E.T.A. Hoffman

I'm sensing that maybe you disagree lol

People just moved away from Bells spam in my area. Generally, where I play, if we find something we think is silly, we'll abuse it for a bit then stop playing it. So Bell spam isn't seeing a lot of play around us. Thought we all still believe it needs an errata.

I think they should have capped it at 4 or 5 damage and left it alone.

Hello all! Welcome to another "Is It Broken" thread. Please take a moment to expire any obligitory flame before entering this discussion. Let me preface by saying that all observations about the Dreamer are drawn from my experiences with and against him for my local meta. So please, when we discuss this topic try to stick to actual experiences you've had. Just because a person has read over a Master and his crew a few doesnt times does not a expert make! Cheers and Thank You! So now that the legal department is satisfied, let's being. I follow the Dreamer pretty heavily in the beta and can even point out a few contributions to his play style that I know I helped influence. That being said, we've had many months to really see how the dust settles. I by no means think the Dreamer is OP, but I think he does breach that upper bracket of power. In my area, I have won two or three (I can't hoenstly remember) local tournaments with the boy. I'm not going to try and remember how many pick up games I've won. This is not bragging, just facts that I think support my claim that the Dreamer is perhaps a wee bit too effective at summoning. And let's not think that the players at my local tournys are scrubs, a few of them have won at Adepticon and done pretty well at Gencon. But, they would have to chime in and report on the numbers, I simply dont' recall. Soooooo.... all that being said. What I've noticed with Dreamer is the mechanism of his models coming in with 1 wound really don't offset their ease of summoning. The idea is the Boy can make many models quickly but they are a meer one wound away from death. But, I'm not seeing that to be the case and in many instances the Dreamer quickly steams rolls by turn 3 when he has usually between 6 - 9 models more than he began. This puts him at a huge activation advantage and on turn 4 when he throws out a couple of Maddness to grab all his objectices. Let's look at the models he summons: Lelu + Lilitu, on their own there is nothing to consider really. They come in 1 wound and mabe get one or two from the Dreamer plus regen But, when you summon them both they heal all the way back to full for the most part. Dreamer summons two models, then drops his condition to 1, this heals them both two but since they share healing they both go up to four and then regen both 1 so that's 6 wounds gained. In 1 turn you made 14 stones of models that are fully wounded. THis works best on turn 1 or 2. Stitched, I'll gladly make 3 and heal them 1 wound on their activation. Even with 2 wounds, the Hard to kill makes it so your opponent probably wont have the AP to kill them fast enough to prevent the steam roll from coming. Coppelious, the issue with him is he has a fantastic healing ability. He's a geat 8 stone model that after a single successful hit can heal 2/3/5. Many times Ive seen him go just about back up to full wounds in a turn or two. Maddness, nothing much to say, they are either invincible or glass depending on what hits them. What I understand about the balance of summoning in this game is that the models that come in are not fully wounded or stat'ed in such a way that they are either easy to kill, hard to summon, or low on the damage out put. This offsets all the extra AP the summoning master generates for his crew. In the case of Dreamer, it would be unfair for these models to come into play fully wounded. Instead they got 1 wound, becuase this gives the opponenet a change to kill the model with a minimal AP investment. From my experience, this is not happening. In most of my games with the Boy, he summons about 5/6 models by the end of turn 2. Excluding a few specfic masters who can output blasts damage or generates lots of extra free attacks, people are getting trapped behind the 8 and unless they do very well the first two turns, wind up so far behind in model counts that they have little to no chance to catch up. Turn 3 and 4 the Dreamer has plenty of AP to deny the opponent VP by robbing him of objective markers while easily tossing a few models out to take his own. Then there is the Tannen+Teddy combo. It should be unlikely to get even a single teddy out this way. But, in almost all my games I make atleast 1 and in my last few i made upwards to 3 or 4. This I know is lucky, but it doesn't change the fact that a lucky hand could spell pretty much utter defeat when the Dreamer tosses some big scarry teddies out. Sure they are def 3 with 1 wound, but I'll glady place the teddies back a bit to avoid getting killed to easily and wait till they heal up a bit. Or I'll heal them with theh Dreamer's ap and then companion them, of course I'll have used a stone to make sure they were not slow so they can furry. Although, this I feel is probably going to get errated at some point. Hopefully along with Kirai being able to summon Hanged. But, that's another tale. TLDR: Dreamer summons really really well with even a little luck. He's storming up my local meta unless he faces Kirai or Nico who can sort of match his model recursion. How have your local meta's taken to him? Is he working really well, or people having trouble getting past his model counts or is it just me and my very lucky card drawing? CHEERS!

