Introduction[]
Welcome to the Fabled Lands wiki, a wikia page devoted to the Fabled Lands (aka Quest) game book series published by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson. If you've never played the series, you may want to consider looking around the web for a PDF, purchase the iphone app, playing the free Java version of the books, OR go to Amazon and purchase the game books in their most recent reprinting (going at a rate of $8.99 per book).
The series was initially planned to be 12 books, however due to the drop out of the game book market during the mid-late 1990s only the initial 6 books in the series were published. Recently author Dave Morris commented that if the new reprinting of the series manages to sell 10,000 copies of each book, the publisher will greenlight production of books 7-12. In 2018, book 7 was published via a Kickstarter campaign, written by Paul Gresty and edited by Richard S. Hetley who also ran the Kickstarter campaign.
Further Stuff Based on Fabled Lands[]
In addition to the game book these other items were released in the same setting:
A Fabled Lands Role Playing Game based on the original game books was written by Shane Garvey and Jamie Wallis of Greywood Publishing. The RPG rules are based on the original rules of the game books but have been expanded to accommodate an adventuring party rather than a solo player and a role playing experience rather than a game book. Sokara -The War Torn Kingdom was the only supplement out of 12 planned released for it. A French version of the Role Playing game was made available from Megara Entertainment along with an free campaign for it it in English by Richard S. Hetley set in Sokara. A free Pathfinder conversion of the campaign was done by Jeff Swank. Dave Morris wrote an a scenario for it called By Her Gait which appeared as blog entry on the Fabled Lands Blog.
The English version and the only supplement can be gotten in PDF format on RPGNow.com separately or as part of a Fabled Lands bundles and the French version can still be ordered from Megara Entertainment.
Art of the Fabled Lands by David Walter was published by Megara Entertainment in 2011.
Tales of the Fabled Lands a card game by Jamie Thomson with art by Megara Entertainment. based on the series was released by Greywood Publishing. It is still available in PDF format for purchase on RPGNow.com separately or as part of a Fabled Lands bundles.
The Heart of Harkun a 6 part BBC audio drama by Peter Thomson and Jamie Thomson was done in 1991 that takes place in the same setting as the game book series. A comic adaptation that is to be 12 issues was being done by Jamie Thomson and Russ Nicholson.
The audio drama can be listen to for free online Spark Furnace and on BBC iPlayer Radio. Rough version of the first two comic issues were released for free download at Lulu and on the Fabled Lands Blog.
The Keep of the Lich Lord (Fabled Lands Quests) (Volume 1) by Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson was released in 2014. This game book was originally released years earlier as part of the Fighting Fantasy series and was edited to set in in the Fabled Lands setting and use the same game rules as in the Fabled Lands game books and remove it from the Fighting Fantasy setting and not use the Fighting Fantasy game book system with the 2014 release. It is available on Amazon and in a delux version from Megara Entertainment. Megara also made an app based version of it.
The Lost Prince: Tales of the Fabled Lands by Jamie Thomson a novel in the same setting as the series as the books was released in 2012 and can be gotten on Amazon.
Overview[]
Unlike other adventure gaming book series, the Fabled Lands is an open world where you can travel freely, stumbling into adventures by accident or choosing quests intentionally. Therefore, the Fabled Lands are more similar to computer role playing games like Gothic or the Elder Scroll series (e.g. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) than to games with much more linear main plots (going through a series of different chapters, taking place at differnt locations) like Neverwinter Nights or Dragon Age.
All you need to play are the books, a pencil, an eraser and three six-sided dice. You can keep track of everything directly in the books. If a paragraph tells you to go to another section in another book, you need to transfer most of the data from one book to the other and erase it in the former one. This is practicable as long as you play a long time in one book before going on to the next. However, characters who managed to survive a long time may hop between books quite frequently. Therefore, usage of book-independent sheets and keeping track of everything there is strongly recommeded.
