Brandoff's Beginner Referee Toolkit for FIST RPG
A downloadable game
A Beginner Referee Toolkit for FIST RPG! Part gamemaster guide, part welcome basket, part haunted technical manual from the 80s.
Three beginner adventures!
ABANDON is an easy to run, Doom-inspired level complete with key-cards. It's perfect for small parties or fast action convention games.
HOARD is cluttered funhouse dungeon inspired by House of Leaves. It's perfect for randomly generated chaos.
FLUFF is a mini-sandbox with a lot of freedom on how to proceed, definitely *not* inspired by The Stuff. (It totally is.) You'll never look at ice cream the same way again.
Random tables and advice!
- Run a successful one-shot "demo game" to convince friends / strangers to play FIST RPG
- Generate random NPCs on the fly
- Handle a partial success result of "7-9" when it's like the third one in a row and you're drawing a blank and aaaaaahhhhhh what do I do?
The key-code to the bathroom!*
* Key-code not included.
This is a living document!
Literally.
it's too late for us save yourself
we have been here for
evvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
*click*
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Updates
11 March 2023 - v0.7.5
- Added a map of Bolivar, NY for FLUFF.
- Slightly tweaked enemy statblocks.
- Condensed ABANDON's story.
- Proper clickable Table of Contents and PDF Bookmarks.
- Added a Content Warning.
- Random Encounters for HOARD (applicable to any adventure, really).
- Reorganized the adventures, hopefully making them easier to scan at the table.
- Typos, typos, typos fixed.
- Various QoL repairs.
- Introduced countless new problems to go along with the fixes!
Download
Development log
- Referee Toolkit Updated! v0.7.5Mar 14, 2023
- Brandoff's Beginner Referee Toolkit - Updated!Mar 01, 2023
Comments
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Brandoff's is, in my opinion, required reading for anyone interested in playing F.I.S.T. It provides really useful advice on how to properly use the rules or bend them to suit your individual needs.
Degrees of success is a popular mechanism in modern RPG design, but it can be intimidating, even for veterans, to decide on the fly what a mixed success could mean. One the features that will keep me coming back is the partial success table included. If you ever feel stuck just look at the table for a little inspiration and you can keep things running smoothly.
Three Scenario are also included. They are all thematic and completely ready to plug and play. More importantly is every scenario is written using a different style and format. The differences are great for variety, but also bring inspiration for those who intended to make their own scenarios.
Finally, aesthetically this is really fun. Not only is the document its own character, but it's really cute and menacing in equal measure. F.I.S.T is fun above all, and this zine really honors that
Thank you for the kind words! I admit, I was a little worried about the different scenario formats. (ABANDON is a fairly straightforward, easy to run, Doom-inspired level complete with keycards; HOARD is random table funhouse chaos, and FLUFF is a mini-sandbox with a lot of freedom on how to proceed.)
Ultimately I decided this should be a tool to help Referees find out what works best for them, and by offering different takes on what a scenario could be, it might help them find their own preferred method. It sounds like this came across, which I am releived and happy to hear!
Brandoff's Beginner's Toolkit is an onboarding kit for new FIST GMs and players.
The PDF is 32 pages, with a clean, readable layout and a few fantastic visual gags. The art is mostly post-it notes and MS Office graphics, but they're perfect for the material and create a meta humor/horror throughline that ties the whole supplement together.
Contents-wise, what Brandoff's is first and foremost packed with is good advice. Even if you're a veteran FIST GM, you can learn something about the game from reading this. And if you're more familiar with DnD and only just dipping your toes into FIST, there's specific outreach for you to help you get used to the system.
The writing is also consistently strong and clear throughout, and there's a warm and goofy sense of humor that makes reading Brandoff's charming.
That said, the missions included in this supplement have some teeth on them. Abandon Inc isn't super dangerous, but is high-energy and grisly, with a nasty twist at the end. Hoard is a surprisingly sympathetic horror, and has a Dave Made A Maze vibe. Fluff is a The Stuff style corporate investigation. Both Hoard and Fluff would work perfectly for other horror investigation game systems, and might be a perfect match for Delta Green or Unknown Armies.
Overall, Brandoff's is an extremely solid asset for running FIST, and its scenarios are perfect for beginners and veterans alike. I don't want to say any FIST supplement is mandatory, but really consider picking this one up.
Minor Issues:
-Page 15, "Lanch is on us". I'm not sure if the typo is intentional, but if not this should be Launch.
High praise indeed, kumada1!
That’s so nice of you to say! I found myself thinking about it days later.
Thank you for spotting the typo, it has since been fixed. :D I hadn’t thought of running the scenarios in other systems, but you’re totally right! FIST is so easy and rules lite, you can hack the scenarios all you want without breaking anything.
A zine with a lot of timely and solid advice for getting started running FIST one-shots. It has 3 contrasting, but super creative adventures. Each is filled with locations and npcs that have no right to be so vividly in my head when they're each only described with 3 sentences.