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Amalgamation Charter


Masquer

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We don't know the details of the chater, but we do get a general understanding of it from various stories, like Hoffman's reintroduction in Crossroads. This is basically an information dump relating to the sort of rabble Hoffman would be most likely to be set against in the line of duty, thanks to his unique position in the Guild. At the very least, it might give you some ideas for story encounters, or TTB adventures. Feel free to add your own insight, I doubt I've touched on every pertainant connection.

After the events of Ripples of Fate it would seem that Anna Lovelace is at the top of C. Hoffman's priority list. Her minions of choice put Hoffman well within his rights to pursue action against her, which is probably one of the many reasons Marlow gave Hoffman a proper department.

Professor Albus Von Shtook and his students are a ripe and growing threat to the charter. It's hard to that imagine Shtook's work hasn't crossed Hoffman's desk. Sandeep Desai may well be implicated by professional association. 

Leveticus commits similar offenses, though on a smaller scale, just as heinous.

Miss Squidpiddge is know to cavort with all sorts of undead amalgamations.

Collodi's methods are quite different, but infusing the souls of unconsenting individuals into doll simulacra should fall under the auspices of the charter, though perhaps only in the broadest of interpretations. Several of his associates propagate their kind in such a manner.

Generally, anyone unlawfully grafting mechanical augmentation, or using such augmentation unlawfully, are in violation. I wonder how often this brings Hoffman into conflict with the Arcanists; I imagine he isn't a fan of Kaeris.

That being said, his push to support the M&SU and their magically inclined members will likely buy him some hard feelings from Sonnia once she finds out.

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Fluffwise I think we are moving in a very interesting direction, at first I was concerned that Marlow and Hoffman were a bit "Mary Sue" especially in the last chapter, however after thinking about it  I believe that this is a deliberate move by Wyrd to strengthen the overall human presence in Malifaux, and align Guild and Arcanist interests against the growing power of the Neverborn and Resurrectionists. 

A shift in power within the Guild.  As much as I love our dear Secretary Lucius, the man is a cancer to the Guild, a subversive Neverborn spy pursuing Neverborn interests at the highest levels of the Guild.  The move to have Governor General Franco Marlow elevate Charles Hoffman to his right hand, at the expense of Lucius Mattheson's cancerous influence, strengthens the Guild in the long run.  It also draws the Guild closer to the Arcanists- the other largely human group- Hoffman has a good relationships with Victor Ramos, and the new Guild appears to be establishing a far better working relationship with the Union as evidenced with the shut down of Lucius' anti Arcanist trials nearly immediately after Marlow's arrival.

@Masquer as you noted though, this leaves the Guild itself ripe for conflict within itself (which is great for RPG and story telling).  Lucius' will obviously move to regain his power politically by building alliances.  McMourning and his experiments are almost certainly in violation of the Amalgamation Charter, and the Doug is already closely affiliated with Lucius.  Sonnia Criid, a staunch anti Arcanist about to be in debt to Dr. Douglas McMourning- she already signed over to him access to Arcanist prisoners.   I think we are going to see a loose allegiance between these three figures to preserve the "old world order".  

I think what I am getting at is that in addition to the Amalgamation Charter and the unfolding personal vendetta vs Anna, Hoffman right now represents a lot more.  He is implied to already have replaced Lucius' as the new top Guild Officer, right hand of the Governor General, and face of the Guild.  This opens him up from a story telling perspective to a wide range of possible interactions.  From Neverborn assassination attempts from a desperate Lucius, to Arcanists and 10T through the Foundry moving to advance their own interests through a possible relationship with Hoffman, to direct confrontation with the Witch Hunters and their own Guild Charter.

I am really interested in seeing how the new Guild political scene unfolds, and I think Charles Hoffman will be at the center of it.

