Sudsy

There's a comprehensive guide to the fluff here: http://gmortschaotica.blogspot.com/p/malifaux-character-backgrounds.html But it ends with Crossroads. In my own notes, I added to the good work GMort did, updating the Lucius entry through November 2018 - and then I got distracted. But for what it's worth: Lucius, the Governors Secretary (RP, P, 106), (RP, S, 96-101, 252-253), (TF, S, 29-35, 110-116, 183-195, 270-273, 274-275), (CR, P, 25), (CR, S, 14-22), (WC5, S, 5-16), (WC6, S, 4-15), (WC14, S, 11-22), (SL, S, 237-270), (RoF, S, 19-21, 93-105, 214-241), (BP, S, 6-22), (WC5, S, 5-16), (WC6, S, 4-16), (WC14, S, 9-20), (WC33, S, 52-68) [Last update: 11/29/18]

I sent my bootleg Maxine poster (personal use of IP only) to Kelly last week. I'm sure she'd love us to flood her Inbox with suggestions.

Forgive me if I'm overthinking this... It’s a 1-scratch that targets Willpower. And it forces the target to discard until they drop a Polymath-suited card (which puts it on top of their Discard Pile for the next Deep Discovery, so if/when she cheats it, she guarantees an on-suit 9). And it has Touch of Madness (discard random card) on a mask trigger. If it's a play on “read between the lines,” it must be related to her reading of The Flammae (full name: “The Contiones de Rege Flammae” (Caroland & Johns, 2017). From WordSense (WordSense.eu Online Dictionary, 2021): contiones (Latin). Noun. Contiōnēs. Inflection of contiō. Noun. 1. a meeting, assembly, 2. a speech, oration or discourse before a public assembly. rege (Latin). Noun. Inflection of rēx. rēx (Latin). Noun. 1. King, ruler. flammae (Latin). Noun. Inflection of flamma. Noun. 1. Flame, fire. So the book is the "Assembly/Meeting of the Fire King." [I know you all know that - I'm catching up...] Maxine’s book is a “heavily abridged, excessively censored” version: (n.b., how many Latin-English translators were there in the early 1900s??) From Waldo's Weekly: Professor Franklin Brandstätter’s lecture notes contain marginal/inline comments (perhaps “between the lines”) that clearly show his descent into madness over the course of his discussion of the history of soulstones and the Burning Man (Wyrd; December 5, 2018). Incidentally, the professor’s surname derives from element meaning ‘place cleared by burning’ (Ancestry.com, n.d.). Perhaps Maxine’s attack is as simple as her explaining The Flammae to her engaged opponent, inciting their latent madness. “Strike” still seems a bit too on-the-nose for Wyrd, but that's my best guess for now.

The "between the lines" concept has me trying to connect the dots between the Intrepid Emissary (who is a concrete garden statue of a lion?) and the 1990s kids show "Between the Lions." Hmmm. And "ships of the line" references the massive battleships that would exchange broadsides during this period - so would striking between the lines mean to take a black Zodiac full of marines through that cannonball-crossfire? It sounds bold - but out of character for our cerebral heroine. I feel like something's going to click when it comes together. Not sure we've got it, yet. Still scratching my head...

So... Matt & Kyle are very clever with the naming of abilities - but I'm stumped on "Strike Between the Lines." Is there a trope I'm missing? Literary interpretation? Bowling? Fishing? Proofreading? Baseball? Labor negotiations?? (I'm going to feel dumb when I hear the answer, won't I...)

Quick question - I hear that Kiya is Abyssinian and that she appears in TOS lore. Can someone point me to the right book? Thanks

Kids are never off topic. Two 13s, one 8. My short answer on gaming with kids is _flexibility_. Start simple - small crews, straghtforward mechanics. Keep games short. Handicap yourself (smaller crews or bad matchups - I've played a ton of ELITE into AUGMENTED in Reckoning...) and then play as hard/smart as you can - don't model bad tactics. Shake hands whether you win or lose. And they'll pick it up faster than grown-ups do. Last year, my little one met me at the door - he'd been reading the rulebook [really] and he had noticed I'd been cheating by taking 7 cards. We discussed Lucius' Arcane Reservoir - and then he asked whether he could have it, too. And he was playing Blue Charlie - so with the upgrade, he could. They learn fast... The older ones went to their first M2E tournament at age 9. One plays only Dreamer (and is ranked higher than me in USFT), the other skips around and just claimed D.U.A./Umbra as his new main. The little one quizzes me on my cards and knows them better than me. He has claimed M. Rex (and Apex) as his new crew. We overlook/forget a lot of our masters' abilities in the heat of battle, so some of the complexity doesn't come to the table. I study my cards, listen to tactics podcasts, etc., and my kids still learn their crews faster than me. I am determined to unlock Maxine, but I'm a long way from achieving it. For the long answer, here's the podcast [https://anchor.fm/thirdfloorwars/episodes/Gaming-Round-Table-Parenting--Kids-and-Gaming---ep--83-eghafe].

@HomelessOne Good observations. I mostly play with my kids, and our interest has been elsewhere (Pathfinder 2e) since lockdown. And then I heard TFW's Matt & Kyle episode last week and when they mentioned Maxine, I was riveted. And my hype was enough that my kids have put models on the table every day since then (mostly Enforcer Brawl and HH, some small-sided masters). But now that you mention it, the other masters are getting the public attention... I'm not going to be the one who unlocks this crew - I'm mediocre at best - but they certainly seem like they have a good solid engine. The keyword abilities seem to make for a predictable process [that might be part of the "lackluster" appeal - this crew doesn't have a dinosaur or immortality or a BFG - just a good solid work ethic]. I'm finding myself writing down my plans to try to discipline how I spend my cards and AP. Anyway, I'm in love with Maxine, and I'll report back as I learn more.

Thanks for walking me through the logic. It makes sense.

Rules question. (I'll apologize up front if I've missed the answer - I'm not even sure what the correct search string would be.) I recently played a Nephilim crew against Ramos and only remembered the spiders' Evasive ability once I had my Tot in their midst with my BBS set to Pustule. A sad day. My question is whether Pandora's Inflict (plus Misery) would affect the spiders. Here's the text of the relevant abilities: Steam Arachnids' Evasive: This model is immune to damage caused by Pulse effects. Pandora's (1) Inflict: Enemy models in Pulse 4 must succeed on a TN 14 Wp duel or suffer 1 damage. The damage would not hit, of course, but they must still take the WP duel, which--if they fail--triggers Misery: When an enemy model within Aura 6 of this model fails a Wp duel, it suffers 1 damage after resolving the current Action. It looks to me like the Misery point would still hit. Is that correct? (Not the most efficient approach, but better than just bleeding on them, I guess...) Thanks