Hateful Darkblack

Hee! Well put, vmag. 10 soulstones seemed like the smallest number that could still support every Master's different tactics. Big enough that you can take one big model or a bunch of little ones. And it's a nice round number.

UPDATE 12/2: THESE ARE ALL DEFINITELY OBSOLETE AND v1.5-BASED. AS THE WAVE 2 BETA ENDS, I WILL START UPDATING THESE TO M2E. I like writing and playing Story Encounters. Here's a quick repository of the scenarios I've been able to find! Hope this is useful. Please try these out! I've played them all a few times, and they seem to be pretty well-balanced and entertaining. I'd love to hear any feedback from others who play them. MY STORY ENCOUNTERS: The Great Train Robbery: Set on a fast-moving train. One side's trying to ambush the train and rob the loot inside. The other side's trying to keep it rolling off the board. From this thread. Battle of the Clockwork Juggernauts: Each player has a big clockwork machine. It doesn't do much at first, until you gather up parts to make it more powerful, just in time to roll up and fight the other Juggernaut! From this thread. The Governor's Speech: One side's bodyguarding a politican as he delivers a speech to a crowd. All other sides are trying to kill him first. From this thread. Overabundance: A scenario for three players. Two are cutting down the forest for wood. The third plays the angry forest seeking revenge. From this thread. Bizarre Love Triangle: A scenario for three players. Pick a flower and get close to the object of your interest; spurn the one who's pursuing you. this thread. VARIANT RULES: 40-Minute Malifaux: A pared-down variant with fewer turns, a smaller board, and fewer models. All of these are games that I've played at least once (usually more) with friends, and they seem to work out well. I have a few more games in the works, but they're not posted yet: I don't post a game until I playtest it. Feedback and especially after-game results are very very welcome for all of these! PUBLISHED STORY ENCOUNTERS: (These ones are all from Wyrd and they are a lot of fun. I'm just including them in here because I figure it may be helpful.) Christmas 2009: Holiday Shopping, The Krampus is Watching!, Christmas Carols Halloween 2009: Trick or Treat!, Mad Dash to the Pumpkin Patch!, Night of the Living Impaired! Halloween 2010: A Witche's Brew [sic], The Haunting of Coopersmith Cemetery, The Carver Strikes at Midnight Thirst: A heat wave is hitting Malifaux and the people are taking to the streets in the desperate hope of getting their rations of water. Part of Wyrd's worldwide Dead Heat Campaign. IAMAROGUE'S MALIFAUX EASTER SCENARIOS (Three fun easter-themed scenarios from this thread. I haven't tried them yet, but I plan to do so soon.) Easter Egg Hunt: Easter Eggs are deadly. Destroy them before the children come out to play. Easter Bunny Hunt: Kill that vile creature leaving all the Easter Eggs behind. Pace Egging: Put on a three-act play to commemorate crossing the Breach. OMENBRINGER'S STORY ENCOUNTERS Marshall Law League: The law is here, rounding up anyone they can catch. NILUS'S STORY ENCOUNTERS Malifaux Story: From AdeptiCon. A set of Story Encounters revolving around capturing or protecting a special weapon, with one side playing The Crooks and the other side playing The Law. Includes The Informants, Scout the Location, and Heist.

I was inspired by Dustcrusher's blog post to try to write up variant rules for a fast game of Malifaux. Along with my friend lifeblood, we kind of hammered out rules and tried them out. They're fun! We played a full game in 40 minutes (from setting down my minis bag to shaking hands in the last turn), and it was exciting and felt like it had the same balance and action as a Malifaux scrap, just on a smaller scale. Here are the rules we ended up with for a Fast Game: 1. Play on a 2' x 2' board. Do not flip for terrain type or special terrain. Just use whatever you have. Keep 2-4 terrain per square foot, of course. 2. Play a 10 soulstone limit when picking crews. Don't pick Avatars. 3. Instead of the usual Strategies, flip and use the following chart for each player: 1-4, Claim Jump. 5-8, Slaughter. 9-12, Turf War. 13 or Red Joker: Pick from these three Strategies. Black Joker: Opponent picks from these three Stategies. (If you get the same Strategy, it's a Shared Strategy as usual.) 4. For the first scheme, each player picks one of their two faction schemes, or takes 2 soulstones more. 5. For the second scheme, each player takes their unique Master scheme, or takes 2 soulstones more. Henchmen playing as mercenaries just take 2 soulstones more. 6. Use standard deployment. 7. Hand size is reduced by one card for all players. 8. Game play lasts 4 turns, with no flip for optional extended play. Try it out! I'd love to hear feedback.

