Hammerforge Chronicles is an independent publishing house and publisher of gamebooks including Legion of the Necromancer.
​The imprint was created by writer James Gill and artist James Isaacs as a home for their first project.
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​As of November 2025, Hammerforge Chronicles and the team have created their first gamebook - Legion of the Necromancer - and funded it via Kickstarter. ​
The duo plan to publish more books on the imprint with ideas for books two, three and four already in progress.
Origin Story
How did this book happen? That’s a short answer and an easy guess.
A writer and an illustrator worked on a story and created words and pictures, respectively. The writer wrote, the illustrator illustrated and the printer printed.
Why did this book happen? That might take a moment.
In 2005, James met James. James Isaacs was the designer of music magazine, Metal Hammer. James Gill arrived as the new online editor. The pair worked together as part of the wider Hammer team and a friendship soon grew. Not only did the Jameses share a passion for music of many stripes, but they had both grown up on Bloodbowl and Space Hulk; D&D and Warhammer 40k; Games Workshop and White Dwarf. They also bonded over the hunt for a cassette version of D-Rok’s 1991 album, Oblivion, released on Warhammer Records.
For six years Isaacs designed every issue of of Metal Hammer, directed photoshoots and created the amazing visuals that would infuse every page. Meanwhile, Gill wrote the content that would live in the magazine’s pages - from interviews to reviews and band profiles. Gill left Hammer in 2012, Isaacs left in 2016 and the pair have remained close friends ever since.
In 2024, almost 20 years after they first met, Gill asked Isaacs whether he’d been into classic Fighting Fantasy gamebooks - the classic ‘choose your own adventure’ series by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. Isaacs brought out his first-ten-books boxset and Gill showed him his battered and tattered Citadel of Chaos wrapped in ancient sellotape.
“We should do one,” said James. “Like a tribute to the originals.”
“We totally should,” said James.
And so they set about dreaming up a new world and a new mission that would feel like the originals. The result of this friendship and this collaboration is this book - Legion of the Necromancer.
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Book 1: Legion of the Necromancer.
Legion of the Necromancer is a solo gamebook in the classic choose-your-path mould. We launched the Kickstarter campaign in October 2025 and were fully funded in only 12 hours!
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The future
The success of Legion of the Necromancer only emboldened the duo who have plans for books two, three and even four!
Meet the creators
Meet James Isaacs and James Gill, and hear them discuss how and why they decided to create Hammerforge Chronicles and their first gamebook, Legion of the Necromancer.
Get in touch
When James and James were reading the original Fighting Fantasy books, it was harder to let authors know how you felt about their work.
But now, in 2025, it as easy as rolling a dice, so please let us know what you thought of the book: what worked, what didn’t.
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And if you have any other questions, you can also email us at hammerforgechronicles@gmail.com