Later FBI/Blade Solos

[zendog]

The last FBInc solo I remember playing was Gamesmen of Kasar sometime in 85 or 86 (I think?)and around that time Corgi took over T&T in the UK but I didn't like their books having being spoiled by the great little cardstock cover digest versions and all the excellent and flavourful art, by Danforth, Carver, et al.

Anyway, then I drifted away from the hobby until sometime in the late 90's. When I looked again I was suprised to find large colour cover T&T solos by a company called Blade. I picked up a couple of old favouirtes and one that was completly new to me Captiff Y'voire.

Right, that's a lot of waffle to ask if can anyone tell me anything about the later (post #17) solos, but not #19 Captiff Y'voire I have that one. What are they like? What are the best ones? How do they compare to the early classics?

[jongjungbu]

I think they're much more fleshed out than the earlier ones. THey don't have as much old school feeling to me, but design wise to me they are superior since they'd learn a thing or two from past solos. Things such as less instant death, opening up more options to perform actions and what not, and generally open to any level or adds using quirky/variable/questionable scaling mechanics are what makes some of the later ones of equal caliber to the good ole school ones.

Speaking of which, I really need to get around to playing them again so I can write a fresh review rather than one from distant memory. I did write a review of Red Circle (here: link). Amulet is pretty cool to me. It's a little harder than some of the other solos, much more like the old school difficulty level and feel. I forget what some of the others are like, but I have them so I could look back sometime if no one else with better memory gives you a lowdown. When the Cat's Away gives you 3 solos for one actually, one of them being a revised version of Sorcerer Solitaire. Not sure which of the 2 I like better, there's enough different to make them each stand alone somewhat.

[machfront]

jongjungbu pretty much covered it. At least in my own experience. I've certainly not seen every solo. One of the much later ones, Dark Temple, is more involved and less wild and more...story-esque...Not as "thrashing-about-y" as the early ones could be. This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what one may prefer. As a result of what I described, it's also a great deal more verbose in general and within each paragraph as well.
It's fiddly too, wanting you to keep close track of time, distance, etc.

FYI, Blade was the publishing side of FBI throughout most of the 80's and into the 90's, so what you finally saw were the solos we had here stateside starting in about 1979 or '80.

[zendog]

Hey thanks Jong. Good review of Red Circle by the way. I'd prolly enjoy that one. Although I appreciated the quality of Captiff Y'voire it didn't really capture my imagination. Some ofthe the very early solos are pretty goofy truth be told, but Y'voire felt a bit 'un T&Tish' to me. If that makes sense.

[zendog]

Dec 3, 2009 22:57:22 GMT -5 machfront said:

FYI, Blade was the publishing side of FBI throughout most of the 80's and into the 90's, so what you finally saw were the solos we had here stateside starting in about 1979 or '80.

Right, so I have a few American imports in my collection. Cool.

[machfront]

Dec 4, 2009 9:09:47 GMT -5 zendog said:

Dec 3, 2009 22:57:22 GMT -5 machfront said:

FYI, Blade was the publishing side of FBI throughout most of the 80's and into the 90's, so what you finally saw were the solos we had here stateside starting in about 1979 or '80.

Right, so I have a few American imports in my collection. Cool.

I completely understand how ya feel. I love the Corgis and have a strange fascination with the UK 1st ed. and the UK 2nd ed. (Orange 5th ed.).
Even though I'm in the states, I actually didn't see the domestic T&T with my own eyes until about 2005. All I'd had up til that point was the Corgi version of 5th ed.

[zendog]

Dec 5, 2009 6:20:33 GMT -5 machfront said:

I completely understand how ya feel. I love the Corgis and have a strange fascination with the UK 1st ed. and the UK 2nd ed. (Orange 5th ed.).
Even though I'm in the states, I actually didn't see the domestic T&T with my own eyes until about 2005. All I'd had up til that point was the Corgi version of 5th ed.

I loved the little orange 5th ed. Unfortunately mine is long gone. I have the larger US colour cover version now. Although pages are starting to fall out so I might grab 5.5 from FBI or try and get a uk 5th ed from Ebay.

My main issue with the Corgi books were the art. I was spoiled growing up with Danforth, and Carver and all the other great artists that worked on the solos. I found the corgi artwork dull.

I was also indignant that they'd adopted the Fighting Fantasy paperback format. In my defense I was young and had a bee in my bonnet about FF being a crappy rip off of T&T. ;D

[Boozer]

I have very fond memories of the old 1-colour cardstock solos, and of the orange cover T&T 5th edition, which will IMHO always be the best version of the rules. I've never really been over-impressed with later versions, I guess I'm just an old man now set in his ways

Heh!

