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Monday Preview - Marksman


Nef

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Another Monday means another preview!  Today we are looking at the Marksman pursuit from Above the Law, the upcoming Guild supplement for Through the Breach.  Let's learn a little bit about this new pursuit!

The Marksman Pursuit allows a character to focus upon ranged combat - with an emphasis on "ranged" - more than any other Pursuit. While the Gunslinger might throw out a wild flurry of pistol shots and the Boomer might unleash the raw devastation of a powerful shotgun, the Marksman takes a more patient approach by carefully lining up her shots before pulling the trigger.

This focus is evident in the Marksman's Talents. Right from the very start, the Marksman gains the powerful Take Aim action, which allows her to increase the range of her projectile weapons  (whether they're rifles, pistols, or cannons) by an impressive four yards. As she advances, a Marksman gains access to additional Talents that allow her to remain on the back lines of a battle, ideally hidden in a place of cover as she steadily and patiently debuffs her enemies with carefully-placed shots.

The reputation of the Guild's expertly-trained riflemen makes them the most obvious examples of Marksmen in Malifaux, but this Pursuit would also be appropriate for anyone wanting to emulate patient ranged killers like the Katanaka Snipers or the December Acolytes (their harpoon guns are Long Arm weapons, after all). The Gremlins are pretty fond of their ramshackle rifles, too, if your trigger finger is itching for a bit of Bayou action...

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14 minutes ago, Xavian and Deathgrip said:

Would this also work for players who would like to dedicate themselves to bows or thrown weapons?

It doesn't sound like it from the description (it specifically mentioned long arms but ALSO mentions canons so maybe?) But if not, it sounds like it would be easy to reskin.

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52 minutes ago, Xavian and Deathgrip said:

Would this also work for players who would like to dedicate themselves to bows or thrown weapons?

There are a few useful Talents in there for non-firearm weapons, but overall, not really.

I've got the bow-type-stuff slotted in for the distant Ten Thunders book.

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I knew something like this was coming up, now it's only matter of time until my other predictions from Commander reveal are proven to be true.

Still, looks like a fun Pursuit if players are given enough space to work with(in dungeons or caves however that may not be the case).

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12 minutes ago, Inefficiency_Expert said:

I'm really hoping that a Guild book means we'll be getting a Reporter pursuit. 

I need to torment my group with Skip Gingerly, cub reporter, wide eyed and red haired crusader for "truth".

 

More likely a reporter will be placed with other investigative characters in a sort of investigator class. Along with a cunning/face pursuit it is one of the two pursuits the game needs to add. 

 

3 hours ago, Mason said:

There are a few useful Talents in there for non-firearm weapons, but overall, not really.

I've got the bow-type-stuff slotted in for the distant Ten Thunders book.

How about players who want to dedicate themselves to heavy guns?

Also, 10T book? Is that replacing the Avatar/high level play book, or is it going to come after it? Especially since I thought the avatar thing had been acknowledged as a sort of failed gimmick. 

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A few things.

First, I thought the AG Harpoon Gun was an archery weapon, not a long arm?

5 hours ago, TemplaroftheMS&U said:

But I want my Walking Dead Daryl style Fated to be super awesome now...

 

He can be pretty awesome right now really.  If the new Talent Take Aim is the the 0 Rank talent and works with Archery weapons *the preview says projectile weapons so assuming it does* then you can get 22" range with a crossbow, Threading the Needle talent makes it you don't worry about combat or other models in the way, can have barbed bolts, and has some pretty nifty triggers for Archery.  Having a 2/4/6 damage means it beats out many range weapons in the moderate and severe range.  The Yamisaka and Howles are about the only ones.  Plus it makes a lot less noise.

5 hours ago, TemplaroftheMS&U said:

Also can't wait to see the Witch Hunter and Death Marshall stuff.

 

I doubt we will see much on Death Marshals outside of Fluff on their organization as we already have it as an Advance Pursuit.

