GummyGator

I would be interested. I've run 3 successful campaigns now and can honestly say that TTB is straight up my fave RPG to run. I did a fair bit of tweaking in 1st ed for my own games (If I remember right my suggestion or something close to it regarding TNs for controlling high level undead wound up in the official errata way back when) so I'm no stranger to throwing math at things and finding the balance between usable and fun. Could probably convince my current group to run around biweekly.

Just got the book ordered in from my FLGS and have read the majority of the rules (skimmed a bit at the nuts and bolts how to flip etc. bits) and here are my impressions. First the book is gorgeous. Hard cover, full color, good feel, great art (though most of it is recycled from other things), and as has been stated before the three bookmarks was so good I could probably be talked into sending a monetary tip to whoever was in charge of the binding. Seriously, those bookmarks are killer. Also, organization makes so much more sense. Layout person, you did good. You did real good. As for rules content, I am seriously impressed as well. The book would be worth it for the updated core pursuits alone IMO. We went from some ok options, some interesting but probably under powered options, and some downright forgettable options in the original fated almanac to a list of pursuits that I legit can't choose which is my favorite. They are all so great and offer some really cool possibilities. Like seriously some of my top picks include Pioneer, overseer, wastrel, and academic which I pretty much overlooked in 1e. What I really appreciate most is how many of the pursuit abilities really lend themselves to setting up teamwork combos and working with your group to strategize for both combat AND social situations. Also most classes get something cool that runs off of discarding twist cards so there's way less being disappointed with a terrible twist hand. Skill triggers go from being an optional side rule to the standard and pretty much all the ones I read through were really neato (My favorite is literacy on Tomes which let's you "realize" the text you just read is a low-power grimoire). Also many skills got cut and rolled into other skills which was a nice change as far as I'm concerned. Crafting generally doesn't require skill checks anymore which I am a fan of. All the magical theories got updated and for the most part they all offer some cool trade-offs in ability. A couple of them I could only see in very specific builds but for the most part they all offer something very useful with a minor trade off to balance it out. Thalarian Doctrine is actually one of the better ones in there now so being Guild approved doesn't feel like quite so much of a handicap. Magic itself seemed to remain mostly the same with a couple of immuto being pulled out and given to magic pursuits as pursuit talents instead. I haven't looked super closely at the bestiary yet but from my cursory glances it seems like they buffed up the badguys a bit and gave higher tier monsters/FMCs more options to make them legitimate threats. Plenty of lore at the beginning that I will need to take my time and process through but what I have read was pretty cool. Only real dissappointement I have with the book is that the equipment section wasn't in the same "sears and roebuck catalogue with notes in the margins" style that the original had. Of course that's been a minor disappointment ever since into the steam so I'm used to it by now. Overall I a super happy with my purchase and cannot wait for more expansions to come down the pike. Seriously you guys, TTB is my favorite TTRPG and this new edition is pretty much nothing but an improvement. I highly recommend it.

Yes I have lamented that there was not more gremlin support since the fated almanac came out. This book is everything I have longed for since I first started running this game. My only lament is that I know I am the only one in my group who will run this so I can never play Cletus Jones: Gremlin musketeer extraordinaire.