Back in the 80s Chris Harvey Games wrote to me offering to publish BEDLAM in the Corgi book range, but alas the range never took-off (not surprisingly...) and that was that. I still have the original letters from them though, always nice to dig out and look at from time to time.

I submitted 4 or 5 solos to Mike Stackpole and BEDLAM was the only one approved. I still have his letters too, which make quite interesting reading these days!

Just for the record, the other solos I can remember were called 'Pyramid of Peril', Snowdrift Mountain' and 'The Tree'.

Actually, they were awful!

[machfront]

Dec 5, 2009 7:31:55 GMT -5 zendog said:

My main issue with the Corgi books were the art. I was spoiled growing up with Danforth, and Carver and all the other great artists that worked on the solos. I found the corgi artwork dull.

Oddly, when I first saw the art, I hated it. Though I love Liz's art in the FBI prints, I now have a strong fondness for Kirby's Corgi art. Before it looked downright childish and silly to me. Now, for some reason, it seems sorta gritty in a weird fantasy way. To me it now calls to mind the same...tone?...ambiance?...that a lot of those great late 60s and 70s sword 'n' sorcery paperback covers had (especially the Corgi solo covers).

Dec 5, 2009 8:12:42 GMT -5 Boozer said:

I have very fond memories of the old 1-colour cardstock solos, and of the orange cover T&T 5th edition, which will IMHO always be the best version of the rules. I've never really been over-impressed with later versions, I guess I'm just an old man now set in his ways

Luckily, I'm a proud owner of an Orange box set in excellent condition. I love it. I just wish the cover was cardstock and not paper. Also, I sorta wish they'd reformatted it instead of jus'...shrinking the FBI print.

Dec 5, 2009 8:12:42 GMT -5 Boozer said:

Back in the 80s Chris Harvey Games wrote to me offering to publish BEDLAM in the Corgi book range, but alas the range never took-off (not surprisingly...) and that was that. I still have the original letters from them though, always nice to dig out and look at from time to time.

I submitted 4 or 5 solos to Mike Stackpole and BEDLAM was the only one approved. I still have his letters too, which make quite interesting reading these days!

Wow. That's awesome. You must be proud.
I'll now make meself a good lil note to pick up Bedlam ASAP.

[Boozer]

Heh Mach, y'know, my draft copy of BEDLAM to FB/CHG was typed-up on a little manual typewriter with patheticly awful drawings in it done by a friend of mine at the time (who later went to prison, but that is a LONG story!) and the whole thing hole-punched and held together by string tags.

How it manages to impress anyone is beyond me!

I still have it - what a gem but dreadfully embarassing!!!

[machfront]

Heh heh.
Well...a seed is a humble little thing too.

[jongjungbu]

Get Bedlam Machfront. I'll be the non-affiliated proponent of saying it's a great solo you should get your hands on. And if you are travelling, it fits nicely alongside the Corgi versions for easy transport.

It's hard though. Boozer's mean. LOL.

[mahrundl]

Bedlam is a good 'un, agreed.

You know, Boozer, if you ever needed money, you could try auctioning the Bedlam draft. People seem willing to pay a lot for that sort of thing...

[castiglione]

Dec 3, 2009 22:57:22 GMT -5 machfront said:

FYI, Blade was the publishing side of FBI throughout most of the 80's and into the 90's, so what you finally saw were the solos we had here stateside starting in about 1979 or '80.

Flying Buffalo's main source of revenue was the running of play-by-games like Star Web and a bunch of others. These were pretty popular before e-mail and the internet where people paid $2 to $5 a turn to play with other people from all over the US (and sometimes all over the world).

Selling face-to-face games was actually a side-line of Rick Loomis's and I think Tunnels & Trolls was actually the first game he sold. As Tunnels & Trolls grew in popularity, Rick Loomis spun off Blade from Flying Buffalo, Inc. I think Blade got "reabsorbed" back into FBI a while back.

Frankly, I preferred Flying Buffalo's products before they spun-off Blade. Their products looked less professional and slick but they also looked more "homey" and "comfy". I guess it comes down to personal preference but when I compare the original cover for City of Terrors with the beautiful two-panel illustration of a day in the life of the city of Gull and then compare it to the later color cover, there's just no comparison. The same goes for Labyrinth, Deathtrap Equalizer, etc. Even Naked Doom, which possibly had the ugliest (and possibly most demented looking) cover had a cover with character.