Claymore65

So, for pacing, the game suggests the following: Each session should feature one of the Fated's Destiny Steps. Each Fated has five Destiny Steps, so campaigns are assumed to take around Five sessions per Player. So, for example, I have five players, so I can expect around 25 sessions to get through each character's destiny. Note that the term "session" isn't strictly a play session, it's more like an adventure or major part of the adventure. For example, my players usually took two play sessions to get through each "Act" in one of the pre-made adventures, which is roughly supposed to be one session. It's up to you and your group decide if that pace is good, or if you need to speed up or slow down. If you'd like to extend the game by RAW, you should add an additional session for each rank a player wants to take in an Advanced pursuit. There's also nothing stopping you from running sessions not featuring a character's destiny step, or including multiple destiny steps in the same session to make the campaign shorter. As far as power gain, I think it's pretty good. Characters get noticeably stronger each session, but they won't outclass all the enemies immediately. Keep in mind that the Fated are generally competent and effective the whole way through. They don't get ridiculous without a highly optimized build or after a lot of play sessions, in which case the destinies of each character should be mostly wrapped anyway.

Technically speaking, if players follow the Advanced Pursuit rules, it should add an extra session (keep in mind Session ~= Adventure in this game) for each Advanced Pursuit step the characters wish to follow. You can hypothetically add a lot of session this way even if you don't fudge the rules. That said, it should be fairly easy to just keep going, and not address a destiny step each adventure. Slowing down the Destiny Steps should make power levels a bit lower, though as others have suggested lowering Experience or Pursuit steps slightly might be a good idea as well.

Running a Tabletop RPG on your own can be a little rough, but it's doable with the right adventures. Solkan's suggestions could definitely work. I'd try and look up what other Solo Tabletop RPGs exist, and see if you can adapt their techniques to your own personal game. I haven't personally tried any of these, but you can find a list here: (http://dieheart.net/useful-stuff/solo-rpg-resources/) You may also want to look at Roll20 or another Online service to run your game. Plenty of people run RPGs online, and finding a group can be surprisingly easy. That said, Through the Breach can be a little bit tougher to run online due to all the Card management, but it's still not too hard.

It really depends on the pursuit. I feel like some of the pursuits from the base book have aged particularly well (Dabbler, Graverobber, Gunslinger and Scrapper), while others have proven less interesting or effective (Tinkerer, Academic) then options presented in later books. In the case of the Tinkerer, the Engineer does building and upgrading robots better, while the Augmented handles its admittedly sort of random "hit people with pneumatic limbs" abilities very well. The Academic feels a bit too highly specialized, especially considering a callout in Into the Steam suggested giving one of their primary abilities (using Academic skills in place of Aspects) as a base rule most characters have access to from time to time. The pursuits in later supplements tend to be a bit more exciting to look at, though you aren't at a disadvantage simply taking from the Fated Almanac instead. Many of the Basic Pursuits are more versatile, offering a smorgasbord of abilities rather than an intense focus. For example, if you compare the Pugilist from Into the Bayou with the Scrapper from the Fated Almanac, you'll see one is primarily focused on the Adrenaline mechanic, while the Scrapper is just a general beatstick. In many scenarios, the basic abilities the Scrapper provides, such as Flurry or Melee Expert, will prove incredibly powerful and versatile. In general, the Fated Almanac pursuits are more "basic", with easy to understand mechanics, easier decisions (due to repeat abilities appearing more often), and a much more broad concept. I think it's nice to have both the more "General" and "Specific" basic pursuits. That said, I'm happy to see some of the Pursuits are getting some tweaking. For example, Abeda's character is already showing some great improvements to the Academic.

The Tinkerer is probably the closest in terms of "Enchanting" pursuits, although the Engineer provides a lot of similar design space (buffing constructs and building technology). You could definitely go for a mix of that if you wanted to build a robot-focused character that can buff themselves. The Tinkerer definitely has its own problems, however. It won't provide too much in the way of Enchanting focused talents, even though the pursuit pegs itself as a Machine/Magic hybrid. That said, it really comes down to your skill in Enchanting, and what Magias/Manifested powers you have access to. If you want to focus exclusively on spells, I'd actually suggest still going with either Dabbler or Mage. Mastered Immuto or Magia will help you out a great deal, and taking Manifested Powers as a Mage can give you enchanting spells without relying on a Grimoires, which you may or may not easily find. If buffing is one of your goals, you may also want to look at some less magically focused Pursuits. Also take a good hard look at General Talents, since many of them could help you out a lot. Simply using Specialized Skill and taking a useful trigger from "Into the Steam" can prove highly effective. For example, you could take "Elemental Weapon" and buff a gun, and then get a trigger to boost someone's Might or Grace.

I have to admit, I'm extremely excited for this. I've always enjoyed Through the Breach, but I felt like the Fated Almanac and Fatemaster's Almanac were a bit lacking, especially when compared to the supplements. The pursuit design is significantly better there, with each Pursuit boasting good synergy, tons of flavorful abilities, and generally being more "fun". Some of the Fated Almanac pursuits felt a bit random/conflicted, such as the Tinkerer which mixed attacking people with Cyberlimbs and controlling robots. I feel like the Advanced Pursuits generally took a big step up as well, lacking things like "Death Marshall only getting an Peacebringer". Taking a look at some skills that might be extraneous (Farming, Homesteading, and Husbandry could probably be one skill) or might too important (Evade/Toughness) might also be a major improvement. I've been extremely satisfied with the supplements to Through the Breach, and seeing those improvements applied to the core rulebooks will only make this RPG even better. I look forward to learning more in the future!