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3 hours ago, Masquer said:

We don't know the details of the chater, but we do get a general understanding of it from various stories, like Hoffman's reintroduction in Crossroads. This is basically an information dump relating to the sort of rabble Hoffman would be most likely to be set against in the line of duty, thanks to his unique position in the Guild.

On reading Crossroads, my impression was that the Amalgamation Charter was conceived by Lucius as a means of deploying Hoffman against the M&SU. This would be accomplished by obliging him to police their activities as a matter of duty and by denying them his skills, much coveted to be sure. The key to this plan's success was Ryle. Charles' emotional attachment to him was masterfully leveraged by Lucius to bring the former's relationship with Ramos to the desired "angle."

Ripples of Fate shuffles the Guild deck mightily, by elevating the Amalgamation Charter from artifact of political power play to Department proper. Lucius' fall from grace, Hoffman's revelation regarding Ryle and Marlow's affinity for Hoffman set the stage for a Lucius comeback and, as @Corndescribed, a polarization within the Guild.

I'm quite excited for both.

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13 hours ago, Masquer said:

I imagine he isn't a fan of Kaeris.

Kaeris' wings aren't grafted to her, it's just a harness if the Crossroads story is anything to go by.

12 hours ago, Corn said:

 I believe that this is a deliberate move by Wyrd to strengthen the overall human presence in Malifaux, and align Guild and Arcanist interests against the growing power of the Neverborn and Resurrectionists. 

The RoF vignettes hint to a fracturing within the Arcanists, with the playable characters being distanced from each other in the fluff. There are also new hard feelings because of Lucius' witch hunts so I have a hard time seeing any kind of aligning between The Guild and the Arcanists, quite opposite really. Arcanists seems to be shifting emphasis from a structured organisation with a strong front in the M&SU to loosely connected rogue mages, basically everyone going the way of Marcus and Rasputina, though perhaps with less gorging on raw flesh.

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2 hours ago, Bengt said:

Kaeris' wings aren't grafted to her, it's just a harness if the Crossroads story is anything to go by.

I could argue that any technological device used unlawfully is in Hoffman's wheelhouse (more due to his inherent abilities than the charter), but I meant that Kaeris is a militant anarchist, whose followers are generally the type to misuse their mechanical augments. I'm not saying the Guild's actions (enacted by Lucius) against the Arcanists won't go without repercussions, but the Guild is under new management that is actively attempting smooth over the bad relations.

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3 hours ago, Masquer said:

I could argue that any technological device used unlawfully is in Hoffman's wheelhouse (more due to his inherent abilities than the charter), but I meant that Kaeris is a militant anarchist, whose followers are generally the type to misuse their mechanical augments. I'm not saying the Guild's actions (enacted by Lucius) against the Arcanists won't go without repercussions, but the Guild is under new management that is actively attempting smooth over the bad relations.

While The Guild is a bit less belligerent at the moment I don't really see why Wyrd would want to bring any two factions close to each other in the fluff. The game is after all about everyone being at each other's throats, and I think reasons for various people to fight has more of a place than reasons for them not to. Not saying I don't enjoy the occasional story like Molly and Kirai's team up in crossroads, but if we get too many stories about the power of friendship the dissonance can get annoying.

For big threats individual masters can form temporary and fragile alliances (e.g. Ramos, Rasputina, Sonnia, and Viktoria in the climax of the very first book), without the rest of the factions approving or perhaps even knowing.

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14 minutes ago, Bengt said:

While The Guild is a bit less belligerent at the moment I don't really see why Wyrd would want to bring any two factions close to each other in the fluff. The game is after all about everyone being at each other's throats, and I think reasons for various people to fight has more of a place than reasons for them not to. Not saying I don't enjoy the occasional story like Molly and Kirai's team up in crossroads, but if we get too many stories about the power of friendship the dissonance can get annoying.

For big threats individual masters can form temporary and fragile alliances (e.g. Ramos, Rasputina, Sonnia, and Viktoria in the climax of the very first book), without the rest of the factions approving or perhaps even knowing.