* points up arbitrarily *

You see if Tara sets that up and Lazarus shoots 4 times at your master. That's ALL they are doing that round. Cause spending your AP to kill enemy masters with a pretty darn good measure of reliability is not really a good use of them. ;D (i keed I keed)

I for one am not looking forward to getting focus shot by Seamus turned one with a 4/6/8 and not being able to prevent. Feel like wyrd dropped the ball here

Yay! I managed to finish my entry. here it is! http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/101985-iron-quill-metamorphosis-drawn-to-chaos/ Drawn to Chaos

Part I: http://wyrd-games.ne...t-venas-violin/ Part II: http://wyrd-games.ne...tomorrows-town/ Part III: http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/101371-iron-quill-honesty-the-ashen-landscape/ “Mercy, you are a bandit Mr. Fairweather. You’ve stolen my affection like a moonlight thief,” said the Fancy Lady in her best, fake southern bell accent. She had once heard that Earth-side folk in some regions talked in a drawling slang and men of the breach were often smitten by it. “Lady Fidelia, please call me Goodrich,” said Mr. Fairweather. He touched a cloth napkin to his perfect chevron mustache. “Well, Sir Goodrich,” she ran a finger across the lace of her bustier. The subtle motion drew his eyes to her amble breasts. He was trying valiantly not to look, she commended him for that, but he had already lost this game. “Perhaps such a gentlemen as you would accompany a young lady to her abode. The streets are brimming with men much worse than moonlight thieves.” She’s already mine, he thought. His masculine facial features curled into a smile. “I wouldn’t sleep well not seeing you home safely.” A large script note was left to pay the tab for the drinks they barely had touched, he noticed her eyes linger just a fraction longer than was proper on the wad of cash he carryied. The downtown streets of Malifaux were warm and lit with elegant gas lamps. They were mostly disserted apart from the odd guardsmen patrol or drunkard. Each unit would give Mr. Goodrich Fairweather an eye but his stately attire brokered no argument. They knew better than to inquire about, what might be, an important official’s business at such an hour. Lady Fidelia’s apartment was not far, it was tiny place but well-furnished and situation over a bank. She had paid for none of it with her own money, not that she had any. Her preferred clienteles often gifted her quite nicely. Inside she poured her guest a drink from a crystal decanter. He rested in her plush, leather sofa while she promised to return wearing something more comfortable than a dress. Idly, Mr. Fairweather sipped his drink and tried to analyze its vintage, it was very unusual. She returned moments later wearing a lot of black lace and little else. There was a loud crack as he limbered up with a good neck stretch. Gently she slid into his lap. “Before we begin, what I’m sure will be a spectacular night for us both, let me give you something,” said Mr. Goodrich. “A gift? A lady would never refuse,” she smiled wide, but she was also surprised they had stopped for something so trivial. From the pocket of his coat emerged a small wooden box with brass borders. He opened it and instantly the room was filled with oddly sensual timbre. The tiny wheel ringing as it tapped the carefully tuned metal leafs. “It’s beautiful, thank you,” she said warmly then made to close it. His hand caught hers before she could close the box. He passionately kissed her. For many moments they embraced. What’s taking so long, she wondered. Why hasn’t it worked, he wondered. The moments became tense. They pulled away from each other. She awkwardly looked away and he inspected his shoes. “Perhaps more drink!” she proclaimed. She poured him another glass but he was too busy inspecting his music box to take it. “What’s the matter with you!” she yelled suddenly. “Me?” he responded incredulously, “what’s the fault with you. Are you not swooned?” “No, am I supposed to be?” she asked. “Well… yes… that’s what usually happens,” he said. “Drat! We’ll have to do this the classic way,” she said while jumping to her feet. Then her face changed, growing long. Teeth, many