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Rainforest Rampage's itch.io pageResults
Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
STYLE | #14 | 4.012 | 4.333 |
SUBSTANCE | #17 | 4.166 | 4.500 |
Overall | #17 | 4.089 | 4.417 |
Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
This trifold promises a solid play session with a fun twist to upset normal expectations (everyone is presumed to fight with tranqs, which operate mechanically like the FLOW trait's staff). The "build-your-own-cyber-mutant-animal" directions allow for expansion of the theme into other scenarios, but adds a bit of fiddly work to the Ref's plate. I'd recommend pre-building the antagonists and keeping them on an index card clipped to the trifold for speed of play. To play it as written you'll need a few CROs in your back pocket as well.
Thematically strong Super-Animal mini-setting. I think you could have a really good time with this one, particularly if the Ref remembers to implement multisensory explanations. Vision is extremely limited in the rainforest - scents, sounds, back-of-the-brain instinctive but unarticulated awareness, there's a lot that could prompt a fun set of tension-release cycles here.
My big problem with it is the topo map. It's coupled to a randomized terrain feature, but I don't think that works. Take the hex immediately below "C" - there's no way that's "Plain". And the whole of the quarantined area is "Hilly". The map does a great job implying what the microterrain is like, but some of the "Terrain" entries are discordant. That's easily enough remedied (ignore either the terrain D6 or the map's elevation lines) but the players and the Ref seeing the map suggests that there might be a suspension of reality if one of the players can read a topo in depth and the Ref can't. There's also the issue of the map itself being a handout, but the whole writeup being a trifold so it's surrounded by Ref-facing information (and cutting it out denies the Ref a big chunk of the location-specific prompts on the opposite page).
I griped for a while about the map there, but this is still an 8-out-of-10 at a minimum. Solid work, enjoyable take on a solid trope. I particularly like the contrast between the PC's 'reasonable' course of action (bioaugmented murder machines? Shoot to kill!) with their handler's briefing (these are important research subjects, make sure you only knock them out). The use of low HP makes tranqs less viable than even a baseline PC's usual armament, which really reinforces the "Do we want to follow our briefing on this one?" element.
Thanks for the feedback, especially on the map! I didn't necessarily mean for the topographic map to be read literally, I just used it because it made sense with the aesthetic. But I totally see how much discrepancy it creates between the random table and the visual map. Definitely something to keep in mind for future projects, thanks for pointing it out!
For context, my father once left me alone in the woods as a kid with a compass, topo map, and the Lat/Long where he was going to be with the car. So I'm probably oversensitive to mapping issues. It's probably not a big deal for most players/Refs
Rainforest rampage is a super tightly designed mini hexcrawl where the players have to rush to capture animals (non-lethally, requiring them to be clever) before they run out of time. The time limit is tight, requiring players to play it smart and take big risks, which is when FIST is at it's most fun. It's extremely lethal, which I like!
Thanks for the kind review, glad you enjoyed it!