Tzarcastic

But... but... I still don't know whether I want to start Outcasts!

Yeah, I've always found it a bit odd that I can find multiple bootleg minis of assorted Doctors Who, Matoko Kusanagi, or any number of somewhat fringe fandoms... but nowhere else can I find an Ooogie Boogie model. Sometimes, I think about making a stitched out of some burlap and fish hooks.

This is a really cool take - I love it! It's not the way I usually picture Brilliance. My own outlook is less that the Hungry Darkness "lives" by consuming Brilliance than that it is the Brilliance - it sends it out to gain power over others (whether that means their minds or their bodies), and can pull it back into itself if it needs the power immediately. Lynch is immune (hence why the Darkness is working with him rather than eating him), but nobody else seems to be - the Beckoners are just people the Darkness finds it more useful to leave human-looking for now. But different stories have different needs. Your Brilliance "ecology" is a very cool and well thought-out puzzle, and I can see a group of characters having an interesting time figuring out how it works and how to break the cycle to kill the Darkness for good. That's awesome! Especially for something like the Hungry Darkness, where you want some element of mystery, but the most obvious reveal (the drug-pushing saloon-keeper is possessed by Cthulhu!) is already known to the players, so you need more subtle secrets, as well.

I like using Reaper Minis for proxies, since they're both rather cheap (especially the Bones line) and have an easy to search database. Their Deadlands minis can, obviously, work in a number of roles for The Guild. And their Chronoscope models are stuffed with options - my favorites are a Gunsmith: And shirt-comes-off Von Schill: (He could use a knife, though.)

Lenny is too dumb to be stalked. "I am Misaki, daughter of the Shogun himself, and with my ancient blade Bisento in hand, nothing is beyond my reach! I can track a target across unfamiliar ground for a month, or strike through walls like a ghost! Once I have marked my prey, only death awai-" "Hurr durr, Lenny like this piggie. I'mma name him George!" "... you know what, maybe I'll hunt someone else." Also, this isn't really a funny rules interaction or anything, but am I the only one who pictures the Desolation Engine forming like an evil necromantic Voltron, with different Abominations for different limbs?

This calls for a custom Witchling Horse mini! Here's one I find pretty priceless: Johan can yell at someone SO LOUD that person is now sober. I mean, I get that Rebel Yell is a little flavorfully vague in general, but that specific use really amuses me.

I find that ability-copying tech tends to be great for this. Have Cassandra study under a Malifaux Raptor to learn how to fly! Have Hannah grab a Rotten Belle's ability to Undress... whilst she's still in a 5-meter-high robot suit. But really, to me, the funniest example of this sort of thing is also the most common. "Alright, I'll make a new entry - I think I see how they're incanting those Ancient Words!" "Um, yes, Hannah. I'm sure you do know how I'm doing that, since YOU ARE MY BOSS, THE HEAD OF ORDER, AND THE ONE WHO TAUGHT ME IN THE FIRST PLACE! What do you even mean, 'new entry'? You've done this, like, twenty times!"

Wakshaani - I love it! Musing on the interplay between Malifaux history, Earthside history, and real-world events is a favorite hobby of mine, and that sets up all kinds of neat background and conflict.

Great idea! Custom alternate Jackalope model coming up.

That's another thing that confuses me - the idea that people want The Breach in their own back yard. I mean, that's clearly true for many, from what I've seen in the other thread, but why? Spoilers: I am in and (mostly) from the United States. Yet while this region seems like the most obvious place to find Malifaux's assorted Old West elements (seriously, Native American guides), I also find it the least-interesting answer. There's loads of fiction about the Big Mysterious World-Shaking Magical Thing happening in the Eastern United States. I mean, Cthulhu cult activity coming to a head in New England alone is practically a whole genre, and that's before you get to any given New York-based Urban Fantasy, or The Langoliers, or all the alien invasions which seem oddly USA-centric - the list goes on and on. So, I tried really hard to think of another plausible location for The Breach. My first thought was India (since I've had a pet theory that Sonnia Criid was Hindustani for a while now, and when you add in Sidir Archibal, that would make the only two "respectable*" non-white Guild higher-ups we know of both from India). Sadly, though I liked India as a place pretty well settled by white people (lots of very English names and pale skin in Malifaux, can't get around that) by 1786 and very well ruled by them in 1901, there proved to be some holes in that theory. One, a couple of high-ranking people in one faction really isn't enough representation of what should be the dominant population demographic. Two, it's really not even two people, because Sidir - despite being a Sikh - is actually Egyptian(?). And three, Chinese rail workers. So, I tried again, looking for a region outside of both Europe and North America where the population skewed whiter, and more non-native ethnicities would be coming in (rather than local labor being conscripted). This led me to Australia, which by chance, was getting its first foreign settlement right around the time the Breach opened. Plus, Malifaux is functionally a penal colony in many respects, which dovetails neatly with Australian history. And an excuse to put Maori tattoos on Joss** - bonus! Part of Malifaux's appeal to me is how it takes so many well-explored themes (steampunk western, Tim Burton gothic, and Lovecraftian horror, among others) and builds a really unique setting out of it. Why spoil that by making it revisit well-tread paths any more than necessary? * Yes, yes, everyone respects the Ortegas now. But as I understand it, they're ex-cons who people only like because of their kill record against the Neverborn, so it's not like they were high on the Guild's totem pole when they came in. ** New Zealand is not Australia, and is in fact some distance away. I know. But come on - Maori tattoos on Joss! It'll be awesome.

I've actually been assuming that the wizards who made the Breach were acting without a great deal of help or recognition from governments or the like, and so would have more likely to wind up somewhere off on a frontier. That takes me through a pet list of USA places, same as many people (Philadelphia, New Orleans, Cahokia/St. Louis)... and it's also what makes me consider Australia as a highly overlooked contender.