rows deep, poked wickedly from her stretching mouth. Razor sharp nails sprouted from long spindly fingers on twisted limbs. She faced him, letting him take in her full terrible form, all the while smiling hungrily. Her face faltered; where she had expected terror she only saw mild confusion. “Aren’t you frightened? Men usually are when I do this,” she said. “Oh, no you’re terrifying, truly. It’s just that…” he paused as he stood. Suddenly he too was transforming. Long legs grew from his back, four of them, each hairy and pointed with claws. At least a dozen eyes emerged from his head which too swelled in size. His skin changed to a hard, black chitin. “This… is unsettling…” she said after a long moment of silence. “Yeah…” he replied. *** Outside in the street a young girl and a small cat approach the bank. She was wore a thick, dark brown duster and a wide brim hat, anyone looking at her would think she was a man. Which was what Nell wanted; in the years since she had left home she had learned that young girls were always seen as victims. And she was pretty far from just a young girl, time had changed her, mind body and soul; each with its own scars now. The cat, Bingles kept to the shadows, it was his habit; a creatures of the darkness, always the predator. “Confident you caught the clue?” he asked. “I wouldn’t know,” she said tersely. “It’s been a long walk to here, this better damn well be it.” Ash came flowing out of her mouth, it was a bitter and uncanny feeling that she had learned to deal with. The Children of Char, the ancient people she had made yet another bargain with were getting ready to speak. She really preferred it when they didn’t. From out of her own mouth came the singsong whisper of many voices. “The Great Arachnid, Ruin, is a lustful beast. It has spawned many offspring yet few of them remain now. We can feel this one’s presence. It will lead us to him,” They said. Nell coughed hard; she tried to keep it quiet. “Fine! Fine! Just stop talking,” she wheezed. The ash returned to her lungs where it remained a constant burning sensation. *** “I’m just going to go then,” said Fairweather. “Why?” asked Lady Fidelia. She tilted her head. “I’m still hungry.” Fairweather bristled. “There are plenty of easy treats out there,” he indicated the door. “No need to quarrel in here.” “I have a rule, more like a personal goal really. I never let pray escape.” She moved a step closer. “A lady’s whim.” His sharp limbs stretched out, ready to embrace her, but this time in combat. They both looked at the door a moment before there was a soft knock on it. It smelled... human. “Isn’t that convenient,” she said. “I better let it in.” Fairweather turned back into a man, suave as ever. Fidelia placed a hand on the door knob. “Um, perhaps you might want to freshen up?” said Goodrich. It took a moment for her to realize what he meant. She shook hard and the monster was replaced once more with a classy woman, although one dressed not for company. The moment she opened the door she was blasted with a wall of noise and searing heat. It tossed her all the way across the room where she landed in a heap. Fairweather stared in shock. In the doorway was a young woman holding a glowing violin and a tiny white cat at her feet. “Was that him?” she asked. Goodrich had no idea if she was talking to him. “No, not him,” replied the cat. “What in damnation is going on today?” he asked. The girl rounded on Goodrich; it looked as if she was aiming her instrument at him. “I bet that’s him.” “Him who? Who are you looking for and why did you attack my… friend?” said Goodrich. He was really fumbling now and he knew it. Usually he had the advantage, his prey never knowing what they were up against. Things tonight were going too strangely, he just wasn’t prepared enough. “I’m looking for your father. I’m looking for Ruin,” said Nell. Now Goodrich knew that the world was coming down around him. This was not right, he was the predator, he was the hunter, and now this tiny child was shaking him down for information? That won’t due, not at all. The anger was rising in him, the urge to lurk once more in the shadows and devour. “I’m afraid you must be mistaken,” he said. It was a bad lie, everyone knew