The good people at RPGgeek have thrown together a play-by-forum competition for the “most entertaining game” of Fiasco! There are eight games underway and the winners will be determined by popular vote in two weeks. Check out the games in progress and cast your ballot!
Yes folks, the Playsets of the Month continue! For January we have Objective Zebra, written by Jérôme “Brand” Larré:
It is anything but quiet aboard the U.S. Navy submarine SS-495, the USS Saddleback. She’s on reduced battery power, nestled in the soft mud of the North Sea somewhere off the coast of Lower Saxony. It is the middle of World War II. You were specially selected for this mission. They made it sound like a great honor, to ferry a handful of civilians somewhere, in the greatest secrecy, so they could do something that would help win the war. It was called “Objective Zebra”. It hasn’t worked out so well.
You surfaced and took them, heavily guarded, to an island that wasn’t on the Saddleback’s charts. They did whatever it is they were supposed to do and came back in a tearing hurry, followed by German spotter aircraft, and E-Boats, and finally a depth-charge tossing Vorpostenboot from the mouth of the Elbe that nearly sunk you. Saddleback went deep and got quiet fast, diving for her life.
Saddleback’s collapse depth was 200 meters. When you came to rest on the bottom, amid the screaming protest of over-stressed metal, the gage read 226. There is a meter of water in the pump room and the forward torpedo compartment is largely flooded. The horrible groaning of the tortured pressure hull has mixed with another sound – something stranger, more unearthly – from outside the Saddleback. Whatever it is, it is like nothing even the saltiest old timers has ever heard before. And it is getting closer. What the hell did those civilians do? You’re trapped in a stranded submarine and you have to get the hell out of here… before it comes in!
This playset blends historical and Lovecraftian elements into a most unusual Fiasco, making good use of flashbacks as locations to tell the story of what happened during the mission, while maintaining a claustrophobic, horror movie atmosphere aboard the sunken sub. This playset, previously released in a limited preview during Gen Con 2010, is best suited for veteran Fiasco players looking for something new.
The Hopeless Gamer just gave Fiasco a nice review, calling it the 2010 Game of the Year:
Ultimately the decision for Game of the Year comes down to this – what gave me the most enjoyment this year? There’s no competition. Every game of Fiasco has caused me to get a soar throat from laughing so hard and for so long that I was worried I’d lose my voice the next day. I’ve never played a game of Fiasco that ended up not being fun. What’s better than that? Oh yeah, there’s zero prep time for everyone in the group. That’s kind of the perfect game.
E. Foley, who has been helping gamers find love since 2008 over at Geek’s Dream Girl, has found a love of her own – Fiasco.