Yes, attack spells not only need to get both the suit and TN to cast the spell but also need to beat the Wp or Df of their target to actually hit. Think of it like this, hitting the TN means the spell happens. Beating the Wp/Df means the spell was aimed properly/had enough force behind it. Baseline magic is really easy to pull off for anyone who specs into it heavily. However, I wouldn't worry too much about it as it really doesn't outpace what a melee focused or gun focused character can accomplish. A well speced sniper or shotgun toting fella can destroy minions and even enforcers on even average flips with ease. As far as combat goes I can tell you from experience that it's pretty swingy. You're going to have to feel out what your players can handle a little at a time and adjust as you go. I find the most difficult thing for my players to handle is 6-8 basic minions with an enforcer or two to back them up and even then I haven't had anyone come close to death before the encounter was obliterated. Of course the first couple of sessions they nearly got wiped by rats because nobody thought toughness or evade were worth putting points into so YMMV. The biggest tip I can give for the game is set the right tone and don't be afraid to veer away from the given world as written if it makes for a better story. Tone is difficult and will vary slightly from group to group but I find it works best when you straddle the line between despair and hope. Keep the pressure on the characters but always leave a window open to escape through. Then put an eldritch horror just outside the window for them to run into. Give out goodies frequently, especially grimoires, and then remind them the consequences of flaunting those goodies too openly. Remind them that in malifaux "bad things happen", but also remind them that malifaux breeds "heroes" in the old sense of the word; there's always someone with the will and maybe even the way to take on the bad of the world even if it's by the skin of their teeth. As an example of veering away from the given word, I've rewritten a couple of major plot points, added a tyrant or two, bent the rules of what it means to be a Death Marshal, and changed motivations of a couple named characters because it made sense for the story I and my player's characters were telling. I've added earthside groups/locations, fleshed out the religions both breachside and earthside, came up with a couple of minor criminal organizations opposed to the ten thunders for plot reasons, etc. In other words. Take what works, throw out what doesn't, and make it your own. But then that's how I run most any setting so I may be a bit biased. Oh, and on that note, so long as you feel comfortable with bending even the strict adherence to to rules I highly suggest allowing Manifest Powers that aren't just a spell from the books. Let the players get creative with what they want their power to do (within reason) and then make it work mechanically. It's way more interesting to say "My bow wielding hunter who grew up in the jungle can't be surprised by ambushes" or "I can cause guns to jam by concentrating on them intently" than "it is to say "I can cast beckon without a grimoire". As far as mechanics/running the game tips, have the skills list, martial arts/pugilism/brawling damage tables, and tn/margins of success tables handy in an easily referenced place. I can't tell you how often it's been great to have those ready to go without having to flip through the book.

Funny, I never thought of cities as somewhere safe. Then again growing up country adjacent might have something to do with that. The mountains and valleys always seemed far more safe than the hustle bustle of the city. People, man. People are what you really got to watch out for.

The trouble with the terraclips stuff was that they were ill suited for the miniatures game. They were expensive, didn't come with enough tiles or clips to make a full 3' board, and took far too long to set up. Though, now that the RPG is out, I wouldn't mind seeing them return; perhaps with a few tweaks to make them more suitable for actual play.

I tend to run it much as I would Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, or other powered by the apocalypse games. The FM never flips cards. Why? Because the FM IS fate. What Fate says goes, unless the fated try and stop it. If the fated aren't involved then Fate decides what will be the most interesting for the story it weaves together. In other words, I wing it. I decide what seems like the most likely or most entertaining scenario given the circumstance and just say "This is what happens". The alternative is identical combats with the same npcs every time.

You will need the fatemaster and fated almanacs for sure and i would advise getting Into the Steam as well for the expanded crafting/weapons section and some of the added bestiary. I ran Northern Aggression for a group of 3 online and it went well enough if a bit straightforward and easy (I think that was in large part due to the players though). I've also run a couple of the one shots from the magazine and they went well. It's the basic pro con of prefab content; you don't have to make it up yourself but it's not tailored to your crew so difficulty/direction is going to take a little tweaking to get right. I prefer 4-6 with 5 being the perfect number but that's more a player dynamics sort of thing. I've run as few as 3 and as many as 8. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. THe more players you have the less content you need to prepare each session but the more you have to work to keep everyone on board and focused. The fewer people the more work you have to do from a roleplay/worldbuild perspective but the easier the players are to manage.

That's actually why I asked the question. I'm making cheat cards and I wanted to make sure which parts I can put in and which need a "Fill in adjusted stat here". The Razorspine Rattler was quick to mind since that's my player's go to combat form (though he spends more time as a rat overall).

So I'm looking over the shapeshift magia and I have a couple of questions. 1) Does the character gain the skills of the new form or retain their own skills? If they use their own skill does this mean that they would recalculate the AV of natural attacks as well? If not, do they also keep the suits attached to skills as well (Example: Razorspine rattler has masks attached to its pugilism which guarantees the reposition trigger)? 2) Does the character gain the wounds of the new form or retain their own? If they do gain the wounds how do wounds taken while in the new form apply when they revert back to their original form and vise versa?

