Warlock Issue 2

Back to that box of old gaming magazines that I found in my spare room.  Mainly because I spent the day walking around part of the New Forest (and up to my ankles in mud at one point) which, along with the traffic around Lyndhurst, in both directions), has left me too knackered to come up with a proper post today, (plus I'm still being arsed around by Royal Mail over that parcel, sent 'first class', that they still haven't delivered to me).  Anyway, this is Issue 2 of Warlock: The Fighting Fantasy Magazine, (I also have issues 1 and 3, but I liked this cover the best).  Launched in 1984, at the height of the popularity of the 'Fighting Fantasy' role playing game books, Warlock was published quarterly and edited by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, creators of the game book series.  The magazine was intended to present revised versions of existing adventures, some entirely new, shorter, adventures and provide tips on playing the books.  This issue also includes a profile of Peter Jones, who provided many of series' covers and even some short fiction.

While the 'Fighting Fantasy' books were quite a phenomenon when they appeared, putting role playing games into a cheap mass market format and thereby introducing them to younger readers, the idea of publishing a companion magazine was somewhat curious.  The books had a pretty simple game system and presented their scenarios in a very structured format, making it difficult to offer gaming strategies for them, or even rule enhancements.  The magazine did try to expand the franchise somewhat - Issue 3, for instance, included a board game based around the sames rules and game concepts.  The magazine's main purpose seemed to be to increase the profile of the book series and popularise the 'Fighting Fantasy' name.  It was also a way of maintaining interest in the series between book releases.  As published by Penguin, who also published the books, Warlock was, at least, a slickly produced magazine.  I'm not sure how long it lasted, (I'm pretty sure I have a fourth issue somewhere), but I'm guessing that it didn't out live the peak popularity of the books.  'Fighting Fantasy' books are still around, but not the phenomenon they once were - they've become part of the fabric of the role playing game scene.  But back in the day they did a sterling task in popularising the hobby and bringing it to a wider audience, providing many readers with their first experience of fantasy role playing games.