I'm not saying that. The M&SU is only the legitimate front of the Arcanist criminal organization, and that's the only part of the organization the Guild cares about making happy.

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8 minutes ago, Masquer said:

I'm not saying that. The M&SU is only the legitimate front of the Arcanist criminal organization, and that's the only part of the organization the Guild cares about making happy.

It's probably more accurate to say that the Arcanists are the illegitimate branch of the M&SU.

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Just now, Masquer said:

Nice to hear Malifaux isn't quite as dystopic as I believed!

I think the best way to think about it is to consider the Arcanists to be the secretive third branch of the M&SU. You've got the Miners, you've got the Steamfitters, and you've got the Arcanists (who often pretend to be miners or steamfitters).

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12 minutes ago, Mason said:

I think the best way to think about it is to consider the Arcanists to be the secretive third branch of the M&SU. You've got the Miners, you've got the Steamfitters, and you've got the Arcanists (who often pretend to be miners or steamfitters).

Now that I'm thinking about it, three generations of my family were miners and pipefitters...I suppose that would make me a union man by blood. I'm happy not being in the profession myself though, Black Lung is also a common theme along that line.

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20 hours ago, Corn said:

A shift in power within the Guild.  As much as I love our dear Secretary Lucius, the man is a cancer to the Guild, a subversive Neverborn spy pursuing Neverborn interests at the highest levels of the Guild.  The move to have Governor General Franco Marlow elevate Charles Hoffman to his right hand, at the expense of Lucius Mattheson's cancerous influence, strengthens the Guild in the long run.  It also draws the Guild closer to the Arcanists- the other largely human group- Hoffman has a good relationships with Victor Ramos, and the new Guild appears to be establishing a far better working relationship with the Union as evidenced with the shut down of Lucius' anti Arcanist trials nearly immediately after Marlow's arrival.

@Masquer as you noted though, this leaves the Guild itself ripe for conflict within itself (which is great for RPG and story telling).  Lucius' will obviously move to regain his power politically by building alliances.  McMourning and his experiments are almost certainly in violation of the Amalgamation Charter, and the Doug is already closely affiliated with Lucius.  Sonnia Criid, a staunch anti Arcanist about to be in debt to Dr. Douglas McMourning- she already signed over to him access to Arcanist prisoners.   I think we are going to see a loose allegiance between these three figures to preserve the "old world order".

I think what I am getting at is that in addition to the Amalgamation Charter and the unfolding personal vendetta vs Anna, Hoffman right now represents a lot more.  He is implied to already have replaced Lucius' as the new top Guild Officer, right hand of the Governor General, and face of the Guild...

The Guild, under new leadership, is moving its operations into the light of above-board dealings. Lucius recognizes the power of publicity will rise, now. (Perhaps a thick stack of letters of complaint to the Guild after the incident at the Hippodrome pointed out the value of public opinion even in Malifaux. Although Gov.-General Marlowe seems willing to overlook those complaints, Lucius' new enemy still spoiled the fun of a very large number of very rich, very influential people.) Thus his new catspaw in Nellie, skilled in the new arena of public opinion, vehemently anti-Union for her own reasons, and his hold over her threatening her own life directly (by letting Phiona know an unpleasant truth, knowing her tendency to murderous rages). That puts four in the camp of the status quo, if their hold on Sonnia proves strong enough. Perdita is investigating the abominations from the Red Cage, and if she learns to tap connections within the city that will lead her to Leveticus, and she will not care that he has lingering protection from sub rosa prior wetwork (or whether it's been revoked--remember, new, above-board directive for Guild affairs). Whether she will think to take that search to Hoffman whom she does not hold in esteem, I don't know. Marlowe only briefly spoke of the Death Marshals but not in a flattering tone. I do hope he doesn't make the mistake of sidelining Lady Justice and the only portion of the Guild held in high esteem by public opinion.

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