Ergonomic Cat

Gotcha. I think this is what I'm going to use to try out Collodi. And yes, yes I do mean hand bag.

So what does this sort of crew look like, then? Collodi, Fated (1 iirc), ? Widow Weaver (8) + Hex Bag (2) Stitched (6) Stitched (6) Shadow Effigy (4) That's a little over half your points. Are you taking Vasilisa? Mannequins? What else, generally? I'm really interested in this crew, but Collodi is just so out of my ability to conceptualize....

Dig Their Graves, take all 3. And then some.

Yeah, that's really it. While it may not be a winning team in a lot of scheme pools, it's absolutely hilarious to place down 4 sets of dual 50mm markers all over.

People have also said very nice things about Young Nephilim in Lucius. I haven't tried them, but giving them free hits seems nice.

New Gremlin master confirmed. Ht 0, Amoeba Lacroix!

One of the rewards for accomplishing part of your Fate is to either get a point to add to Aspects or (occasionally) a Manifested Power. Assuming we're talking about Through the Breach.

Based on a discussion I was just having, where Mason weighed in, I would guess this is more about bringing the core books (which he didn't write) in line with the expansion books (which he did) in philosophy and style. Specifically we were talking about Step 0's for core pursuits, which I would put good money will be in the new book.

Man. I feel flush with power now! I'd also like the Neverborn book on Friday!

I think the your magical theory does impact how you cast spells, though. Some of them are very clearly rooted in a the traditional gestures/runes/words of power type spell casting and stress ritual very strongly. I'd think that it would be reasonably easy to identify spells from those casters - they're going to hold up a spell component of some sort, and then say some sort of word or phrase, or make some kind of specific gesture. I'd think you could even determine their teacher from how they cast spells, if you knew them both. Someone like a Hedge Witch, though, probably does whatever they think is appropriate. I assume most of them twitch their noses. In my head, I imagine most spell casters are either Harry Dresden style, where they have a particular word for each effect, and possibly an item, like an old school D&D wizard who has a specific ritual (throw a pinch of bat guano wrapped in cloth at the target, and it will become a fireball, or they're like the kids in The Magicians (Syfy show/book series) where there's some prescribed series of hand gestures that they practice over and over again. For my fledgeling spellcaster (currently an Illusionist with a flaw to have a manifested power) she doesn't actually cast any spells yet, but once she does, it will all be flowing gestures of the sort a stage magician uses. Right now she just utters a pithy phrase when she uses her stuff, like "Oh, don't go" or "Watch your back!"

I'm more looking at changing Pursuits. The core book definitely seems to balance the step 0 against the starting stuff for new players in a very nice way. But after that, it seems like the most min-max to do things is to pick a core book Pursuit for your first game, get the really nice gear boost, then after game 1, you get step 1, and then swap to an expansion Pursuit. Unless you're planning to play a very long game, in which case you're probably still better off going with an expansion book Pursuit, as the 25-35 scrip benefit you get from the core Pursuits is eventually going to be fall away, and the free talent/ability is going to be more valuable. And to be clear, I love that series of choices. But as a Min-Max'er at heart, it's really hard for me to swap over to a core book Pursuit after the first session, given that I get literally nothing new that session except a new way to draw cards and possibly a choice of skills, whereas I get a nice boost immediately if I pick an expansion book. Both of them do a good job of representing the deep vs wide philosophy for me, though. I feel like I can get a really good breadth of abilities by jumping in to different Pursuits each session, but I'm never going to get the really high level stuff without just biting the bullet and progressing like a normal person. I really like the new stuff, so thanks and good job. That also explains why at least parts of Into the Steam seemed to update parts of the core book. I'm new to TTB (hell, new to Malifaux overall in a lot of ways), but I'm enjoying it a lot so far! The only thing I'd like more was if *someone* wrote up semi-official Step 0's for all the core book Pursuits.

I read mine via the Kindle app, and don't have issues. Except that I can only get some of them in to the Kindle app, because iOS wants to put all new PDFs in to iBooks. But the ones that I can get in to Kindle work great.

Awesome info! Now I really want to a Bloodwretch. I want to like those models, but haven't been able to yet - this seems like a great place for them! And yeah, I only took the Waldgeist this game because both Headhunter and Hunting Party were in the pool, so I needed to make sure I had tough buggers.

So, I'm curious (I read back several pages and didn't see this discussed). The Pursuits in Into the Steam and Under Quarantine all have a Step 0, which ranges from good to great. If I select one of those pursuits during the Prologue, I get a benefit for swapping immediately (Right?). But the Pursuits in the core book start with a Step 1. So someone that switches over to a core Pursuit gets no benefit for the first session (right?), other than the method of drawing cards. So expansion Pursuits seem much more front loaded. And the Step 1's both seem about equal in ability most of the time, so it seems like the expansion Pursuits are just giving you more? Am I missing something? Has this been addressed? Does anyone house rule Step 0's?

While I adore Wyrd and the game they made, I think you're over-estimating the precision they use in their wording. There are several examples of places where different wording is used to indicate the same thing happening, and the wording isn't consistent. In some games, you can do this kind of grammatical deconstruction. In Malifaux, consistent templating is....let's call it not the highest priority.

Between Waldgeists, the ME and Lilith you will eventually just be putting down forests because you can, not even because you need to. Also, note that Waldgeists get the 4" reach if they are in contact with any severe (?) terrain, not just their own. Lilith can set them up, or they can drop their trees somewhere else while Lilith handles giving them 4" melee.

