James Mason

I'm curious about the new Pursuits in Into the Steam and Under Quarantine. Some them seem to cover territory very similar to some Pursuits in the Fated Almanac. Do they "replace" those in the Core Book or are they equally valid player choices for Starting characters? Is it still worth playing a Graverobber if the Necromancer pursuit is available, for example, or a Tinkerer if Engineer is available? Are the new pursuits more powerful, or specialised, or just different? Thanks in advance folks.

Hi folks. I'm about to run my first game, specifically the "In the Gutter" one-shot. Some magical questions spring to mind, particulary in reference to the pre-gen character Sonoma Icho.... 1) to cast a spell the character adds Aspect + Skill, correct? So for her Mind Control she uses Charm + Necromancy, I assume. If that is the case, what about her second Magia, Elemental Weapon (from Enchanting). She doesn't have the Enchanting skill. Does that mean a) she can cast it, but only uses her Aspect (Cunning) to do so or b, she can't cast it at all, and should have been given the Enchanting skill instead of the Sorcery skill (which she has no Magia for) - i.e. it's an error in the pregen character. 2) Can characters use multiple different Immuto on the same Magia, e.g. Focus Object and Poison together? 3) regarding Focus Object, and a character still cast a spell without the object and forgo the TN reduction? Or are they unable to cast spells at all without said object? Thanks in advance folks.

I've no interest in deluxe character sheets but a good GM screen is always useful. I can't find any reviews or pictures of said screen anywhere. What's it like?

I'm interested! (Name: Bob McConnell). Though i should probably assemble my first figures and play my first game before then....

Sorry for confusing you. I'm as baffled by your confusion as you are by my posts. I feel a bit like I've asked "tell me about the Star Wars RPG" and I've been told "go and watch Star Wars. Thats all you know need to know". Perhaps I asked the wrong question - I should have said "does Through the Breach have a specfic focus or does it just you create characters from tthe world of Malifaux to go off and do whatever they want". It seems that the answer is the latter. Every game has some assumptions about how you play it. Take your Pathfinder example. Its a poor game for some stories set in the Pathfinder universe. If I want to run a trading empire game based around shipping in the Inner Sea for example, or run nations at war in Golarion, I'd be better served by Reign. Thats because the default assumption of Pathfinder is "You're heroic adventurers who use martial skills, divine and arcane magic to defeat evil monsters and take their stuff", in which case page after page of combat spells, feats and monster stats is a waste of time, space and money for my shipping empire game. Some games have a narrower focus than others; some like TTB it seems, or any version of D&D, say "why are all the PCs working together? Dunno. Up to you. Make it up". Some however say "you all work for an Inquisitor (Dark Heresy). I know that Tau are part of the WH40K universe, but to play a bunch of Tau this is the wrong game". Telling me "it's the Malifaux RPG" leaves me to assume (with no more info that) that anything I see in the minis game I can have in the RPG. Can players fight Masters? Can players be masters? Can I play a resurrectionist? Are there rules for summoning magic, schools of magic, building a construct? Playing a construct? If I want a bunch of PCs who are a Ten Thunders ninja squad, are there detailed martial arts rules? Is the game deadly? Are monsters and Neverborn bags of hit points for heroic PCs to take down with awesome powers and skills without breaking a sweat, like say in 4e D&D or Feng Shui? Or they murderous horrors against whom fighting is the last resort, like in Call of Cthulhu? Somewhere in between? Could they drive the PCs insane? Are there rules for driving the PCs insane? Is there is skill list, or is it more freeform, like Fate Aspects or 13th Age backgrounds? Thats the sort of stuff I want to know more about.

Theres no big "barrier" as such - my point was mainly that if I have a certain amount of money to spend why would I spend it on Through the Breach, rather than say Dark Heresy 2nd edition (which I'm also interested in). I'm happy to spend money, just saying that among my gaming group I would almost certainly be the one fronting the cost. Which I'd be happy to do, but at the moment there just doesn't seem enough info on the 'net about TTB to sell it to me. I think a quick start package would be a fantastic idea, something like a free PDF with quick-start rules, some pregenned characters and a starter adventure, much like Fantasy Flight do with with their 40k games or Green Ronin with Dragon Age (or even D&D 5th edition, the basic rules are free). Anyhow, I guess it's early days for TTB still, hopefully Wyrd might expand the TTB section on their website for starters - there doesn't seem to be much info about to sell TTB to the greater roleplaying market beyond existing Wyrd customers who are already aware of the game, i.e. Malifaux players.

20 USD each sounds OK in theory, but I've never run an RPG where I've expected the players to front some of the cost themselves, especially for a group of players who have never heard of Malifaux or Through the Breach. Generally in my gaming group one prospective GM brings a game to the table and says "I want to run this" -it'd be a tough sell if I followed it with "but first you must spend x on it before we can start". Its good to know conventional cards would suffice though. I'm still not sold on it, again mainly because information on the game is so sparse; I suppose more detailed reviews might emerge when it hits general release. Thanks for the helpful replies though folks.

Holy thread derailment Batman! Thanks for the replies Brewmaster. I guess what I'm trying to get at with the Fate Deck thing is how much would a group of say 4 players and a GM need to buy to play the game? Are the Twist deck cards taken from a standard fate deck? Do the players need one deck each? thanks again.

Having recently (in the last month) got into Malifaux, I'm surprised and disappointed about how little info there is available on Through the Breach, especially as so many Kickstarters have it their hands already. Lots of discussion on the minutiae of the rules, but I can't find a detailed overview (or review) anywhere - the Wyrd website and the Kickstarter page tells me very little. I'd like to know.... 1) Whats is about? "It's the Mailfaux RPG" doesn't tell me that, any more than saying "Dark Heresy is the 40K Game" (I know, DH is one of many 40k games). What do the PCs do? Who do they work for? Is the default playstyle exploration, combat, investigation, all of the above...? Whats the typical TTB session like? 2) Fate Decks. I know how they work in Malifaux. Does each player need their own deck in TTB? 3) Theres a players book and a GM's book, I know. Whats in them? Whats is each chapter? Are there NPC stats, equipment, starting adventures, how does player advancement work, magic etc....? Thanks for your time folks! James Mason