Vorzakk 2.0

I just saw a preview page which included the short descriptions of seven pursuits and none of them sounded like a Prestidigitation equivalent to Dabbler, Graverobber, and Magewright. I love this game but I'm going to be really disappointed if they didn't include one. On a positive note, what was included sounds awesome!

So, any news at all on that book becoming a reality? In late 2019 a staffer said 'next year', and we're starting to run out of that year.

Bully wasn't malevolent enough? : ) My main hopes are... 1) A Prestidigitation equivalent of Dabbler, Graverobber, and Magewright. 2) Information on the Badlands and the Knotwoods on par with what we've gotten on the Northern Hills and the Bayou. 3) Some more explanation on what different kinds of Neverborn actually ARE. Like, I know what models are Woes but I still have no real clue what a woe actually IS.

One of my players went Criminal and his solution was to also take a couple steps in Infiltrator, which includes a talent called Strike First which allows you to add a suit to an attack if the target doesn't know you're hostile or if you haven't acted yet during the encounter.

I actually ran Honor Among Thieves last fall and had a lot of fun with it. Funny thing was that there was relatively little time devoted to actually stealing the statue; most of the evening revolved around interacting with various NPCs at the party. I talked a little bit a few weeks ago about one of my Fated; a bayou-raised girl who was involved in smuggling during the period of martial law. She had actually had a partner whom she'd ditched-out on when they got caught by a Guild patrol boat; leaving her high and dry in a boat full of pork and moonshine. Well, this other young woman had finally gotten out of jail and was doing odd jobs to pay off the last of her fines; and she was working that evening as a waitress at the Appleton estate. Suffice to say, she was NOT happy when her former partner showed up. There was also a rather creepy man who took an unsettling interest in the group's stitched and the group's augmented. The characters never figured it out, but some of the players correctly guessed that he was connected to the University of Transmortis. Also in attendance was Pandora; in the guise of "Doctor Panzera" of Smedley's Asylum. She spent much of dinner chatting with Judge Bardsley, who grew very despondent afterwards and tried to kill himself early the next morning (though the fated were able to intervene and cheer him up a bit).

My very first major story arc involved several well-educated fans of Tesla attempting to make his wireless electricity transmission idea work by using the spirit world as a medium (which mostly resulted in a lot of ghosts getting riled up because they kept getting electrocuted). A shorter story involved two engineers working on a visual equivalent of the aethervox; both of whom were based on actual inventors (Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton and Boris Rosing) who made a big step towards the television. Not run it yet, but I'm planning a story in which a famous French composer pays a visit to Malifaux and then disappears: "The Abduction of Claude Debussy".

I ran Owner of a Lonely Heart last fall. Radu turned out to be a very passable stitched; and after the fated killed him, they found a notebook detailing a variety of legends which he'd been investigating in the hopes of finding a way to restore himself to life. This was of particular interest to one fated who is a stitched himself. After the fated stopped Volan from killing Hope, he wound up cutting his own throat just to see 'Bessie' one last time. The next night, he called up the fated from a phone booth near their townhouse; whining at length about how they'd interfered with his courtship. He was gone by the time they reached the phone booth, so they still don't know if he somehow resurrected or if he's lingering on as a ghost.

I don't allow Gremlin characters in my campaign; but one of my Fated was born in the bayous of the south-east US, came through the Breach with her family when she was still young, and was subsequently raised in the Bayou of Malifaux. Her family was on good terms with the Tuckets, and as a teenager she ran pork and moonshine into the city during the period of martial law. Now a few steps down both Boozer and Chemist (and armed with a rusty old double-barrel shotgun), she's highly entertaining both in and out of combat; full of down-home folksy wisdom but also a lot smarter than people (who often dismiss her as a brainless yokel) tend to assume. She also built a still in the basement of the group's townhouse, among other things utilizing parts from Neverborn construct which they dismantled in an early sessions (I still haven't figured out how that's going to take an entertainingly bad turn for everyone).

While I don't try to hide or downplay the negative aspects of the Guild, my campaign has exposed the Fated to a lot of the positive; and they've actually cultivated a good reputation with a number of division heads, most notably Lady Justice and Perdita Ortega.

My little sister's character has steps in both Primal and Buckaroo; and she uses her White Siberian Tiger (statted as a hoarcat) as a guard/attack dog, a mount, and a pillow. She and another fated also once used the tiger to infiltrate an all-hours party as a little circus/comedy act.

