BLDWRKS
A downloadable gameplay expansion
CW: BLOOD, PUNCTURE WOUNDS, NEEDLES & INJECTIONS
[FADED, TYPEWRITTEN INK] ADDENDUM REPORT 09/03/████: I'm not sure if your team has been made aware of this, but our medical analysis has revealed that at least 70% of your FIST operatives are chock-full of this liquid substance called "blood." It seems to be vital to almost all of their functions, and may be responsible for some of the preventable deaths we've seen in the field. We're looking into removing this reliance altogether, but in the meantime, I've had ██████ send over some prototypes the R&D folks were able to throw together. See if some of them might help alleviate our current mortality rate.
BLDWRKS (BLOODWORKS) is a gameplay expansion for CLAYMORE's FIST that adds all-new mechanics, traits, and items based around blood, bleeding, and filling your veins with mysterious glowing fluids.
In addition to HP, all FIST mercs now contain 100u (units) of blood. Taking serious damage can cause them to lose blood, with devastating consequences.
For better performance and longevity in combat, a merc's blood can be quickly replaced with a variety of anomalous substances; examples include leadblood, which absorbs their impacting bullets, barkblood, which allows them to photosynthesize off of flash grenade explosions, and motor oil, which usually kills them.
BLDWRKS is space-minimal, fitting on a single-sided full sheet of paper or a double-sided half sheet. Also included is a printable schematic for a BLOOD TRACKER, which conforms to the size of an index card and allows players to easily keep track of their blood type, quantity, and number of openly bleeding wounds.
Please note that BLDWRKS is not a freestanding expansion, and an additional campaign is required to play FIST with BLDWRKS.
BLDWRKS was created for JAM OPS II: Mad Science.
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Development log
- Updated ColophonOct 01, 2022
Comments
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Fantastic cover art with a professional looking layout. I had a little trouble reading the text with the dark red overlay, but there’s a non-overlay version. The only tradeoff to using the non-overlay pamphlet is losing out on some of the cool aesthetic.
This supplement will play well with folks that want more crunch in their game or want damage types (e.g., bludgeoning vs piercing) to mean something.
Mechanically, there’s a blood-based stat that functions like exhaustion in other systems. Got all your blood? You’re ready to rock. Lose some of your blood? It’s harder to do things (e.g., take a -1 to FORCEFUL & REFLEXIVE checks).
Implementing this material requires a bit more record keeping, because not all damage results in blood loss, and I could see some edge cases that would require negotiation – e.g., normally katanas (most slashing weapons) don’t cause a >PUNCTURE wound and blood loss, but if I managed to get stabbed with a katana, I think it’s reasonable to say I’m losing blood. Conveniently, there’s a fillable PDF or a cool print & play option for tracking blood levels.
The real gem (in my mind) are the different types of blood you can choose to pump into your merc or drink if you opt for the Vampire TRAIT. For example, Fireblood is mixed with plasma and adds fire damage to your melee, while Gumblood makes you sticky. Mostly in a good way. Even if you choose not to implement the blood tracking option, you’ve still got a convenient table for rolling up a variety of boosts (potions, cocktails, etc.) that you could serve up to your mercs in some other format.