it. “Once chance or I’ll extract it from you,” said Nell. Her hands looked ready to play and Goodrich wasn’t sure what would happen when she did. “Alright, you’ve seen through me,” he said. The smooth charmer was coming back. Perhaps there was a play he could still make. Whatever this girl was, she was no stranger to violence. He had to be careful. “My name is Goodrich Fairweather. I haven’t seen my father in a long time. Last time I had a different name.” He paced about, casually looking around the room as if to he might find some memory within. His hand casually lifted the unwound music box; it had stopped playing for a while now. He closed it. Nell took a step in the room. “I don’t need a story, I need a location. Tell me now.” There was something very strange about this girl, Goodrich could feel it. “Last time I saw him was-,” but he never finished. The music box was opened and the sensual melody was filling the room. The girls face became placid; she started gently swaying in place. “Feels good doesn’t it?” he asked, walking over to Nell. He transformed before her but her face didn’t change, it remained vacant and oddly satisfied. “My music box is very unique. I found it a long time ago, not too long after I last saw Ruin. It causes a waking paralysis of pleasure. You don’t even want to fight it. Not until I’ve begun to devour you, but by then you’ll be dead all too quickly for it matter.” Bingles stepped in front Nell. Suddenly he was Vena again, the creature of the forest, massive and deadly with his many arms, razor fur, and gaping maw. Goodrich halted before the monster. He wasn’t sure it was something he wanted to tangle with, he preferred the easy prey. He heard movement behind him. Fidelia was waking, he still had a chance. Fidelia staggered to her feet as a monster. She had inadvertently transformed during the attack. She looked very confused. “We have guests, perhaps you’d like to show them out?” asked Goodrich. A savage look crested her mangled face. She wanted revenge on the girl. He smiled, the cat was outnumbered. “Nell, play you pathetic pawn. Rebel, resist the reliquary of restraint,” said Bingles. Goodrich blanched. Ash was flowing from her mouth and into her ears. What is she, his mind screamed. The vacant expression faded, a look of fury replaced it. Slowly, as if moving through water, the child began playing. It was a pitch as sharp as knives. Goodrich screamed as the sounds carved their way through his head, resonating inside his carapace. Fidelia lunged forward. Bingles met her. Dwarfed her. In a sea of claws, fury, and blood she was torn asunder. “Where is he!” yelled Nell. Goodrich screamed. “Where!” she played a harsh note and somehow more pain exploded through Goodrich. “I’ll tell you! I will tell you!” he was sobbing, his part insect and part human face contorting and chittered madly. The music stopped but only slightly, it was enough for Goodrich to think. He suddenly dragged his four extra limbs through the air. Shining light filled the room. Nell was blinded for instant and in the instant Goodrich jumped through his portal. “Quick child!” said Bingles. Nell leapt through the hole and Bingles, covered in red gore, followed. *** There was an investigation the next day. The bank owner had called for the Guild when he found Ms. Fidelia’s inhuman remains. They diligently did as little as possible, upon seeing what she was the investigators were more satisfied that she was dead. Days passed and the smell grew unbearable. It took some string pulling but the bank manager eventually got a team out from the Guild to clean the mess up. “I don’t want to see this again,” said the guardsmen, he was their when they first discovered the dead woman. “Why not?” asked the other guardsmen, who was new to it all. “You’ll see,” the older soldier replied. Inside they found Ms. Fidelia mostly as they had left here. Except this time she was being devoured by a horde of insects. Bones shone through her molding flesh as the host of strange critters feasted. The old soldier looked at the young, both revolted. “That's why we never came back here!” Theme: Metamorphosis Character: Courtesan Line: "That's why we never came back here!" Item: Music Box Location: Doorway

