Merchant

I'm torn between, the idea of beefing up KE, getting a bigger splash of abyssinia or at somepoint getting horo+hordes for demo purposes (and kaiju fights)

nice work!

with ToS coming soon are any of you pod casters going to do some factions reviews or batreps?

would be kinda neat if kirai and sonnia stayed  earth side but that boat has sailed. 

cant wait to see some rules or units for guild tho. 

So We should be getting our orders any day/week now right? well that means I need to get ready to remove 30+ blunderbuss style barrel ends, anyone have any tips for not butchering it entirely? I'm thinking either clipping the end and drilling a tiny hole or sanding/dremaling the barrel down.

any ideas? or helpful suggestions?

2 hours ago, Harkevich said:

The discord server has a couple guys that have. Sounds like fun. Makes me wonder if there are third party bases already out there.

There is a ToS discord? gotta link for the statement mate?

not sure but it seems like wages are pretty high, while a single script can feed you for a week it seems like early a 1/2 to a script a day is pretty badass.

On 9/26/2018 at 11:29 AM, SaveVersus said:

Hi.

This might be a strange thing to ask in this forum - because I generally assume if you're on these forums you really like the game - but I'm hoping to find issues with the system so I can look out for them later when teaching friends or running an adventure. This isn't a "this system sucks, who's with me?" thread, but a lot of you here have have way more experience with the system than I do, so you've probably seen things that aren't apparent when you first read the rules.

So ive been playing TTB for about 1-2 years on and off and I can point out some issues and gripes.

Firstly it's fairly easy to break characters and become over powered if you focus on a single aspect. doom laser spell casters and super punch bro's as well as snipers who are flipping 3-4 cards milling the deck real hard. Even focusing on a single skill and getting it up to 5 (the max) adding positives or if you have a good associated aspect can cause issues.   however I find this can easily be combated by making a wide and varied set of encounters. Reminding your players other skills are important and conflicts arnt always fighting is the key. Malifaux is a setting of intrigue, cunning, betrayal, investigation and as well as adventure and combat. So it's good to make your Fated players do what isn't in their wheel houses' to keep them feeling like human.

Next thing I've seen as being a potential issue is some immuto(spell modifiers) can break the game for instance if you add the location immuto to the mind control(obey) spell and try to mind control every unit in the fight. whoever loses you get to make an action for including allies. 

After that, manifested powers are as strong or weak as you the game master want. that is to say I played with a player/fatemaster who wanted to use manifested powers in such a way as it would break characters and themes in the game. Not to say it's wrong, but the tone of the game changed in such a way it felt less like playing malifaux and more like monty python. on the other hand they are ment to be milestone rewards so dont try to give a player nothing, the key it to work with the player to come to a compromise you are both satisfied with... though there is something to be said of the trope (powers unasked for) and bestowing something they cant control on them. all in all it's about communication of both what you as a story teller want and what the players want to act out!

Fourth, and this is kind of a big one, the money system in the game doesnt work very well. 1 guild script can feed you for a week in most places, weapons range from 3-25 script in general plus mods. Same with Armour and skill kits are expensive. ammo should be bought as well. However once you have an adventuring kit, there isnt anything to spend your cash on. soulstones and spell books are prohibitively expensive and borderline illegal to buy and sell. weapons and ammo can be found on at least 1/2 of most combatants. With all the classes in the game and the high magic would of malifaux, it's starting to feel like the game needs a lot more consumables (1 use magic items) as well as the ability to buy enchantments or some other form of treadmill for leveling up one's gear.

Another issue I've found id the way destiny steps work, this is less and issue but more that getting the spotlight on the correct player for them to make consciously push to meet their destiny or try to cheat it can be pretty tough. Most desity steps can be shoehorned into one of the penny dreadfuls but it feels awkward most of the time. The game really seems to flourish with a custom adventure and I'll throw this in here, a themed party. Having the group choose to be guild guard or resserectionists, Spies or pinkerton mercenaries helps shape the theme of the adventure a lot better than the generic hodgepodge of adventurers most first or second games  produce. Again working with the party to put a few boundaries really improves the process more than restricting it imo.

Death and injury after a few sessions can become a thing of the past. Ive played many many sessions and have yet to see a player die. Injuries on the other hand a dousy if you dont have someone on hand to deal with it. doctoring skill/sawbones class to risk a surgery, magic with mend critical and or healing spell or an engineer to make an invention that auto fixes the problem. This can make the players loose a sense of risk. between all this and cheating fate the players a pretty safe to be honest.

scaling- the game has none of it. you'll have to eyeball every encounter you make. also try not to be afraid to make easy skill checks, as well as impossible ones.  back to the point the game doesnt tell you to not pit master level enemies or peon level doods against you players. there is no scale to it. This means a higher level of system mastery is required to make good fights and challenges. when in doubt air on the side of harder.

Last major issue and this goes back into the first issue is the game is designed to have a time limit. players become very powerful very fast. Keep this in mind because when a player puts a 2 or 3 in their main fighting skill, gets a 5 in that same skill with a kitted out weapon or spell book, their accuracy of 6-8 with positive twists and triggers can make many encounters trivial. 

With all this in mind, TTB is one of if not my most favorite systems and setting. While I still think It needs a lot of work, I am only critical of it because I love it so much. I highly recommend the new core rulebook as it covers the setting in depth, has everything a player needs as well as a pretty sizable monster manual. That being said each expansion book adds classes, monsters, a little bit of spells and equipment as well as dives into a particular place or zone in malifaux.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the ride, and dont forget...bad things happen!

~a friendly Merchant  

Sigh...I guess there is a crowd for this...not sure who, when you have creepy ass pygmy horses. It will be interesting to see if it makes much in the way of sales, seems like a very niche corner. would have rather seen something for Mama Z or Brewie, to drum up some cross faction sales, Like the wild ones.

Gotta wonder tho with cat-hamlin and wild ones being cannon, is this a thing too?   

With the last few months I think I'm going to take a break from this game/company. 

>dog sitting in a burning room drinking coffee.

"this is fine"

Dont like it.

Any news on Undying? seeing as it was advertised and pushed back?

steam fitters seem pretty steampunk to me...

Just get alt Lazarus.

what about prospectors and "talking about shafts" ?

YEASSSSSSS!!!!!!

In a world where undying isn't coming next month, my only wares are my tears.

I'll be throwing some flock on mine I think.

9 hours ago, Ishkul said:

Is this the Grave Golem? I mean is this just a mockup or the definitive version?

it looks like the box art so one assumes...

45 minutes ago, still-young said:

The Gave Golem is in the same box as these.

i meant next preview

i hope grave golem is next month!

I AM BECOME HYPE, ENERGY OF NERDS!

I Havent played mcmourning yet, and looking at nurses, they are good but I dont feel like they needed to be 6ss. can anyone help point out what was so game breaking about them? I'm the only resser in my club, have mercy.