I'm signed up, and got my new group interested in joining! Should be fun.

Sorry to ask, but I don't understand exactly what you mean by this. They actually stated they are planning to update the Model Cards. As per the first post: "Our errata cards will always be available as a free PDF download and updated on Wargame Vault for print on demand. Our models will continue to come with the old cards until we do a new print run of the model(s) in question, at which point that card will be updated as well. " Right now, you can download the updated cards and print them out. Alternatively (once the Wargame Vault is ready) you can order them Print On Demand. Once they have a new print run of the model, they'll come with the updated cards, although until a new print run starts they can't magically alter every card in every existing box for the errata.

Wow, this preview was impressive. I really loved the look of Abyssinia. The mechas and powered armor look incredible. I'm also a huge fan of the Gibbering Hordes. I'm definitely going to have to pick this one up.

I may not be understanding this correctly, but shouldn't the Dreamer need Line of Sight to wherever he's summoning? If so, he can't just summon his models 6" away from behind the wall. He would at least need to summon them behind or adjacent to the wall, which means they might have to spend valuable AP moving into position. Or he might need LOS, which means you might be able to get some potshots at him. Normally in this game, actions don't ignore LOS unless it specifically states that. If your opponent is summoning his nightmares directly into your crew from out of LOS, that might be a source of your problems. I don't really play against the dreamer much, so I may be totally wrong about that.

Making this longer so spoilers don't appear on main page...Just kidding I didn't actually make it long enough so now I have to edit it. Oh boy oh boy oh boy! Insert some other witty line here. I don't remember much mention of the "Crossroads Seven", but they did talk about a mysterious masked/cloaked pair multiple times. This is (possibly) the same entity that made the deal with them. Leveticus isn't having a great time right now. For reasons he doesn't know yet, he's starting to rot and degrade over time. Switching bodies doesn't seem to be reversing it. In essence, he's (possibly) dying, and while he's looking into ways to fix it (or at least keep it from getting worse) he's not sure what it is yet. It might be his method of resurrection isn't perfect, or it might be something entirely different. Considering he's supposedly integral to the future of Malifaux (according to Zoreada), this could be a very bad thing. Jack Daw remained mysterious as usual. In some ways he's drawn to the "Burning Man", which is presumably a fusion of the Governor General and Cherufe. It's unclear if he's drawn to them, their drawn to him, or something different. I don't have the book on me right now, but that's all I remember. I can update this with more details later.

To be honest, I'm not really seeing this as a game-breaking issue. While the walls are certainly excellent in a wide variety of circumstances, and well worth the upgrade, they don't necessarily "auto-win" the game. Even in very terrain dense boards, there will pretty much always be a way around it, even if requires taking a significantly less optimal path around them. Models with flight or incorporeal can ignore the path around them. Most factions have access to mobility tools that can get them past tricky sections of the map, or at least move fast enough to mitigate it a bit. Many factions have tools to get around LOS, and can kill the squishy totems fairly easily. The Flame Walls also prevent your own models from shooting/charging the enemy, although admittedly both Sonnia and Rasputina have ways of getting LOS for themselves easily. The usefulness is also highly dependent on the terrain, as the walls can be significantly weaker in open areas of the board. Blocking off up to two 100mm passages can be incredibly useful, but it's not really game breaking. Keep in mind the opportunity costs for using these abilities as well. Every casting of Ice Pillar or Flame Wall is an AP not spent on doing something else. Sonnia isn't blasting away her opponents, Rasputina isn't freezing everything in sight, etc. Some of these casts come at a significant cost (the Malifaux child requires a 9+ to actually cast Flame Wall) as well, so it's not actually "indefinite". Admittedly the AP costs are more significant than the card costs in most cases (I think Ice Pillars requires a 3?), but that can make a huge difference depending on the game. It also costs an upgrade slot, which has its own opportunity cost there. They also have order of activation concerns, since now you might have to carefully consider when to activate your master. I'm in no way saying the abilities are weak, they're extremely useful in fact, but there I'm not confidant it's hurting the game to a degree errata will be required.

That sounds fantastic! It's just what I wanted to hear. Thanks!

Hey, I was wondering, are there any plans on the Horizon for a Guild-themed book? Into the Steam is a fantastic for Arcanist fans, providing awesome pursuits that let you mimic some of your favorite masters. It also adds a ton of description of the North, along with the Arcanist group in general. It adds a TON to the game, and I would highly suggest it to anyone playing Through the Breach. I remember when the game was first created it was mentioned most factions would get a book to themselves (I think they mentioned a Resser book, a Neverborn book and a Gremlin book specifically). Will the Guild get the same treatment? I would love to learn more about the Guild's holdings in Maifaux (and preferably Earthside as well). They hold an intriguing place in the world, and learning more about Guild laws, politics, corruption and justice would be fascinating. There's plenty of opportunities for new pursuits (Witchhunter, Austringer, etc) too, but I'd be most interested in learning about the Guild as a faction. They have a really interesting Mythos set up around them, and I would love to learn more.

No problem. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.