Zoraida/Collodi is a lot of fun to play! Collodi runs around being fast and capturing objectives, and Zoraida kind of hangs out making Voodoo Dolls of enemies, and if she doesn't know what else to do, she makes a Wicked Doll that can teleport across the field to wherever Collodi is. You always want 4 Marionettes for Collodi. Three or so Wicked Dolls add some additional combat ability, healing, and fast objective grabbers. Stitched Together are awesome and go well with anything, though they are much slower than Collodi. Adding Avatar Zoraida is great, too. And Arcane Effigy, once it's out. (I made an adorable sculpt eyeball dude proxy myself). Total things I'd suggest getting: Collodi Box Set (Collodi, 4 Marionettes, 3 Wicked Dolls) Stitched Together (2 models in a blister pack) Zoraida (individual) Voodoo Doll (individual) Avatar Zoraida (individual small box) Arcane Effigy (not out yet, so I suggest doing a Puppet Wars proxy or something)

1. Lady Justice has melee expert which grants her additional ap for the purposes of using melee strikes, can I use this towards half of charges 2 ap since it counts as a move and a basic attack? Nope! You can only use it for a melee Strike, not as part of the AP for a Charge or even a Focus attack. 2. When damaging a spirit does the type of damage count? Sonna cried has a sword with the key word magical which means spirits takes full damage from it, or something like that i only had a brief second to check her stat card. Does this mean spirits take full damage from spells or do they just take half damage unless it is from something with magical descriptor? Spirits take half damage from everything but spells and weapons with the description "Magical." Sonia Criid's "Runed Blade" is Magical, so it does full damage against spirits. Some effects seem like they'd be magic-like (such as, say, Rasputina's "Cold Touch"), but if unless they're a spell or say Magical, they still do half damage against spirits. 2. Stitched Together have gamble your life which at the bottom says you may cheat this flip, does that mean the usual rules for cheating a damage flip apply or can you just cheat it regardless? The latter. Hope that helps!

Thanks Jack! Before I post any Story Encounters, I run two or three playtests to hammer out any loopholes.

