THE MELTING OF WEST HARRISON - A FIST Compatible Mission
A downloadable mission
[KZRRT]—can't wait to meet him. The residents call him a genius, a savior. They say he's going to make the world just like here, a big neighborhood. Where we're all the same. The same values, the same needs. The same face. He's going to end this war single-handedly. Imagine that? We can all go home. And home will be everywhere. It brings a tear to my eyes, sir—[KZRRT]
[KZRRT]—and I won't miss them, either. The tears, I mean. In Dr. Powell's new world there won't be need for tears because we won't need our eyes. We won't need food or water because we won't need our stomach. We won't need graves because we'll never die. We'll be one people, one entity. And it will be glorious—[KZRRT]
[KZRRT]—my god, here he comes! Powell! Powell! [INDISTINCT CHANTING] Take me into your flock and shepherd me into the new world! Mission Control, consider this my resignation. Today I begin life anew, without FIST.
[KZRRRRT}
The Melting of West Harrison is a mission intended for beginner referees/GMs of FIST: Ultra Edition. The mission takes place in an isolated New England port town where enigmatic scientist Dr. Howard Powell has rearranged the atoms of its inhabitants in an event dubbed “The Melting.” Freed from judgment, work and competition the residents blocked off the town and exist as though nothing has happened. Powell has decided the post-nuclear world would be better if the planet went through the same thing.
FIST scouts were sent to investigate and were never heard from again. It is to be assumed that they have bought into Howard Powell’s vision. You are tasked with entering West Harrison, locating the scouts and stopping Howard Powell’s experiments by any means necessary.
The Melting of West Harrison was made with new players in mind and aims to be a thorough document with lots of information, options and answers for the events that might take place while the players explore Dr. Powell's utopia.
The mission includes new traits, gear, side quests and enemy stat blocks. In addition, referees will find detailed advice on roleplaying enemies and NPCs, navigating multiple endings and custom item generation.
CREDITS:
Writing and Layout: Andrew Rivera (tw: @hotgoof)
Illustrations: Gerald Lane (ig: @stardozer)
Additional Key Art: Andrew Rivera, Some artwork copywright Felipe da Silva Faria, used with permission.
License: The text of both FIST: Ultra Edition, and consequently The Melting of West Harrison, acting as a supplement to the former, is CC-BY-SA 4.0.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
(Additional Credits inside document)
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Comments
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The Melting Of West Harrison is a cult-themed mission for FIST.
As for what it's like, imagine visiting the town from Junji Ito's Uzumaki after the events of Uzumaki and finding everyone there living an idyllic, pastoral sort of life.
The PDF is 23 pages, with clear, well-organized text and clever, engaging layout. Illustrations are a mix of photos and custom art, and the custom art is really good, but it feels a tiny bit jarring sometimes juxtaposed with the photos.
The overall tone of the mission is eerie americana, with the town of West Harrison being populated by cheerful melted citizens who want the agents to join their utopia. Danger is periodic, but the mission really likes to dwell on longer moments of unease. As the GM, you should play this one slow. It loses a lot of flavor if you try to turn it into a roller coaster ride.
There *are* definitely moments of violence and action, but they're punctuations marks at the end of periods of exploration. There also aren't many, compared with the average FIST adventure. You could even run this mission violence free without seriously impacting it.
For GMs, a lot of guidance is given, and the mission is not extremely complex, but reading it through thoroughly before running it is still recommended.
For players, there's plenty of new Traits and some cool items to be gleaned from sidequests. Despite being relatively small scope, the mission feels very full and there's a lot of room for lateral exploration and interaction with NPCs if the players are of a mind to treat the scenario as more investigative than urgent.
Overall, this is a solid mission for groups that like atmosphere. It looks great, it's easy to run, and it has a neat and eerie premise. If you're looking to run a FIST mini-campaign, give this one a try.
Minor Issues:
-Page 18, The Chess Club's "Glutinous" trait should be Gluttonous
Oh my gosh, I'm so honored that you left a review of the mission, I feel like getting a kumada1 review is a true rite of passage!
I appreciate your kind words and will definitely take your notes to heart for revisions and future mission designs!
edit: rite instead of "right" of passage, realized Glutinous was not misspelled (was really tired and forgot that was a word too!)
It's a really good mission! It was a great read, and the concept's fantastic!
That's so freaking cool <3
Thank you so much!
Why you should check this out: a professional scenario with a poppy zine style.
Style: the colour palette pops. The consistent 2-column layout and effective use of headers makes the information easy to follow alongside an exciting almost collage of texture, photo-bashing and typography.
Structure: the scenario is explicit about how it’s designed and how to use it which is always great to signpost! A clear overview explains the scenario, before diving into rich settings and characters to explore.
Content: the scenario is designed to support newer referees, it is detailed but feels purposeful and none of it comes across as padding. The scenario is creative, and filled with connections between its characters and regions that bring the world to life. I love the the options in each interaction and the epilogue with multiple endings.
Edit: adding ‘the options in each interaction’
PETER!!!! You're gonna make me cry!
Thank you so much for the kind review, I truly appreciate it!
- Andrew <3
I really enjoyed reading the scenario!