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Out of the Pit
From the darkest corners, from the deepest pools and from the dungeons thought only to exist in nightmares come the Fighting Fantasy monsters - the downfall of many a brave warrior. Two hundred and fifty of these loathsome creatures from the wild and dangerous worlds of Fighting Fantasy are collected here - some are old adversaries, many you have yet to meet - each of them described in minute detail. An indispensable guide for Fighting Fantasy adventurers!
Full monster statistics
250 illustrations
8 full pages in colour
Maps
Tables and charts
Full monster statistics
250 illustrations
8 full pages in colour
Maps
Tables and charts
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Marc Gascoigne
101 books61 followersPublisher, editor, designer – a lifetime in books. Previously publisher of Aconyte, Angry Robot, Black Library, and Solaris. Before that, responsible for a whole bookcase worth of books, both fiction and non-fiction, tie-ins and original works, as well as games design, journalism, computer game scripting, etc. Winner of both the World Fantasy Award and British Fantasy Award.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 26, 2020
An excellent resource for any tabletop fantasy gamer and a delightful trip back through the bestiary that turned me into a gamer waaaayyyy back in 1982. Superb.
April 29, 2019
This is a compilation of monsters that had appeared in various fighting fantasy game books. Each entry includes Skill, Stamina, Habitat, Number Encounterd, Type (humanoid, animal, plant etc.), Reaction (friendly, hostile etc.), Intelligence and number of attacks. These stats are for the Fighting Fantasy role-playing game of which this is a supplement. In addition to these stats is a short description of the creatures notable traits, habits, special attacks etc. There is a drawing of each creature.
Although the back cover claims the creatures are described in minute detail, in fact the descriptions which can range from one to five paragraphs are often pretty vague, in some cases one will not have any quantitative size for the creature and in most cases one dimension (such as height or length) is all that is given (all measurements are in metric). In several cases the descriptions of creatures mention features such as special attacks (like poison blow darts) that are not given a game mechanic (it is not explained what is rolled to determine success or failure, no number is given for damage to stamina etc.).
The creatures inside vary from the generic fantasy type (the dwarf) to the original and quirky (the Gonchong body controlling parasite) plus some normal animals (dogs, jaguars etc.). Some of them are a bit repetitive (for example there are two distinct species of two headed lizardmen detailed).
There are over 250 drawings there quality runs the gamut from well drafted, detailed and dramatic to crude, cartoonish and obscure. Two maps taken from the game books are included one of Allansia (the region not the continent) and one of Kakhabad. Also in the last five pages are a table for generating random treasure possessed by monsters and a set of random monster encounter tables for different environments. There is not much setting in this book (although some monster descriptions include their geographic location and history).
I presume this is a useful resource if you are running a fighting fantasy game, although as mentioned you would probably have to extrapolate a little to fully realize the creatures. The descriptions should give you ideas for creatures of your own and how to implement special attacks etc. within the game.
Although the back cover claims the creatures are described in minute detail, in fact the descriptions which can range from one to five paragraphs are often pretty vague, in some cases one will not have any quantitative size for the creature and in most cases one dimension (such as height or length) is all that is given (all measurements are in metric). In several cases the descriptions of creatures mention features such as special attacks (like poison blow darts) that are not given a game mechanic (it is not explained what is rolled to determine success or failure, no number is given for damage to stamina etc.).
The creatures inside vary from the generic fantasy type (the dwarf) to the original and quirky (the Gonchong body controlling parasite) plus some normal animals (dogs, jaguars etc.). Some of them are a bit repetitive (for example there are two distinct species of two headed lizardmen detailed).
There are over 250 drawings there quality runs the gamut from well drafted, detailed and dramatic to crude, cartoonish and obscure. Two maps taken from the game books are included one of Allansia (the region not the continent) and one of Kakhabad. Also in the last five pages are a table for generating random treasure possessed by monsters and a set of random monster encounter tables for different environments. There is not much setting in this book (although some monster descriptions include their geographic location and history).
I presume this is a useful resource if you are running a fighting fantasy game, although as mentioned you would probably have to extrapolate a little to fully realize the creatures. The descriptions should give you ideas for creatures of your own and how to implement special attacks etc. within the game.
July 15, 2014
A bestiary of Fighting Fantasy monsters
15 July 2014
I'm going to have to admit that I actually read this one from cover to cover (though I cannot say that I read it deeply, rather I only skimmed over each of the entries) and I am wondering whether that is all the book is useful for, at least for me. Granted, it should rate high on the cuteness factor (not that many of the monsters contained herein could be considered cute, unless of course you are the type of person that considers goblins, zombies, and ratmen, to be cute, but that is another story).
Anyway, this book contains a collection of monsters that appeared in the original sixteen or so Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (which included the four Steve Jackson Sorcery books, but did not include any of the science-fiction books or House of Hell) and put them all in one book with a write-up on each of them. So, the question I thus have asked is what is the purpose of this book. Well, to be honest with you, it beats me, even though I read through it, I probably wouldn't encourage anybody else to do so. Hey, I do have a friend that has bought this book, but I don't think he ever read it, though he does admit that he likes monsters and books about monsters, so he bought this book (and, as I suspect, never read it, but does keep it hidden in a crate in his mother's garage).
