RATIONS is a collection of six trifold pamphlets for FIST. Each one is its own little morsel of gameable content.
ATARAXIA is a short point crawl adventure with a boss that's also a puzzle.
ATARAXIA is a mission pamphlet for FIST about a boy trapped inside a malfunctioning bipedal mech. The boy in question, Ilya Petrov, is the son of Captain Vilen Petrov, an officer of the Red Army who has contacted FIST for help with rescuing his son. FIST must destroy or disable the bipedal mech CHERNOBOG without harming Ilya, then escort Ilya and Captain Petrov to the Extraction Point, all beneath the Commissar's nose.
During this dangerous and delicate mission, you will encounter:
POINTCRAWL ACTION - Use the topographical map of the Ural Mountains to explore the rumor-filled village of Vizhay, find the Soviets' Secret Bunker, and make your way through Dyatlov Pass. Locations are fleshed out with miniature encounter and rumor tables, for seasoning to taste.
GALLERY OF ROGUES - Ally with the hard-drinking, always-prepared Captain Petrov to save his son from CYCLOPS (and raid his supply stash before the fight). Have your mind sundered by the psychic Commissar, a menacing CRO eager to tear FIST apart.
SUPER-SIZED PUZZLE BOSS - CHERNOBOG is an enemy of eight parts, each with their own HP, functions, and rules. The pamphlet's cover doubles as a labelled illustration of CHERNOBOG to be used as a prop when Captain Petrov briefs the players. Choose where to attack the mech (and hope you don't miss) to keep Ilya safe inside the cockpit and change the course of the fight.
HAZARD FUNCTION is a procedurally generated character funnel along the lines of some DCC and Mothership modules.
[MIC FEEDBACK] Good morning, patriots. You may be feeling a little woozy right now-that's to be expected. For the last twenty-four hours, you have been anesthatized and placed in sensory deprivation tanks-that explains the pruny fingers!-while being intravenously administered lysergic acid diethylamide. There's no need to panic-really, you'll feel better if you don't. Rest assured, your fellow bums, dope dealers, and degenerates have already forgotten about you, but your country-or the country you're squatting in, as the case may be-will never forget the Crucible Program. Look alive, soldiers. [AUDIO ENDS]
HAZARD FUNCTION is a funnel mission for FIST about a human augmentation project funded by the US military. The goal of this project, called the Crucible Program by its creator Dr. Timothy Stillman, is to "winnow" a group of test subjects using an intensive, lethal obstacle course, leaving behind a select few candidates for a proposed top-secret team of ultrahuman SEALs. Each player portrays three characters, plagued by amnesia and plucked from their homes, who are less powerful than a typical FIST starting character.
While knee-deep in the horrors of the Crucible, you will encounter:
TACTICAL DUNGEON CRAWLING - Hazard Function comes with a referee-only map of the Crucible, a malicious maze with a network of ventilation shafts. The contents of the maze are generated procedurally as the players advance, with the aid of the ROOMS, HAZARDS, ENCOUNTERS, and ITEMS tables.
REALISTIC COMBAT SIMULATIONS - Jungles with laser security nets, offices packed with exploding red barrels, groups of civilian test subjects herded into a compactor room with methamphetamine-dosed rattlesnakes, a pitch-black room stalked by a single, starving zebra - these are just a few of Dr. Stillman's facsimile combat scenarios. Escape, then put him in the ground.
CHARACTER FUNNEL ACTION - Who will leave the experiment alive? Operatives start with nothing and must carve out their continued existence with the objects around them. Characters that survive will find their trait items somewhere in the Crucible and unlock their true power.
CULTURE SHOCK covers a barter-merchant NPC who spawns from dead bodies and sells bio-spells from a random table.
[GURGLING, BONES SHIFTING] Felicitations, sentient Earthlings-allow me to introduce myself. My people come from far beyond your icy "Oort Cloud". We are sociological empaths; each of the delegation-cultures which has fanned out from Orion to touch other worlds are diplomats of the mind and wanderers stochastic. I am one such delegation-culture, and my million-million bodies are not unlike your Earth bacteria (though my degree of intelligence is, of course, far higher). My name, transliterated so that you may pronounce it, is Colony. For decades now I have lain dormant in the bodies of your people; I have spread and multiplied to become a global pathogen which knows no national borders, no divisions of culture or class. My integration, which has been deep and thorough to the level atomic, has reflected a relationship of exchange-with each body that I convert to my purposes, I begin to understand the human mind, the human heart, that much more, for you see this is my people's way- we come bearing no particular message; we merely listen until we have learned to speak your language. Now, after ten Solar years of total immersion, I am pleased to announce my newfound purpose, and it is this: to sell you one-of-a-kind extraterrestrial defense solutions at low, low prices! [AUDIO ENDS]
CULTURE SHOCK is an NPC pamphlet for FIST that adds a randomly-appearing merchant to any campaign - namely, a sentient alien pathogen named Colony, which possess its hosts after they've died. Once a dead body has safely risen again as Colony, it will scrape together a humble camp-perhaps a crate to sit on, a lantern to see by, and an oil drum to contain a bonfire. Once situated, the host will flag down FIST with broad cadaverous gestures and carnivalistic flair, offering wares sold at "the lowest legal prices this side of the Perseus Arm!"
While browsing the wares of Colony, you will find:
BACTERIAL SORCERY - Using a mutated and miniaturized version of Maze Rats' magic system, browse a catalog of strange infections which changes each time Colony appears. Will you disarm your enemies with "magnetic fingertips"? Ignite an interrogation with the threat of a "burning brain" pod? Say goodbye to your friends very quickly if you gain "melting bones"?
NEW CONTEXT - Search every mission for balloons, high-powered magnets, and vacuum tubes for trade-in. Colony has infected a large portion of the world, and can randomly appear in any mission, as anyone who has recently died. Will it control the main villain of your campaign, turning their gang of villains into a booming business? Will CYCLOPS hunt it down, never to eat a neon sign again?
SOME GOOD THINGS ON SALE, STRANGER - Buy temporary or permanent bacteria pods with randomized effects. Outfit your weapons with BIO-ROUNDS and watch your enemies squirm. Wear a BIO-SLEEVE and feel your second skin breathe.
GREENHOUSE EFFECT is a bestiary full of malicious plants with various compounding status effects and behaviors.
[STATIC]-couldn't tell you where the first plant came from, hand to God. Maybe it just showed up one day, the most innocuous of visitors. Maybe every house has a plant like this, you just can't see it ‘til something gets triggered in your brain and you take notice. Maybe I bought it and forgot. Everything feels a little bit out of focus these days, like I'm living in my own slice of time, suspended all green and sticky in the web of continuity-[MUFFLED CHITTERING, FEEDBACK WHINE] [STATIC]-wanted me to water it. It begged me for it, pleading, in its way. Who was I to say no? [AUDIO ENDS]
GREENHOUSE EFFECT is a micro-bestiary pamphlet for FIST about a rapidly flourishing faction of evil, intelligent flora. From the twisted will of a single, anomalous potted plant, an entire city of verdant thralls could be born; perhaps this "innocuous visitor" has already found its way inside your home, your operating base, your terra cotta planters.
What you may find growing in your garden:
FREAKY FLORA - Eleven monsters penned by the always-incredible Ripley Caldwell can be thrown at your players at will or randomly spawned by a Gardener. You'll encounter duplicitous weeds, bubbling vats of human flesh that are cast across intruders, and swarming roses that burst to cover their enemies in a shower of blood.
FRESH TRAITS - When your operatives fall under the influence of the Malignant Flora, you'll have traits to match. Take GARDENER and become an aimless plant-thrall with pliant green skin, or gain MARIONETTE and become the puppet of an amicable tree. If you prepare the correct poultice, you can rid yourself of these alien effects.
TWO MODES - You can use the enemies in the pamphlet to create a scenario where the mission area has already become infested (e.g. a portal to Hell, a jungle poisoned by toxic waste, the Fractal Zone), OR you can drop this pamphlet into any unrelated mission where the players might reasonably encounter a normal potted plant, and the now-anomalous Potted Plant will slowly, surely spread its influence across the game world through its Gardeners.
