Russ Nicholson RIP

Some sad news: the amazing artist Russ Nicholson has passed away. 

Nicholson probably is best known for his art in the Fiend Folio (1e AD&D), as well as his work in many of the classic “Fighting Fantasy” gamebooks, including the first one, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. 

Fellow fans of Mythras may recognize his work from Monster Isle. 

One brilliantly disturbing example:

Back in 2011, I identified Nicholson as my 5th favourite FRPG artist of all time – and Nicholson was kind enough to post a “thank you” comment.

Many great works by Nicholson can found at his blog, The Gallery: Art of Russ Nicholson. (All of the illustrations in this post, except for the one of the Githyanki [which is from my PDF of the Fiend Folio], were taken from Nicholson's blog.)

RIP.

Tales From the Sorcerer Under the Mountain

I’m not really a fan of Kickstarter these days, but I made an exception for this one: Newt Newport’s Tales from the Sorcerer Under the Mountain (from D101 Games).

It consists of two things:

1. A set of old school rules—namely, a lightly tweaked version Swords and Wizardry (which is itself a ‘clone’ of 0e D&D), not Crypts and Things (so expect clerics, dwarves, and so forth).
2. An adventure—called The Sorcerer Under the Mountain—with stats for both S&W and 5th edition D&D.

Okay, I need another 0e D&D clone like I need a hole in the head...

But… the adventure is inspired by the distinctly British style of fantasy role-playing of the early 1980s, as manifested in such products as the classic Fighting Fantasy adventure books, early White Dwarf magazines, the U1-3 AD&D modules, and the like.

Even though I grew up in Canada, I very much appreciate this aesthetic. Fighting Fantasy books were quite ubiquitous there—you could buy them in most bookshops—and helped me pass many afternoons and evenings when I couldn’t get together with my friends to play D&D or MERP. Also, the gaming store at which I purchased most of my early supplies (“Fads” in London Ontario) stocked White Dwarf, which always seemed like the ‘cool’ alternative to Dragon.

The title ‘The Sorcerer Under the Mountain’ seems like a clear homage to the Fighting Fantasy book The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (which I recall as the most frustrating of the FF books—I don’t think I ever ‘won’ it). So for that reason alone I’m looking forward to checking it out!

[The Warlock by Russ Nicholson -- one of my favourites!]

My Top 5 FRPG Artists – Number 5 – Russ Nicholson

Amongst long-time fantasy role-players, I’m sure that Russ Nicholson’s work for the first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Fiend Folio book is most well known. Many iconic D&D creatures were first portrayed by Nicholson, including the Slaad, Githyanki, and Githzerai.

Above is a recent picture by Nicholson depicting a Githyanki and Githzerai, taken from one of his blog posts.

Nicholson also illustrated many of the ‘Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks’, most of which were written by Steve Jackson (the British, not the American, one) and/or Ian Livingstone. The first book in this series was The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

Here is the dragon from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.

And here is the Warlock himself, ready to blast you to Hades!

Here is a ‘Gark’ from The Citadel of Chaos, the second book in the ‘Fighting Fantasy’ series.

I loved playing through these books as a young lad. They enabled me to get my ‘fantasy gaming fix’ when I couldn’t meet up with my friends.

Nicholson’s evocative black and white illustrations made a deep impression on my young mind, and very much influenced how I subsequently imagined my fantasy adventures.

Finally, below are two recent pictures by Nicholson. Both are taken from a recent blog post.

If you’re a long-time fan of Russ Nicholson’s art, or just discovering it for the first time here, I encourage you to check out his blog, aptly-named ‘Russ Nicholson’. Many more wonderful pictures can be found there.

It is great that Nicholson is still actively producing amazing illustrations!

Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2: Some More Info

This post (from December 18) notes that Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2 will include:

· All new Hero generation system, including Talents

· Revised combat system including Armour

· Wizardry, Sorcery and Minor Magic spells

· A brand new reworking of Priests

· and a whole lot more.....

Also, there is an interesting thread on this game over at RPG.net here.

Advanced Fighting Fantasy Returning in 2011!

It looks like the Advanced Fighting Fantasy game will be back in 2011! In addition, Out of the Pit and Titan will be reissued.

I still own my copy of the original Fighting Fantasy RPG and about eight Fighting Fantasy solo adventure books (including the original Warlock of Firetop Mountain adventure). However, I missed picking up the 'Advanced' version decades ago. It's great that these books will be made available again!

The announcement can be found here (but, frustratingly, not much additional information).

(Yes, this is yet another amazingly lazy post...)