Maybe it could be useful if you were actually running a Fighting Fantasy game, and they did end up releasing a series of books in that regard (which I have access to, and may even do a write up on, if I have time that is – to read them that is, not to do a write up because I can always find time to do a write up). So, it is always good to have a collection of monsters that the Gamemaster can use to throw against the players, and as I have suggested there are plenty of monsters in this book for the players to go up against, everything from the mundane, such as a crab (albeit a giant crab):
the common, such as a goblin (or an orc):
the powerful, such as a dragon:
the strange, such as the dog ape and the ape dog:
and the downright ridiculous, such as this:
So, if you have not been convinced by my commentary (not that I am trying to convince you of anything), I have found another guy who openly admits that he read this book from cover to cover, and his adventures in the pages of this ridiculous tome can be found here.
15 July 2014
I'm going to have to admit that I actually read this one from cover to cover (though I cannot say that I read it deeply, rather I only skimmed over each of the entries) and I am wondering whether that is all the book is useful for, at least for me. Granted, it should rate high on the cuteness factor (not that many of the monsters contained herein could be considered cute, unless of course you are the type of person that considers goblins, zombies, and ratmen, to be cute, but that is another story).
Anyway, this book contains a collection of monsters that appeared in the original sixteen or so Fighting Fantasy gamebooks (which included the four Steve Jackson Sorcery books, but did not include any of the science-fiction books or House of Hell) and put them all in one book with a write-up on each of them. So, the question I thus have asked is what is the purpose of this book. Well, to be honest with you, it beats me, even though I read through it, I probably wouldn't encourage anybody else to do so. Hey, I do have a friend that has bought this book, but I don't think he ever read it, though he does admit that he likes monsters and books about monsters, so he bought this book (and, as I suspect, never read it, but does keep it hidden in a crate in his mother's garage).
Maybe it could be useful if you were actually running a Fighting Fantasy game, and they did end up releasing a series of books in that regard (which I have access to, and may even do a write up on, if I have time that is – to read them that is, not to do a write up because I can always find time to do a write up). So, it is always good to have a collection of monsters that the Gamemaster can use to throw against the players, and as I have suggested there are plenty of monsters in this book for the players to go up against, everything from the mundane, such as a crab (albeit a giant crab):
the common, such as a goblin (or an orc):
the powerful, such as a dragon:
the strange, such as the dog ape and the ape dog:
and the downright ridiculous, such as this:
So, if you have not been convinced by my commentary (not that I am trying to convince you of anything), I have found another guy who openly admits that he read this book from cover to cover, and his adventures in the pages of this ridiculous tome can be found here.
March 29, 2013
Of all the monster manuals I've gone through in my time (and believe me, being a GM for 20 years provides you with a healthy load of those) Out of the Pit (OOTP) is beyond doubt the one closest to my heart. Running from the earliest black books of AD&D, all the way up to Bestiary 3 from Paizo, nothing leaves me with the same thrill and sense of fantastic beings as this one.
A huge issue I often take with modern monster books (for RPG's at least) is how too much is lost to cold, hard facts and not enough fluff. Sure, it's nice to know that the black spawn from Hell lashes at you with four 2D8+2 attacks, and that it is able to shoot fire from its ears. But where does it live, how much does it sleep and how many kids does it typically have?
If these questions tend to bother you the same way as they bother me, you'll love OOTP. Unlike many modern monster manuals, which have a tendency to stick with evil and threatening monsters, this volume carries high the old Fighting Fantasy tradition of including strange and somewhat just odd creatures. The Jib-Jib comes to mind, among others.
It's this free spirit; the will and courage to actually play with your creations, and include trivial information about them, that makes this book stand out to me. It's a grand tour down nostalgia lane if you ever were much into Fighting Fantasy, and/or like me included them in your homemade campaigns for your friends. Even then, I remember having a great time keeping it around as a reference, whenever I played the solo adventures in Fighting Fantasy.
For some people, this book has become some of a collector's item and I deeply recommend getting it, if you have the chance. It's a funny little read, from when roleplaying games and fantasy didn't take itself all too seriously.
A huge issue I often take with modern monster books (for RPG's at least) is how too much is lost to cold, hard facts and not enough fluff. Sure, it's nice to know that the black spawn from Hell lashes at you with four 2D8+2 attacks, and that it is able to shoot fire from its ears. But where does it live, how much does it sleep and how many kids does it typically have?
If these questions tend to bother you the same way as they bother me, you'll love OOTP. Unlike many modern monster manuals, which have a tendency to stick with evil and threatening monsters, this volume carries high the old Fighting Fantasy tradition of including strange and somewhat just odd creatures. The Jib-Jib comes to mind, among others.
It's this free spirit; the will and courage to actually play with your creations, and include trivial information about them, that makes this book stand out to me. It's a grand tour down nostalgia lane if you ever were much into Fighting Fantasy, and/or like me included them in your homemade campaigns for your friends. Even then, I remember having a great time keeping it around as a reference, whenever I played the solo adventures in Fighting Fantasy.
For some people, this book has become some of a collector's item and I deeply recommend getting it, if you have the chance. It's a funny little read, from when roleplaying games and fantasy didn't take itself all too seriously.
July 30, 2013
The definitive guide to the monsters in the Fighting Fantasy series, great for nostalgia purposes.
Can also be used for stocking dungeons when using the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG (there is meant to be a new edition soon to go with AFF 2nd edition).
Can also be used for stocking dungeons when using the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG (there is meant to be a new edition soon to go with AFF 2nd edition).
June 8, 2018
Not a story book. This is a collection of all the monsters that feature in the Fighting Fantasy books/world. Also, used to create your own adventure games as a reference book. Loved the pictures in these books as a kid!
July 27, 2020
13/20.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews