Fistful of Lead - Questions

[Mr. White]

Later this year, I'm gonna have a gathering of buddies to celebrate my 50th and I want to run a multi-scenario adventure using my Roswell '98 collection. As this will be me and 5 players new to a ruleset, I'm looking for something that's easy to run. A convention level type game. It seems like Fistful of Lead - Wasteland Warriors might be what I need. Before I buy in, I have a few questions for those that have played it.

1) It looks like it can be run with a "GM" like player, is this correct? I can run creatures and the players would each have their own gangs?

2) With 5 players, and knowing nothing about the system yet, is there a "point per player" limit I should use so they each have a few models and we can get games done in about 2hours? Or...how long can I expect a 6 player (5 gamers and GM) game to last? This will help me plan how many scenarios I want to put together in a day.

3) Is there a decent source for unit card generating or will I need to create these cards from scratch?

4) What type of scenarios are in the book? GM-led or every player for themselves?

5) Any thoughts, tips, or suggestions for the system?

Thanks!

[boywundyrx]

I'm answering without my access to my rulebooks, but I've run about 5 games of various flavours of FFoL at conventions and more at home, usually sci fi or horse and musket, but I did use Wasteland Warriors to help create some aspects of my He-Man game last year. I've also played Bigger Battles at a convention.  Jaye has a lot of videos up on the Wiley Games Youtube channel which will help give you a sense of gameplay too, if you haven't watched any yet.

1) You'd generally still be a player, i.e. each of your creatures would play off a card.  If you're looking to have something where you as GM aren't trying to win the game, just be an agent of chaos with the creatures and random events, that'd work within the system.

2) It's more a standard structure to each player's force. A leader, a #2 (given various titles, usually 'specialist'), and a number of regulars, usually 4-5. You can convert some regulars to grunts, at a 1:3 ratio.  Each type of figure (leader/specialist/regular/grunt) gets a set number of traits and sometimes gear. I can't remember if big creatures are baked into WW though.

3) There are form-fillable pdfs, I think for most of the rule sets, can't remember WW but it should be under the free downloads.  For my He-Man game I was pulling from at least three rule-sets, so I made my own cards in Word.  The pdfs have drop boxes for traits, which is handy.

4) WW has probably the widest gamut of creative scenarios, but I can't remember any being GM-lead (which sounds like a co-op game).  I've had multiplayer games where there are two sides and 2-3 players are on each side; I've also had free-for-alls.

5) I really like it, I bounce between Fistful of Lead and Song of Blades and Heroes systems for most small skirmishes, but FFoL shines when you're looking at more than 4 players and want to get players up to speed quickly.  There's a lot of fun customization you can do with it too, like combining traits across genres.

[BaronVonJ]

1) You don't NEED a GM, just someone to keep track of things. You can bea player, or as boywundrrx says, just have fun being the guy causing chaos.
2) No Points. Points aren't real. Be prepared to run 4-8 miniatures per player. These rules are written for lots of players convention style. You'll be done in 3 hours for a 6 player game if you stay on top of activations. Quicker if players have played any wargaming at all.
3) There are form fillable free pdfs on our store. You need Acrobat Reader (which is also free).
4) Tons of scenarios easily scalable from 2 -8 players.
5) WW is not a standalone game. You need the Core book or Galactic Heroes to play. If you just get the pdfs, total of $17. We're running a 10% sale on printed books however.
As mentioned, we have a ton of videos, and lots of blog posts here and online to look at. A quick Google will get you plenty of game play. On Table Top just did one for Reloaded, our western rules.
We have a Youtube channel, Facebook page Discord to ask questions and see what others are doing. I don't check LAF looking for Fistful of Lead questions and only saw this because someone alerted me. We can always be reached through our webstore , facebook or discord if you have questions.

[Mr. White]

Thanks, both!

I think this is the ruleset I want to try out for this event. I'll take a look at some videos and see which are best to send out a little prior to get players up to speed.

Baron, I sent you a DM on some specifics about the books. cheers.

[iDreamofMinis]

FFoL is perfect for this.  I have run games with up to 8 players, some of whom had little to no wargaming experience.

One suggestion I would add, and this depends on how much time you have to play, is to have premade warbands/gangs and let the players choose their warbands/gangs.  This saves time by skipping the "Session Zero" of people pouring over the traits lists.

[Mr. White]

One suggestion I would add, and this depends on how much time you have to play, is to have premade warbands/gangs and let the players choose their warbands/gangs.  This saves time by skipping the "Session Zero" of people pouring over the traits lists.

Perfect! this is a great tip. I'll premake the gangs, lay them out, then let the players roll-off (or something) order to select theirs for the day. thanks again!

[Mr. White]

Is anyone here on the Wiley Games/Fistful of Lead discord and can send me an invite?

[CapnJim]

Can't help with a Discord invite, but I can vouch for Fistful of Lead for post-apoc (and a bunch or other periods...).  I use it for my post-apoc games, with bits of Zona Alfa and Black Ops morphed in with it. 

One note - the Core rules are great by themselves, but if you want to include vehicles, get Galactic Heroes.  With it, you get slightly updated Core Rules, plus vehicle rules...   

[flatpack]

Good guidance there Capt.

[CapnJim]

Thanks!  Just tryin' to help...   

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Don’t let any one be lucky…

[Mr. White]

Thanks, @CapnJim!

Don’t let any one be lucky…

Uh-oh...what does this mean?

[BaronVonJ]

Here's the Discord. You'll find it rarely gets used.:
https://discord.gg/UWyryW6r

[Psychopomp]

Could I hop in on this thread to ask for people's assessment of how well the free solo rules work?  I've been eyeing FFoL for a while, but my current circumstances require a ruleset to have strong solo and co-op support.  It's hard to assess the free solo pamphlet without the core rules, of course.

Also, bit off topic for the Post-Apoc forum, but how are the Fantasy books?  (I'd probably want to mix Fantasy and Wasteland Warriors anyway.)  I also notice that the Monster and Mazes description hints at solo support, and I was wondering if it was a repeat of the free solo rules or something different.

[mikedemana]

Sorry it took me so long to reply -- I just returned from leading a student tour of Europe last night. I echo using FFOL - WW for your game with your friends. You may or may not have read my AARs for my post-apoc campaign that I've been running for my friends on my Lead Legionaries site. If not, here's the link:
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/search/label/Post-Apocalyptic
(You may have to scroll down to get to the AARs and beyond the terrain or figure painting stuff, but there should be a half dozen battle reports).

For my games, I give each player 4 figures (1 Leader, 1 Specialist, 2 Regulars). I would say our six player games tend to take about 2-3 hours, so if you're okay with it running a tad longer than two hours, you'll be find.

I find I prefer NOT running a gang, but instead handling the random "monsters" and such as GM. My system for introducing random creatures that wander onto the battlefield is essentially to keep track of player losses. Once it reaches 10% (six players, 4 each = 24 figures, so once a third player figure is Out of Action), the first arrives. Then at each additional 10% losses, another arrives. Since my campaign is set in my version of the Terminator saga, the randoms are usually the machines, drawn by the sound of gunfire between the players.

I created my own cards, one for each character. I put a picture of the character on there, along with the basic stats and a very short summary of the skills.

I am really looking forward to your AAR from your game. Your Roswell figs and gangs are so creative -- it'll be a gorgeous looking game! 

Mike Demana