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DEMON CORE's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
STYLE | #2 | 4.714 | 4.714 |
Overall | #2 | 4.500 | 4.500 |
SUBSTANCE | #12 | 4.286 | 4.286 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Demon Core is an excellent oneshot / scenario that blends history and the paranormal together in a fun way. I've listened to hundreds of episodes of Ken And Robin Talk About Stuff, so "History + Eliptony" should be worn out by now, but Demon Core still strikes me as fresh.
The art is excellent - not overdone, but beautiful and really setting the tone and providing insight to the author's intents. Thought went into the topo map too, which I always love - I can see where I'd set an ambush, as a player, based on how the road is drawn out. I can feel the impatient first-gear mud kicking slog up the hill, engine slipping between 5k and 8k RPMs as the tires gain and lose traction, just west of the drop zone. The "Drive it like you stole it" tree-smashing shortcuts to be taken during the final switchbacks in sight of the dam. It's a thing of beauty.
Text is legible and uncluttered while still having a Xeroxed quality to it - not quite a blur, not quite a pixelation, but definitely a photocopy or a product of an era-appropriate printer.
The scenario itself is laid out in an A-then-B-then-C format, but with more than enough information to allow immediate transition into informed improvised play when the players start playering and, I don't know, summon Dagon in the lake by the dam so they can jam the hydroelectric rotors with his corpse and infiltrate aquatically instead of using the front door.
My only complaint is that the final confrontation is probably too lethal. 18HP, 3 ARMOR, 3D6 DAMAGE, and 3 Traits feels like an invitation to an unavoidable TPK. The strength of the schmuck-bait semi-optional villain seems appropriate, given it's nature, but the last scripted fight in the Teleportation room is against a dude who dishes out damage like the machine gun on the Ataraxia (FIST's Metal Gear Rex equivalent) and sucks up damage like its 20 foot tall titanium ZAMOK shield. If I get a chance to run this I'll probably replace him with two CROs with the quasi-teleportation shtick.
DEMON CORE is a mission for FIST.
The PDF is 32 pages, with good maps, graphical noise, photobashed illustrations, and a generally clean and highly readable layout.
Contents-wise, the mission here has a strong 80s action movie vibe, perfect for FIST. CYCLOPS is in possession of an evil nuke and is planning to disrupt a global summit, and it's your job to stop them.
Challenge-wise, this is a fairly different mission if the players follow it to the letter versus if they get curious. By-the-books, the opposition is numerous but mostly mundane, and everything can be handled with a bit of gunfire and decision making. Get curious, and things get nihilistic fast.
Included in this mission is a big pool of tactically interesting CYCLOPS agents, which can be fielded in this or other missions.
Overall, this is a solid, fairly purist FIST mission that could also work for systems like Delta Green. It's well-researched, structured, and written, and should pose a solid challenge and/or wipe out curious PCs.
Minor Issues:
-To me, it's a little strange to me that CYCLOPS is trying to do a terrorism here. It's definitely not totally out of character, since their objectives are generally murky, but it feels a little weird for the agency in the stronger position to be wildly stirring the pot like that.
This is F.I.S.T up, down, left, right, and center. Thanks to it's slick art direction and writing, this module transports you into a world of gritty espionage and mutant warfare. This makes it extremely easy and fun for the reader to take their gaming group along with them.
This module is meaty enough for those who need a little more direction, but not prescriptive, giving the players and referee a lot of room to expand and add their own personal twist to the multi part mission.
Another standout feature is the dozen of Cyclops agents waiting to annihilate your players all with their own unique methods. These deadly agents are perfect for this mission but could easily be plugged into any module, or even become a long-term problem for your players.
This module is a great example of what you can do with F.I.S.T right out of the box and a great resource for players and fledgling designers alike.
P.S. Just open the box. I know you want to.
This is F.I.S.T up, down, left, right, and center. Thanks to it's slick art direction and writing, this module transports you into a world of gritty espionage and mutant warfare. This makes it extremely easy and fun for the reader to take their gaming group along with them.
This module is meaty enough for those who need a little more direction, but not prescriptive, giving the players and referee a lot of room to expand and add their own personal twist to the multi part mission.
Another standout feature is the dozen of Cyclops agents waiting to annihilate your players all with their own unique methods. These deadly agents are perfect for this mission but could easily be plugged into any module, or even become a long-term problem for your players.
This module is a great example of what you can do with F.I.S.T right out of the box and a great resource for players and fledgling designers alike.
P.S. Just open the box. I know you want to.
A module about the Demon Core, sign me up!