When I was but a wee-child, I loved reading the classics, like Goosebumps. Every month, a fresh book of ghastly delights would appear, and I (ever the classy gentleman), would read through the book with a mixture of excitement, fear, and awe. I would read the books twice over before finally retiring to my bedroom to think about the wonders of horror and literature. I would think of how I would have done stuff differently in the books. I would have found a way to survive better, survive quicker, or bring some fiery ending to the narrative that would have left the reader gaping!

And then something amazing happened when I was ten. R.L. Stine released a new kind of Goosebumps. This type was a ‘choose your own adventure’. And that’s when I realized that the story was now in my hands. No longer would I have to worry that the characters would go up the stairs to see ‘who was making that chainsaw sound’. No longer would I suddenly find the character gulping down dangerous quantities of Monster Blood! No, the choice was now mine. And mine alone.

We’ve all played the standard ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books. And I do mean play instead of read because I’ve always seen them as a game. It was the earliest form of roleplaying for me, being able to directly affect the story in my (admittedly limited) way. I must have read through those “Give Yourself Goosebumps” a hundred times over trying to find the best way to escape the Carnival of Horror or Bat Wing Hall. In the end, these books were my first brush with roleplaying and that is why they’ll always have a special place in my heart.

For those that have been paying attention to our Google Plus page, you might have seen our newest experiment in social media. Fandible is actually hosting our own Choose Your Own Adventure game. Every month (or so – we’re still testing the waters!) we’ll be running a (ugh.. Okay, I need an acronym) CYOA game using a setting from one of our roleplaying books. Yes, this means you might just have a chance to get your head cut off by Moira Clayton, have your face worn by Zap McGuffin, or to join Rubia and Stevens in their quest to find a job that will actually stick.

Every week we’ll be posting a bit of the story along with several choices for where the story could go next. You’ll have a week to pick a choice before the poll is tallied – this month, the first poll closes today, Wednesday the 14th, at noon (EST). Once I see what the community has decided, I’ll add a new segment of the story the next day! Then we will rinse and repeat until the story ends.

This month we’re starting our CYOA with Rotted Capes. You can find the post here. If you missed the chance to vote for this week’s choice, that’s alright! Just keep an eye on Fandible’s Google Plus page and you will be able to vote for the next choice in the adventure. However, remember to be careful – if the community picks one or two bad choices, you might just find yourself shuffling on your dead feet, moaning for the flesh of the living. Or you might find yourself running into a few familiar faces from Fandible’s own game of Rotted Capes! Who doesn’t want to be robbed by the legendary Goldshot?

What settings would you like Fandible to explore next in our CYOA segment? How about we all vote for Planescape so we can post a drunken rant from Angela about how democracy and community choices suck.

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