The books of the series work pretty much together as one thick tome, each one covering a geographical area of the world map - at least, as long as you make your own adventure sheets and don't write into the books.
| Book | Title | Region | Inspiration | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The War-Torn Kingdom | Sokara | Medieval Europe-ish meets the English Civil War | Rebellion in the war-torn kingdom of Sokara. | |
| 2 | Cities of Gold and Glory | Golnir | Medieval Europe-ish | Adventure in the idle farmlands of Golnir. | |
| 3 | Over the Blood Dark Sea | The Violet Ocean | Early Shipping Days | Life at sea in the Violet Ocean. | |
| 4 | The Plains of Howling Darkness | The Great Steppes | American Plains Indians meet the frozen steppes of Asia. | Adventure on the icy Great Steppes. | |
| 5 | The Court of Hidden Faces | Uttaku | Ottoman Empire | Intrigue and subterfuge among the Uttakin nobility. | |
| 6 | Lords of the Rising Sun | Akatsurai | Japan | An ancient feudal society to the far east. | |
| 7 | The Serpent King's Domain | Ankon-Konu | The Amazon | Expeditions into the jungle and the spiritual world | |
| 8 | The Lone and Level Sands | The Desert of Bones | Middle East/Arabian Nights/North Africa |
| |
| 9 | The Isle of a Thousand Spires | Chrysoprais | Ancient India |
| |
| 10 | Legions of the Labyrinth | Atticala | Ancient Greece |
| |
| 11 | The City in the Clouds | Dangor | China |
| |
| 12 | Into the Underworld | The Underworld | Hell |
|
Character Features[]
In the Fabled Lands, characters have the following stats:
- Name
- Professsion: Mage, Priest, Rogue, Troubador, Warrior, or Wayfarer
- Stamina: maximum (when unwounded) and current (when wounded)
- Rank
- Defence
- 6 Abilities: CHARISMA, COMBAT, MAGIC, SANCTITY, SCOUTING, and THIEVERY
- Any number of titles and honours
- Being initiate of at most one god at any point of time
- Any number of blessings (however, only one blessing per type at any point of time)
- Up to one resurrection arrangement at any point of time
- A maximum of 12 possessions to carry around
- An unlimited amount of money to carry around
- An unlimited amount of money banked
- Unlimited amounts of money being invested at different locations
- Any number of houses, chambers, cabinets etc.
- Any number of possessions (items and money) stored per house, chamber, cabinet etc. (there are only a few exceptions where the number is limited)
- Any number of ships
In comparison to other solo adventure gaming books this is quite detailed. In comparison to characters from sophisticated roleplaying systems this is quite meagre.
Codewords and Tick Boxes[]
Fabled Lands uses a system of codewords and tick boxes to store information about events and status changes. The text refers to the codewords and tick boxes many times and selects different paragraphs for reading on, depending on whether the character has a specific codeword or not or whether a tick box is ticked or not.
Fabled Lands: List of Codewords
Fabled Lands: List of Tickboxes
Geography[]
Continents, oceans, regions, cities and villages, special landmarks etc. (todo)
Non-Player Characters, Monsters, Combat Encounters[]
todo
Fabled Lands: List of Combat Encounters
Possessions and Items[]
The characters in the Fabled Lands need to deal with many items during their adventures. However, they are restricted to 12 possessions that they can carry around (be it 12 heavy plate armours or 12 peacock feathers).
Because of this harsh restriction it is even more helpful to know where items can be found, bought, sold, and used.
Warning: The information on the following pages may spoil your gaming experience. You may want to explore everything by yourself. However, if you have played a great deal already and are searching desparately for a specific item this could be of help maybe.
Furthermore, characters can possess an unlimited amount of money (Shards) and unlimited numbers of houses and ships. Characters can do trading between markets and harbours, respectively, or invest money and try to make a profit. Money can be banked for safekeeping, however, if the money is deducted a fee of 10% has to be payed.
Religion[]
The religions in the Fabled Lands are polytheistic.
The characters can become an initiate of a god or goddess as long as they are not an initate of another temple already. It is possible to renounce worship and become an initiate of another temple.
Services of temples include blessings, resurrection arrangements and healing. Characters can have multiple blessings, however, only one blessing per type at any point of time.