I only give large amounts of scrip out as part of serious story rewards and then it likely depends on what the story is and that can range anywhere from 20 to 200 or more depending. On the other hand I don't worry about giving too much because bribes, room and board, travel expenses etc. are still a thing. For just everyday "I loot the bodies" type rewards I literally just reach into a small bag of loose change I have and toss a small handful at them. Usually averages to around .20-3.00SS depending on the handful (The bag is about 2/3 old pennies I had lying around and 1/3 mixed higher denominations including some old fantasy coins for the rare 1+ SS coin).

It's interesting because I've found my players tend to stay majority down a single pursuit with dips into others for specific benefits or who start off dipping into multiples until they gain the requirements for some advanced pursuit and then going down that entirely. As for my personal preference I like to swap around between various to get a unique set of skills for a specific character concept. Though, for pure pursuit paths I really like both the Wastrel and the Cobbler. Very different styles but both really nifty.

Uuhhh yes. That should be evident from the fact I put down "Necromancer" as one of his fate steps. And it's a large part of what makes it feel even more broken (Though the core example works even without the necromancer talent. It just puts a time limit for getting away from the situation instead of bringing the situation with them as an ally). Two pursuit steps not even one fate step. This can happen as early as session 3. One step down "Necromancer" from Under Quarantine and one step down "Gravedigger" from the Fated Almanac. This is actually more along the lines of "One of my players is a CEO of business. When the character runs into an encounter with tax collectors he just laughs and then he controlls the IRS without having to spend any resources outher than a couple of action points." or "My outdoorsman is no longer afraid of an entire wolf pack cause he can just declare he's the alpha dog and make them his minions" (though neither of those examples are really a proper parallel). In other words, it's going beyond simply "my character is really good at this thing" and is instead "My character is so good at this thing that it's trivial and boring to encounter it anymore" and this is from session 3, and could be done slightly less effective (be it lesser control time or actually needing the crows suit) from session 2. He doesn't need to use the command action to negate the combat. He just needs to cast a guaranteed Raise Dead magia and then let them not take their turns. Unless what you are saying is he can only have a number of undead "Under his control" equal to the number of action points he has the problem still stands. I'm not concerned or confused by his ability to HAVE a massive amount of undead. I'm concerned and confused by his ability to entirely negate a horde of high powered undead on a black joker by session 3. But, having now read the errata, it seems the new ruling is basically just what I've been using to help get around this so I suppose that makes the conversation moot.

I certainly am not afraid to do that. As I stated I've house ruled that it has to be a Wp duel to turn rather than create. I'm more just curious if I have actually read the interaction correctly and if so if this was an intended interaction or something odd that slipped through the cracks.

Except that the issue I'm running into with the rules as they appear to be written is more: You go into the quarantine zone, five zombies appear from around the corner. "I choose the two zombies closest to me and spend one action point each to use Raise Undead on each. Since I ignore all crows from my Gravedigger talent and I have a high necromancy I literally cannot fail to turn them to my side even on a black joker. I also don't have to worry about the time limit because I have the necromancer talent that let's my Raise Undead Magia last forever instead of 10 minutes. Then I'll use my reduce AP immuto to make another raise undead on a third zombie and I only need at least a four which I definitely have in my hand." Ok, you are now in control of 3 zombies. The other two advance towards you. "Alrightt, I let the first three chill for now and repeat the performance with the next 2 closest." Great, you now have 5 undead under your control until they rot away and no other zombies have been alerted. Not that that would have been an issue cause all you would need is a 2 yard wide alley to negate any advantage a horde could use to stop your control trick. This is bad enough but it's even more powerful when you consider that the same exact trick can be pulled on basically any zombie in the book including enforcer level stuff. And if they are anything more dangerous than basic mindless undead he can just turn three of them, then the next turn have two fight for him making it basically +1 party member with likely better combat stats than he has himself while the third sits around with its finger up its nose. Or have one attack and turn two more. And that's not even counting on the other party members. It basically makes any rogue undead combat a non-issue. Hence the house rule and the curiosity of whether this was intended or not.