I try to run a decent variety, but I tend to favor mysteries for this particular setting.

I have a very "show must go on" attitude towards running my campaigns. As long as at least two players show up, I will run game that evening. I design all of my encounters so that they can be scaled to whatever PCs are present, and I try to have a means to explain PCs coming and going (or just handwave it). For Through the Breach, I additionally write all stories involving Destiny Steps to be modular and time-independent so that I'm not derailed by a particular player's absence.

So the shurikens which Torakage can make with the Leaves Upon the Wind talent have the Fan special ability. Fan, as near as I can tell, is only useful if you're using a Rapid Fire action. Rapid Fire, as far as I'm aware, is only available about half-way through the Gunfighter pursuit. So does a Torakage need to buy half-way through the Gunfighter pursuit to get the most out of their shurikens or am I missing something??

I'm going to have to say McMouring as well. Hospitals under the best condition are nightmare fuel for a lot of people. Filthy hospital-like secret labs run by mad men with a penchant for body horror... yea, no contest IMHO. And though it's no longer a thing, I thought he was even creepier back when he was still operating right under the collective nose of the Guild.

Perhaps I'm not very creative or I'm just a sucker for old tropes, buy my favorite sort of creepy setting is a good ol' Spooky Forest. For that reason (and because I've read far less about it than the Northern Hills, the Bayou, or even the Badlands), I'd really like more official information about the Knotwoods.

Early in the campaign, my Fated ended up moving into a townhouse in the Downtown area which had belonged to a necromancer whom they'd recently killed. Among a number of other oddities, they discovered that the motor in the phonograph in his sitting room had been removed and replaced with a slightly more powerful one. Weeks later when they discovered this same necromancer's secret lair out in the QZ, they found a golden disk which had strange runes on one side and a spiral groove on the other; and they quickly put together that later was probably a phonograph recording and was the reason for the heavier motor. When they got home and played it, they heard a man clear his throat and then start reciting unfamiliar words... Kunda... astratta... montose... Luckily for the Fated, one of them was smart enough to grab the needle off before it got any further.

Oddly enough, I'm also quite fond of Beggarstree and Strangerskeep just like Steamtastic Vagabond. Additionally, I would love to know more about the Badlands and the Knotwoods (hint hint). Aside: I keep reading the start of this thread title as "Lol Death has reared..."

Taelor is a favorite of mine from the wargame, and her unswervingly upbeat and cheerful attitude injects a nice bit of optimism and comic relief into an overall dismal setting. One of the PCs is a Buckaroo with a white siberian tiger, and it's become a bit of a running gag that every time they run into Taelor she gets all excited and shouts "KITTY!" like a small child would. I've also had a lot more fun with Molly Squidpiddge and Phillip Tombers than I ever would have expected. The PCs encountered the latter out in the QZ being utilized as an improvised soccer ball by a gang of terror tots. After the PCs chased them off and then brought Phillip back to Molly, they all really hit it off.

I try not to paint the factions in broad strokes because so many of each faction's members are so different. Sonnia Criid is a very different person from Perdita Ortega, Toni Ironsides is a very different person from Colette DuBois, Seamus is a very different person from Molly, etc.

I've always been more into RPGs than wargames, but the fascinating setting and characters of Malifaux got me instantly hooked. When I heard they were making an RPG out of it, I knew there was little doubt I'd like it. But I'd say the moment I really fell in love with it was when I realized that flexible but straightforward action economy from the wargame had largely been preserved.

Magewright has a talent which adds Tomes to Enchanting; and if we ever get a Neverborn book, it will presumably have a talent which adds Masks to Prestidigitation. And I believe Oxfordian Method lets you add any suit to any spell.

With so many things having precise ranges and the rules in general being so 'wargamey', I definitely find it beneficial to use a map and miniatures. I mainly only use my grid map (squares for indoors; hexes for outdoors) for setting up the surroundings; and we use a tape measure for actual range measurement to avoid diagonal movement ambiguity and related kinds of issue.

From the Neverborn book, I'd like to see the Badlands and the Knotwoods get the same level of coverage which the Bayou and Northern Hills have gotten. I also want the Prestidigitation equivalent of Dabbler, Graverobber, and Magewright. From the 10T book, I'd be happy just to get a decent martial arts specialty and perhaps one for archery as well.