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I'd say yes due to Multiple Combat Skills sidebar (p 119 Fated Almanac). You need to have both the pneumatic skill and the weapon skill within one of each other to use the higher of the two. Otherwise you must use the lowest skill rating, note not AV but rating. Regarding the one customization per weapon. Yeah we get most other groups won't use it and we don't need people to agree with us. We just feel that some of the combinations that are attainable can then make items the focus of a character rather than the character. We have also made a houserule that if you take the pneumatic weapon customization that as well as a you get to benefit from a single duel at Might or Speed 5. Basically that is all the 'pneumatics' kicking into overdrive for a single challenge. we came to this conclusion based on the fact folded steel and pneumatic gives the exact same bonus except if you take pneumatic you are paying more AND you require a second skill levelled up to within one of your primary combat skill for it to be effective. wave ad

Just wanted to check I've not missed an errata. Doesn't the Mastered magia Talent allow you to 'master (learn)' a spell from a grimoire that you remember even without being attuned to the grimoire? I know some FM's have houseruled they let grimoires 'gain' new spells over time but RAW indicate that this isn't how things usually work. Regarding choices you also need to talk to your FM about being able to learn a Magical School and get access to a grimoire when you are ready to change to the Graverobber pursuit since you won't get to start with either of these items using RAW. Of course usual disclaimer that your FM can wave it through and say you do have one or both for whatever reason. I believe we had a character come through the Breach already knowing a school but just not strong enough to cast magic and not owning a grimoire. wave ad

We only did it the once and have had no problems. That's ranging from players who planned a lot of their character out in advance through to those who had no idea of their development and left it all up to roleplay and the different prologues to make decisions on Pursuit based on what the game 'suggested' would be a suitable role. To be honest it has even worked out better that way for one of our players who didn't know and just let the story develop their character. As a wastrel now they can 'drop' cards that are of great use (number and suit) to other Fated in our group. We also have a tinkerer/overseer who has been great in offering up alternate/addiotional suits for our active cards. We haven't had anyone feel their early choice turned out 'wrong' or of detriment to their character. EDIT: we're also playing long games Grahama, weekly and been going since release. We're at 22 (I think) destiny steps in but we have a 'role play session' every second week and Step session alternate earning 1 xp for each session but pursuit steps every second. Although you can only buy a skill when we play a 'step' session. So we earn 2xp and 1 step every two games. We get an individual Fate/Destiny step done once every 8 or 9 weeks. We found the advantage of doing it this way is we have enough XP to buy up 'roleplay skills' that kind of round our characters out a bit more. It also means our more social characters get an opportunity to shine in the RP weeks and we can do crafting and other investigation/exploring of the game world. We've found the cheat deck to not be overly important once you get a few games in. By that time you have a suit added to a skill from general talents or an extra flip or two. Steady something talent that gives an additional focus is a great general. Non-combat characters become very functional with that talent if it's available to them. Great for int based rifle combat as our Doctor/Wastrel uses. wave ad

I have something special coming. I'll get a pic of the mini conversion up when it's done. Our steamfitter guy made a mechanical horse and he has three little armoured spider things with sharp pointy bits that hit stuff. wave ad

I'm going to head off tangent for a bit. My wife loves Call of Cthulu, absolutely loves playing and running the classic Victorian era games up to about World War I. Like me she loves her games to have a reasonable amount of detail and realism and so she bought herself an old Sears Catalogue from the period. It's absolutely amazing. You could buy everything from cars to underwear to garden tools to 20lbs of exotic tea. Do an internet search in your preferred search engine using "goods catalogue <insert year>" and you will be amazed at what comes up. If you check the images of your search you will see front covers of some catalogues which will then allow you to narrow your search further, using specific company names and year dates. Here's a link to a 1200+ page 1897 Sears Catalogue including 3 cars! If what you want to buy isn't in here it's useless to you (EDIT: Just rechecked dates, while this catalogue is listed under a 1897 search it looks to be from 1912-1915. But with a search you could still find the relevant year catalogue. https://archive.org/stream/catalogno12400sear#page/1230/mode/2up A link to Sears own Archive site, specifically the page talking about gaining Sear's permission to reproducing catalogues or reuse images from them. http://www.searsarchives.com/catalogs/questions/reproducingcatalogs.htm Also on this site you will find a page "Where can I find old Sears catalogues?" If you go to that page it will list some public libraries in the US which have copies on microfiche. It's like the internet that takes forever to connect to because you have to travel to the library to use it and then once there it has really slow loading times because you have to get up and go looking through boxes of stuff until you find the 'file' you want and then manually 'load' it into the computer monitor looking thing that is on the desk in front of you while you manually cycle through pages of information looking for the thing you want. Thank God for smart phones though, once upon a time it was hard to get a copy and took ages. Now you can just snap a selfie of you, fingers raised in the V victory sign, the screen and some antique technology (microfiche reader) behind you to get a record to take away. Don't let a librarian see you though, they might get upset at you yukking it up. Research iz srs bizness! (Okay sorry I enjoyed that far too much and am amazed at how much time I once wasted at a reader doing research.) As far as Malifaux goes I don't know if Sears would still deliver there, I don't see why not it's just your Freight Handler would be the Guild and they may have some pretty stiff surcharges. read the catalogue carefully, they did indicate they delivered 'anywhere' their catalogues went. Anyway have fun and hopefully this helps someone. EDIT: Sears don't sell water either and one interesting looking catalogue was titled, "Iver Johnson's Bicycles, Motor cycles, Firearms." wave ad ps, I am not American so spell catalogue the same as most other English speakers. Those in the US may prefer catalog in their searches. Same result either way though

