FISTICLES
A downloadable game
WHAT IT IS
FISTICLES: COOL CARS FOR COOL OPERATIVES is a supplemental rules set for FIST that make your car (or van, or tank, or motorcycle) a bigger part of the action.
What's the A-Team without their tricked-out GMC van? James Bond without his bulletproof gadget Aston Martin? Kaneda without his iconic bike?
Sure they're all still pretty neat, but just not quite complete. Now your team of cold war mercs can be just as neat and complete as all those other guys.
(The name is a mashup of fist + vehicles, but to be honest, it's way funnier to pronounce the title like it's a 4th-tier Greek god.)
HOW IT WORKS
Much like creating a character, you'll choose some options from a few lists. The first is your FRAME - basically the vehicle archetype that establishes some starting and maximum values and an ability unique to that frame, From there you'll choose a couple UPGRADES (that are analogous to characters' TRAITS) and a TOOL (vehicle-specific equipment) to start with.
The biggest rules introduction is that your vehicles have a different set of attributes that are all tied directly to being and doing like an automobile. In play, you'll substitute your attribute modifier's for your ride's, if you are attempting something while driving, riding, or otherwise using your vehicle.
APPRECIATIONS
I made this as an entry into FIST: JAM OPS II - MAD SCIENCE, which, incidentally, is also the first thing I will have uploaded onto itch. Yay!
You may notice that this pdf looks like I cribbed the entire design from FIST, and you'd basically be right. To that end: Special thanks go to CLAYMORE for making FIST and running the game jam, Ken Petti for making the Affinity template for the layout, the peeps in the FIST discord, and the scientists and engineers that filed patents with pictures in them.
Download
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Comments
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With a system for building vehicles that mirrors the character creation process (e.g., four attributes, ARMOR, trait like upgrades), anyone already familiar with FIST should find this supplement to be straightforward to implement.
It’s visually evocative of the core FIST book as well, featuring a simple but effective use of color accents. The same could easily be said for the writing. The upgrades and tools available for the vehicles are all great with short, punchy descriptions that add character as much as they do a mechanical benefit.
Plus, there’s plenty of room left for players to be inspired and add their own customizations.
Fisticles is an expansion that gives more nuance and depth to vehicles in FIST. Think of it as The FIST And The Furious.
The PDF is 7 pages, with a layout that mirrors the core book's style perfectly.
The biggest change Fisticles makes is giving vehicles stats, which are rolled instead of the driver's. Vehicles also have upgrades, tools, and frames, which give them roughly the same capabilities as an average character.
Per the author's notes, this is intended to give the PCs a single shared super-vehicle, but it can also be used for a more car-centric game if everyone takes their own vehicle.
The actual upgrades, frames, and tools lists are well-designed, useable, and weird. There's also some neat mechanical tension in choosing either to leave your vehicle in the repair bay for the duration of your next mission, or take it hot into the next op with missing armor and hp.
Overall, this is a really solid expansion if you want to add some more vehicle-oriented depth to your FIST game. And if you've been dreaming of running your own Fast And The Furious TTRPG, this may be especially worth the look.
This is a gorgeous document with fun, easily implemented rules that merge intuitively with the core FIST ruleset. It both "feels like" core FIST and has it's own voice.
I dig it! Excellent entry to the JAM, and a really strong start for your Itch account.
Thanks!! Very high praise indeed, and feeling like it fits is exactly what I was going for.