I like the idea of him being a henchman. I think wyrd done goofed when they took it away. Not sure if having a way to generate ss helps though. Maybe after he kills some one.

Summoning VWs does seem like the only way to really make them worthwhile. But, the NB doesn't really need much, I think him not being a henchman like in beta was kind of the biggest issue. I looked at a lot of master, Lynch, Zorida, Dreamer, Victoria, Hoffman, and they all have a big fluffy hencman. Tara doesn't have one, and that's fine and all, but compare the NB to Bad juju who is 8 stones, henchman, same damage track, and virtually impossible to kill if there is swampfiend on the board (of course tha tdoes make him 10 stones). I feel like when NB was a henchaman he was fine at 10ss. Now he's an enforcer, I think he could have been 9 stones (maybe 8 but we'd probably loose casting expert for flurry or something). Ha! Give him an upgrade that makes him a henchman jk. Karina and NB (and the crew) would really benifit from some kind of bury buff. Ways of getting models to fail that duel.

Thanks!!

ehhhh... i'm not for recursive qualities. There is almost...almost...too much recursion in malifaux now. It'd have to be like 6" or maybe 4" and it would have to require some kind of work. Like, if a buried enemy model is killed then summon NB with half wounds or something. Karina could benifit from maybe a ranged wp debuff. Range 12" Ca 5, enemy model suffers minus wp flips for the rest of the turn. Or, to borrow from old levi. Give her a 0 action that puts up a 6" cloud, no resist, that puts enemy models at negative flips for simple duels. I think that one ability, put on an upgrade for 1 stone, would be perfect!

Yeah Karina is remarkly unremarkable. She's a 5 stone enforcer totem with no special upgrade options. I think this gives her the perfect set up to get interesting. Oh! How about limited upgrade for her or something that sets up some place style changes to the crew? Or just one, that's fine. Just something that plays to what she is and makes her desirable. Let's brain storm, what does karina need to be good?

I think that comes down to leverging your assets. If your opponent has a lot of magic damage then you got to play against it. Keep the NB buried and safe until its time to drop him. Malifaux does have a lot of paper/scizz/rok! Which isn't a fault really, you get to build your crew after knownign your enemy faction and objectives. You just need to get more used to what the other crews bring. If I was playing Tara and my opponent anounced Arcansists, I might not rely on incorporeal models. If they announced Neverborn, then I think my beasty would be alright. But, yep some times you'll get caught with your pants down and be playing against criid. In which case, you'll be relying on the def 9 lol ;D But if you face criid, just throw Tara at her, unbury the NB and activate him inside Criids melee. That'll shut her down pretty good.

Yeah I think that it really won't take much to really fine tune the crew. Karina is probably the only model I realy don't like. I never take her. I tried and just don't like her. The NB is still a cb 7, 3 AP, 2/5/7 monster. If between him and Karina they had one unique upgrade each that added something to the bury mechanic then it would be so much better.

I don't think Tara is a bad master at all. I took her too adepticon and, despite being very sick and drunk the whole weekend, did pretty well. I'm not talking about her competitive because she is actually pretty good. I'm saying, when I see Tara and her box set on the table, I see a crew that is gets all its unique bonuses and gameplay from buring a model. Yet, its very difficult, boardering on just plain lucky, to bury a model you intend to bury. With glimpse of the void on every model as a auto trigger, you'll probably get a model each turn, yet it will likely be something the opponent can do without cause he's going to save his good cards to keep the good model in play. You might attrition him to death to get your perfered model, yet you probably won't want to spend all that AP. Once you get a model buried, in generall you can do a bit of nasty to him via Tara. Void Wretches and Karina can do some stuff to the buried model, but nothing super amazing, which is fine since they are just teenyweeny minions afterall. So the bulk of the work load falls on Tara. And that's pretty much the trouble isnt it, Tara is a master, she is going to use her Master AP, to get some real work done, except she'll probably wind up just getting to abuse some minion, which is waste of her time. I found the most effective ways of playing her pretty much just abandon the bury and fast mech, and instead I use her upgrades to redeploy for a 0 action, take positive intitive, and give fast to my own models who I'll bury and then sling shot around. I don't think her 'intended' mechanic is so bad that you can play it, certainly not. But, if two equally skilled players with equal luck go head to head with a Tara boxset vs.... pretty much another other boxset, I think the Tara player will more often than not lose. This is by no means a big deal or a crisis. As I said, there are many other ways to play Tara. But, not using her bury which is like playing Criid and not using burning. Oh and a point about the Nothing Beast, he's really good if you win the initiative! Cause if he starts close enough to the enemy and Tara doesn't win the flip, that def 3 is going to be a concern and I've had more success running killjoy or the Rogue Necro. And I've also found, now that we are speaking of her card mechanic, that not having cards in her hand is more harmful to her than the bonus def her models get. Tara needs practically a 7 to get off any of her abilites. Ditching her whole hand means all her abiliites now have about a 50% fail rate. I think she could be fixed up with a few upgrades or maybe her avatar. I hope so, cause I really like what she 'look's like' she 'intended' to do ;D Razhem, why do you think being a nightmare box hurt her?