This would be a very prudent step to take. Fatemasters Almanac has a lot of information on this kind of discussions. Another option is that instead of making the NPC's harder you make it easier. I ran a game once where I just did away with mechanics after a while. Instead of running mechanics since the outcome is already pretty much known give them a brief narrative and end it with the fated winning the fight. A mix of all the advice above with reactions of the NPC 'background' being the crowd or local denizens or the guard giving them a 'talking to' about their behaviour. take away the mechanical 'fun' of showing how powerful their PC's are and reduce it to 'You win'. Eventually they'll get bored of that and look for other challenges in your game or a FM that enjoys telling the kinds of stories they want to be involved in. In any game everyone at the table should be having fun including the GM/FM/DM/ST. if you're not having fun tell the players why and try to find a solution that works for everyone. Failing that play two games one hack and slash and another more to your liking or alternate sessions or get someone else to FM the game. Anyway good luck with it. regards, Ad

I think it's also a case of ideas being difficult to kill. Where there is disquiet there will always be youth ready to rally to any and all causes. If there is anything our own history has taught us it only takes one charismatic old man to lead a people/nation to war. We do have a very old Fated in our group who was about during the war as a younger man. I think it's all part of his fate we're seeing unwind and the majority of the 'confederates' were younger men but we have faced one older 'officer' so far. Dogged there are some interesting things happening Earthside. Our group has even discussed what it might be like to be involved in an Earthside game and coming to Malifaux later in the story (after a few destiny steps) looking for answers that arise from our Earthside games. It's an interesting alternate history Wyrd have produced. Regards, Ad

There are a few mercenary groups active in the city of Malifaux that exist alongside the other dominant factions. Although Catalan has been used here the FM book mentions the Castalan company (p. 74) so I assume that is who the OP is referring too. Waiting to see if more information is forthcoming. Our FM has also included a revised 'Confederate' group active outside the city of Malifaux, we're waiting to see where the story involving this group takes us. Thanks for the extra information, appreciated. Kind regards, Ad

Thanks for the quick response and the caveat Supplementary question based on above, could a fated use Telekinetic Movement to control a shield for defense using same weight/movement restrictions and apply any relevant talents/equipment bonuses? FM call is fine as an answer Either way some interesting Manifest Powers and character concepts have just been born regards, Ad

Our FM throws duels at us that require the evade skill besides just normal combat. He tries to ensure most skills get at least a mention every few games even if he changes up the aspect used to calculate the acting value. Remember if a skill is used to derive a Target Number then you need to have the skill to cheat fate.

Not to start a semantic debate but wouldn't that debate be historical rather than political? Speaking of words and language, Catalan was the language spoken in the Kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia, Castille and Portugal which is where the Christian version of the Almogavars mostly originated from. So at a guess I'd assume that the company was referred to/known by the shared language. Because as was mentioned Spain didn't exist and instead it was multiple Kingdoms who shared religon and language. Not sure if it's ironic that the later version of the Almogavars ransacked and pillaged their way through Muslim lands a few centuries after being on the receiving end at the other end of the Med. If you're really interested have a look at the Ramon Muntaner 'Chronicle' pdf. here Kind Regards, Ad

