JACKSON, Steve, & Ian Livingstone.

£125 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. First edition of this adventure gamebook, the first in the Fighting Fantasy series. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982 in a run of only 5,000 copies that quickly sold out, prompting 11 reprints.In the 1970s, Jackson and Livingstone, the cofounders of Games Workshop, were running a fanzine for role playing enthusiasts through which they distributed board games via mail-order. This fanzine (which would become White Dwarf) landed them the UK distribution rights to the original Dungeons & Dragons set. A Puffin rep attending one of their events witnessed people playing the table-top game and asked if they could write something to emulate the experience in book form. Six months later, they turned in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.While the Choose Your Own Adventure series popularized the basic game-book form, this title was innovative in its use of a dice-rolling element and a combat system with skill, luck and stamina points.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.