Forces[]

The Forces of Evil and Chaos[]

The Faces of Evil and Chaos[]

The Underwater Kingdoms[]

The Titan Calendar[]

The Adventuring Life[]

Farewell, Brave Adventurer![]

Cover and Illustrations[]

Cover[]

TitanBookLargeWrap

The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Christos Achilleos. The cover in the first two instances was a complete wraparound cover, with the illustration covering the back cover as well, although in the case of the smaller B Format version the illustration was interrupted by the spine. The 2011 reprint saw the art shrunk to fit the front cover only.

There is also a variation in the back covers of the 'B' format (1989) edition. The original wording used on the back of this book are shared by the first 6 impressions. The 7th impression dropped the paragraph "A mine of invaluable information is contained in this book. Make sure YOU are armed with a copy - now available in a pocket-size format." and replaced "FIGHTING FANTASY A World-Wide Sensation!" with "Fighting Fantasy - the world's most popular gamebook series."


Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World Cover Variants
1986 1989 2011 2016
TitanBookLarge TitanBookSmall TitanAFF AFFDeluxe
A4 Format
Softcover
"B Format" A4 Format
Softcover
A4 Format
Hardcover
£4.951 £3.992 US$24.99 US$XX.xx

NOTES
  1. Price of 1st Impression and 2nd impression (1986); £5.95 for 3rd impression (1988)
  2. Price of 1st Impression; £5.99 for 8th Impression
Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World 'B' format Back Cover Variants
1st to 6th impressions 7th to 8th impressions
Titan B Format 1st ed Back
Titan B Format 8th ed Back


Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World Price variaton
Size A4 Format A4 Format A4 Format "B Format" "B Format" "B Format" "B Format" "B Format" "B Format" "B Format" "B Format"
Impression 1st (1986) 2nd (1986) 3rd (1988) 1st (1989) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
UK £ 4.95 TBC 5.95 3.99 3.99 4.50 4.50 4.99 4.99 4.99 5.99
AUS$ 12.95 TBC 19.95 9.99 9.99 10.99 TBC 10.95 10.95
CAN$ 9.95 TBC 12.95 9.95 9.95 9.95 TBC 9.99 9.99 9.99 9.99
NZ$ 18.99 TBC 18.99 10.95 10.95 10.95 TBC 15.95

Illustrations[]

The interior illustrations were by various artists.

Further Notes[]

PuffinPenguinLogo

Penguin Logo - Puffin Book! from Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World

  • In the 1989 republished smaller format, on the inside title page, at the bottom the words "Puffin Books" appears, which in itself is not notable, because this was the case with all Puffin published Fighting Fantasy books. However, instead of the distinctive Puffin Logo sitting above these words was the Penguin Logo of Puffin Books parent, Penguin Books.
  • The Dragon on the front cover is supposedly called "Titan", largely based on the naming of the Titan ornament by Clarecraft.
  • The cover illustration is called "Dragon Spell".
  • The book is written from an in-universe perspective, claiming to have taken twelve years to compile in the Halls of Learning in Salamonis, and gives the current year as 284AC.[3][4]

French Language Edition[]

Other Fighting Fantasy Books
Titanfr
Outline
Location Titan
Publication details
Author(s) Marc Gascoigne,
Steve Jackson &
Ian Livingstone

Illustrator Various
First Edition
Cover illustrator Jidus
First published September 15 2014
Publisher Scriptarium
ISBN ISBN 978-2-9543631-3-4
Reprint


A French translation (ISBN 978-2-9543631-3-4), Titan - Le Monde des Défis Fantastiques, was published by Scriptarium in September 2014 after crowdfunding via Ulule (a French-language crowdfunding platform).[5]

TITAN est LE livre ressource indispensable à tout joueur de Défis Fantastiques - le Jeu de Rôle et à tout amateur de l'univers des livres dont vous êtes le héros Défis Fantastiques et Sorcelleries!

En parcourant ses pages riches en cartes et dessins inédits des illustrateurs des livres-jeux (Russ Nicholson, Alan Langford, John Blanche, Malcolm Barter, John Sibbick, Bill Houston, Steve Luxton...), vous pourrez découvrir tout ce qu'il peut être utile de savoir sur Titan.

sa géographie et sa cosmologie, ainsi que son organisation politique y sont présentées. Ses mythes fondateurs, ses légendes et son Histoire, pleins de rebondissements et d'héroïsme, sont détaillés. Nombre d'informations sur les différents peuples, leur culture et leurs coutumes, sont dévoilées, y compris pour ceux un peu moins répandus, comme les Gnomes, les Marmouscules, les Hommes-Lézards, les Caarth ou encore les Tritons. les grandes figures, du Bien (Nicodéme, Pen Ty Kora...), du Mal (le Baron Azzur, Balthus le Terrible, l'Archivage de Mampang), ou du côté Neutre (Le Filou Farceur), n'auront plus de secrets pour vous, grâce à de nombreux éléments biographiques et même un plan détaillé de la tour du célèbre mage Yaztromo ! Enfin, des informations utiles sont données sur la vie quotidienne, les voyages et leurs petits "tracas" et en particulier pour les Héros que VOUS pourrez incarner.

