Brewmaster

Wish I had looked at this sooner. Those flames were DUUUUUM.

Dropping in a quick response (so if this has been covered, my apologies): the set value that players have to "fight" represents a fundamental style of interaction between players and storyteller that sets the rules of the type of game you're getting into. What it also does is change the fundamental social contract between player and story teller as well. In your traditional "DnD" game, the result of a players actions in game is generally "smaller" because rules and tables dictate what players can and can't do. In games where the rules are a bit looser (such as this one), the results of players actions are generally "bigger" because they have to sell the Storyteller on what they're doing, not match a series of numbers. all pen and paper games fall on the "RolLplaying" to "RolEplaying" spectrum, and the type of system plays to different styles. The initial TtB is designed with RolEplaying in mind. Mechanics are kept loose and fast because it's not about rolling that Nat 20, it's about "describe the scene that's happening." The mechanics aren't about appropriate CR value, they're about what makes for the most interesting collaborative story. The issues that arise are where you have mechanically minded responses to story-based questions. D20 Star Wars has a good example of this. Mechanically speaking the Jedi class is BROKEN. The limitations and balances on it are RolEplaying in nature. I'm not saying that RolL or RolEplaying is better though. I'm just saying that this system lends itself to a particular style of game play that has different conventions than others.

Well THERE's a familiar avatar Zoraida is a positioning Master. When there isn't much in the way of killing for Schemes or Strats, Zoraida is your go-to in the Gremlin Group. Zoraida also allows you to do some interesting tech outside the normal. Nurse + Lenny for example gives you an enforcer that can soak a ton of damage, then the Nurse heals em with no side-effects. Somer is the generalist master. He can do all the things okay where the other masters do a couple things great. If you want to make a "Spam" list (IE: piles and piles of models running over everything), you'll want to get another box of Bayou. I rarely go above 8, but 12 is a reasonable number if you REALLY REALLY like piles of squishy models.

To throw in a different topic under the "Gator-ade" umbrella, I got my gators in from the Black Friday sale, and I'm really digging putting them together. The gremlin balancing on the gator mouth is ridiculously too tiny, but the bayou halfway in the gator mouth has a variant head, soooo that's a thing. A thing for a robot legs survivor proxy perhaps?

As a person who's got Zoraida in my top three masters, I can fully endorse the Nurse/ 2x Shinobi combo. One of my OTHER favorite combos is hooking the Voodoo Doll to the opponents Beater, then forcing the opponent to hit itself (ish).

For my personal preferences, two should be fine (As a reference I generally play Ophelia, Zoraida, and Wong). I like the positioning options that Bushwhackers give, an option you don't generally get with the hyper-optimized Bayou Gremlins and Slop Haulers.

It's an understandable reaction ^_^. One of the cardinal rules I live by as a GM is "The players only know what you tell em". As long as everyone's having fun, you'll be alright. Knowing the minis game means you have 82% of the rules down pat, so it's really just the last tiny bits. The Fatemasters Screen is a useful tool for the tricky bits.

1] What general tips or tricks are there to building a self written adventure? Take a Bruce Willis movie and Mad Lib the pronouns out for "Malifaux" words ^_^. For a Campaign, the best advice I have is "Keep track of 3 things: Where they're at, where you want to end, and what your players do to get there." 2] How many times can a person cast a spell? Are there a limit of spells per day like other RPGs? No limit. 3] How do you deal with or create manifested powers? Whatever you feel comfortable with in your game honestly. When players start out, they shouldn't have anything above what you can find on a minion card. As they get to the halfway point ish, think Enforcer, then towards the end think Henchman. 4] At the prologue, how do you handle the "leveling up" process? I know you can pick skills for people to level up or get, but how is that done? Is there any formula you guys use to determine this? You as the FM suggest to the players 3 skills they used the most in that session. The player picks one you suggested, or one their pursuit allows. 5] When using the one-offs [Penny Dreadfuls] without the pregenterated characters [whether they are provided or not] how do you handle leveling up and progression? Other than the Tarot Readings, progression should be like normal. 6] I know each session needs to focused towards advancing or defining a Fated's fate[destiny]. How do you go about this? This is a toughie. I honestly look at all 5 of the players Fate Steps, and construct a 5 part plot from that. But beyond that, it's really just having a decision in the story that changes based on that player's actions 7] Is initiative flips for dynamic events [combat] used from the central fate deck? Yup. 8] How do you go about setting a target number? Again, this is a fiddly one that's kinda based on your preference. Towards the beginning of the Fatemaster's Guide, they give you suggestions. 9] I've read over the section several times, but I"m still having trouble understanding Margins of Success/Margins of Failure. Any easier way to understand it? When you determine weak/moderate/severe in Malifaux? It's like that

In the previous edition, Obadiah and Burt Jebsen pal'd around the swamps having cool adventures and generally being rad all day. Like Mason said, Obadiah picked up a bag, glued a fu Manchu onto his face with some spirit gum, and made with the magic stuff as Wong. Burt and Wong traveled on a mission of vengeance against the Ten Thunders since they wrecked Burt and Wong's village.

To make a horrible comparison, Ophelia in this edition plays like Perdita of the previous edition. For a slightly more useful explanation, the models play differently. There are comparisons, but ultimately Ophelia will have more models on the board, and she's got a movement element that really shines (Ophelia is the Turf War/ Reckoning master).

What I see as a "normal" Summon list is bringing in 1 Bayou a turn, and just having 3-4 already baked in. 8 is a perfectly fine number (mainly cause you can have unique minis using 4 old and 4 new ^_^)

When you see the word "kill", Ophelia + Trixie + Francois... Then some other stuff or whatever ^_^. In a "murder-ate" game, going first is super useful, firing the most shots is useful, and the Lacroix are simply the best crew for it. If you want to get "serious" about it, Old Cranky is the totem choice cause anything that mitigates the cost of resources is awesome. Aaaand Bounty is an upgrade for Trixie as well ;)

Where there's a McTavish, there's a me thinking super hard about Croc-a-gators. And that whole "cheating cards" discussion is handled by S'omers "Bigger Hat Than You" and pure out activation. The Gators just benefit from the scraps.

Someone picked up the Brewmaster box, ya say? Things to help with Wong: Reckoning/ Turf War is where he's a monster. If it looks like you're going to be fighting over a small area, Wong's a great choice. The crew needs ways of handling single targets and being able to scheme run, so a pack of bayous is useful. For the Ooo Glowy targets, don't be afraid to look at Mercs that provide something useful to a Strat/Scheme. My personal fav is Ooo Glowy on Sue over in Outcasts. in terms of models to look forward to, one I'm chomping at the bit for is Sammy Lacroix, mainly because I get access to both of Wong's Limiteds. Welcome to the cool faction ^_^

One of my first wins when this was just for bragging rights was my take on the infamous raid where Ophelia Lacroix stole Perdita's hat.