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* MoneyDearBoy: Downplayed as both Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson loved their work in Creator/GamesWorkshop and Literature/FightingFantasy. However in the book ''Dice Men'', Ian Livingstone mentioned that handling both was burning them out and being owners of GW actually didn't pay out that much due to various expenses while the royalty cheques from the best-selling FF series were really sweet. This would be a major contributor to Brian Ansell taking over GW and an end of an era for the company.
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now definition-only


* TheWikiRule: [[https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/ Titannica]].

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* TheWikiRule: [[https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/ Titannica]].

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One Steve Limit is not trivia, and this isn't an example of it anyway


* OneSteveLimit: Apparently, ''Fighting Fantasy'' was the title Hironobu Sakaguchi originally wanted for the game he thought would be [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]'s last. When he found out this series was already using it, the name became ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''... and the rest is history.


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* Apparently, ''Fighting Fantasy'' was the title Hironobu Sakaguchi originally wanted for the game he thought would be [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]'s last. When he found out this series was already using it, the name became ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''... and the rest is history.
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Names The Same is not a trope anymore


* NamesTheSame: Series co-creator Steve Jackson has written several books in the series, but there are three further books, ''Scorpion Swamp'', ''Demons of the Deep'' and ''Robot Commando'', which as normal (for the peak-period UK editions at least), say "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present..." on the cover, and give "Steve Jackson" as the author on the title page -- ''without mentioning anywhere that it's not the same person''. Confused yet? To clarify, the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series creator is the British writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Games Workshop. The north-American writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Steve Jackson Games, wrote those three books... for the other one's series.
** Also, the names of Zagor (the titular Warlock of Firetop Mountain) and Darkwood (the titular Forest of Doom) also appear in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagor old Italian comic series "Zagor"]].
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* OneSteveLimit: Apparently, ''Fighting Fantasy'' was the title Creator/Square initially wanted for Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game. When they found out this series was already using it, the name became ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''... and the rest is history.

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* OneSteveLimit: Apparently, ''Fighting Fantasy'' was the title Creator/Square initially Hironobu Sakaguchi originally wanted for Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game. the game he thought would be [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]]'s last. When they he found out this series was already using it, the name became ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''... and the rest is history.
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* OneSteveLimit: Apparently, ''Fighting Fantasy'' was the title Creator/Square initially wanted for Hironobu Sakaguchi's new game. When they found out this series was already using it, the name became ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''... and the rest is history.
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* FanNickname: Steve Jackson UK and Steve Jackson US to tell the two authors apart.

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* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: The series was subjected to a moral panic due to the books' covers and illustrations. The Evangelical Alliance accused the series of devil-worshiping. Steve Jackson's response was that he's grateful for the free publicity.


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* QuietlyCancelled: The original 1982-95 was planning a major relaunch in 1996, to counter concerns from the publishers that the recent books had become too complicated and unknowable for the target audience. The first book of the relaunch, ''Literature/{{Bloodbones}}'', was written and completed, and several other titles were in development, but the relaunch simply never happened; the first anyone knew about the publishers' decision was when the planned publication date for ''Bloodbones'' came and went without anything happening. (In 2002 the series was picked up by Wizard Books; this led to ''Bloodbones'' finally seeing the light of day in 2006.)
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* DemandOverload: The reason why authors apart from Jackson and Livingstone were brought in, with their work presented under the banner of "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Present...". The immediate and overwhelming popularity of the series, coupled with every other children's publisher going [[StartMyOwn starting their own copycat series]], meant that new titles were needed faster than Jackson and Livingstone could ever possibly hope to write.

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* DemandOverload: The reason why authors apart from Jackson and Livingstone were brought in, with their work presented under the banner of "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Present...". The immediate and overwhelming popularity of the series, coupled with every other children's publisher going [[StartMyOwn [[FollowTheLeader starting their own copycat series]], meant that new titles were needed faster than Jackson and Livingstone could ever possibly hope to write.

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* PopCultureUrbanLegends: A rumour persists that ''Legend of Zagor'' was actually written by Keith Martin and not Ian Livingstone because of how little it resembles Livingstone's usual gamebooks; rather than requiring the player to follow one specific path to win, it is more like Martin's in that it keeps track of previous events and many of the encounters are optional. However, in 2014 this particular legend turned out to be true when Livingstone confirmed it in "You Are The Hero", a book on the history of the series.



