Malkirk

Apologies, yeah, as one of the writers I have author copies early.

It's been so long, I'd forgotten how many of these I either wrote or edited. Glad to see people enjoying the stories! And, as always, it's a privilege to get to write in the worlds Wyrd creates!

Historical accuracy in these situations is difficult. I mean, we're talking about a world radically different from our own, but little details like this still pull us out of the story even if there's some historicity there. My first book was a weird, created world steampunk novel, and I spent *way* too much time researching the advent of showers, only to realize that if it felt weird to me, even if it was accurate, it was going to feel weird to the reader.

Africa is big

- - - - - - - Oh, no offense taken. You're asking solid questions, and I don't really have answers. Remember that cultural prejudice is pretty much identical to racial prejudice, just the difference in culture is more visibly apparent. As far as looking at historical inconsistencies (how is there slavery if Abyssinia is a thing?) well, I feel like Malifaux doesn't take a lot of that into account right now. I feel like that's all I can comfortably say. I'd rather Wyrd tackle these issues head on and address them, rather than dancing around or creating some kind of substitution (I'm racist against purple people!) but that's just me.

- - - - - - - - - Usual caveat about this being my opinion, I don't speak for Wyrd, even though I wrote this story. I don't really have much more information than the rest of you, and what I do have is covered by NDAs that may or may not pertain to this discussion. Cool? The only thing I'll say about this is that it's my belief that things inside Malifaux are different than they are outside the Breach. The Guild only cares about power, and if you can wield that power, they don't care about your race, creed, religion, sexual identity, hair style, musical preferences, stance on cannibalism, etc, et al. So while there's a kind of universal suffrage inside the Breach, the countries outside the Breach are still doing all sorts of racist stuff, and the Guild tolerates it because, again, power. As long as you do what they say, they're not going to interfere. Until, that is, interfering can somehow get them something that they want.

I'll cop to this mistake. There's a tension between the needs of a narrative and the hard ruleset of the game. Trying to make the story something more than "AND HE FLIPS THE BLACK JOKER" can be challenging.

- - - - - - - - - - Just some thoughts on Toni and Universal Suffrage. I think the fact that it's suffrage rather than just emancipation is important and maybe not fully appreciated. It demonstrates the Guild's absolute control over certain countries, and also the fact that they don't really care about cultural norms. The only standard the Guild cares about is power, right? The rest is just window dressing. Anyone can be in charge, anyone can vote, anyone can be free, as long as they have the power to take it. Remember the origins of the Guild. Not that real history actually matters in this timeline, but it is worth looking at where emancipation was globally. America was really a backwater, and sharply divided, but Malifaux's history is different. A lot of the strife of the 18th and 19th centuries were subsumed by the breach and the Blackpowder Wars, the tensions directed and controlled by the Guild. For the US, and emancipation in particular was affected by the apparent lack of a Civil War. Something had to happen. Just to clarify, whenever I talk on here, I'm talking just as me, speculating. Anything I know about the world that isn't public knowledge is covered by an NDA, and I'm not going to get close to violating that. But there are a lot of fascinating gaps in the history of the world that change the direction of society. They're worth looking at.

Yeah, I'm Tim Akers. Wrote the Ironsides story, and have a few more bylines in the pipe. Glad you enjoyed it!

I'm only commenting because I have the usual writer's masochism for feedback, and want to be notified of activity on the thread. Please carry on.

Ah HA! Thanks, man. I was looking under common abilities and then, when I couldn't find it there, in the index. Surge = Card Advantage. Thanks!

I feel like an idiot asking this, but I can't find a definition for Surge in the main rulebook. It appears on the card for Kaeris, but I'm not sure what it does. Just watched a demo last night, picked up Kaeris, and I'm just trying to get my head around what this ability does. Any help?