 

Lastly... I can already see the people I play with wanting this toy *Given the chance I am certain at least one would go through this pursuit for some of the Talents*

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7 hours ago, EnternalVoid said:

A few things.

First, I thought the AG Harpoon Gun was an archery weapon, not a long arm?

That is correct! Our Marksman lady is just a bit overzealous, it seems.

But yes, the Take Aim talent works with any :ranged weapon, such as the Harpoon Gun or your average pistol.

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8 hours ago, Mason said:

The Death Marshal advanced pursuit is already available in the Core Rules. :)

True but in the fatemaster almanac there was an NPC called a "bag man"  that worked with the Marshal's I was hoping for something more along those lines. Not a Marshall but a supporter of the Marshals or Witchhunters. Kinda like the new Monster Hunter model - someone who picks a faction of the Guild and gets bonuses for dealing with that groups enemy.

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Just now, TemplaroftheMS&U said:

True but in the fatemaster almanac there was an NPC called a "bag man"  that worked with the Marshal's I was hoping for something more along those lines. Not a Marshall but a supporter of the Marshals or Witchhunters. Kinda like the new Monster Hunter model - someone who picks a faction of the Guild and gets bonuses for dealing with that groups enemy.

Ah, gotcha.

Well, no worries; Above the Law has a stupid amount of information about Malifaux City, the Guild, and the Special Divisions. Characters created using the Ram's Head Tarot start the game as Guild employees belonging to one of the various special divisions. There's plenty of room in the Guild for all sorts of characters, and the Death Marshals are comprised of more than just our favorite coffin-wielding half-zombie dudes.

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2 minutes ago, Mason said:

Ah, gotcha.

Well, no worries; Above the Law has a stupid amount of information about Malifaux City, the Guild, and the Special Divisions. Characters created using the Ram's Head Tarot start the game as Guild employees belonging to one of the various special divisions. There's plenty of room in the Guild for all sorts of characters, and the Death Marshals are comprised of more than just our favorite coffin-wielding half-zombie dudes.

Please find a way to make special division selection non-random. I'm begging ya.

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2 minutes ago, TemplaroftheMS&U said:

I'm not against random.
Ram - Guild Guard
Crow - Marshall's
Tome - Witch Hunters
Mask - Monster Hunters
Red Joker - Pick one two.
Black - Infiltrator for a different factions.

I'm kinda against it because sometimes you want a single unit group where everybody works for the Witch Hunters.

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57 minutes ago, sandchigger said:

I'm kinda against it because sometimes you want a single unit group where everybody works for the Witch Hunters.

You can certainly tell your players "just ignore that, you're all Witch Hunters" without breaking anything.

The intent of the book is to promote more "mixed division" groups, though, similar to how Into the Bayou promoted groups of Gremlins that hailed from different families.

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1 minute ago, Mason said:

You can certainly tell your players "just ignore that, you're all Witch Hunters" without breaking anything.

The intent of the book is to promote more "mixed division" groups, though, similar to how Into the Bayou promoted groups of Gremlins that hailed from different families.

Sure, I get that. But there's a much bigger difference between a witch Hunter and a Guild guard than there is between bayou gremlin 1 and bayou gremlin 2.

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Just now, sandchigger said:

Sure, I get that. But there's a much bigger difference between a witch Hunter and a Guild guard than there is between bayou gremlin 1 and bayou gremlin 2.

The Witch Hunters frequently dip into the Guild Guard to supplement their numbers, though, and they consult with the Death Marshals if they're going after someone who might know some necromancy. They might even get into an argument over whose sphere of influence it falls under!

And, of course, you want someone from Public Relations tagging along to get the details and tell the "true" story of what happened before those annoying rag sheets start printing lies about the Guild again.

 

The Guild are an organization, and while they have specialized departments, those departments all draw upon each other to keep people safe and advance the Guild's agenda in Malifaux.

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