Really? How bizarre and fascinating! So, presumably, England never bought New York from the Dutch... yet England's hegemony doesn't otherwise seem reduced in this setting, since the majority of characters seem to have English names... Neat. Any idea what book that's from? I don't have the 1-1.5 books yet, but shall soon.

There's a lot of great stuff in this thread - thanks, everyone, it's very helpful! I've certainly learned that I need to try a proxy and/or demo game as both Tara and Leveticus, since that sounds like a pretty plausible way to get started! I'm not so sure about Von Schill, though. He's less up my alley. "I really want rules-warping schenanigans, so much so that the faction playing host to Colette herself isn't quite enough... oh, I know, I'll use the Friekorps!"

Awesome - thanks!

Are the Wave 2 PDFs still available?

As a new player heavily drawn to (1) odious combo-based rules-breaking, and (2) my budget, I'm considering the Outcasts (especially the Masters mentioned in the Topic, obviously), but I have a question. All of them, of course, have a stable of models they summon or are otherwise indelibly attached to. But beyond that, do they have any real similarities among their support pieces? How workable would it be to get 2-4 boxes and those masters' Crew Boxes (possibly neglecting Hamelin for a bit, to see if he gets announced in plastic any time soon) and make an assortment of playable lists from there?

Thanks for the responses! Sybarite, care to elaborate? Rover, I've played a little (a couple of 25-point demo games), but between watching games and pullmyfinger, I understand how hugely valuable movement is as a resource. And Mei Feng is overall my favorite Master bar none. They look really strong and versatile, just not so... cheaty. Your detailed analysis was really helpful! Admiral, I'd already considered Ten Thunders for that reason, but I think you know my problem there.

Yes, true. I should have specified that I mean the "main" Breach, the one which is (1) public knowledge, and (2) permanent. As far as I can tell, the Ten Thunders one is the only other permanent one which ANYONE in the lore knows of, and it is secret to anyone outside the Thunders (and a lot of people inside? I kinda doubt that they tell Lynch about it, for example).

Reading up on Malifaux's greatly entertaining lore, this question keeps on popping into my head. We have a lot of dates for the Breach's history, but no real places. Where is it? What is this city which had the bad luck to be totally destroyed TWICE by a portal to Tim Burton's subconscious? And how did the surrounding area's history get changed by a century of war which gave rise not to any nation, but a new superpower dubbing itself a "Guild"? I have a number of theories, but rather than bore everyone with my own ramblings, I'd really like to hear some new ideas. Where do you imagine it being? Why put it there? The mix of English-sounding names, eastern European labor unions, East Asian rail workers, Hispanic bandits and Native American scouts does suggest a certain setting, but is that the right one? If so, where in the American West would Europe have had access to in 1786? If not, what brings those elements together somewhere else in the world, and how does the world's history change to accommodate it? What is the location of The Breach?

New player here planning out my first few purchases - most notably, trying to decide on a faction. The Arcanist faction really called to me right off the bat - I know that for many of you, that's the deal-maker right there, but I am more of a gamer than a hobbyist, and so I have an easier time coming to enjoy models I wasn't initially sold upon than I have sticking with a gameplay style which doesn't work for me. And I have my worries about Arcanist gameplay - I always like to use a faction with a lot of combos, trickery, and some control elements. The sort of lists where even I am sometimes surprised by the insane combinations I can put together, and my opponents are outright incredulous. I thought this was the obvious role for a ragtag group of anarchist wizards, but after some extended sessions with Pull My Finger, I am no longer so sure. To put it bluntly, most Arcanists seem to excel at movement (admittedly, often movement of enemies as well as themselves) and shooting, rather than shenanigans. I know there are exceptions to that. The main ones I see, though, are Colette and Marcus, and I have problems with each - Colette doesn't exist in plastic (and won't for at least three months), and I don't like the idea of paying more (not even supporting my local store as I do it) for the less-cool old metal sculpts; Marcus, meanwhile, is out and looks great, but he tends to want a totally different selection of models from the Construct/M&SU crew I could build up and run different ways under Ramos, Mei Feng, and Ironsides. So am I totally off-base? Do more "normal" Arcanist Masters bring the tricks, or am I barking up the wrong tree, and need to focus more on Neverborn or something?

See, that's what I had heard elsewhere (okay, on pullmyfinger), and had expected it to be seconded here, but prior to you, that's not quite the case. Dirial refuted it directly, and MYYRA (if I am reading this correctly) also implies that the same support pieces (Ancestors, who I'll admit are mostly pretty awesome) can do good work in three different Masters. Anyone else want to weigh in on this?

So, as a very new player considering Ten Thunders as my faction, I have to say: I love their models and lore, but I am concerned about whether I can actually field a crew - or, more accurately, whether I could actually field MULTIPLE Crews, since I don't want to be locked in to a single list. Mei Feng, for example, is probably my favorite 10T Master besed on sculpt and playstyle, but the other 10T Masters are unlikely to want a lot of slow Constructs hanging around. Yan Lo has similar problems with Ancestors. So what would you guys recommend as a good pairing of two Masters to start my collection off and have some options, while still sharing several pieces between them? I assume Misaki, as the "generic" Master (as well as not being someone who relies on a lot of specific synergies) would be one, but who's the other? Shenlong seems like a good pick, but he won't exist for at least three months. So who else works? Are the ancestors good enough by themselves that Yan Lo can do it? Is McCabe a better choice? Or am I better served by picking another faction, and just getting their Ten Thunders infiltrator as one of my starting Masters?