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
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.
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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!