I love Tara. I think she's an awesome, tactical master with many interesting play styles. She's pretty hard to kill and, in some rare cases, can lay down some decent damage. That being said... her intended play style is just...bad. I'm sorry! I said it, it's bad! Her bury mechanic is way to random to use, the TN is too low, the fast is too dangerous; I'm just getting started! Karina is so meh! For 5 stones and an ability that can only really be used against one model that you might bury. To offest this you have to take death marshels who I think might be slighly overpriced for their what they do. What I'm saying is I've found more success with Tara using alternative play styles and all of the rezzers! Including a fun list that allowed me to make Rogue Necromancy's on turn 2. Void wretchs are just ok objective grabbers, where crooligans are so much better for the same price. I find one is ok if you use Tara's bury as a vehicle for something big and scary. Has any one had better luck with the intended Tara mechanic then I? Who agrees or disagrees? Flame War welcome ;P CHEERS

I kind of plan on sticking to these characters for a while and turning all my IQ's enteries into a larger narrative. Thanks a lot for the interest!

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked it! Yes it is a part of a continous series. I totally forgot to post the links here. lol Added links to the story!

Ok I got something up finally Woot! http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/101371-iron-quill-honesty-the-ashen-landscape/

Part I: http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/99431-iron-quill-the-hunt-venas-violin/ Part II: http://wyrd-games.net/community/topic/100502-iron-quill-absent-friends-tomorrows-town/ The Ashen Landscape It had been, by Nell’s reckon, six months since her destruction of Tomorrow’s Town, a small place on the boarder of nowhere that she had inadvertently burned to the ground. A part of her felt no guilt for it, since they had attacked her first and yet another part of her worried about the ratio of innocent to cruel men. Could a town be completely filled with bad people? She would often wonder late into the night until exhaustion won. It had also been over a year since she saved her own life by striking an eternal bargain with the creature of the forest, Vena, who had both gifted her with a great weapon and murdered her family. This she rarely thought about anymore. A sixteen year old girl needed iron in her blood to survive in Malifaux and the past only rusted her insides. Bingles, formerly the beast named Vena, leapt onto a boulder, twitching its tail; it waited for Nell to catch up. “Wonder, wonder where will Nell next blunder,” said Bingles. Nell walked past the furry little cat without a glance. “You must have mustered a plan or mused on the matter,” said the cat. “I don’t know where I’m going,” said Nell. “Then when will your trek retire?” “If this world has an end, maybe there, or maybe till I can’t go on.” “Every entity engenders some sort of endeavor eventually, not even Nell can negate the necessity of purpose.” “If I knew what I wanted I’d go get it. Or, I should say, if I wanted anything I’d have figure that out what it were,” said Nell sullenly and from a great distance. Bingles hopped off the rock and ran ahead. Days passed in silence. Nell was sure that her supplies were only going to last her one or two more days, if she cut her rations to half. In her previous life, Nell had lived on a small farm near the city. In her despair she had began her march eastward without any inkling where she might be going. She was far from the city now, farther out than perhaps any major population of humans had moved so far. She couldn’t recall how far back the last town was she had left. The only thing that broke up the monotony of her life was the occasional life threatening encounter with some creature or another. A breeze blew hot sand across her face, she had become accustomed to this, but a pungent tang of sulfur struck her as very odd. The deserts of Malifaux rarely smelled of anything. The stench got stronger as she marched. Soon, it was over powering. It burned her eyes. Her stomach reeled so hard she collapsed to her knees. Vomit came up but she clapped her hand to mouth. She couldn’t afford to waste any of the food she had eaten. Tears washed the dirt from her face in muddy