En outre, des développements exclusifs à la version française présentent la déesse de la Lune et les pouvoirs de ses prêtres, des compétences, talents et objets nouveaux, ou encore des règles de gestion des chevaux. Sans oublier une campagne qui emmènera les Héros dans un turbulent périple à travers l'Ancien Monde (Inland, Vastelande...) :
À la recherche de la jeunesse perdue.

Clin d'oeil donc pour les "vieux" nostalgiques qui ne manqueront pas de prendre un grand plaisir à la lecture de ce livre, mais
TITAN sera également apprécié de tout amateur de jeu dans un univers médiéval fantastique aux multiples facettes et perspectives, qui en surprendra plus d'un !

Titan - Le Monde des Défis Fantastiques - Back Cover


Additional Material[]

Note that illustrations from other gamebooks that were used in the original English language edition are not noted here as "additional material".

Préambule[]

An in-character introduction by Gereth Yaztromo.[6] This is accompanied by an illustration of Yaztromo by Bill Houston taken from Temple of Terror.

Chapitre 1: Le Monde de Titan[]

Several new illustrations alongside illustrations reproduced from The Shamutanti Hills, Kharé - Cityport of Traps and The Crown of Kings (John Blanche), Scorpion Swamp (Duncan Smith), Siege of Sardath (Pete Knifton), Night Dragon (Tony Hough) and Magehunter (Russ Nicholson).

Chapitre 2: Histoire, Mythes et Légendes[]

Several new illustrations alongside an illustration reproduced from Master of Chaos (David Gallagher).

Chapitre 3: Les Forces du Bien[]

This section includes "The Underwater Kingdom" section presented later in the book in the original English language edition. Several new illustrations alongside an illustration reproduced from Kharé - Cityport of Traps (John Blanche).

Chapitre 4: Les Forces Neutres[]

Several new illustrations alongside an illustration reproduced from The Shamutanti Hills (John Blanche).

Chapitre 5: Les Forces du Mal et du Chaos[]

Several new illustrations alongside illustrations reproduced from The Shamutanti Hills (John Blanche). Temple of Terror (Bill Houston) and Master of Chaos (David Gallagher).

Chapitre 6: Les Grandes Figures de Titan[]

The material here has been made into a separate chapter, having been taken from the section "Aliies" under "The Forces of Good" and "The Faces of Evil and Chaos" from "The Forces of Evil and Chaos". Several new illustrations alongside an illustration reproduced from Deathtrap Dungeon (Iain McCaig).

Chapitre 7: La Vie Quotidienne[]

Several new illustrations alongside illustrations reproduced from Siege of Sardath (Pete Knifton) and Night Dragon (Tony Hough).

Campagne: À la Recherche de la Jeunesse Perdue[]

Main article: À la Recherche de la Jeunesse Perdue

This is entirely new material consisting of a campaign taking place in Lendleland and Analand written by Inabadreams.

Annexes[]

Additional new material consisting of a description of goddess Lunara and the powers of her priests, new spells, new skills and talents, new items, and new horse rules. This additional material was written by Paragraphe 14, Krull and VIK.

Cover and Illustrations[]

Cover[]

The cover was designed and illustrated by Jidus. The back cover was by John Blanche and was originally used as the cover of The Seven Serpents.

Titan - Le Monde des Défis Fantastiques Cover Variants
2014
Titanfr
A4 Format
Softcover
€45

Illustrations[]

The books was illustrated by various artists.

Further Notes[]

  • The book is sold with 5 colour maps by Jidus (Titan, Allansia, The Old World, Khul & a Titan map showing the locations of the gamebooks & novels, including all the existing canon elements from previous official maps and texts, and new elements provided by Steve Jackson and Jonathan Green).

Dedication[]

For Tony, who deserves it, and Chetna, who doesn't[7]

See Also[]



Reviews[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "B Format" paperbacks are 130mm x 198mm (5.12" x 7.8") in size as opposed to smaller "A Format" paperbacks that are 110mm x 178mm (4.33" x 7.01") size, and which the main Fighting Fantasy gamebooks series was published as.
  2. Although this listing only intermittently included "The Advanced Fighting Fantasy System" as a sub-title. For example, in Master of Chaos the "The Advanced Fighting Fantasy System" is shown as a sub-title, with the books listed beneath it, but in the next book, Black Vein Prophecy, this sub-title does not exist and the books are simply listed at the bottom of the page. The sub-title intermittently returned later on, but whenever it did so, both Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World and Out of the Pit are included.
  3. Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World - pg. 9/11
  4. Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World - pg. 114/266
  5. FIGHTING FANTASY GOES FRENCHY! at Ulule.com - Retrieved 2019-10-27
  6. Titan - Le Monde des Défis Fantastiques - pg.5
  7. Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World - pg.4
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