** A rumour persists that ''Legend of Zagor'' was actually written by Keith Martin and not Ian Livingstone because of how little it resembles Livingstone's usual gamebooks; rather than requiring the player to follow one specific path to win, it is more like Martin's in that it keeps track of previous events and many of the encounters are optional. However, in 2014 this particular legend turned out to be true when Livingstone confirmed it in "You Are The Hero", a book on the history of the series.
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* DemandOverload: The reason why authors apart from Jackson and Livingstone were brought in, with their work presented under the banner of "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone Present...". The immediate and overwhelming popularity of the series, coupled with every other children's publisher going [[StartMyOwn starting their own copycat series]], meant that new titles were needed faster than Jackson and Livingstone could ever possibly hope to write.
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* TheWikiRule: [[https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/ Titannica]].
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* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: The series was subjected to a moral panic due to the books' covers and illustrations. The Evangelical Alliance accused the series of devil-worshiping. Steve Jackson's response was that he's grateful for the free publicity.
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None

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* FanNickname: Steve Jackson UK and Steve Jackson US to tell the two authors apart.
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** Also, the names of Zagor (the titular Warlock of Firetop Mountain) and Darkwood (the titular Forest of Doom) also appear in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagor old Italian comic series "Zagor"]].
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* UnfinishedEpisode: The original 300-reference version of ''Bloodbones'' was lost by the decision to axe the range in 1995, as were several other potential future entries in the series: Marc Gascoigne's ''Night of the Creature'', Paul Mason's ''The Wailing World'', another Deathtrap Dungeon book by Dave Morris, ''Deathlord'' by Andrew Chapman and Martin Allen, a sequel to ''Curse of the Mummy'' by Jonathan Green, ''Smuggler's Gold'' by Stephen Hand and ''The Keeper of the Seven Keys'' by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson.
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* GenreKiller: The badly-received ''Sky Lord'' was the final science fiction title in the series.
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* MarketBasedTitle: ''House of Hell'' became ''House of Hades'' in America, because "Hell" is considered a curse over there (Absolutely no other objectionable content in the book was changed, mind).
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** The final books of the original Puffin series are very hard to come by, and only a handful of them have been released under Wizard Books[[note]]specifically the last five or so -- ''Deathmoor'', ''Knights of Doom'', ''Magehunter'', ''Revenge of the Vampire'' and ''Curse of the Mummy'' -- only the last of which has been reprinted[[/note]]. Another setback has been added with the decision to relaunch the Wizard range again.

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** The final books of the original Puffin series are very hard to come by, and only a handful of them have been released under Wizard Books[[note]]specifically Books[[note]]Specifically the last five or so -- ''Deathmoor'', ''Knights of Doom'', ''Magehunter'', ''Revenge of the Vampire'' and ''Curse of the Mummy'' -- only the last of which has been reprinted[[/note]].reprinted. Most of these tend to sell online for up to £80 if they ever show up.[[/note]]. Another setback has been added with the decision to relaunch the Wizard range again.

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* BillingDisplacement: Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's names are on the cover of every book[[note]]even though Jackson stopped writing for the series halfway through and only wrote six out of the fifty-nine original entries; Livingstone wrote a total of thirteen books right up until Puffin stopped the series, and has written new adventures for the Wizard series as recently as 2012[[/note]] due to contractual obligations when multiple copycat series required new titles to be published faster than the two of them could write. The actual author's name only appears inside the book.



* ExecutiveMeddling: One of the reasons the original series published by Puffin came to an end was because the publishers wanted to reduce the books to 300 references to make them 'easier'.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The final books of the original Puffin series are very hard to come by, and only a handful of them have been released under Wizard Books[[note]]specifically the last five or so - "Deathmoor", "Knights of Doom", "Magehunter", "Revenge of the Vampire" and "Curse of the Mummy" - only the last of which has been reprinted[[/note]]. Another setback has been added with the decision to relaunch the Wizard range again.
** There are a number of other spin-off products which are difficult to find - ''Warlock'' magazine, which notably included several mini-adventures such as a sequel to ''AppointmentWithFEAR'', and the two-player adventure ''Clash of the Princes'' are amongst them.