I'm just curious what the Dreamer has to 'say' about the possibility of Pandora opening a gate to allow the 'things that occupy humanities subconsciousness' into the real world. If the Neverborn have ready access to Earth how will that impact on the Dreamer's ability to impact on Malifaux and his physical safety? So if the Dreamer was against both Pandora and McMourning he might be looking for allies to help stop both. Alice's dream quest, and knowledge of her Fate, could be something that the Dreamer made her aware of. Alice could even learn some Manifest Powers that give her limited ability to cause Malifaux to respond to her dreams. I'm just looking at the Neverborn writeup here and thinking what if for Alice malifaux is kind of a subsconscious space she has entered into physically. So instead of actually entering a dreamstate to continue her dream quest Malifaux is her dream state? She is in the 'subconscious' the Dreamer and humans Earthside can interact with. Could consider Manifest Powers which are different genus versions of Mind Control but using relevant skills and aspects that reflect her 'dream state', or some kinds of Teleportation for quick 'dream movement' or even the Bury Magia with increased duration to remove others from Malifaux's reality but the Dreamer's 'dream reality'. Alice becomes a kind of 'Prophet' or 'Acolyte' of the Dreamer. A small creature who works for the Dreamer turning up at odd times to 'help' Alice. Reward for Alice could be knowledge that dreams can cause a limited breach type event between the dreamer and the denizens of Malifaux. Be interesting if Slugger through his relationship with Alice was to discover this. What might he do with that information and his relationship with Pandora. What might the Guild do if such information could be confirmed. Just throwing some ideas out there. Is a long cry from Malifaux as written but I can see some lines that could be explored and as you said your Malifaux story is free to deviate from the sanctioned version. Jung's archetypes and writings on collective unconsciousness could give you more ideas to build narrative around. Good luck, game sounds like a lot of fun. Kind Regards, Ad.

1) Does taking a manifest power require a character to have a magical theory to support it? Question arises based on the answer to the FAQ question "Q: How do characters that do not start the game as a Dabbler, Tinker, or Graverobber gain a personal Magical Theory?" and the fact the fated book does not imply any theory is required. 2) If a character is using Telekinetic Movement (Fated Almanac p. 231) to attack with a weapon are they permiited to use triggers, talents and equipment customisations applicable when undertaking the duel? eg Scrapper/Guard Pursuit able to draw a twist card on a miss; Trigger critical damage if a rams is in the value; use Skill specialisation to add a suit to the duel total; receive a bonus flip for Skill Mastery - Melee; Bonus damage flips and extra damage for folded steel? Also is a weapon used/controlled in such a manner able to 'engage' targets it is in melee range with and as such permit disengaging strikes? If so would any talents that activate or apply to disengaging strikes also be useable? Thanks in advance. Regards, Ad.

Had a pm discussion with Aaron about it back when the original conversation occurred. We've been playtesting using a form of the Horror check mechanic and it has been working a treat. copied and paste the fix below. However I have also heard that this situation will be dealt with in a future book. It has meant that some of our combats vs Enforcer lvl FM characters and higher don't drag on until we get a critical kill. Also has been used in a few other situations around alchemical sleep potions/gases and other such events. We have also added that this only works on living genus. Our FM has ruled nephilim (and perhaps other magical creatures/elementals) will receive a bonus (+/- 1 to 5) to their test depending on what they are. EDIT: The issue on unconciousness first arose for us due to the Stunning effect on Bludgeoning and martial arts. Pugilism/Whips are easy to work out dropping an action point. But the comparable effect for Stunning didn't work. Making those effects either too powerful, always resulting in unconsciousness or always failing. it made some combat too easy. So in-house we wanted to find a fix for that effect. We also lost characters to significant crit effects after over 10 rounds of combat vs an Enforcer lvl NPC who was suffering neg wounds but was simply was 'immune' to unconsciousness duels so we wanted a reasonable way to manage that. Didn't seem right our protagonsits could be effected but comparable enemies couldn't be. We also have eight players with limited time in a night so that was also a concern for us. Wanting to move onto the next part of our story without relying on FM fiat. Fated Causing Horror duel mechanic seemed like the best way of using applicable stats and an existing mechanic to get the duel we were after. Just wanted to add our FM allows us to make a call on whether or not our intention is to kill. We have some characters who would rather not kill humans they are fighting. So if we are using bludgeoning weapons/pugilism/martial arts of some kind we can make a call not to kill a low rank FM character when they hit 0 wounds. We don't get the chance to grill them for information whether they don't talk or they don't know anything. Just allows us to play up the morality of some Fated as a juxtaposition to the horrors that surrounds them. But yes we have some characters who are the 'life is cheap type' makes for some interesting 0 action statements in combat Kind regards, Ad

Gambling could have a trigger as an expertise skill. As such for a criminal it is worth considering to trigger competitive edge (Criminal Rank 1). Allows the Fated to draw a twist card after resolving the gambling duel. Would need to be in dramatic time/extended challenge for it to happen but it may be of use if you're gambling for your life or the life of friends