A Story Encounter for Malifaux (PDF) by TedPro (with huge thanks to megnc86, lifeblood, kasul, and Justin for feedback and playtesting) Propaganda is necessary to keep a population productive. But speaking to the people means exposing yourself to reply. SETUP Set the area as a large theatre, or use a random terrain. Choose one player's Crew to be Bodyguards. All other Crews are Assassins. Somewhere near the center, place a 50 mm Podium near the edge of the stage - this counts as Ht 1 flat elevation terrain with the blocking trait. You can use any piece of terrain of about the same size. Designate a large area adjacent to the stage as the Audience area. Deploy using Corners deployment. Bodyguards deploy on the side closest to the Podium. After Deployment, place the Governor within 1" of the Podium so that it stands "behind" the podium. If there is no clear place "behind" the podium, place the Governor as close to the center of the board as possible. Each player places 4 Bystander models. Each Bystander must be within the Audience area, and within 1" of another Bystander, or within 3" of the Governor. Each player places one Bystander at a time, in the same order as deployment. (Suggested models: For Bystanders, Mindless Zombies, or Bayou Gremlins, or all your unpainted models. For The Governor, Dwead Piwate Wuppwecht, or Som'er Teeth Jones, or Lucius.) The Governor (and possibly a few panicked Bystanders) act after Activations have ended. If the Governor or any Bystanders need to flip a card, the player to the left of the active player flips for them. These models never cheat or use soulstones. VICTORY CONDITIONS Bodyguards: (Gain VP for any and all that apply.) +2 VP if the Governor is still alive at the end of the encounter. +1 VP if the Governor successfully made at least 6 Speechify Actions. +1 VP if at least 4 Audience members are still alive at the end of the encounter. Assassins: (Gain VP for at most one of the following) 4 VP if a leader you control kills or sacrifices the Governor. 2 VP if a non-leader model you control kills or sacrifices the Governor. 1 VP if the Governor is killed or sacrificed, but it wasn't your model that did it. SPECIAL MODELS BYSTANDER Insignificant 30 mm base Soulstone Cost -- (Scenario) Wk/Cg: 3/- Ht: 2 Df: 3 Wp: 3 Ca: 1 Wd: 2 Weapons Fists Range: 1" Cb: 3 Dg: 1/1/2 Talents: Opiated Masses: This model is uncontrolled and does not activate as normal during the turn. Before the Governor has taken at least one Wd during the encounter, Bystanders take no actions except to attempt disengaging strikes. Mob Mentality: After the Governor has taken at least one Wd during the encounter, players, in activation order, activate and control 1 Bystander at the end of the Activation Phase. Each player gets to control only one Bystander each Turn, and two players can't control the same Bystander in the same turn. Loyal: Bystanders will never attack the Governor, another Bystander, or a Guild Master or Henchman. Timid: Bystanders cannot move or be pushed into range of any Terrifying effect. If this model begins its activation within the range of a Terrifying effect, it does not make a Morale Check. Instead, it ends its activation immediately. Neutral: This model does not belong to a Crew. In the Way: Bystanders will always attempt a disengaging strike against any model except the Governor. A Bystander always succeeds on a disengaging strike if the target is within the melee range of another Bystander, and always fails otherwise. Easily Cowed: Any model within 3" of a Bystander gains the action "(1) Intimidate: Make a Wp->10 duel to push one Bystander 3"." Spells: (1) Cheer (CC: 8/Rst: -/Range: 6) Target Governor heals 2 Wd. THE GOVERNOR Guild, Insignificant 30mm base Soulstone Cost -- (Scenario) Wk/Cg: 4/- Ht: 2 Df: 6 :rams Wp: 8 Ca: 5 Wd: 8 Weapons: None Talents: Inspiring Purpose: This model activates during the Resolve Effects Phase. If this model is not within 1" of the Podium, it takes a Wk action directly toward the Podium, moving around terrain and other figures as needed. If this model is within 1" of the Podium, it takes a (1) Speechify Action for every possible action. This model always uses its Df/Wp trigger if able. This model never makes disengaging strikes. Neutral: This model does not belong to a Crew. Governor of Malifaux: This model is immune to Morale Duels and cannot be Buried. Armor +2 Bulletproof 3 Bold Charisma: This model gains Hard to Wound 3 and an additional Armor +3 during Turn One and Turn Two. Hard to Kill Immune to Influence Actions: (1) Speechify: This model makes a speech. All Bystanders that are more than 8" away from this model within LoS immediately push 1" directly toward this model. Triggers: Df/Wp (:rams) Bodyguards: After this model fails to defend against any effect or spell, any model within 4" may redirect the effect and become the target instead. If more than one model wishes to do so, choose the closest model. After the effect has resolved, switch this model with the new target.

I really doubt that a Rules Marshall is going to step in and resolve this, mind you. It would be hilarious if you could use this to get double Scrap and Corpse counters. At that point, it may actually be a viable trick, if used with a Zoraida/Collodi/Weaver Widow grow crew. I was thinking of it more in terms of "What is Zoraida wanders around Hexing things, trying to break rules and create tears in the Fourth Wall?" A flip is probably the right way to go.