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* ExecutiveMeddling: One of the reasons the original series published by Puffin came to an end was because the publishers wanted to reduce the books to 300 references to make them 'easier'.
"easier".
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
**
The final books of the original Puffin series are very hard to come by, and only a handful of them have been released under Wizard Books[[note]]specifically the last five or so - "Deathmoor", "Knights -- ''Deathmoor'', ''Knights of Doom", "Magehunter", "Revenge Doom'', ''Magehunter'', ''Revenge of the Vampire" Vampire'' and "Curse ''Curse of the Mummy" - Mummy'' -- only the last of which has been reprinted[[/note]]. Another setback has been added with the decision to relaunch the Wizard range again.
** There are a number of other spin-off products which are difficult to find - -- ''Warlock'' magazine, which notably included several mini-adventures such as a sequel to ''AppointmentWithFEAR'', ''Literature/AppointmentWithFEAR'', and the two-player adventure ''Clash of the Princes'' are amongst them.them.
* MilestoneCelebration: ''Return to Firetop Mountain'', as its name suggests, takes place in the same location as the first book, in order to mark both the fiftieth book and the 10-year anniversary of the franchise.



* NamesTheSame: Series co-creator Steve Jackson has written several books in the series, but there are three further books, ''Scorpion Swamp'', ''Demons of the Deep'' and ''Robot Commando'', which as normal (for the peak-period UK editions at least), say "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present..." on the cover, and give "Steve Jackson" as the author on the title page – ''without mentioning anywhere that it's not the same person''. Confused yet? To clarify, the Fighting Fantasy series creator is the British writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Games Workshop. The north-American writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Steve Jackson Games, wrote those three books... for the other one's series.

to:

* NamesTheSame: Series co-creator Steve Jackson has written several books in the series, but there are three further books, ''Scorpion Swamp'', ''Demons of the Deep'' and ''Robot Commando'', which as normal (for the peak-period UK editions at least), say "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present..." on the cover, and give "Steve Jackson" as the author on the title page -- ''without mentioning anywhere that it's not the same person''. Confused yet? To clarify, the Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' series creator is the British writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Games Workshop. The north-American writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Steve Jackson Games, wrote those three books... for the other one's series.



** There is a rumour that it is possible to win ''The Citadel of Chaos'' without rolling dice. This isn't true - you must do battle at least once. Towards the end, there is a hydra you can fight. It is possible to avoid fighting the hydra if you have the golden fleece, but to get that you need the silver comb, and to get ''that'' you need to fight and kill a Gark.

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** There is a rumour that it is possible to win ''The Citadel of Chaos'' without rolling dice. This isn't true - -- you must do battle at least once. Towards the end, there is a hydra you can fight. It is possible to avoid fighting the hydra if you have the golden fleece, but to get that you need the silver comb, and to get ''that'' you need to fight and kill a Gark.



* "Scorpion Swamp", "Demons of the Deep", "Robot Commando", "Black Vein Prophecy" and "The Crimson Tide" do not have their winning section as number 400/the final paragraph - the former three are by the American Steve Jackson, whose SignatureStyle involves multiple paths to success and multiple possible endings[[note]]e.g. in "Demons of the Deep" it's possible to escape Atlantis without avenging yourself on the pirates, and in "Scorpion Swamp" your ending depends on which of the three wizards you're serving[[/note]], whilst the latter two are written or co-written by Paul Mason and, although they only have one "optimum" ending, feature a number of [[NonStandardGameOver unusual non-fatal endings such as becoming a monk and giving up on your quest for revenge]]. (They're also two of the most complex and difficult books in the series.)

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* "Scorpion Swamp", "Demons ''Scorpion Swamp'', ''Demons of the Deep", "Robot Commando", "Black Deep'', ''Robot Commando'', ''Black Vein Prophecy" Prophecy'' and "The ''The Crimson Tide" Tide'' do not have their winning section as number 400/the final paragraph - -- the former three are by the American Steve Jackson, whose SignatureStyle involves multiple paths to success and multiple possible endings[[note]]e.g. in "Demons ''Demons of the Deep" Deep'' it's possible to escape Atlantis without avenging yourself on the pirates, and in "Scorpion Swamp" ''Scorpion Swamp'' your ending depends on which of the three wizards you're serving[[/note]], whilst the latter two are written or co-written by Paul Mason and, although they only have one "optimum" ending, feature a number of [[NonStandardGameOver unusual non-fatal endings such as becoming a monk and giving up on your quest for revenge]]. (They're also two of the most complex and difficult books in the series.)
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* ExecutiveMeddling: Supposedly, one of the reasons the original series published by Puffin came to an end was because the publishers wanted to reduce the books to 300 references to make them 'easier'.

to:

* ExecutiveMeddling: Supposedly, one One of the reasons the original series published by Puffin came to an end was because the publishers wanted to reduce the books to 300 references to make them 'easier'.