streams. After a few moments she regained control. Her hand came away, sticky with bile, she whipped it on the sand for the little good it did. Bingles, she noticed, sat only a foot away with a look on it that made Nell hate it even more. First one foot, then the other; each step forward requiring fresh resolve. Nell would not turn back. She could never turn back. A very slow mile later, Nell came to the source of the foul air. Blanketing the landscape for as far as she could see was a grey ash. She stopped on the line where the sandy desert floor transformed. The sky was different over those lands, the endless corpse-blue was gone and a drab lead color replaced it. “What is it?” asked Nell. Bingles sniffed. “Old,” was all he said. Nell placed a boot on the ash. It was cold on that side of the world. When nothing happened she placed the other one on it. When nothing happened still, she marched on just as she had done for the last year. It would take more than the strange to stop her, though she did advance a little more cautiously now. It was not until Nell was practically upon the village that she had seen it. The horizon was a constant dull grey and the buildings just slightly darker, an almost perfect camouflage. There was something wrong, Nell saw it almost instantly. The structures where shaped like any one might find in Malifaux, but their substances were… wrong, was the only way Nell could think of it. Instead of wood or iron, each building seemed crafted from shadow; a surface like ink that wisped at the edges. Nell withdrew her soul stone violin. When They spoke, it was as if their whole population was speaking. In a horrible singsong voice They said, “No child, we are not to be feared. There is no harm here for you.” Nell nearly strung a note out of fright. The voices quickly revealed their owners as smoke like apparitions emerged from the structures and, in some places, out of the ground. They were vaguely humanoid but lacked any distinguishing features other than size. Some were tall and others very short. Each of them resonated pathetically; Nell couldn’t help but feel pity for them. Still, that wasn’t enough to lower her violin. “What do you want from me?” asked Nell. “We are the Children of Charr, or so we recall. Anything else we might have been has eroded with the ages,” They sang. “That’s nice, but I enquired about your intentions not your history,” said Nell, she kept her bow ready, and if they moved even a little suspiciously she would raze another town. “Revenge,” They said, “is what we want. Once, we were beings of so many colors and functions but a beast came, a creature with a legacy of ruin and nothing more, who laid us to waste. By will and despair we remained to seek retribution. The beast moved on after it consumed us but we could not pursue it for we are anchored to this location by memory. Eons passed and we have waited for something to free us.” “How, and yet a better question, why would I free you?” asked Nell. “We hold a great many secrets, things we knew when once we lived. If we could be freed from our want of revenge, then perhaps we can offer you these secrets in trade.” Nell shifted her weight back in preparation to flee. If she could trust one thing in Malifaux, it’s that if you refuse a monster’s offer it usually got mad. “You cannot give me what I want.” “What is it you desire?” She didn’t know. Feelings she had been subduing were coming to the fore of her mind. She pushed them back. “To leave, that’s all.” “Wealth? Power? Knowledge? Life? Freedom? Our ancient knowledge can provide any of these things.” “Yes, you young fool, what is it you desire?” asked Bingles, it had kept an amused silence up till now, his curiosity had been piqued. Nell stammered. Anxiety was filling her, she knew this whole time she was just moving to make motion but whenever she was forced to consider why she just buried the thought away, someplace dark in her mind, then moved on. “We sense a terrible despair in you, sadness is perhaps the only thing we truly understand,” They said. Memories of a bloody scene came flooding: a severed limb belonging to her father, her mother’s head frozen with a wicked and bloody grimace. Nell cried. “I want… I want…” “We can return them to you,” They said, having picked away at the surface of Nell’s psyche. “No!” she screamed. She felt dizzy, the ground came rushing towards her but