Also, something to remember: While 7ss may seem like a lot "just" to neutralize scheme runners, that's how you win the game. Legitimately, spending 1/3-1/2 your points stopping schemes is worth it if there are enough schemes that require markers. In a game that maxes out at 10 VP, spending 15 ss to remove 3-6 of those from contention is a great use of your SS. I get that stopping scheme runners feels like a chore, but denying VP is the way you keep ahead.

I didn't put this in the Tactica discussion, because it's mostly just raving, with a few input suggestions. First of all, I still love Summoning Dreamer. I played my first post cuddle game with him, and while I did miss the extra mask on the second summoning, he's still so much fun. And, completely in line with what I perceive to be the design decision behind the change, I actually adjusted my plan in turn one from "Summon 3 things, done" to "Summon 2 things (one from Daydream, one from hand) and then buff one." And that reminded me that Dreamer has buffs, and they're realllllly good. So the rest of my game was summon 1-2, and buff them. And I think it's much better. I no longer felt like "Well, I sac'ed a Daydream, I should probably use that Mask...." I was free to make other choices, some of which were much better than just bringing out another Insidious Madness. Being able to summon Lilitu is just so amazing. It will never stop being amazing. Being able to summon Lelu is fine, mostly because he makes Lilitu just better. Dreamer being able to allow everyone around him to heal 1-2 (or 2-4 for Lelu/Lilitu) cannot be undervalued. It's a very small heal. But there are so many circumstances where it's so good. My crew included a Waldgeist (because Hunting Party was in the pool, so I needed very tough minions), and being able to heal up a minion that has cover, perfect camo, and armor +2, even if it's only 1-2 points, meant that my Waldgeist just didn't die. And between his 4" threat and Lilitu's 4" threat, it was very hard for my opponent to get to Dreamer, or to pick up heads (Headhunter Strat) for a good 4 turns. Then being able to take Lilitu from 1 wound left to 1 wound down over 2 activations (Regen on her, regen on Lelu, Heal on her, Heal on Lelu) was fantastic. It meant I could put her in the thick of things, utilizing her 4" reach to hit things and deny huge swaths of the board. And then Stitched - summoning a Stitched on a middling card, pushing him 6" and giving a free melee attack (Gamble Your Life? Sure!) then getting to chain activate him, heal him above 1 wound, let him Gamble Again, go down to 1 wound and get reactivate (without slow now!) is just too much.... And in Hunting Party, for a low card and an AP I could summon an Insidious Madness, and literally just move him to a corner of the board to make sure I had a minion alive for the entire game. And that's not even looking at Coppelius with On Dreaming Wings giving everything around flight, which cannot be underestimated.... Also, on my last turn, I drew both the Red Joker and the 13 of Masks, thanks to soul-stoning with On Wings of Darkness. So activation 1 was Mr. Tannen, activation 2 was two new Teddies. So, for the input: What else do people take in Summoning Dreamer? I took Widow Weaver, Coppelius and Mr. Tannen. Coppelius will always be there, and Mr. Tannen seems too great. Widow Weaver was much better than I expected her to be, and flight was good on her, but I feel like there might be other options there. I also just took a Waldgeist and a Depleted, as the toughest minions I could find for low cost, but I'm not sure if it's even worth taking minions in Summoning Dreamer most of the time?

For Chompy Dreamer, it's a toss up. I like to run Chompy with another beater, but I also like to run all my NB crews with 2 beaters. Teddy is a fine beater to have, and can go with Chompy Dreamer well. He does do a good job standing near Dreamer and absorbing damage if Dreamer gets through out of LCB. However, if you already have another beater (Mature, Nekima, Rider, etc) or you don't like having two big beater models (One of the upsides of LCB is that you *don't* have to spend 11-14 SS on a big beater) you probably don't need a Teddy. Also, Stitched are just so good at murder, especially near Dreamer, when they can heal above 1 wound every time they activate near him. Even as you're trying to flip Dreamer to LCB, it's worthwhile to try to have a couple activations where Dreamer has 2 or less Waking, and is within 6" of the Stitched. Being able to activate, Gamble Your Life, get hit, go to 1 wound, reactivate, heal on the reactivate, and then have Hard to Kill ready to go again is so good.

Entirely reasonable. The Emissary varies depending on who you talk to. I'd prefer to have Mr. Graves for his pushes in that list, and then a Terror Tot for schemes. But if you want to stick with a terrain theme, it's a good list. Everything in the list is good. I usually play Primordial Magic with Lilith, for all the card filtering, but Cherub has a place, especially in a high terrain environment.

Stitched Together are okay at it, Insidious Madness are good because they can also run schemes, and are fast and incorporeal and 5ss. Alternatively, just put something like Angel Eyes in and shoot them all - no one will expect that!

Typically starting with 1-2 Daydreams is the best idea. I like 2 so that I can use one for the summon and another for a push, and so that I don't have to gain Waking and spend an AP turn 1 or 2 on a Daydream unless I want to. The best things to get for Dreamer are usually Teddy (If you're bringing Mr. Tannen to make him possible), Lilitu (and probably Lelu), Insidious Madness and Stitched Together. You can ignore Teddy if you don't want to have to get Mr. Tannen as well. So really, Insidious Madness, Stitched Together, and the Twins, and you've got a good pool. For more Alps, you're mostly looking at after market, or a singles place like Gadzooks gaming.

They're great to summon with Dreamer - I hear there are people who do nothing on their turn but summon Stitched and throw them at the opponent.

Gremlins, from Brewmaster, Mah, Somer and Wong.

Not really helping, but I'm 100% with you. I keep looking at Collodi on the shelf and thinking "Man, I'd like to bring him out." And then I start to think about him, and realize I just don't have an idea of how to play him, even as a starting point. Every other master I can grok their feeling, even if I lack the subtleties. For Collodi, I just don't even know where to start....