Wow, fantastic advice! Thanks everyone!

A dumb little question I've been wondering. I don't think it could ever come up in play, but it's theoretically legal. The rules state that, when killed, an Undead minions drops corpse counters, and a Construct drops scrap counters, both according to size. There are a bunch of models that are Undead Constructs -- like the Dead Rider and the Steampunk Abomination. Each of these models has an Ability that specifies what happens when it dies. Dead Rider has "Decayed Machine" (one corpse, two scrap.) Steampunk Abomination has "Warped" (you get to pick whether to drops corpse or scrap). We're all good so far. Clear, crisp rules. What happens if, just to be contrary, Zoraida Hexes away "Decayed Machine" or "Warped" before killing the Dead Rider or Steampunk Abomination?

Aw, thanks. It was a custom sculpt using FIMO. Mostly bare hands, but a knife edge for scoring on the iris. What tools are good to use for custom sculpts?

Ways I want to see someone include Hamelin the Rat Catcher in their crew: 1. Kirai as a master, just to hire Nyx. No synergy, just a surprising game loophoole. 2. Perdita as a master, just to hire Ophelia. Ortega-LaCroix teamup FTW!

Aw man, I hope the Jackalope keeps coming back. That little guy is adorable.

The folks I play with play 3 player games fairly often and they generally play very smoothly. You just sort of have to negotiate the strategies at the beginning. We generally end up with the same rulings that you mention, CannonFodder. Except that one time when I pulled Reconnoiter on a 15-soulstone 3-player game. Instant failure, and I didn't realize in time to reflip my strategy.

Comments and suggestions very welcome!

Here's the one of which I'm proudest right now: a custom proxy for Arcane Effigy. I built it from Fimo, baked it, and painted it with my standard paints. He's my cute little eyeball dude!

Hello folks! I've only been doing miniatures of any kind for about six months now, but I want to start showing them off. A bunch of my friends do a Crafts Night together. Some people knit, some make costumes, some do drawings... and I make and paint Malifaux minis. I don't play with unpainted minis as a self-imposed rule, so I am usually frantic to get them painted so that I can bring them into play.

OMG ADORABLE! Other possibilities: A moon face. A bat. A spiderweb. A crow. A set of chattering teeth. A little gremlin in a top hat. A disco ball. More pumpkins. An evil baby unicorn.

Some of each! Malifaux uses cover rules a lot, and the game balance is seriously thrown if you're playing on open terrain. For each terrain, they suggest a variety of terrain pieces. Here are the things I usually think about when setting up terrain: -- every square foot should have at least two good hiding-spots -- Neverborn players (esp. with Silurid and Waldgeists) will want to add lots of terrain. Be reasonable about this: add some that they need if it makes sense for the setting, but don't feel like you need to make your Large Theatre full of water just so the Silurid can get their way. -- there should be some high flat spots for snipers, cowards, and swamp hags -- negotiate a little with the other player, with a goal beforehand of making the game fun and fair. don't put on your win-the-game hat until the terrain is set down, because if the terrain is stacked heavily to one player's advantage, it won't be much fun for either player.

I have mixed feelings about the model (a little too busy, and I liked the Old Witch thing better than Young Sexy Witch), but I bought and am excited to play the Avatar soon. It looks really strong.

If you take Army of the Dead with McMourning, it's because you don't like VP.

The Coryphee Duet continues the activation of the acting Coryphee, but doesn't gain any AP from the other Coryphee (AP is gained when you activate, so it doesn't have any.)

Yep, that's pretty much the standard Colette loadout.

Yeah, it looks like Von Schill probably can't hire Hodgepodge Effigy, but the rules are complex enough here that I'm hoping a Rules Marshall will field an answer.

Can Von Schill (Who is Special Forces -- Freikorps) hire Hodgepodge Effigy (who has the Misfit ability that says that Outcast Masters can hire it, but is Special Forces -- Doll) ?