it didn’t hurt when she landed. A cloud of ash was supporting her. “Really?” purred Bingles, “Now isn’t it interesting.” “Don’t bring them back,” sobbed Nell. “I can’t…” “But why?” They sang in a tone of true confusion. “I can’t! They would…” Nell trailed off into more gently sobs. Bingles sauntered close to her. “Why not girl? Do not you miss them or have you come to mind the misery you’ve made?” “I can’t bare to have them hate me!” Nell screamed. “If they came back… if they could know what I did… they would hate me! The memory of their love is all I have left of them.” Her voice became almost a whisper. “Please don’t take that away from me.” “Amusing,” purred Bingles. “Child, you are lost and in that we share a true fate. But, we can give you something you desperately seem to need,” They said. Nell looked up into the crowd of faceless things. “What” she sniffed. “Purpose, we can help you find purpose in this world,” They said gently. Inexplicably, Nell felt they meant what they were promising. The deep longing in her seemed to match the agony they felt. In that union a feeling of something close to comfort was lurking. “I can trust the honesty of your words,” it wasn’t a question. “We are kindred spirits, we will fulfill our promise if you yours.” Nell lifted herself from the cloud, it disappeared. "How can I assist you?” “We need someone to carry us and carry out our revenge, to kill the Great Arachnid known only as Ruin.” “How can we find him? If it’s as old as you suggest, then he might have long since died.” “Indeed, you are correct. Ages have won against him too. But, like us, a fragment of Ruin remains. Even if it’s all we can do, we will destroy that much of him.” “Then, I agree to assist you.” A great sigh went out amongst the shadowfolk. “Thank you child, an eternity of gratitude is yours in addition to what we have agreed upon. At this tasks ending, you will have found a purpose suitable.” The buildings collapsed, the shadowfolk dissolved, and the ashen landscape exploded into a hurricane. Nell covered her eyes as the whirlwind raged; she braced herself to stay standing. The storm narrowed, forming a great cyclone directly over Nell. It flowed into her face, forcing her hands away, and into her mouth. She could feel her lungs filling with ash. It was agony but she couldn’t breathe to cry. In panic she clawed at her throat, leaving bloody snakes from her nails. Then all at once it was over. The world of ash was gone and the desert of Malifaux was all around her. Exhausted, she sat on the ground, breathing heavily. She coughed and each time a small cloud of ash escaped her but would quickly flow right back in. A great laughter filled the desert; a vicious malevolent howl that instantly made Nell fell like a small child again, hiding under her blankets from the monsters all around her that parents can never seem to see. She looked behind her and there was Bingles. The tiny little cat with its head tossed back and a voice as vast as the world was laughing. For a long time Nell laid in terror as Vena, the creature of the forest reveled in haunting mirth.

I played Lynch without the respawning darkness upgrade and without woke up with a hand. I even had 3 deploted in a reckoning game. Plus Tannen and Graves and only 1 Beck and 1 illuminated. I tried to make a list that I felt was suboptimal. And it still did well. I always felt Woke up with a Hand is too potent for what you already get.

It's not that masters are good at killing things. Its not that it takes 2 ap and 0 from her and then more from 1 or 2 more models. It's that the only time your opponent can resist is when the Voodoo doll casts hem. If he fails once, he gets 2 more tries. Once youre hemmed, your dead! I'm not saying it's OP, certainly not, I Know what other masters can do! I just needed someone else to look at this and say, "yep that's how it works" so I'm not alone.

So, Is this right... cause it seems wrong... The voodoo doll comes out and casts hem. Let's say on a nice big enpensive model. Then Zorida and whatever model can do it, give the puppet burning 5 and then the enemy takes burning 5. End turn comes. The puppet takes 5 damage from burning, which does 5 damage to the enemy model hemmed. Then they enemy model takes his burning 5. So with only 1 resist duel, you can deal 10 damage?! OR 12 if you do a burning 6. Does anyone else think this is nutty?