FIST: Avalon takes the game in a new direction, adding layers of complexity and chivalry. This is one of those FIST supplements that add so many new rules and features, I’d probably want to try it out as a player, just to get the hang of things. But I think I get it, and what I get, I definitely like.
What does it mean to be a knight? Virtues! Courage, Generosity, Nobility, all that jazz. You pick a Virtue and a Vice, but what’s interesting here is your Vice isn’t chosen from a list of sins. Instead, you pick another Virtue, one which you most struggle most with. Following your Virtue or Struggling with your Vice leads to Advancement, a la Roles. I would absolutely love it if the entire party each picked different Virtues, but all had the same Vice. So everyone’s bopping along, feeling good and Knightly, until some poor villain asks for Mercy and then… blam! Vice activated, my friend. It’d be the Team Attack of personal failures, and I for one want to be part of it.
I like how you gain War Dice for succumbing to your Vice. I like how Origin Traits can only be selected at creation, tying you to the land you were born. I like the Valeborn Origin – ’tis not music that tames the savage beast, ’tis I! I also like the regular Traits: Acrobat (which allows you to save a floating +2 modifier on a dodge), Bastard (is basically a Thief), and especially Beastwarden, which furthers my descent into starring in a shot on video adaptation of Beastmaster.
The layout is clean and ready to print. The artwork consists of medieval woodcarvings, which feels 100% appropriate. It’s a little thing, but I sort of wish the logo had a more Arthurian take on the “FIST” logo, perhaps a medieval font with a knight’s gauntlet, something like that.
It’s interesting to see FIST: Avalon arrive before Mythic Bastionland. I wonder if we’re on the verge of an Arthurian Renaissance. You hear that, Pendragon, all high and mighty? FIST is gunning for your throne!