* MissingEpisode: ''Bloodbones'', intended to be book number 60 in the original 1980s-1990s range, was never published before the series ended, leaving the series ending somewhat unevenly at number 59. It enjoyed a practically mythical status amongst fandom for over a decade before it was finally published by Wizard in 2006. New gamebooks have been published after ''Bloodbones'' as well, so it's no longer even the final episode.

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* MissingEpisode: ''Bloodbones'', intended to be book number 60 in the original 1980s-1990s range, was never published before the series ended, ended in spite of the fact that author Jonathan Green had actually completed it (albeit in a truncated 300-reference form, which was intended to be the new norm for the series as a result of ExecutiveMeddling from Puffin, who felt the series had become "too obscure"), leaving the series ending somewhat unevenly at number 59. It enjoyed a practically mythical status amongst fandom for over a decade before it was finally published by Wizard in 2006.2006, having been rewritten at the standard, originally intended 400 references. New gamebooks have been published after ''Bloodbones'' as well, so it's no longer even the final episode.

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* Nearly every book in the series has 400 references (although there are a number of exceptions, ranging from ''Starship Traveller'' with 343 (the last three references are all explanations of the combat system) to ''Howl of the Werewolf'' with 515). This number was hit upon when it was discovered that the completed version of the first book, ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', had 399 references; Steve Jackson added an extra reference (supposedly not reachable and there solely to make up the numbers) to round things up.

to:

* Nearly every book in the series has 400 references (although there references[[note]]there are a number of exceptions, ranging from ''Starship Traveller'' with 343 (the last three references are all explanations of the combat system) to ''Howl of the Werewolf'' with 515). 515, although all of them end in a multiple of five[[/note]]. This number was hit upon when it was discovered that the completed version of the first book, ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', had 399 references; Steve Jackson added an extra reference (supposedly not reachable and there solely to make up the numbers) to round things up.up.
* "Scorpion Swamp", "Demons of the Deep", "Robot Commando", "Black Vein Prophecy" and "The Crimson Tide" do not have their winning section as number 400/the final paragraph - the former three are by the American Steve Jackson, whose SignatureStyle involves multiple paths to success and multiple possible endings[[note]]e.g. in "Demons of the Deep" it's possible to escape Atlantis without avenging yourself on the pirates, and in "Scorpion Swamp" your ending depends on which of the three wizards you're serving[[/note]], whilst the latter two are written or co-written by Paul Mason and, although they only have one "optimum" ending, feature a number of [[NonStandardGameOver unusual non-fatal endings such as becoming a monk and giving up on your quest for revenge]]. (They're also two of the most complex and difficult books in the series.)
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* ContestWinnerCameo: There was a competition held for the 30th anniversary book ''Blood of the Zombies''; winners had their names appear in the book, usually as victims of the zombies. (One of the winners was Labour MP and future Deputy Leader of the party Tom Watson.)
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** There are a number of other spin-off products which are difficult to find - ''Warlock'' magazine, which notably included several mini-adventures such as a sequel to ''AppointmentWithFEAR'', and the two-player adventure ''Clash of the Princes'' are amongst them.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** There is a rumour that it is possible to win ''The Citadel of Chaos'' without rolling dice. This isn't true - you must do battle at least once. Towards the end, there is a hydra you can fight. It is possible to avoid fighting the hydra if you have the golden fleece, but to get that you need the silver comb, and to get ''that'' you need to fight and kill s Gark.

to:

** There is a rumour that it is possible to win ''The Citadel of Chaos'' without rolling dice. This isn't true - you must do battle at least once. Towards the end, there is a hydra you can fight. It is possible to avoid fighting the hydra if you have the golden fleece, but to get that you need the silver comb, and to get ''that'' you need to fight and kill s a Gark.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** A rumour persists that ''Legend of Zagor'' was actually written by Keith Martin and not Ian Livingstone because of how little it resembles Livingstone's usual gamebooks; rather than requiring the player to follow one specific path to win, it is more like Martin's in that it keeps track of previous events and many of the encounters are optional.

to:

** A rumour persists that ''Legend of Zagor'' was actually written by Keith Martin and not Ian Livingstone because of how little it resembles Livingstone's usual gamebooks; rather than requiring the player to follow one specific path to win, it is more like Martin's in that it keeps track of previous events and many of the encounters are optional.
optional. However, in 2014 this particular legend turned out to be true when Livingstone confirmed it in "You Are The Hero", a book on the history of the series.

