The stories follow the adventures of a young hero named Pip, who is often called upon by Merlin to right wrongs and save the realm from evil.
The series is light in tone and does not take itself seriously, often spoofing the fantasy genre and inserting slapstick humour or nonsensical elements.
The series is mostly set in King Arthur's realm of Avalon, although the fourth volume, Voyage of Terror, takes place almost entirely in ancient Greece, after Merlin's summoning spell goes wrong.
There is no defence roll, but damage is reduced by a set amount by any armour the character is wearing.
Surprise is sometimes involved (for example, in Gateway of Doom, a giant spider gets first strike automatically due to Pip being in its home territory).
If the character dies, the player must go to section 14, which describes his afterdeath and tells him to calculate his Life Points again.
In the inaugural issue of The Games Machine, John Woods thought the books had a "pleasant light-hearted feel."
"[1] In 2012 the company Tin Man Games planned to create iOS and Android versions of the books.