ANESTHETIC DEPTH adds a detailed injury and first aid system inspired by Metal Gear Solid 3 and Cavegirl's Horrible Wounds.
[RADIO FEEDBACK]-so, yeah, not sure how well this is coming through, just wanted to let you know that that casualty report re: Riverdance was a false alarm. I believe- [GUNFIRE, HOLLERS]-yep, looks like the arm is staying on just fine.
[END TRANSMISSION]
ANESTHETIC DEPTH is a rules add-on pamphlet for FIST, inspired by Metal Gear Solid 3 and Cavegirl's Horrible Wounds, which adds an injury and treatment system to replace the simpler, default HP method. Characters must keep track of injuries incurred by different amounts of DAMAGE, which can stack and reduce their MAX HP (among other nasty effects) without proper treatment.
FIST operatives may find themselves unable to move without getting hurt, forced to sit out for several missions while an alternate character takes over, or choosing a bombastic final act before poison overtakes their body. When this add-on is active, the referee treats all injuries as part of the fiction. Injured characters may have to roll for simple actions which other characters would not, such as carrying gear or staying quiet.
Areas of treatment include:
DAMAGE TYPES - Attacks are now classified by six damage types (BALLISTIC, CUTTING, IMPACT, BURNING, TOXIC, and PSIONIC), all of which result in varying ailments and injuries based upon the amount of damage dealt. Break legs, get third-degree burns, and watch your own mind unravel from stress. Mechanically, you may find yourself with less than your usual health pool or suffering from attribute de-buffs without first aid.
MEDICAL SCAVENGING - Injuries are healed by medical supplies, a new resource which you'll have to keep track of during missions and frequently replenish by searching cupboards, bathrooms, and lockers with the Medical Supplies table. Characters who would be reasonably better at scrounging up necessary materials get a TACTICAL bonus.
ALTERNATIVE HP - Instead of dying at 0 HP, characters begin accruing permanent injuries when they drop into the negatives. Your FIST operatives will survive for much longer, but maintaining access to the proper care and tools will be a little more complicated.
CASUS BELLI details a funky Arthurian-themed four-person miniboss squad who can be dropped into missions to antagonize the players.
[ANSWERING MACHINE TONE] FIST: consider this an ultimatum. I'm sure you all understand why the price on your head, both in the financial and sociopolitcal senses, is quite high. You are, after all, career meddlers. I do not like meddlers, nor do my esteemed colleagues in the Templar Unit, nor do my ever-diligent CYCLOPS supervisors. Again, I'm sure you must understand why. My CROs and I have taken to thinking to you as a sort of game as of late-dangerous, challenging game, asking to be bested. You will be a thrilling hunt. When I deliver your mounted heads to my superiors, I expect they shall be quite pleased. [AUDIO ENDS]
CASUS BELLI is a themed miniboss team pamphlet for FIST about a special branch of CYCLOPS Recon Operations agents (also known as CROs). These four are the last remaining members of the Knights Templar, retooled for the modern era as the CRO Templar Unit. You can drop the Templar Unit into any mission to work against FIST's primary objective. All four bosses can be deployed solo or thrown at your players as a group to take advantage of their mechanical synergy.
You'll come face to face with:
TOUGH ENEMIES - Feel the wrath of King Arthur's heat seeking missiles. Marvel as Merlin returns from death when subjected to a strong electric charge. Fear the rail grinding acrobatics of Guinevere and the trajectory manipulation field of Morgana, whom bullets can barely touch.
BOSS MOVES - Adapt to devastating metanarrative attacks as you're forced to stop narrating with words penned in the Book of Aquinas, or imprisoned by chains of hate and made to answer a series of riddles. Battle intelligent, rainbow-colored quantum reinforcements called in by a corrupted time traveler.
NEW LOOT - "Acquire" King Arthur's blessed LMG Excalibur. Have your enemies on their knees with the formidable power of the agony orb, or give them a shock with Merlin's electric quarterstaff. Outfit yourself with multiple accessories which can be shattered to keep fighting when you'd otherwise die. All it takes is a few good shots and sticky fingers.