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* {{Urban Legend of Zelda}}:

to:

* {{Urban Legend ExecutiveMeddling: Supposedly, one of Zelda}}:the reasons the original series published by Puffin came to an end was because the publishers wanted to reduce the books to 300 references to make them 'easier'.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: The final books of the original Puffin series are very hard to come by, and only a handful of them have been released under Wizard Books[[note]]specifically the last five or so - "Deathmoor", "Knights of Doom", "Magehunter", "Revenge of the Vampire" and "Curse of the Mummy" - only the last of which has been reprinted[[/note]]. Another setback has been added with the decision to relaunch the Wizard range again.
* MissingEpisode: ''Bloodbones'', intended to be book number 60 in the original 1980s-1990s range, was never published before the series ended, leaving the series ending somewhat unevenly at number 59. It enjoyed a practically mythical status amongst fandom for over a decade before it was finally published by Wizard in 2006. New gamebooks have been published after ''Bloodbones'' as well, so it's no longer even the final episode.
* NamesTheSame: Series co-creator Steve Jackson has written several books in the series, but there are three further books, ''Scorpion Swamp'', ''Demons of the Deep'' and ''Robot Commando'', which as normal (for the peak-period UK editions at least), say "Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone present..." on the cover, and give "Steve Jackson" as the author on the title page – ''without mentioning anywhere that it's not the same person''. Confused yet? To clarify, the Fighting Fantasy series creator is the British writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Games Workshop. The north-American writer/game designer Steve Jackson, founder of Steve Jackson Games, wrote those three books... for the other one's series.
* UrbanLegendOfZelda:



* Nearly every book in the series has 400 references (although there are a number of exceptions, ranging from ''Starship Traveller'' with 343 (the last three references are all explanations of the combat system) to ''Howl of the Werewolf'' with 515). This number was hit upon when it was discovered that the completed version of the first book, ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', had 399 references; Steve Jackson added an extra reference (supposedly not reachable and there solely to make up the numbers) to round things up.

to:

* Nearly every book in the series has 400 references (although there are a number of exceptions, ranging from ''Starship Traveller'' with 343 (the last three references are all explanations of the combat system) to ''Howl of the Werewolf'' with 515). This number was hit upon when it was discovered that the completed version of the first book, ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', had 399 references; Steve Jackson added an extra reference (supposedly not reachable and there solely to make up the numbers) to round things up.up.
----
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** A rumour persists that ''Legend of Zagor'' was actually written by Keith Martin and not Ian Livingstone because of how little it resembles Livingstone's usual gamebooks; rather than requiring the player to follow one specific path to win, it is more like Martin's in that it keeps track of previous events and many of the encounters are optional.

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! Trivia Tropes



** The Internet would have you believe that you have to kill the bonekeeper in ''Crypt of the Sorceror''. You don't. In fact, absolutely nothing good comes of attacking him.

to:

** The Internet would have you believe that you have to kill the bonekeeper in ''Crypt of the Sorceror''.Sorcerer''. You don't. In fact, absolutely nothing good comes of attacking him.him.

! General Trivia
* Nearly every book in the series has 400 references (although there are a number of exceptions, ranging from ''Starship Traveller'' with 343 (the last three references are all explanations of the combat system) to ''Howl of the Werewolf'' with 515). This number was hit upon when it was discovered that the completed version of the first book, ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'', had 399 references; Steve Jackson added an extra reference (supposedly not reachable and there solely to make up the numbers) to round things up.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

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* {{Urban Legend of Zelda}}:
** There is a rumour that it is possible to win ''The Citadel of Chaos'' without rolling dice. This isn't true - you must do battle at least once. Towards the end, there is a hydra you can fight. It is possible to avoid fighting the hydra if you have the golden fleece, but to get that you need the silver comb, and to get ''that'' you need to fight and kill s Gark.
** The Internet would have you believe that you have to kill the bonekeeper in ''Crypt of the Sorceror''. You don't. In fact, absolutely nothing good comes of attacking him.

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